My father was Chief Engineer of a merchant ship, which was sunk in World War Ⅱ. The book Night of the Uboats told the story.
Memories
In September ，1940，my mother ,sister and I went to Swansea ,where my father ‘s ship was getting ready to sail ,we brought him a family photography to be kept with him at all times and keep him safe .
Then I remember my mother lying face down ,sobbing .she had heard from a friend that the ship had been sunk by a torpedo (鱼雷).
I can remember the arrived of the telegram（电报），which in those days always brought bad news .my grandmother opened it ,it read ,safe .love ted.”
My most vivid memory is being woken and brought down to sit on my father’s knee, his arm in a bandage .
He was judged unfit to return to sea and took a shore job in Glasgow for the rest of the war, for as long as I can remember ,he had a weak heart ,mother said it was caused by the torpedoes .he said it was because of the cigarette ,whichever ,he died suddenly in his early 50s.
Ten years later I read night of the U-boat and able to complete the story .
A toast
In my room is the book and the photograph .often , glass in hand, I have wondered how I would have dealt with an explosion ,a sinking ship ,a jump into a vast ocean and a wait for rescue ?lest (以免 )we forget ,I have some more whisky and toast the heroes of the war.
小题1:We can infer that the mother and children went to Swansea ________.
A．to meet a friend
B．to see the father off
C．to take a family photo
D．to enjoy the sailing of the ship小题2:What did the author learn about the father from the telegram?
A．he was still alive.
B．His knee was broken.
C．His ship had been sunk.
D．He had arrived in Glasgow.小题3:The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 6 refers to the father’s ________.
A．weak heart
B．taking a shore job
C．failure to return to sea
D．injury caused by a torpedo小题4:What is the passage mainly about?
A．A group of forgotten heroes
B．A book describing a terrifying battle.
C．A ship engineer’s wartime experience.
D．A merchant’s memories of a sea rescue.
