Directions: There are two passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice. Passage One The boy has gone off to college now. And here I am, left with all the peace and quiet I have learned not to miss. I was not a man who wished for children. It seemed quite opposite to the idea of human happiness. I was single most of my life, and parenthood was something that caused other people to suffer. I watched it from a distance, and trembled with horror. When they were small, children seemed to scream for no apparent reason. As teenagers, they seemed to lose all sanity (神智正常), with moods (情绪) changing back and forth, while listening to music with more bad language than my uncles used when drunk. In between babyhood and high school graduation (if their parents were lucky), they were mostly just unclean. Then one entered my life. I did not plan on him. He just came in the package, like the ninth piece of chicken in an eight-piece box, and, in time, made me pay for all the happiness I had enjoyed. He was 11 when he appeared, past the screaming years and before the age where everything that fell from my mouth was considered stupid. I got him in the unclean years, when I tried to avoid close contact with him because I was never quite certain where he had been. This is the child who once licked spaghetti sauce off the underside of his arm. No more needs to be said. When he discovered girls he got much cleaner, but suddenly I was unfit to be around. I always said the wrong thing, or too loud a thing. When he had a girl over, I had to go to whatever room he was farthest from. "I used to be cool," I said. "Some people think I still am." He gave me a pitying look. So did his mom. And now he is gone to college and I miss him, which is how I know there is indeed a God and He is good at playing tricks, and knows how to make a man pay for his transgressions (罪过). He remembers that long ago I felt annoyed in my airplane seat, thinking over and over that the screaming baby behind me should've been left at home, even if it meant her grandparents wouldn't see her until Christmas. I am not alone in this sadness in our house, in this empty nest. I barely even had a nest, before it was empty, though I guess I have no one to blame but me. His mom misses him, too, of course. Even the dog misses him. The dog loved the boy. Woody Bo met him every day at the door after school, knowing he was home because every time the boy locked his car, it gave a short, quick honk (喇叭声). Woody who is too fat to jump (usually), shot into the air at the sound, destroying furniture on a mad dash to the door. A dog should love his boy, I suppose. His world is in pieces now. The boy has been gone for months. The dog will not even go in his room -- not one time since he left. Recently, my wife had to use the boy's car and, unsure if she had locked it, aimed the remote control (遥控) thing at the window and pressed "lock." The horn gave its quick honk, and the dog shot into the air and raced to the door, his tail wagging (摇). He sat there a long time. I guess I know how he feels. 24. The author mentions that he knows there is a God because ______.