单选题 [1] In 1945, a 12-year-old boy saw something in a shop window that set his heart racing. But the price— five dollars—was far beyond Reuben Earle's means.
[2] Reuben couldn't ask his father for the money. Everything Mark Earle made through fishing in Bay Roberts, Newfoundland, Canada. Reuben's mother, Dora, stretched like elastic to feed and clothe their five children.
[3] Nevertheless, he opened the shop's weathered door and went inside. Standing proud and straight in his flour-sack shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, "But I don't have the money right now. ① Can you please hold it for me for some time?"
[4] "I'll try", the shopkeeper smiled. "Folks around here don't usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while. "
[5] Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked worn into the sunlight with the bay rippling in a freshening wind. There was purpose in his loping stride. He would raise the five dollars and not tell anybody.
[6] Hearing the sound of hammering from a side street, Reuben had an idea.
[7] He ran towards the sound and stopped at a construction site. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails purchased in Hessian sacks from a local factory. Sometimes the sacks were discarded in the flurry of building, and Reuben knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece. ②
[8] That day he found two sacks, which he took to the rambling wooden factory and sold to the man in charge of packing nails.
[9] The boy's hand tightly clutched the five-cent pieces as he ran the two kilometers home.
[10] Near his house stood the ancient barn that housed the family's goats and chickens. Reuben found a rusty soda tin and dropped his coins inside. Then he climbed into the loft of the barn and hid the tin beneath a pile of sweet smelling hay.
[11] It was dinner time when Reuben got home. His father sat at the big kitchen table, working on a fishing net. Dora was at the kitchen stove, ready to serve dinner as Reuben took his place at the table.
[12] He looked at his mother and smiled. Sunlight from the window gilded her shoulder-length blonde hair. Slim and beautiful, she was the center of the home, the glue that held it together.
[13] Her chores were never-ending. Sewing clothes for her family on the old Singer treadle machine, cooking meals and baking bread, planting and tending a vegetable garden, milking the goats and scrubbing soiled clothes on a washboard. But she was happy. Her family and their well-being were her highest priority.
[14] Every day after chores and school, Reuben scoured the town, collecting the hessian nail bags. All summer long, despite chores at home weeding and watering the garden, cutting wood and fetching water— Reuben kept to his secret task. ③
[15] Often he was cold, tired and hungry, but the thought of the object in the shop window sustained him. Sometimes his mother would ask: "Reuben, where were you? We were waiting for you to have dinner. "
[16] "Playing, Mum. Sorry. "
[17] Dora would look at his face and shake her head. Boys.
[18] Finally spring burst into glorious green and Reuben's spirits erupted. The time had come!
单选题 We can conclude from the passage that______.
  • A. the life of Reuben's family depended on Mark Earle
  • B. Reuben's mother worked part-time
  • C. Reuben had five brothers and sisters
  • D. Dora was fed up with her life
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】推断题。第二段第二句提到“Everything Mark Eade made through fishing in Bay Robers, Newfoundland, Canada.”，由此可知，Mark Eade是家庭收入的来源，故[A]为答案。第二段末句指出“Reuben's mother, Dora, stretched like elastic to feed and clothe their five children.”，stretched like elastic意为“像松紧带一样”，指她非常忙碌，但是忙于家务和照顾孩子，[B]与事实不符；五个子女包括了Reuben，排除[C]；这里没有提及Dora厌烦了自己的生活，排除[D]。
单选题 Which of the following words CANNOT describe Reuben?
  • A. Confident.
  • B. Sociable.
  • C. Arrogant.
  • D. Courteous.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推断题。第三段记叙了Reuben走进店铺的事情，他对店主说“But I don't have the money fight now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?”，直至他离开店铺都没有表现出傲慢无礼，[C]不符合文意，故为答案。“standing proud and straight in his flour．sack shirt and washed．out trousers”说明他不因穿得破旧而自卑，充分表现出自信，[A]符合文意；他向老板提出要求“But I don't have the money fight now．Can you please hold it for me for some time?”，说明他很善于与人打交道，[B]符合文意；第五段的“Reuben respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out into the sunlight”表明他很懂礼貌，[D]符合文意。
单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true of Dora?
  • A. She stayed in love.
  • B. She wore long hair.
  • C. She's content with life.
  • D. She had a frail body.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】细节题。根据题干中的Dora从十一段开始浏览，第十三段就“Her chores were never ending．”进行了具体描写，就“Sewing, cooking, planting, tending, milking and scrubbing”这些动词短语来判断，她没有一个好身体是干不了这么多活的，[D]无依据，故为答案。第十二段末句表明家人都爱她，[A]符合文意；该段第一句中的“Sunlight from the window gilded her shoulder-length blonde hair．”说明[B]符合文意；第十三段最后两句说明她满足于自己的生活，[C]正确。
单选题 What does the word "scoured" in Paragraph 14 probably mean?
  • A. Wandered aimlessly.
  • B. Searched thoroughly.
  • C. Went around.
  • D. Removed from.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】语义题。由题干定位至第十四段首句“Every day after chores and school，Reuben scoured the town, collecting the hessian nail bags．”，根据第七段和第八段的内容可知，他是在找装钉子的袋子，拿去卖钱，只有到处搜寻，才能找到更多的袋子，故可以判断[B]符合此处语境。因为鲁本带有明确的目的，[A]“毫无目的地乱逛”不符合文意，排除；go around意为“绕过”，remove from意为“远离”，文章没有提到鲁本寻找袋子的具体范围，无法确定是在城镇外找，还是在其他地方，[C]和[D]没有依据。
单选题 "Boys" in the 17th paragraph implies that______.
  • A. boys are not as quiet as girls
  • B. boys love to have fun by nature
  • C. boys are too naughty to be obedient
  • D. boys are more adventurous than girls
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。由题干直接定位至第十七段。前两段提到“Sometimes his mother would ask：“Reuben, where were you ?We were waiting for you to have dinner.”“Playing, Mum. Sorry.””听到鲁本的回答，他妈妈摇了摇头，表示无奈，由此可以推断这里的Boys与play有关，即男孩子天生爱玩，故[B]为答案。文章上下文处均没有涉及girls，[A]和[D]无依据；[C]虽然与男孩有关，但这里并没有提及naughty(淘气)，故排除。