Question

An old man had been working for many years for a town. His job was to clear away natural waste from the pool water in the hills, which made up the lovely river flowing through the town nearby. Quietly and   36 , the old man guarded the hills,  37   the leaves and branches, and cleaned up the dirt that would have   38  and polluted the fresh flow of water . The town soon became a popular attraction for tourists. Elegant swans (天鹅) floated along the clear river and the view was so beautiful   39     words.

Years passed. One evening the town    40   met. As they reviewed the budget, one man’s  41____caught sight of the salary   42   being paid to the seldom seen keeper of the river. He asked , “Who is the old man? Why do we    43  to employ him? No one in town ever  44 him. For all we know, the strange keeper of the hills isn’t doing his job. His position isn’t   45   any longer.” Then they voted to   46  the man.

For several weeks, nothing changed….

By early autumn, the trees began to  47 their leaves. Small branches broke off and fell into the pools of the hills,  48   the flow of the shining water. One afternoon, someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown   49  in the river. A few days later, the water was much   50  . Within another week, an oily something covered some sections of the water along the banks, and a terrible   51   was soon sensed. Swans left and so did the 52   . The only thing that was now visiting the village was disease and sickness.

Quickly, the   53   town committee called a special meeting. Realizing their huge error in  54  , they rehired the old keeper of the river again, and within a few weeks, the river began to clear up. Swans and tourists came back again and new life returned to the small town in the Alps.

Never ignore the seeming smallness of a task, job or life. They may all make a  55   .

1.	A．regularly B．suddenly C．naturally D．actually

2.	A．cut B．burned C．removed D．selected

3.	A．carried B．poured C．changed D．blocked

4.	A．beyond B．with C．in D．after

5.	A．office B．association C．department D．committee

6.	A．eye B．care C．hand D．mind

7.	A．list B．form C．figure D．account

8.	A．promise B．continue C．stop D．tend

9.	A．visits B．hires C．tells D．sees

10.	A．powerful B．important C．necessary D．suitable

11.	A．find B．fire C．support D．forgot

12.	A．lose B．miss C．fall D．grow

13.	A．pulling B．speeding C．slowing D．pushing

14.	A．fish B．color C．flower D．leaf

15.	A．deeper B．cooler C．warmer D．darker

16.	A．sound B．smell C．wave D．taste

17.	A．managers B．passengers C．villagers D．tourists

18.	A．embarrassed B．annoyed C．discouraged D．diappointed

19.	A．arrangement B．assignment C．judgement D．amusement

20.	A．suggestion B．difference C．progress D．decision

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.A

5.D

6.A

7.C

8.B

9.D

10.C

11.B

12.A

13.C

14.B

15.D

16.B

17.D

18.A

19.C

20.B

【解析】文章讲述的是一个老人通过自己的日常工作让一个池塘非常的干净，环境非常好，野生物和游客也经常来，后来当地的委员会错误地解雇掉了这个老人，导致了环境的恶化，后来他们意识到了问题的所在，请回了老人，让环境又恢复了以往的美丽。

1.A 上下文，根据上文An old man had been working for many years for a town可知，他肯定是经常性的，默默无闻地守护着这座小山，去除一些树叶或者树枝，清理可能会阻塞或者污染河水的脏东西。

2.C 同上 remove意为移除，

3.D 同36，block意为阻挡

4.A 常用搭配，beyond words意为无法用言语表达，此处意为景色非常的美，让人找不出合适的词来形容。

5.D 上下文，根据后文可知这里指的是当地的管理委员门会面了，committee意为全体委员，根据后面的 they voted to也可以看出

6.A 上下文，根据后面的caught sight of 可知，是一个人的眼睛，看到了这个很少被看到的河流守护者的薪资。

7.C 同上，salary figure意为薪资

8.B 句意理解，为什么我们要继续雇用他，

9.D 上下文，根据上文的seldom seen keeper of the river可知，很少有人看到过他

10.C 上下文，根据上文的the strange keeper of the hills isn’t doing his job可知，他根本就没做什么事情，所以他的工作是不需要的，即C

11.B 上下文，根据上文可知，委员认为这个老人的工作是不需要的，因此他们投票决定辞掉这个老人。

12.A 上下文，根据上一句的By early autumn可知秋天树要开始落叶了，即lose leaves，或者leaves fall.

13.C 上下文，根据上文的 Small branches broke off and fell into the pools of the hills可知，树枝掉落到池塘了，导致水流变慢。

14.B 根据yellowish-brown可知，他们看到的是河里有点黄棕色

15.D 上下文，此处指的是上文降到的黄棕色变的越来越深了

16.B 上下文，根据上文的an oily something covered some sections of the water along the banks可知，水被阻挡在了一起，时间长了就会变质，发出难闻的味道

17.D 上下文，根据上文的The town soon became a popular attraction for tourists可知，有很多游客来参观，现在天鹅走了，游客也走了

18.A 上下文，根据上文可知，委员辞掉了那个老人，现在导致环境恶化，所以他们感到很尴尬。

19.C 句意理解，他们最大的问题是判断出现了问题。

20.B 词组搭配，make a difference意为有影响。