Question

It was a village in India. The people were poor but they were happy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.

Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.

This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were useless to the villagers. What they had to do was to catch them. Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. The villagers were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn’t last long.

The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops weren’t doing so well. More worry was that the children fell ill more often, and there were more insects around lately. The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides (杀剂) and medicine. Soon there was no money left.

The people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn’t been useless. They had been doing an important job--- eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.

Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

1.From Paragraph l, we learn that the villagers_______.

A. worked very hard for centuries

B. dreamed of having a better life

C. were poor but somewhat happy   

D. lived a different life from their forefathers

2.Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?

A. The frogs were easy money.

B. They needed money to buy medicine.

C. They wanted to please the visitors.

D. The frogs made too much noise.

3. What might be the cause of the children’s sickness?

A. The crops didn’t do well.                              B. There were too many insects.

C. The visitors brought in diseases.             D. The pesticides were overused.

4.What is meaning of the last sentence of the article?

A. Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country.

B. Money is important.

C. The harmony between man and nature is important.

D. Good old days will never be forgotten.

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文说的是印度的一个贫穷的村庄，和城市里的一些人达成了协议，为他们提供青蛙，这样他们就可以赚到一些钱。但是很多青蛙被抓走，导致了这个村庄庄稼遭到了昆虫的破坏，孩子们也总是得病。原来村民们觉得没用的青蛙原来有这么大的作用。

1.细节理解题。根据文中前两句话，It was a village in India. The people were poor but they were happy.可知，这个村子里的人虽然很穷，但是他们很快乐。故选C。

2.推理判断题。根据文中第三段的内容可知，村子里有很多青蛙，他们只要把青蛙抓住就可以赚到钱，因此他们同意这个协议。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据文中第五段的内容，因为没有了青蛙，昆虫的数量急剧增加，这些昆虫毁坏庄稼，传播疾病，因此很多孩子都生病。故选B。

4.推理判断题。这篇短文通过这样的一个实例主要就是告诉我们人与自然的和谐是多么的重要。因此选C。

考点：科普环保类短文阅读。