Question

He was just an ordinary postman. Day after day, he shuttled(穿梭) back and forth across the village. For him, life was without waves.

One day, he was delivering mail as usual. When he looked up in the sky, he suddenly lost his balance. It was a little stone that tripped him up（绊倒）. He observed the stone that had embarrassed（难堪） him, finding it strange but beautiful. In his eyes, this stone was like a lost jewel（宝石）covered with dust. The postman then placed the stone in his bag carefully. Because of this stone’s arrival, his day was lightened. He suddenly had a bold thought—I can build a castle with such beautiful stones. How magnificent it will be!

His ordinary life started to be different since then. He still delivered mail, but he collected every stone he could find along the way. All those dusty stones, in his eyes, glittered like diamonds.

Gradually, his small bag couldn’t hold his stones any more and he needed to use a wheelbarrow to carry them. People didn’t understand what happened when they saw the postman delivering letters with a wheelbarrow full of stones.

After collecting enough stones, he started to build his castle. During the daytime, he passed along the dreams of others; and during the nighttime, he built his own dream. No one was willing to join in. But the postman was unmoved, still happily building his castle. Because he knew, the dream and the castle only belonged to him.

After 20 years of working day and night, the postman’s dream castle was finally completed. It was a magnificent castle just as he had imagined. It was a miracle arising from the ordinary.

This is a real story. The postman’s name is Xue Waller. The stone castle has become a famous tourist attraction in France, which is called“ ideal palace of Ferdinand Cheval.” At the entrance of the stone castle, there is a sentence—“I want to know how far a dream stone can go.”

1. The postman felt embarrassed because he _______.

A. lost his balance          B. lost his bag

C. delivered mail           D. found a stone

2. The postman’s own dream was to _______

A. collect stones             B. deliver mail

C. find diamonds           D. build his castle

3. The underlined word “glittered” in the third paragraph may mean ________.

A .shone             B. cleaned          

C. posted            D. hid

4.. Which of the following is not true?

A. A little stone tripped the postman up while he was delivering mail as usual.

B. The postman collected every stone he would find along the way.

C. The postman built his castle with the help of his family and friends.

D. The postman spent twenty years building his stone castle.

5.The postman named Xue Waller was ________.

A. German           B. French           

C.British            D. American

6. From the passage we can learn that ________.

A. The postman had a colourful life before the accident in which he lost his balance.

B. The postman gave up his job in order to built his stone castle.

C. The stone that tripped the postman up was a real jewel.

D. Though people didn’t understand him, the postman continued his dream-building a castle.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.A

4.C

5.B

6.D

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文主要介绍了一个普通的邮递员在途中被一块石头绊倒后发现石头非常美丽，于是就梦想用这样的石头建一座城堡。尽管人们不理解他的行为但是他没有退缩，经过20年的不懈努力他成功了。这个石头城堡现在成为法国著名的旅游景点。

1.二段When he looked up in the sky, he suddenly lost his balance. It was a little stone that tripped him up（绊倒）. He observed the stone that had embarrassed（难堪） him,，可知石头使他失去了平衡，然后他观察了那个使他尴尬的石头，故选A。

2.He suddenly had a bold thought—I can build a castle with such beautiful stones. 可知邮递员的梦想就是建立自己的城堡，故选D。

3.词义猜测题。根据第三段All those dusty stones, in his eyes, glittered like diamonds. 所有这些尘土飞扬的石头,在他看来,亮得像钻石。故选A

4.是非判断题。根据第五段No one was willing to join in可知没有人加入到他当中，故选C

5.最后一段The stone castle has become a famous tourist attraction in France,可知，城堡在法国，所以他是法国人，故选B

6.

考点：故事类短文阅读。