Question

    Sometimes just when we need the power of miracles to change our beliefs, they materialize in the places we’d least expect. They can come to us as a great change in our physical reality or as a simple coincidence in our lives. Sometimes they’re big and can’t be missed. Other times they’re so subtle that if we aren’t aware, we may miss them altogether. They can come from the lips of a stranger we suddenly and mysteriously meet at just the right instant. If we listen carefully, we’ll always hear the right words, at the right time, to dazzle (目眩) us into a realization of something that we may have failed to notice only moments before.

On a cold January afternoon in 1989, I was hiking up the trail that leads to the top of Egypt’s Mt. Horeb. I’d spent the day at St. Catherine’s Monastery and wanted to get to the peak by sunset to see the valley below. As I was winding up the narrow path, I’d occasionally see other hikers who were coming down from a day on the mountain. While they would generally pass with simply a nod or a greeting in another language, there was one man that day who did neither.

I saw him coming from the last switchback on the trail that led to the backside of the mountain. As he got closer, I could see that he was dressed differently from the other hikers I’d seen. Rather than the high-tech fabrics and styles that had been the norm, this man was wearing traditional Egyptian clothing. He wore a tattered, rust-colored galabia and obviously old and thick-soled sandals that were covered in dust. What made his appearance so odd, though, was that the man didn’t even appear to be Egyptian! He was a small-framed Asian man, had very little hair, and was wearing round, wire-rimmed glasses.

As we neared one another, I was the first to speak, “Hello,” I said, stopping on the trail for a moment to catch my breath. Not a sound came from the man as he walked closer. I thought that maybe he hadn’t heard me or the wind had carried my voice away from him in another direction. Suddenly he stopped directly in front of me on the high side of the trail, looked up from the ground, and spoke a single sentence to me in English, “Sometimes you don’t know what you have lost until you’ve lost it.” As I took in what I had just heard, he simply stepped around me and continued his going down the trail.

That moment in my life was a small miracle. The reason is less about what the man said and more about the timing and the context. The year was 1989, and the Cold War was drawing to a close. what the man on the trail couldn’t have known is that it was during my Egyptian pilgrimage (朝圣), and specifically during my hike to the top of Moses’s mountain, that I’d set the time aside to make decisions that would affect my career in the defense industry, my friends, my family, and, ultimately, my life.

I had to ask myself what the chances were of an Asian man dressed in an Egyptian galabia coming down from the top of this historic mountain just when I was walking up, stopping before me, and offering his wisdom, seemingly from out of nowhere. My answer to my own question was easy: the odds were slim to none! In a meet that lasted less than two minutes on a mountain halfway around the world from my home, a total stranger had brought clarity and the hint of a warning, regarding the huge changes that I would make within a matter of days. In my way of thinking, that’s a miracle.

I suspect that we all experience small miracles in our lives every day. Sometimes we have the wisdom and the courage to recognize them for what they are In the moments when we don’t, that’s okay as well. It seems that our miracles have a way of coming back to us again and again. And each time they do, they become a little less subtle, until we can’t possibly miss the message that they bring to our lives!

The key is that they’re everywhere and occur every day for different reasons, in response to the different needs that we may have in the moment. Our job may be less about questioning the extraordinary things that happen in our daily lives and more about accepting the gifts they bring.

1.Why did the author make a pilgrimage to Mt Horeb in Egypt?

A. He was in search of a miracle in his life.

B. It was a holy place for a religious person to head for.

C. He intended to make arrangements for his life in the future.

D. He waited patiently in expectation of meeting a wise person.

2.What does the underlined part “my own question” refer to in paragraph 6?

A. For what reason did the man stop before me?

B. Why did the Asian man go to the mountain?

C. What change would I make within a matter of days?

D. What was the probability that others told us the right words?

3.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “subtle” in paragraph 7?

A. Apparent. B. Delicate.

C. Precise. D. Sufficient.

4.The author viewed the meet with the Asian man as a miracle in his life in that ________.

A. the Asian man’s appearance had a deciding effect on his future life

B. his words were in perfect response to the need he had at that moment

C. what the Asian man said was abundant in the philosophy of life

D. the Asian man impressed on him the worth of what he had possessed

5.What might be the best title for the passage?

A. Can you recognize a miracle? B. Is a miracle significant to us?

C. When might a miracle occur? D. Why do we need a miracle?

6.After the encounter of the Asian man, what will the writer probably do immediately?

A. Continue walking up to the top of the mountain.

B. Have a rest to refresh himself.

C. Try to have a heart-to-heart conversation with the Asian man.

D. Come down the mountain.

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.B

5.A

6.D

【解析】

作者讲述了一次埃及朝圣时，爬到何烈山半山腰时，偶遇了一位正在下山的亚洲陌生人。这位智者停下来给作者说“在失去前你不知道你得到了什么”。点醒了作者做出正确的决定。并讲述了作者通过这件事情对奇迹的思考，我们生活时时处处都存在奇迹。

1.细节理解题。从第五段中的最后一句话“that I’d set the time aside to make decisions that would affect my career in the defense industry, my friends, my family, and, ultimately, my life.”可知，作者把这段时间预留出来做一些影响他国防工业工作、家庭以及最终生活的一些决定。故C选项正确。

2.猜测词义题。划线词汇所在句子为My answer to my own question was easy（我自己对自己问题的答案是简单的），同时前一句作者也提出了自己的问题：为什么他会停下给我说他的观点。并且在第六段最后一句话中，作者强调了这次偶遇智者给作者说的话对他接下来几天要做的决定提供了清晰的思路和暗示的提醒。故D选项正确。

3.猜测词义题。划线词汇所在句子为：And each time they do, they become a little less subtle, until we can’t possibly miss the message that they bring to our lives! 每次奇迹出现， 他们变得不那样细微，直到我们不能忽视它们给我们生活带来的信息。Until后的从句可以看出奇迹每次变得会更加明显，不是像之前那么微妙。A. Apparent显然的，表面上的； B. Delicate微妙的，精美的；C. Precise精确的，明确的；D. Sufficient足够的；充分的。故B选项正确。

4.细节理解题。从第六段最后两句“In a meet that lasted less than two minutes on a mountain halfway around the world from my home, a total stranger had brought clarity and the hint of a warning, regarding the huge changes that I would make within a matter of days. In my way of thinking, that’s a miracle.”可知，智者给作者说的话对他接下来几天要做的决定提供了清晰的思路和暗示的提醒。故B选项正确。

5.主旨大意题。文章最后一段意思为：针对我们当下不同的需求，奇迹时时处处都以不同原因存在着。我们的工作不是质疑这些离奇的事情，更多的是接受生活带给我们的这些礼物。故A选项正确。

6.推理判断题。从智者的行为（coming down from the top of this historic mountain下山）和智者对作者说的话（Sometimes you don’t know what you have lost until you’ve lost it. 在失去前你不知道你得到了什么）可推断，智者告诉作者要珍惜现在所拥有的。故D答案正确。