Question

    One year, a newspaper of the United States published an announcement-the Horticultural (园艺) Institute offered a reward at a high price for the pure white marigold (金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in nature besides golden, the marigold is brown；it is not easy to create the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people forgot that announcement.

One normal day after 20 years, the Horticultural Institute accidentally received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. On that day the news spread like wildfire. It turned out to be an old woman of over 70 years old. The institute had always been hesitating over the fact that the letter stated with certainty that the seeds could bloom(开花) pure white marigold.

Those seeds finally took root in the earth. The wonder appeared after one year: large fields of pure white marigold swung in the light wind. As a result, the old woman became a new focus.

Originally, the old woman was just a flower-lover. When she happened to read the announcement 20 years ago, her heart kept beating wildly. But her eight children all opposed her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics(遗传学) couldn't complete what the experts could never accomplish! Still, the old woman didn't change her mind and went on working without hesitation. She spread some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold bloomed, she chose one faintest (暗淡) from those golden and brown flowers and made it wither (凋谢) naturally in order to get the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose the faintest from these flowers to plant  Year after year, through many cycles of spring sowing and autumn harvest, the old woman's husband died; her children flew far and high; a lot of things happened in her life but only the desire to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart. Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden, she saw a marigold, which was not nearly white but as white as silver or snow.

Such a difficult problem as even experts couldn't cope with was readily solved by an old woman who didn't understand genetics. Was it a wonder? Take root in the heart and even the most common seed can grow into a wonder!

1.Why was a great reward offered by the Institute?

A.White flowers could be sold at a higher price

B.Pure white marigold was more beautiful in nature

C.It was very difficult to develop pure white marigold

D.Scientists wanted to know how marigold grew in nature

2.What can we know about the old woman from the passage?

A.She was 70 when she first read the announcement.

B.She sent pure white marigold flowers to the institute.

C.She got professional support from scientists.

D.She kept trying for years before she succeeded.

3.The underlined word “readily” in the last paragraph probably means .

A.easily B.quickly

C.honestly D.luckily

4.What is the best title for the text?

A.Seeds Take Root in the Heart B.White Marigold is Never Alone

C.Marigolds Grow from Bravery D.White Flowers Bring Success

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。这篇文章主要讲了一个研究所悬赏白色的金盏花，20年后一位老太太成功培育了出来，她解决了科学家都无法解决的难题。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段第二句The high reward attracted so many people, but in nature besides golden, the marigold is brown；it is not easy to create the white one.可知高额的奖励吸引了许多人，但在自然界中，除了金色的，金盏花是棕色的，要生长出白色的金盏花并不容易。由此可推知，学院要提供巨额奖励是因为开发纯白金盏花是非常困难的。故选C。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段中A year later, when the marigold bloomed, she chose one faintest from those golden and brown flowers and made it wither naturally in order to get the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose the faintest from these flowers to plant Year after year, through many cycles of spring sowing and autumn harvest, the old woman's husband died; her children flew far and high; a lot of things happened in her life but only the desire to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart. Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden, she saw a marigold, which was not nearly white but as white as silver or snow.可知一年后，当金盏花开花的时候，她从那些金灿灿的、褐色的花朵中选了一朵最淡的，让它自然枯萎，以获得最好的种子。第二年，她再次种植，并从这些花中挑选出最淡的一朵来种植，年复一年，经历了多次春播秋收的轮回，老妇人的丈夫去世了；儿女们飞得很远很高，她的生命中发生了很多事情，但唯独对种植纯白的金盏花的渴望在她心中生根发芽。终于，在20年后的那一天，在花园里，她看到了一株金盏花，那株金盏花不是近乎白色的，而是像银色的、雪白的。由此可推知，这位老太太坚持了多年才成功。故选D。

3.词义猜测题。根据上文Such a difficult problem as even experts couldn't cope with was可知这样一个连专家都解决不了的难题，却被一位不懂遗传学的老太太轻而易举地解决了。故划线单词意思为“轻易地”。故选A。

4.主旨大意题。根据最后一段中Take root in the heart and even the most common seed can grow into a wonder!可知在心中扎根，即使是最普通的种子也能成长为奇迹！结合这篇文章主要讲了一个研究所悬赏白色的金盏花，一位老太太经过20年的坚持不懈，成功培育出白色金盏花，她解决了科学家都无法解决的难题。可知A选项“种子在心里扎根”最符合文章标题。故选A。