Is it necessary for a young man to have an apartment as a prerequisite（先決條件） for marriage? Housing has become a major obstacle（障礙） for Chinese young men hoping to start a family. China may breed a new group of bachelors, men caught in the trap of unaffordable houses.
Since early 2009, the housing market has once again become a hot pot at boiling point. Even with allowance（津貼） and special government policies, home prices in China's first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are riding the crest（波峰）of a rising wave. According to the "2010 China Marital Status Report" released on Dec 15, 2010, about 70 percent of women interviewed said that housing, a stable income and some savings were the main requirements for marriage.
From the report, we can see that housing is given top priority（優(yōu)先權(quán)） and that women see an apartment as essential(必不可少的) to show that the man is responsible and can provide for his family.
Personality and morals lay outside the top three matrimonial （婚姻的）requirements. Some women and their families hold the traditional position and take it for granted that the home issue should be the man's responsibility, which doesn’t agree with the contemporary independent spirit of women and gender equality. These marriage values reflect the fact that many women consider marriage another form of "social welfare".
Things may be different overseas. Social housing, provided by European authorities, offer the less wealthy people their own piece of real estate. Such housing is usually apartments in tall buildings with 10 or more floors on the outskirts of town, whose main advantage is the low rents.
For many Americans, houses don't pose an obstacle to getting married. They often buy a house after the wedding, because more and more people are reconsidering their real estate worship, and going back to a more rational(理性的) mode of consumption.
In Japan, renting is the custom for newly married young couples. Few young couples can afford to purchase property. Up to 67.1 percent of young couples choose to rent. Generally speaking, renters account for most people younger than 40 in Japan.
Young people should be free to enjoy being young, without the huge pressure of trying to buy property. Society should help create an environment for them to grow up. Don't let the poor bachelor group become a suffering layer（層） of our society.
【小題1】Which of the following is Not True according to the text?
| A．Home prices have been extremely high since early 2009. |
| B．In the modern society, women don’t want to be independent. |
| C．Chinese government has already done something to control home prices. |
| D．Lots of Chinese young men couldn’t get married because of their economic capability. |
| A．urban areas | B．rural areas（鄉(xiāng)下） |
| C．suburbs | D．downtown areas |
| A．Because they can’t afford a house. |
| B．Because they enjoy their social welfare. |
| C．Because their families want them to marry men with houses. |
| D．Because they think it’s a symbol of the men’s sense of responsibility. |
| A．new couples in those countries like to rent houses |
| B．the situation is different in some foreign countries |
| C．it’s better to live in those countries than live in China |
| D．their governments have done more than Chinese government |
| A．the society can develop rapidly |
| B．young people can lead a happy life |
| C．a(chǎn)ll the young people can afford houses |
| D．the poor bachelors can become rich and enjoy their life |
【小題1】B
【小題2】C
【小題3】D
【小題4】B
【小題5】B
解析試題分析：文章介紹現(xiàn)在的年輕人有住房是最基本的要求，但是高房價使很多年輕人苦不堪言。
【小題1】推理題：從第四段的句子：which doesn’t agree with the contemporary independent spirit of women and gender equality. 可知現(xiàn)在的婦女是需要獨立的，選B
【小題2】猜詞題：從文章第五段的句子：Such housing is usually apartments in tall buildings with 10 or more floors on the outskirts of town, whose main advantage is the low rents.這樣的房子是在城鎮(zhèn)的郊區(qū)的10層或更高的房子，主要的好處是房租低，可知“outskirts”是“郊區(qū)”的意思，選 C
【小題3】細節(jié)題：從文章第三段的句子：that women see an apartment as essential(必不可少的) to show that the man is responsible and can provide for his family.可知婦女認為房子是婚姻的主要要求因為她們認為這是男性責(zé)任感的象征，選D
【小題4】細節(jié)題：從文章第五段的句子：Things may be different overseas.可知作者使用了歐洲，美國和日本的例子是表示情況和外國的情況不一樣，選B
【小題5】段落大意題：從最后一段的句子：Young people should be free to enjoy being young, without the huge pressure of trying to buy property.可知作者希望年輕人要過幸福的生活，選B
考點：考查社會現(xiàn)象類短文
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Descriptions like ‘ Palaeolithic Man’, ‘Neolithic Man’, etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of that time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks. ’
The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world – or even less if the wing ofthe aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.’ The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there. ’ You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say ‘I’ve been there’ – meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. ’
When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.
【小題1】Anthorpologists label nowaday’s men ‘Legless’ because
A people forget how to use his legs.
B people prefer cars, buses and trains.
C lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.
D there are a lot of transportation devices.
【小題2】Travelling at high speed means
A people’s focus on the future.
B a pleasure.
C satisfying drivers’ great thrill.
D a necessity of life.
【小題3】Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’ ?
A People won’t use their eyes.
B In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.
C People can’t see anything on his way of travel.
D People want to sleep during travelling.
【小題4】What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
A Legs become weaker.
B Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.
C There is no need to use eyes.
D The best way to travel is on foot.
【小題5】What does ‘a(chǎn) bird’s-eye view’ mean?
A See view with bird’s eyes.
B A bird looks at a beautiful view.
C It is a general view from a high position looking down.
D A scenic place.
VOCABULARY
Palaeolithic 舊石器時代的
Neolithic 新石器時代的
escalator 自動電梯，自動扶梯
ski-lift 載送滑雪者上坡的裝置
mar 損壞，毀壞
blur 模糊不清，朦朧
smear 涂，弄臟，弄模糊（尤指畫面、輪廓等）
evocative 引起回憶的，喚起感情的
El Dorado (由當(dāng)時西班牙征服者想象中的南美洲)黃金國，寶山，富庶之鄉(xiāng)
Kabul 喀布爾（阿富汗首都）
Irkutsk 伊爾庫茨克（原蘇聯(lián)亞洲城市）
難句譯注與答案詳解
The only way to travel is on foot 旅游的唯一方法是走路
難句譯注
Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world – or even if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way.
【參考譯文】飛機旅行，你只可俯視世界――如果機翼碰巧擋住了你的視線，就看得更少了。
When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the country-side constantly smears the windows.
【參考譯文】如果乘車或火車旅行，郊外模糊朦朧的景象不斷地掠過窗口。
寫作方法與文章大意
文章以因果寫作方法，寫出了由于種種現(xiàn)代化交通設(shè)施、人們不需用腳走路，甚至也不需要用眼看景，出門就坐汽車、公交車、地鐵、飛機……，車、機速度飛快，外邊的景物難以看清，最終導(dǎo)致人們忘記用腳、用眼成為“無腳之人”。一切都經(jīng)歷不到。作者建議最佳的旅游方法是徒步――經(jīng)歷現(xiàn)實。
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
How to deal successfully with a child who shows outstanding musical ability？It’s not always clear how best to develop and encourage his gift.Many parents may even fail to recognise and respond to their children’s need until frustration explodes into difficult or uncooperative(不合作的) behaviour.And while most schools are equipped to deal with children who are specially able in academic subjects，the musically gifted require special understanding which may not always be available in an ordinary school—especially one where music is regarded as a secondary activity.Such children may well benefit from the education offered by a specialist music school.
The five music schools in Britain are a relatively recent introduction.They aim to provide an environment in which gifted children aged between seven and eighteen can develop their skills to the full under the guidance of professional musicians.
Children at specialist music schools spend between one third and one half of an average day on musical activities，for example，individual lessons，orchestras，chamber(室內(nèi)音樂的) groups，voice training，conducting and theory.They also spend several hours a day practising in properly equipped private rooms，sometimes with a teacher.The rest of their time is taken up with the subjects：English，maths，basic sciences and languages.All five British specialist schools are independent，classes are small by normal school standards，with a high teacher/pupil ratio(比率)．Most children attending specialist schools tend to be boarders，leaving home to live，eat and sleep fulltime at school.
What are the disadvantages？An obvious problem is the cost；the fees are high(￡12,000￡17,000 a year for boarders)．However，each school will make every effort with scholarships and other forms of financial assistance，to help parents of outstandingly gifted children to find the necessary fees.Secondly，not all parents want to send their children to boarding school，especially at a very early age.Almost all the directors of the specialist schools express doubts about the wisdom of admitting children as young as seven into such an intense and disciplined(守紀律的) environment.They stress，however，that their main aim is to turn out “rounded and wellbalanced” individuals.
There is little doubt that setting musically gifted children apart from an early age can cause stress.Early signs of musical ability may disappear in their teenage years，while natural competitiveness and the pressure to succeed can lead to a deep sense of failure.But all specialist schools do keep a close watch on the progress of individual pupils，and offer help and advice if needed.
【小題1】If a child’s musical ability is not recognized，________.
| A．the child may misbehave |
| B．the ability may fade away |
| C．the child may lose interest |
| D．the parents may become anxious |
| A．Their academic work may suffer. |
| B．Schools lack musical equipment. |
| C．Music is not seen as an important subject. |
| D．Parents and teachers do not work together. |
| A．Their working day is longer. |
| B．A range of musical training is offered. |
| C．More than half the day is spent on music. |
| D．The children have mostly onetoone lessons. |
| A．Poor children may not be included. |
| B．They may lose their individuality. |
| C．There may be a discipline problem. |
| D．They may not be mature enough on arrival. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
It seems hard to watch someone yawn（打哈欠） and not to yawn ourselves. Even reading about yawning can make you do it. Now, a new study has found why yawning has such a powerful force.
Yawning when others yawn, the study suggests, is a sign of pity and a form of social connection. Kids don’t develop this deeply rooted behavior until around age four, the study found. Kids with autism (自閉癥) are less likely to catch yawns. In the most serious cases, they never do. Yawning might help doctors to see whether the children are developing rightly. The work could also lead to a better understanding of the ways that people communicate and connect.
"Emotional infection seems to be a born thing that connects us together," said Molly Helt, a graduate student in psychology at the University of Connecticut. "Yawning may be part of that." Inspiration for her study came when she tried to get her own autistic son to clear his ears on an airplane. She repeatedly yawned at him, hoping he would yawn back. He never did.
"The fact that autistic kids don’t do it might mean they’re really missing out on that emotional connection with people around them," she said. "The biggest thing people try to figure out after birth is how we become humans and understand that humans have minds that are different from others’," she added. "Autistic people never seem to understand that."
Like infectious （有感染力的）laughter and crying, scientists have found that yawning is a shared experience that promotes social connection. Helt said it could fight stress after a period of being nervous and spread a feeling of calm through a group.
【小題1】What does the new study suggest, according to the first two paragraphs?
| A．Yawning is a form of communication. |
| B．It is easy to stop yawning when you see others yawn. |
| C．Children follow others in yawning just after they are born. |
| D．Yawning has some mysterious force which is related to God. |
| A．humans differ from animals because they communicate with others |
| B．yawning is a kind of emotional connection among humans |
| C．emotions are infectious, but yawning is not |
| D．yawning helps clear ears on planes |
| A．It is natural to yawn back if people around you yawn. |
| B．Some kids are too young to yawn after others. |
| C．Yawning can be used to test children’s development. |
| D．Kids with autism yawn easily when others yawn. |
| A．yawning is different from infectious laughter and crying in theory |
| B．it is bad manners to yawn on some social occasions |
| C．the more you yawn, the happier you will be |
| D．yawning can make people feel relaxed |
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Eyeglasses correct many different types of sight problems, including nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism (散光). Trying to understand those different numbers on an eyeglass prescription (驗光單) requires understanding the measurements optometrists (驗光師) use when fitting you for corrective lenses (鏡片). 
Diopters (屈光度)
The numbers on your prescription are given in diopters, whose short form is "D". It is used to measure the focusing power, or amount of correction.
O.S. and O.D.
Optometrists use the Latin short form O.S. and O.D. to distinguish between your eyes. O.S. refers to your left eye, while O.D. refers to the right eye.
Generally, your prescription will show a number for O.S. and O.D. (given in diopters). The farther this number is on a number line from zero, the more correction your eyeglasses should provide. A plus sign means the eye is farsighted, while a minus sign means the eye is nearsighted.
Spherical Value
This plus or minus number for each eye is called the spherical value, or the degree of nearsightedness or farsightedness you have. Its short form is "S."
Cylinder
If you have an astigmatism, the optometrist will also measure its degree. The higher the number (given in diopters) marked as the cylinder of astigmatism, (its short form is "C"), the more astigmatism there is in that eye.
Axis
An astigmatism is also measured in terms of its axis, which is a number between 0 and 180. The axis of the astigmatism does not relate to the amount of cylinder, just the location of the irregularity of the astigmatism on that particular eye.
【小題1】According to the first paragraph, various sight problems ______.
| A．should be understood by the patients |
| B．can be avoided by wearing corrective lenses |
| C．should be tested by different optometrists |
| D．can be corrected by wearing eyeglasses |
| A．Diopters | B．Spherical Value | C．Cylinder | D．Axis |
| A．is farsighted | B．is nearsighted |
| C．has no astigmatism | D．is normal in sight |
| A．a(chǎn)n education report | B．a(chǎn) school bulletin |
| C．a(chǎn) local newspaper | D．a(chǎn)n encyclopedia (百科全書) |
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Although similar in appearance to hyenas(土狼), African wild dogs are nevertheless true wild canine(犬). They are a mixture of black, yellow, and white in such a wide variety of patterns that no two individuals look exactly alike. African wild dogs are widely distributed across the African plains but they do not live in jungle areas.
They are social animals, living in groups of usually from 2 to 45 individuals. A hierarchy（統(tǒng)團） exists within the group, but the animals are friendly to one another. The young and the infirm（體弱的） are given special privileges within the group.
African wild dogs use their sense of sight, not smell, to find their prey. They can run up to 55 km/h for several kilometers. In eastern Africa, they mostly hunt Thomson's gazelles, but they will also attack calves, warthogs, zebras, impalas, and the young of large antelopes such as the gnu.
Growing human populations have decreased or degraded the African wild dog's habitat and also diminished their available prey. Road kill and human persecution（迫害） have also had a negative impact on African wild dog populations. This species is also susceptible to a variety of diseases such as distemper, which is controlled in domestic .dogs. Conservation of the African wild dog's natural habitat must have the highest priority, as these dogs suffer in habitats modified by human intrusion（干擾）．
【小題1】What does the underlined word "susceptible" mean?
| A．easily affected or suffered | B．badly doubtful |
| C．seriously harmful | D．highly dangerous |
| A．a(chǎn). b, c, d, e | B．b, c, d, e, f | C．c, d, e, f, h | D．d, e, f, g, h |
| A．African wild dogs are completely different from domestic dogs in size, weight |
| B．African wild dogs are living in groups |
| C．African wild dogs use their eyes mostly when sleeping to guard |
| D．African wild dogs use their noses to find their food in most cases |
| A．In a pack there may be about 90 wild dogs and no leader. |
| B．There are no such wild dogs that are different. |
| C．African wild dogs can run at a speed of about 15 m/s for a long distance. |
| D．All African wild dogs kill zebras, impalas, and antelopes as their food. |
| A．African wild dogs are not in danger, because there are such a wide variety of patterns. |
| B．African wild dogs are not in danger, because are widely distributed across the African plains. |
| C．African wild dogs are in danger, because human's activities have a great effect on them. |
| D．African wild dogs are in danger, because their habitats have been changed much. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
A report brought back by most visitors to the US is how friendly, polite, and helpful most Americans were to them. To be fair, this observation is also frequently made of Canada and Canadians, and should best be considered North American. There are, of course, exceptions. Small-minded officials, rude waiters, and ill-mannered taxi drivers are hardly unknown in the US. Yet American’s friendliness and helpfulness is an observation made so frequently that it deserves comment.
For a long period of time and in many parts of the country, a traveler was a welcome break in an otherwise dull existence. Dullness and loneliness were common problems of the families who generally lived distant from one another. Strangers and travelers were welcome sources of distraction, and brought news of the outside world．
The tough realities of the border also shaped this tradition of hospitality. Someone traveling alone, if hungry, injured, or ill, often had nowhere to turn except to the nearest settler agent. It was not a matter of choice for the traveler or only a charitable impulse (沖動） on the part of the settlers. It reflected the hardship of daily life: if you didn't take in the stranger and take care of him, there was no one else who would. And someday, remember, you might be in the same situation．
Today there are many charitable organizations which specialize in helping the exhausted traveler. Yet, the old tradition of hospitality to strangers is still very strong in the US, especially in the smaller cities and towns away from the busy tourist routes. "I was just traveling through, got talking with this American, and pretty soon he invited me home for dinner, amazing." Such observations reported by visitors to the US are not uncommon, but are not always understood properly. The casual friendliness of many Americans should be understood neither as superficial（表面的）nor as artificial（虛偽的）, but as the result of a historically developed cultural tradition.
As is true of any developed society, in America a complex set of cultural signals and customs is the basis of all social inter-relationships. And, of course, speaking a language does not necessarily mean that someone understands social and cultural patterns. Visitors who fail to "translate" cultural meanings properly often draw wrong conclusions. For example when an American uses the word "friend", the cultural meanings of the word may be quite different from those it has in the visitor's language and culture. It takes more than a brief encounter on a bus to tell polite customs from individual interest. Yet, being friendly is a virtue （美德） that many Americans value highly and expect from both neighbors and strangers.
【小題1】In the eyes of visitors from the outside world, ________．
| A．rude taxi drivers are hardly seen in the US |
| B．small-minded officials deserve a serious comment |
| C．Canadians are not so friendly as their neighbors |
| D．most Americans are ready to offer help |
| A．culture has an influence over social inter-relationship |
| B．polite customs and individual interest are inter-related |
| C．various virtues shows themselves only among friends |
| D．social inter-relationships equal the complex set of cultural customs |
| A．to improve their hard life | B．in view of their long-distance travel |
| C．to add some taste to their own daily life | D．out of a charitable impulse |
| A．tends to be superficial and artificial |
| B．is generally well kept up in the United States |
| C．is always understood properly |
| D．has something to do with the busy tourist route |
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”
“Of course I have a job,” said Emily. “I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.
One day I found myself in the same situation. The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. “What is your occupation?” she asked.
The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.
I repeated the title slowly, and then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”
Coolly, without any trace of panic（恐慌，驚慌） in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t）, in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (依托) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7 and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”
Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.
【小題1】What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?
| A．The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was. |
| B．The recorder was impatient and rude. |
| C．The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced. |
| D．Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society. |
| A．curious | B．puzzled | C．indifferent | D．interested |
| A．calm | B．panic-stricken | C．confident | D．cool |
| A．Because the author cared little about rewards. |
| B．Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab. |
| C．Because she thought the author did admirable work. |
| D．Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of. |
| A．To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it. |
| B．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect. |
| C．To show that the author had a grander job than Emily. |
| D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He stopped by the fence in front of the house where he lived with his aunt Polly. He looked at it, and all joy left him. The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.
He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day. They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.
He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find some way to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets —nothing that could buy even half an hour of freedom. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea. At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.
While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. As he walked along, he was making noises like the sound of a riverboat. First he shouted loudly, like a boat captain. Then he said “Ding-Dong-Dong”, “Ding-Dong-Dong” again and again, like the bell of a riverboat. And he made other strange noises. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.
Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hello! I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”
No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.
Ben said, “Hello, old fellow, you’ve got to work, hey?”
Tom turned suddenly and said, “Why, it’s you, Ben! I wasn’t noticing.”
“Say —I’m going swimming. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d rather work — wouldn’t you? Of course you would.”
Tom looked at the boy a bit, and said “What do you call work?”
“Why, isn’t that work?” Tom went back to his whitewashing, and answered carelessly.
“Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer.”
“Oh come, now, you don’t mean to say that you like it?” The brush continued to move.
“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said,
“Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
Tom thought for a moment, was about to agree; but he changed his mind.
“No —no —it won’t do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don’t think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough.”
“No —is that so? Oh come, now —let me just try. Only just a little.” “Ben, I’d like to, but if it isn’t done right, I’m afraid Aunt Polly … ”
“Oh, I’ll be careful. Now let me try. Say —I’ll give you the core of my apple.”
“Well, here —No, Ben, now don’t. I’m afraid …”
“I’ll give you all of it.”
Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom sold the next chance to Billy for a kite; and when Billy was tired, Johnny bought in for a dead rat —and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures.
And he had not worked. He had had a nice idle time all the time, with plenty of company －and the fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.
He had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get.
【小題1】Why did Tom take all his bits of toys out of his pockets?
| A．Because he is tired and wanted to play with his toys. |
| B．Because he wanted to throw his toys away. |
| C．Because he wanted to give his toys to his friends. |
| D．Because he wanted to know if he could buy help with his toys. |
| A．Tom wanted to do the whitewashing by himself |
| B．Tom planned to make Ben give up his apple first |
| C．Tom was unwilling to let Ben do the whitewashing |
| D．Tom was afraid Ben would do the whitewashing better. |
| A．His warm heart and kindness to friends. |
| B．His curiosity about Tom’s brushing job. |
| C．Tom’s threat. |
| D．Aunt Polly’s idea. |
| A．The Happy Whitewasher |
| B．Tom And His Fellows |
| C．Whitewashing A Fence |
| D．How To Make The Things Difficult To Get |
查看答案和解析>>
湖北省互聯(lián)網(wǎng)違法和不良信息舉報平臺 | 網(wǎng)上有害信息舉報專區(qū) | 電信詐騙舉報專區(qū) | 涉歷史虛無主義有害信息舉報專區(qū) | 涉企侵權(quán)舉報專區(qū)
違法和不良信息舉報電話：027-86699610 舉報郵箱：58377363@163.com