I do not need a calendar to tell me when it is winter. All I need is my nose. When I wake up in the morning and smell the tasty treats my mom is cooking downstairs, I know winter has arrived.
The first one is the smell of chocolate. During the holiday season (from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day) my mother makes her special hot chocolate. She always adds a peppermint candy cane (薄荷味拐棍糖) to the drink and tops it with cream.
The hot chocolate gets me out of bed, but it is my mother’s chocolate fudge (软糕) that makes me run downstairs. It is a thick chunk (块) of chocolate that tastes like heaven. My mother adds nuts. That gives it more texture (质感).
But my mother isn’t done yet. She also makes a treat she calls “window panes (窗玻璃)”. She takes a few different colored marshmallows (棉花糖) and melts them together with chocolate. The final product looks like a colorful church window, so we call it “window panes”.
These tasty holiday treats are usually eaten after a meal as a dessert. But don’t tell Santa Claus because I secretly eat them all day long.
What wakes “me” up in the morning?

A．The alarm clock.	B．My mom.
C．The noise upstairs.	D．The smell of food.

In the author’s eyes, the taste of the chocolate fudge is ____.

A．terrible	B．wonderful
C．awful	D．so so

With nuts, the chocolate fudge tastes _____.

A．softer	B．sweeter
C．harder	D．hotter

The “window panes” the author mentions refer to _____.

A．special hot chocolate drink

B．decorations on the window

C．chocolate cake with fruits on it

D．a mixture of marshmallows and chocolate

Why does the author look forward to the winter?

A．There is plenty of time to play around.

B．The food his mom cooks is mouthwatering.

C．It’s great fun to play outdoors.

D．He can have a good rest during the winter.