I've loved my mother's desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the most wonderful thing in the world. Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she would say again, “it's for Elizabeth.” I never saw her be angry, and never saw her cry. I knew she loved me—she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional(易动感情的)”. But she lived “on the surface(表面)”. As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive(原谅) me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came. My hope turned to disappointment(失望), then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn't be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not. Now the present of her desk told, as she'd never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside —a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded(折叠) and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words.

    Today was quite an amazing day for me. It was the day that my father returned home from Russia. He had been away from us for over a year. I had missed him more than words could ever say. Although we were proud of him, we hoped that he could wake up under the same roof (屋顶) as us. Now the day had finally arrived. He had worked hard and it was now time for him to return home.

    Mom woke us at 6 a.m. to go to the airport. My father's flight (航班) was due to arrive at 9:30. “We don't want to be late!” she kept saying as she woke everyone up. She had no need to remind me! I quickly dressed, washed and had breakfast. I could not take my eyes off the clock all morning. Time was going so slowly. When it was 8:45, my mom told us all it was time to go. We all ran to the car and made our way quickly to the airport.

    We arrived just after 9 and waited patiently. But 9:30 came and went and our father's flight had still not arrived. I kept asking Mom where he was. She just kept smiling and saying he'd be there soon. Another 10 minutes went by, and suddenly a tall man appeared in the crowd. There was my father standing before me. He dropped his bags to the floor and hugged my sister and me. “I've missed you so much,” he said. We all cried together. I never want my father to be away for such a long time.

    Today was pretty perfect.

根据阅读材料的内容选择最佳答案回答问题。

    Yuri Gagarin was a famous Soviet astronaut. He was born in a town in the west of Moscow on 9 March, 1934. He showed great interest in flight and universe when he was a school boy. His Maths teacher was a pilot during the Second World War. Yruri Gagarin learnt a lot from him.

    Later, Yuri Gagarin went to a technical school and learnt to fly a small plane. In 1955, after graduating from the technical school, he entered a flight training school.

    In 1960, Gagarin was selected as one of the 20 astronauts for the space programme of his country. Along with the others, he had a lot of tests of his physical and mental abilities. He was the best.

    On 12 April, 1961, he made history. He orbited(绕……轨道而行) the Earth for 108 minutes. After returning safely, Gagarin became a hero in his country, and people in other countries were also very interested in his flight.

    Gagarin never went into space again, but he trained other astronauts, including the first woman in space.

    On 27 March, 1968, the first spaceman died in a plane crash because of bad weather.