Question

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It is obvious that it has nothing to do with success. For Sir Henry Steward was certainly successful. It is twenty years ago since he came down to our village from London, and bought a couple of old cottages, which he had knocked into one. He used his house as a weekend refuge. He was a lawyer. And the village followed his brilliant career with something almost amounting to paternal pride.

I remember some ten years ago when he was made a King’s Counsel, Amos and I, seeing him get off the London train, went to congratulate him. We grinned with pleasure; he merely looked as miserable as though he’d received a penal sentence. It was the same when he was knighted; he never smiled a bit.And not one of his achievements brought even a ghost of a smile to his tired eyes.

I asked him one day,soon after he’d retired to work with his garden,what it was like to achieve all one’s ambitions. He looked down at his roses and went on watering them. Then he said, “The only value in achieving one’s ambition is that you then realize that they are not worth achieving.’Quickly he moved the conversation on to a more practical level,and within a moment we were back to a safe discussion on the weather. That was two years ago.

I recall this incident, for yesterday, I was passing his house, and had drawn up my cart just outside his garden wall to let a bus pass me. As I sat there filling my pipe.I suddenly heard a shout of joy come from the other side of the wall.

I peered over.There stood Sir Henry doing nothing less than a tribal war dance of sheer unashamed ecstasy. Even when he observed my bewildered face staring over the wall he did not seem put out or embarrassed,but shouted for me to climb over.

“Come and see,Jack,Look! I have done it at last!I have done it at last!”

There he was,holding a small box of earth in his hand.I observed three tiny shoots out of it.

“And there were only three!’ he said,his eye laughing to heaven.

“Three what?’ I asked.

Peach stones, he replied. ‘I’ve always wanted to make peach stones grow,ever since I was a child,when I used to take them home after a party,or as a man after a banquet. And I used to plant them. But now at last I have done it, and what’s more, I had only three stones, and there you are, one, two, three shoots,’ he counted.

And Sir Henry ran off, calling for his wife to come and see his achievement-his achievement of simplicity.

1.Which of the following statement is correct about Sir Henry Steward?

A.He was regarded as an example of being successful by the villagers.

B.He used to bury himself in his lawyer job,which he was very proud of.

C.He participated in parties or banquets with the intention of finding peach stones.

D.He is more a capable gardener in a small village than a brilliant lawyer in London.

2.According to Sir Henry,the underlined word’ they’ in Paragraph 4 possibly means the following EXCEPT

A.being appointed as a King’s Counsel B.being knighted

C.being a respectable lawyer D.being able to plant peach stones

3.Which of the following best serves as an opening paragraph of this passage?

A.However successful we maybe we can never find enough hours to do everything we want.

B.So seldom do people smile that we do not recognize their faces when they do.

C.It would seem that happiness has something to do with simplicity,and that it is the ability to extract pleasure from the simplest things.

D.Look at a man and you will notice that every day is greeted with only resignation,and endured with polite indifference.

4.What can be a suitable title for this passage?

A.Three peach stones B.Smile like a kid

C.Unashamed excitement D.Never too old to learn

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章主要记叙了受人尊敬的律师Henry Steward被任命为国王的法律顾问和被封为了爵士，但是他的任何一项成就都没有使他疲惫的眼睛里露出一丝微笑。结果作者某天经过他的房子时，却发现他为自己种的三个核桃发芽了而欢欣鼓舞，告诉我们幸福是一种从最简单的事物中提取快乐的能力。

1.

推理判断题。根据第一段中And the village followed his brilliant career with something almost amounting to paternal pride.可知村里的人带着一种几乎相当于父辈的自豪，追随着他那辉煌的事业。由此可推知，A选项“他被村民们视为成功的榜样”正确。故选A。

2.

词义猜测题。根据上文I asked him one day, soon after he’d retired to work with his garden, what it was like to achieve all one’s ambitions.可知有一天，我问他，一个人实现了一切雄心壮志是什么滋味。他低头看着他的玫瑰花，继续给它们浇水。Henry Steward对此的回答是雄心壮志都是不值得追求的，Henry Steward已经实现的雄心壮志包括上文提到的被任命为国王的法律顾问，被封为爵士以及成为一位值得尊敬的律师，由此可知，they可能指代的是这三个，只有D选项“能够种植桃核”不属于they指代的内容。故选D。

3.

推理判断题。根据第一段第一句It is obvious that it has nothing to do with success.可知很明显，这与成功毫无关系。结合文章主要内容是在论述获得了许多成就但是仍然不快乐的Henry Steward从种的核桃发芽了这样简单的小事中获得开心快乐的故事，由此可推知，文章是在告诉我们幸福是一种从最简单的事物中提取快乐的能力，这与成功与否毫无关系。C选项“幸福似乎与单纯有关，幸福是一种从最简单的事物中提取快乐的能力”最适合作为这篇文章的开头段落。故选C。

4.

主旨大意题。根据文章内容主要记叙了受人尊敬的律师Henry Steward被任命为国王的法律顾问和被封为了爵士，但是他的任何一项成就都没有使他疲惫的眼睛里露出一丝微笑。结果作者某天经过他的房子时，却发现他为自己种的三个核桃发芽了而欢欣鼓舞，告诉我们幸福是一种从最简单的事物中提取快乐的能力。由此可知，A选项“三个桃核”最符合文章标题。故选A。