he wondered. "It must be to the cleverest son. But which one is the cleverest?"
He called his three sons to him. "Here is some money," he told them, "you must each take one coin to buy
something that will fill this room. Anyone who can do this shall have my fortune."
"It is a big room," said the eldest son.
"One coin will not buy very much," said the second son.
But the youngest son said nothing. He stood and thought, and then he smiled, "Come, brothers," he said,
"let us go to the market."
The eldest son bought straw with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of straw. Even when he had
spread it as much as he could, the straw covered only a corner of the room.
The second son bought sand with his coin. But one coin bought only a bit of sand. Even when he had
spread it as much as he could, the sand covered only half of the floor.
"What did you buy?" the eldest son angrily asked the youngest son. "You don"t have any straw."
"Yes, what did you buy?" the second son asked angrily. "You don"t have any sand."
"I bought this," said the youngest son.
"A candle!" cried his brothers."What good is a candle?"
"Watch", said the youngest son.
He lit the candle, and all at once the room was filled from wall to wall, from ceiling to floor. It was filled
with light!
"Although you are the youngest, you are indeed the cleverest of my sons," the old merchant said.
And that is how, the old merchant left his fortune to his youngest son, the one who could fill a room with
light.
B. The richest son.
C. The cleverest son.
D. The silliest son.
B. who would take care of him when he became old
C. who wanted to get his fortune
D. who got married first
B. He is very lazy.
C. He is very mean.
D. He is very diligent.
B. candle
C. sand
D. water
British who did it. Here is a story of how the watch was brought to Switzerland.
Many years ago, an Englishman was travelling to Italy. On his way he stopped in a small town in South
Switzerland. This Englishman travelled in a carriage (马车) inside which there was a carriage watch. This
was the earliest kind of watch. A native shop assistant (售货员) happened to see the watch. He wondered
what it was and asked the Englishman about it. "It is a carriage watch." said the man. This machine tells the
time but now it isn"t working.
At once the shop assistant offered to try to repair it. So the traveller handed him the watch. The assistant
was a very wise man. So it was not surprising that he managed to repair it. He even remembered how it was
made. As soon as the traveller had gone on his way, he made a watch exactly the same type.
Thus the watch-making was started in Switzerland. Today Swiss watches are sold in stores all over the
world.
B. selling watches
C. inventing watches
D. the carriage watch
B. an Italian
C. an Englishman
D. a shop assistant
B. England
C. Italy
D. a small town
B. an English shop assistant
C. a man who came from Switzerland
D. a man who was travelling to Italy
B. wasn"t working
C. told people time
D. had to be repaired
breaking bricks with a hammer. I asked a Bangladesh escort (随从) why they weren"t using a machine,
which would have been a lot easier. He told me a machine would put that lady out of work. And bad as
that woman"s job was, it was enough to keep a small family alive. 1______.
Serving in the U.S. Army overseas in the past, I saw a lot of people like that woman in Bangladesh.
2______. They are victims (受害者) of crime and social unrest (动荡), who in turn become the drug
dealers and the street gang (匪帮) members. I"ve seen it over and over again everywhere I go. People
who have jobs can have a home, send their kids to school, develop a sense of pride, contribute to the
good of the community, and even help others. 3______.
4______, but I"m still working to help people prepared for disaster. I"m not going to stop. 5______.
B. It reminded me of my father"s words: To work is a blessing
C. She might get to do a little farming some day, too.
D. I believe in my father"s words: To work is a blessing
E. Now I"m retired from the Army
F. And I have come to believe that people without jobs are not blessed.
G. No one can work.
wanted a new bicycle. As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade, or so we thought.
We bought the latest rage, Baby Sitter"s Club dolls, and a doll house. Then, much to our surprise, on December
23rd, she said that she "really wanted a bike more than anything else." It was just too late, what with all the
details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying last-minute gifts, to take the time to select the "right bike" for
our litter girl. So here we were Christmas Eve around 9 p.m., with Rose and her six-year-old brother, Dylan,
nestled snug in their beds. Now we could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. "What
if I make a little bicycle out of clay (泥) and write a note that she could trade (互相交换) the clay model in for
a real bike?" Her dad asked. "This is an expensive item and she is "such a big girl," it would be much better for
her to pick it out." So he spent the next four hours painstakingly working with clay to make a tiny bike. On
Christmas morning, we were excited for Rose to open the little hear shaped package with the beautiful red and
white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud. "Does this mean that I trade in this
bike that Daddy made me for a real one?" Beaming, I said, "Yes." Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied,
"I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I"d rather keep this than get a real bike." At
that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle on the planet!
a. The girl asked for a new bike.
b. The girl opened the little heart shaped package.
c. The parents bought the girl a modern and popular doll.
d. The father made the girl a bike with clay.
e. The girl would rather keep the clay bike than get a real one.
B. a, c, d, b, e
C. a, c, b, d, e
D. a, b, d, c, e
B. Tears were in the girl"s eyes because she didn"t like the present at all.
C. The girl never lost her desire for a bike.
D. The parents paid little attention to the daughter"s desire for a bike.
B. He didn"t want to disappoint his daughter.
C. He thought his daughter would like it.
D. He wanted to give his daughter a surprise.
B. The parents didn"t feel comfortable and relaxed.
C. The parents were moved and felt proud of the girl.
D. The parents felt disappointed and sorry for the girl.
In March 1980, I was 2 at Durham University with seven other Chinese students. I had 3 to go to
another university after graduation and had 4 application (申请) forms to several 5 . Every morning I
arrived at the porter"s office (传达室) and waited my fate. But no 6 came.
On April 1st, as I was eating my 7 , Huang came in, with a toothbrush 8 in his hand. 9 fearing
that he might forget the important news, he passed me the 10 . "Morning, Wu," he said, "I saw Mr. G this
morning. He told me that a letter had arrived in his office for you from Manchester University, and asked
you to go and get it 11 possible." I jumped with 12 .
I even didn"t 13 my breakfast and rushed to Mr. G"s office but he wasn"t 14 . I then went to the
secretary"s room and 15 everything to her. She opened Mr. G"s room. I looked at everything. There didn"t
seem to be a letter for me. "If he had asked you to pick it up from here," said the secretary, "he would have
put it in 16 or simply left it to me."
Greatly 17 , I walked out of the room and 18 the secretary lock it. 19 the secretary"s eyes 20 .
"Sorry," she said. "It"s April Fool"s Day!"
( )1. A. sometimes ( )2. A. staying ( )3. A. continued ( )4. A. returned ( )5. A. people ( )6. A. application ( )7. A. dinner ( )8. A. still ( )9. A. Because of ( )10. A. message ( )11. A. if ( )12. A. the news ( )13. A. take ( )14. A. anywhere ( )15. A. asked ( )16. A.the office ( )17. A. disappoi ( )18. A. watched ( )19. A. Quickly ( )20. A. closed | B. never | C. always C. visiting C. managed C. handed C. cities C. reply C. supper C. yet C. After C. letter C. when C. joy C. complete C. at C. explained C.the room C. disappointing C. saw C. Finally C. brightly | D. seldom D. studying D. remembered D. sent D. offices D. chance D. breakfast D. already D. While D. notice D. as fast as D. luck D. have D. away D. answered D.an obvious (明显的) place D. disappointment D. let D. Suddenly D. darkened |
完形填空。 | |||
My first performance in front of an audience was coming up soon. I tried as hard as I could to remain | |||