One afternoon a few months after Tom and I were married． Max walked into the dining room， where I was looking through my old photos．

    These months I was learning to let Max come （1）　　on his own． If I moved too quickly， he ran away． If I was（2）　　， we often ended up playing， laughing， and recently， even sitting together on the sofa with a book．

    "Who' s that？" he pointed to one photo．

    "My mom． I suppose she is your（3）　　Sylvia．"

    "Cool． Who is that to me？"

    "That was my grandfather． He died a few months ago．"

    "Hmm． Too bad he had to die．"

    Death is always a painful（4）　　，especially for a seven﹣year﹣old child who'd lost his mother only two years before． I secretly put away the pictures of（5）　　relatives．

    He began to finger through the photos． "Who is that to me？

    Under his finger I could see my own face． I should have known the answer to his（6）　　question． But I said， "I'm your（7）　　mom． I' m sorry that your first mom died．"

    "What should I call you？" he asked．

   Mom， I wanted to cry． I held back．

    "You can call me Mom or Betsy． （8）　　feels OK for you．"

    I waited， expecting a pronouncement of my new（9）　　．

    "Sweet，" he said， walking out of the room．

    For a couple of days afterward， Max （10）　　a new title for me． "Can we go bowling？" "Can I watch TV？" he'd ask， and then（11）　　the questions by mouthing the word Mom． Mom was always（12）　　．

    One weekend， he suddenly said， "I notice I don't call you Mom．"

    "I noticed that too．"

    "（13）　　 I say Betsy， I mean Mom． Moms die， you know． I think it's maybe（14）　　   if you' re just Betsy．"

    Tears（眼泪） were filling my eyes．

    "Hey， Betsy？"

    "Yeah，" I said， taking pleasure in the new （15）　　of my old name．

（1）A． down	B． near	C． close	D． back
（2）A． kind	B． patient	C． helpful	D． confident
（3）A． grandmother	B． mother	C． aunt	D． cousin
（4）A． subject	B． speech	C． message	D． sign
（5）A． dead	B． boring	C． unknown	D． strict
（6）A． simple	B． proper	C． stupid	D． funny
（7）A． natural	B． past	C． only	D． second
（8）A． Whoever	B． Whatever	C． That	D． Anybody
（9）A． position	B． name	C． title	D． call
（10）A． worked out	B． turned out	C． carried out	D． tried out
（11）A． answer	B． follow	C． confirm	D． raise
（12）A． alive	B． wise	C． silent	D． lost
（13）A． Until	B． Before	C． When	D． Unless
（14）A． politer	B． safer	C． sadder	D． riskier
（15）A． pronunciation	B． announcement	C． voice	D． sound