MyparentsandtwoolderbrothersarrivedinQueensfromCubain19...

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My parents and two older brothers arrived in Queens from Cuba in 1967, squeezing into a one-bedroom apartment that got even more crampedwhen I showed up two years later. Suspicious of everyone and unable to communicate in English, my parents weren’t about to let their kids hang out in the streets. And since they both worked, we boys spent a lot of time at home.

The main public library on Merrick Boulevard was the first place I was allowed to visit on my own. I started going there when I was eight. Everything I needing was located on what seemed to me an endless single floor. Wandering around that Building aimlessly on a Saturday afternoon offered a sense of freedom I’d never experienced before.

Once my father dropped me off, it didn’t really matter what I did so long as I could explore. I find it interesting that people today say that libraries are no longer about books; they weren’t really about books for me back in the 1970s, either. It was more about being around other people who looked like they were being productive-turning pages, making copies, patiently waiting for items. All this was attractive to me.

I felt a certain level of dignity and self-respect at the library. I didn’t borrow books from the library despite spending practically every Saturday of my childhood there. I certainly went over hundreds and hundreds of them during my walks around the building- sports, politics and the solar system were my favorite sections.

But I felt no great need to bring books home. We had no room for books in our apartment anyway. I felt like a poor kid when I read books at home. I felt like everyone else when I read books at the library.

21. The underlined word “cramped” in Paragraph I probably means “________”.

A. dangerous B. shabby C. messy D. crowded

22. What did the author appreciate most about the library?

A. The atmosphere it provides. B. The books he could explore.

C. The productive people in it. D. The seemingly endless floor.

23. The author didn’t borrow books from the library because ________.

A. he had finished reading all the books he preferred

B. he felt like reading at the library to enjoy freedom

C. he didn’t want to lose his dignity and self-respect

D. he was too poor to afford the cost of borrowing books

24. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. How a Public Library Set Me Free