A
There is a beautiful story I heard once about a child playing with a vase his mother had left on the table for a few moments. When the mother turned at the sound of her son crying, she saw that his hand was in the vase and was apparently stuck. She tried to help him and pulled and pulled until the child cried out in pain. But the hand was stuck fast. How would they get it out? The father suggested breaking the vase but it was quite valuable and the child's hand might be cut in the process. Yet he knew that if all else failed, there would be no other alternative. So he said to the boy, “Now, let's make one more try. Open your hand and stretch your fingers out straight, like I'm doing, and then pull！” “But Dad，” said the boy, “if I do that, I'll lose my penny！”
The boy had had a coin in his hand all the time and was holding it securely in his tight little fist. And he wasn't prepared to open his hand and lose the penny. But once he opened his hand, it came out of the vase easily.
I used to hold on to things in my life that I thought were so important to me. Early in my marriage, all I cared about was becoming the best volleyball player in the state of Wisconsin. One year, when Kristi was working shifts at General Motors, I played in 1,400 games, competing four nights a week and 40 out of 52 weekends. My team won over 1,000 games. Success on the volleyball court, but a huge loss in my relationship with my Kristi.
When I finally let go, I looked back at what I had done and was ashamed. Not only did I show my wife she wasn't the most important thing to me, but I missed out on a lot of relationship building time. My life is so much richer now that I am not a slave to that drive to be the best player I could be.
本文是一篇夹叙夹议文，作者由一个小男孩为了抓住硬币，手卡在花瓶里拿不出来的故事引发了对生活的思考——要抓住生活中真正重要的东西，放开不重要的东西。
1．Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?
A．The Beautiful Vase in Your Life
B．The Way of Keeping Balance in Life
C．My Dream of Becoming the Best Volleyball Player
D．Holding On to What Is Important
答案：D
解析：主旨大意题。根据文章内容，特别是第三段中“I used to hold on to things in my life that I thought were so important to me.”可知，作者由一个小男孩为了抓住硬币，手卡在花瓶里拿不出来的故事引发了对生活的思考——要抓住生活中真正重要的东西，放开不重要的东西，故D项正确。
2．Why did the boy get his hand stuck in the vase?
A．He had a coin in his hand.
B．He didn't know how to stretch his fingers.
C．He was afraid to break the vase.
D．His hand was hurt inside the vase.
答案：A
解析：细节理解题。根据第二段中“The boy had had a coin in his hand all the time and was holding it securely in his tight little fist.”可知，男孩的手卡在花瓶里拿不出来是因为他手里攥着一个硬币，故A项正确。
3．What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A．The author had his relationship with Kristi improved.
B．The author didn't regret what he had done.
C．The author still plays volleyball as much as before.
D．Kristi left the author in the end.
答案：A
解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段中“My life is so much richer now that I am not a slave to that drive to be the best player I could be.”可知，现在作者的生活丰富多了，不再是那种想成为最好球员的欲望的奴隶，他与妻子克里斯蒂之间的关系一定有了改善，故A项正确。
