Question

When I was a boy of twelve in South Carolina, something happened to me that made me never put any wild animal in a cage.

We lived near a forest, and every evening the mockingbirds （嘲鸫） would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn't a musical instrument that can make a more beautiful _______ than the song of the mockingbird.

I decided to catch a young bird and keep it in a cage, and in this way, I would have my own private musician.

Finally I succeeded in catching a baby bird and put it in a cage. _______ , being frightened, the bird fluttered （扑腾） in the cage, but finally it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and _______ : some beautiful singing from my little musician.

On the second day, the little bird's mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate _______ she brought to it. I was happy to see this. Certainly the mother bird knew how to feed her baby than I did.

The following morning when I went to see my bird, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, _______ . . I was terribly surprised! What had happened!

Arthur Wayne, my neighbor, who heard me crying over the death of the bird explained to me. Another bird, finding her young baby in a cage, will sometimes bring it poisonous （有毒的） berries. She thinks it better for her baby to die than to lose  _______. What do you think of it?

1.A.voice B.noise C.sound D.cry

2.A.At least B.At last C.Firstly D.At first

3.A.looked forward to B.learned from C.ran out of D.wrote down

4.A.anything B.nothing C.something D.everything

5.A.dying B.dead C.bored D.tired

6.A.friends B.parents C.freedom D.happiness

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.C

5.B

6.C

【解析】

短文大意：本文是记叙文，讲述了“我”小时候抓了一只会唱歌的鸟关在笼子里，在吃了鸟妈妈带来的食物后，小鸟不幸夭折的故事。这个故事告诉我们，每个生物都有自由地活着的权利。

1.句意：没有一种乐器比嘲鸫的歌声更动听了。

voice嗓音，指人的说话声或唱歌声；noise噪音，常指不悦耳、不和谐的嘈杂声；sound声音，泛指一切可以听到的声音；cry哭/喊声。根据句意语境，可知sound符合句意，故选C。

2.句意：一开始，鸟很害怕，在笼子里扑腾。

At least至少；At last最后；Firstly最初；At first起初。根据下文“but finally it settled down in its new home但最后它在新家安顿下来”，可知本句描述刚开始的样子，故选D。

3.句意：我对自己感到非常满意，并期待着我的小音乐家能唱出一些美妙的歌曲。

looked forward to期待；learned from从……获得；ran out of用完；wrote down写下。根据下文“some beautiful singing from my little musician我的小音乐家的美妙歌声”，可知作者对小鸟的歌声充满期待，故选A。

4.句意：小鸟吃了她带来的东西。

something某事，表示不确定；anything任何东西，用于否定句、疑问句也用于if或whether之后代替something；nothing没有什么，表否定；everything每件事，指所有事物。根据上文“the little bird's mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth小鸟的妈妈叼着食物飞到笼子里”，可知没有明确是什么食物，故选C。

5.句意：第二天早上，当我去看我的鸟时，我发现它在笼子的地板上死了。

dying临死的；dead死亡的；bored无聊的；tired疲倦的。根据下文“Arthur Wayne, my neighbor, who heard me crying over the death of the bird explained to me我的邻居亚瑟·韦恩听到我为这只鸟的死亡而哭泣……”可知选B。

6.句意：她认为她的孩子死了总比失去自由好。

friends朋友；parents父母；freedom自由；happiness幸福。than表比较，根据上文“Another bird, finding her young baby in a cage另一只鸟发现自己的幼鸟在笼子里”，可知她认为她的孩子死了总比失去自由好，对应了文章的主旨，自由很珍贵，故选C。