A real-life “Home Alone” story of twin 9-year-old brothers in New Hampshire managed to take care of themselves.

The boys’ uncle, who told police he’d stop by every few days while the parents were on a trip in Africa. The parents, Jerusalem and Catherine Monday, left the United States in July, expecting to return in August. But they were delayed in Nigeria for another three months. For their part, the boys transitioned from summer vacation into the school routine: They came home from school every day, ate snacks, watched TV until their failure to pay the cable bill got it shut off, did homework, went to sleep, got up the next morning, got dressed, got on the school bus – all on their own. Neighbors say they regularly saw the boys and didn’t have any concerns about them.

“The kids were so resourceful that they managed to take care of themselves and handled whatever problems that came along,” says Michael Valentine, the Hillsborough County, policeman handling the case. “They certainly knew what time school started, they’d get themselves downstairs, out of the building, onto the bus. The uncle claimed that he would drop off food somewhat regularly, but the officers found there was only some noodle in the cabinets.”

The boys’ school finally realized something was wrong when one of them came to class underdressed during an early-November cold weather. When asked whether their uncle could get them some warmer clothes and shoes, the boys said he didn’t live with them. The uncle, Giobari Atura, who is in his 20s and is the younger brother of Mr. Monday, was charged in December with one count of child endangerment, a misdemeanor. While authorities at first wondered whether the parents had been neglectful, it soon became clear that the problem was that the uncle had reneged on a promise to move in with the children during their parents’ absence. 

The family is now back together, an apparent happy ending to an incident.

本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写，禁止复制和任何商业用途，版权所有，侵权必究！

1.How long did the children stay by themselves?

A One month.

B Four months.

C One year.

D Nine years.

解析：选B。B。细节理解题。根据文章第二段第二句的left the United States in July, expecting to return in August. 和第三句的But they were delayed in Nigeria for another three months可以得知孩子父母去非洲呆了一个月，然后在尼日利亚又耽误了三个月，因此孩子们独自呆在一起的时间是四个月。

2.The underlined phrase “reneged on” in the fourth paragraph may mean ______.

A kept

B broken

C saved

D shared

解析：选B。B。词意推测题。根据文章第四段第二句的When asked whether their uncle could get them some warmer clothes and shoes, the boys said he didn’t live with them可知他们的叔叔并没有照顾他们，因此是叔叔“没有遵守照顾他们的承诺”，所以那个短语的意思为“没有信守诺言”，所以该词的意思为broken。

3.How did the children’s school know the matter?

A The children wore the improper clothes.

B The children didn’t know when school started.

C The children seemed hungry all the time.

D The children couldn’t find noodles in cabinets.

解析：选A。A。推理判断题。根据第四段第一句的when one of them came to class underdressed during an early-November cold weather可知在11月的大冷天里，孩子还穿着单薄的衣服，因此学校看出了问题。

4.When Michael Valentine said “The kids were so resourceful”, he meant ______.

A the children lived a rich and interesting life

B the children cared for themselves so well

C the children could bring serious problems

D the children needn’t go out of the buildings

解析：选B。B。推理判断题。根据第三段第一句的that they managed to take care of themselves and handled whatever problems that came along可知孩子能照顾好自己并且处理问题，因此这也就是Michael Valentine说他们有很多“资源”的深意。

5.What did children do during the time when they were at home?

A They read a real-life “Home Alone” story.

B They watched the news about Africa on TV.

C They got food from their uncle now and then.

D They lived a normal life all by themselves.

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。根据文章第二段第四句的They came home from school every day, ate snacks…的描述可以得知他们过着很正常的生活。