I stood there listening to my father shout at top of his voice. The look on his face said that one of us did something .

“Which one of you did this?”

We all looked down at the step. There was child’s handwriting in chalk there. I had a lot of

. I hoped no one could see it. Would he guess it was me? I was so worried. When he asked me, I lied, “Not me, Dad.” The others denied（否認(rèn)）it as well. Of course, we all knew that one of must have done it. But as the youngest and smallest of the three, I just couldn’t find the courage to tell the truth.

To who had written on the step, Father gave us each a piece of paper and a pencil. “I want each of you to exactly what you see on the step.”

I tried my best to write the words . I didn’t want Dad to be able to tell it was me.

He our pieces of paper and looked at them. “Since none of you will admit (承認(rèn)) to have done it, then I will punish (懲罰) you and said nothing. The last thing I wanted was for Dad to me.

“I did it.” My sister said she did something that she didn’t. Father grounded her for a month.

We didn’t talk about that day for many years. Not until we were all older and I knew it was to finally tell my dad it was really me. I always felt sorry for it. That was the last time I let anyone take the blame (責(zé)備) for me.

1.A. hard B. wrong C. special D. true

2.A. surprise B. happiness C. fear D. joy

3.A. them B. me C. you D. us

4.A. find out B. talk about C. think about D. look for

5.A. write B. read C. recite D. draw

6.A. clearly B. slowly C. differently D. carefully

7.A. opened B. colored C. showed D. collected

8.A. only B. all C. both D. one

9.A. beat B. teach C. punish D. understand

10.A. lucky B. silly C. easy D. safe