Passage Two

I have an infatuation (迷恋) with autumn. The colors of the season and the smells, have always thrilled me. I have always found joy in this time of year. The last few autumns of my life, however, I recollect in shades of gray rather than cheerful oranges and yellows.

When I became a single mother, every aspect of life took on new meaning. Since I was used to carrying out most of the parental duties without much help during my marriage, I truly did not foresee how different parenting would become after the marriage was over. But suddenly I realized I was a statistic. The daily routine was not changed so much; it was the angle at which I had begun to look at life.

I believed my ex-husband´s lawyer was tracking every grade the children made, and I was under a microscope in this new town where the children and I moved our "broken home." I feared having to eventually establish my family with each new teacher and each new term as a single-parent family. I just wanted to be us again, without the stigma (耻辱) of the label put on us.

During those few gray years, I would reassure myself that soon things would be better, and that I would someday be able to feel whole again. There is no mathematical equation of adults proportioned to children to equal a stable, loving family. Every family has its strengths. In fact, studies show that in families who read together, eat together and communicate openly, children are likely to succeed academically, as well as socially and emotionally. I am sure these habits are just as effective when practiced in single-parent families. I realize now that I am not a statistic. We are an active, vital family in this charming community, where we are not marked by any stigma of any statistics of any focus groups.

We are given opportunity, all of us. We are surrounded by beauty and immersed in possibility. There is joy to be found here, in what we see around us and in creating our own rendition of how we want to be seen. There is strength and grace in our own willingness to break free from conformity without falling behind the barriers of self-imposed limitations or preconceived notions of where we should fit in this world according to research.

36. What does the last sentence of paragraph one imply?

A. The author moved to a new place.

B. The climate changed greatly in the last few years.

C. In the last few years, the author´s mood changed.

D. There were some natural disasters.

37. After the divorce, ___________.

A. there wasn´t any change, since she used to play a main part in taking care of the children

B. she became interested in statistics

C. everything in her life was changed

D. it was the way by which she looked at life that changed

38. According to the passage, ______________ brought the unpleasant change in her life.

A. a kind of discrimination against single-parent families

B. her ex-husband

C. social scientists

D. the feeling about autumn

39. In the few gray years, the author __________.