A
I was born in a family of five children．As the youngest child，I didn't have many new clothes．Though my parents worked very hard，we could hardly make ends meet．The only time we would get new clothes was at Christmas．
The family across the street lived a much better life．Their two daughters were often seen wearing new dresses．The younger girl named Anna was of my age．One afternoon，she walked on the street wearing a beautiful white dress．She looked like an angel in that dress．I，with many little girls，followed her．We just couldn't keep our eyes off her dress．We all wished we would have such a dr ess one day．
That day，I told my mother I wanted a dress like that，my mum frowned （皱眉）．She thought a beautiful dress like that must cost an arm and a leg，but my mum kept that in mind．She worked five days a week at that time，but when Christmas was approaching，she worked even on Saturdays．She was working for longer time in order to buy me the dress．
However，seven days before Christmas，I changed my mind．On Anna's birthday，I was invited to her home．After that party，I asked if I could try on her white dress．"Of course，"she said，"and you can take it if you like it．"I couldn't believe my ears．How could she give such a beautiful dress to someone else？After trying it on，I knew why．
That dress looked very beautiful，but it was uncomfortable to wear．In fact，my back was quite itchy （痒的） after I put it on．From then on，I stopped admiring what others had as they may not be as good as we thought．
21．What can we know from the underlined sentence "we could hardly make ends meet" in Paragraph 1？
A．The writer's family lived a hard life．
B．The writer's parents worked very hard．
C．The writer's family met at the end of month．
D．The writer felt sorry for her parents' hard work．
22．What happened to the writer when she was a little girl？
A．She didn't like new clothes．
B．She couldn't see her parents．
C．She couldn't get whatever she liked．
D．She didn't like Christmas at all．
23．Why did the writer's mum start working on Saturdays？．
A．Because she wanted to buy herself a new dress．
B．Because she had to buy her five children expensive gifts．
C．Because she prepared herself the busiest Christmas．
D．Because she wanted to buy the dress the writer asked for．
24．What can we learn from the passage？
A．There are always kind people around us．
B．We can get what we want if we try hard enough．
C．We should give what we no longer need to others in need．
D．What others have may not be as good as it seems．
