A．cigarettes for himself C．some poison

B．more coffee for his wife D．some gasoline

解析：细节理解题。根据第一段倒数第二句中的内容可知，在作者的妈妈的一番折腾后，作者的爸爸开车去商店买回了一些毒药。 答案：C

38．The author fed a few dozen crickets to the cat probably to ________.

A．make his mother happy

B．help his mother clear away the crickets C．play with the cat D．harm the cat

解析：推理判断题。第二段最后一句中提到作者不喜欢那只猫，因为它无缘无故地乱抓，所以喂它一些死蟋蟀是想伤害它。 答案：D

39．The author's father burned the old newspapers and magazines because he thought ____.

A．they were no longer useful B．the crickets were afraid of fire C．they became the home of crickets D．the dead crickets came back to life

解析：细节理解题。第四段最后一句提到作者的爸爸焚烧了大量旧报纸和旧杂志，说蟋蟀已经把报纸和杂志变成了窝，由此可知选C。 答案：C

40．We learn from the last paragraph that ________.

A．the author's family lost their battle against the crickets B．the author's parents learned to put up with insects C．the author's family didn't suffer much in the fire D．the author's parents got divorced

解析：推理判断题。作者的爸爸用毒药杀死一些蟋蟀，之后木堆起火，割草机油箱中的汽油发生爆炸并波及房屋，作者的妈妈带着其他人去了Gail婶婶家，作者和爸爸还有Burt叔叔把房屋中的东西搬出后堆放在路边，并一直忙到晚上，此时打破他们之间沉默的还是蟋蟀的叫声，由此可推断在与蟋蟀的战争中，作者一家失败了。 答案：A