you plant in the fall and you don't have to worry so much about wetness, but my wife's the one that holds out for planting some spring too."

　　I've heard all that so many times before. But I liked hearing him say "my wife" that way, as though he was proud of Mom's judgment. The people in Gotham, Dad too sometimes, act as though Mom weren't quite...quite equal to Dad. It hurt me. I stood idly reading the notices posted there. There was an advertisement of Karmont wheat that Dad says was developed especially for me because it has Russian and American parents, too-from Kharkov and Montana. He calls me Karmont, sometimes, to tease me.

　　"Ellen, you go ahead. I'm going to stay and have a game with them," Dad said.

　　"Okay. I'll leave the truck for you. I'll walk back," I told him.

　　I stepped out of the shadow of the elevator and the sun seemed to wrap around me and press down on my bare head. I like it.

　　In two weeks, I thought, I'll be far away from here-and I'd never been more than three hundred miles before. I looked at the tin sheds (锡棚) below the elevator where they store salt, oil and feed and thought how I used to slide down them. I felt as separated from Gotham as though I didn't even know it. I was so excited that I could have run in spite of the hot day. Then I discovered something funny: My hands were ice-cold. I pushed them down into the tight pockets of my jeans. I had known I was going and yet, with deciding to sell the wheat today, I could feel it more.

1.Which of the following descriptions about Dad is true?

A.The war cost him the chance to be admitted to college.

B.He sold his wheat at a high price with the help of Mathews.

C.He meant to send Ellen to college on the selling of the wheat.

D.He is a talkative man and born rancher in the Gotham.

2.Ellen felt hot again when Mr. Mathews looked at her because 　　　.

A.it was quite a hot day

B.she felt embarrassed about her clothing

C.she was playing with the tiger cat

D.she was listening to the men talking