A. Listen to the following passage and then decide whether the statements blow are true or false. After hearing a short passage， blacken the circle of “True” on the answer sheet if you think the statement is true， or blacken the circle for “False” if it is false. There are ten statements in this part of the test， with one point each. You will hear the passage only once.
    My mother stayed in California for ten years. Her grandfather left her to his wife， Emma， a severe woman who wore black dresses and resented and ignored my mother. Emma discouraged visitors and rarely allowed my mother to attend parties or other functions. One Halloween， when she caught my mother trick-or-treating with school friends， Emma decided to confine her to her room for an entire year， except for the hours she was in school. She forbade my mother to eat at the kitchen table or linger in the front yard. This cruel punishment went on for months until Emma’s sister came for a visit and put a stop to it. By the time my mother turned fourteen， she could no longer bear life in her grandmother’s house. She found work as a mother’s helper， caring for two young children in return for room， board and three dollars a week. She had little time for the extracurricular athletics and drama that she loved and no money for clothes.