The summer before I went off to college, Mom stood me in her usual 1 behind the ironing board (烫衣板)and said, “Pay attention: I’m going to teach you to 2 .”
Mom clearly explained her 3 for this lesson. I was going to be 4 and needed to learn this vital skill. Also, I would be meeting new people, and properly ironed clothes would help me make a good 5 .
“Learn to iron a shirt,” Mom said, “and you can iron anything.”
But ironing shirts was not 6 work. It didn’t make use of long muscles we used to throw a baseball, and it wasn’t a 7 operation like ice-skating. Ironing was like driving a car on a street that has a stop sign every 10 feet, Moreover, an iron produced steam and it carried an element of 8 . If you touched the wrong part of it, you’d get burnt. If you forgot to turn it off when you 9 , you might burn down the house.
As for technique, Mom 10 me to begin with the flat spaces outward, always 11 the iron forward into wrinkled (有褶皱的）parts. Collars had to be done right. Mom said they were close to your face, where everyone would 12 them.
Over the years, I’ve learned to iron shirts skillfully, which gives me a sense of 13 . Whatever failures I suffer in my life, an ironed shirt tells me I am good at something. 14 , through ironing I’ve learned the method for solving even the most troublesome problems. “ 15 wrinkles one at a time,” as Mom might have said, “and before long everything will get ironed out.”
1. A. room B. spot C. chair D. passage
2. A. iron B. mend C. sew D. dress
3. A. reasons B. rules C. emotions D. methods
4. A. helpful B. confident C. powerful D. independent
5. A. conclusion B. suggestion C. impression D. observation
6. A. useful B. easy C. special D. suitable
7. A. direct B. single C. smooth D. strange
8. A. doubt B. pressure C. surprise D. danger
9. A. went away B. fell down C. jumped off D. looked up
10. A. taught B. chose C. forced D. sent
11. A. remove B. dragging C. pushing D. pulling
12. A. touch B. design C. see D. admire
13. A. honesty B. freedom C. justice D. pride
14. A. Instead B. Besides C. Otherwise D. However
15. A. Make up B. Deal with C. Ask for D. Rely on
