Question

There was little rain in some place for two years and a lot of people died of hunger．So a man reported a famine（饥荒）to an official（官员）．The official asked，“How much wheat have you harvested？”

“Thirty percent of the normal yield（产量），”the man replied．

“How much cotton？”

“Twenty percent．”

“How much rice？”

“Twenty percent．”

The official got mad，“You've already had seventy percent of the harvest，how dare you trump up（谎报）famine then？”

The man said，“I've never seen such a terrible famine in my life of a hundred and several scores of years．”

“How could you have lived so long？” asked the official．

“Look，I'm over seventy years old．My eldest son is over forty and my second son is over thirty．The total is a hundred and several scores of years．” All the people hearing this had a good laugh over that．

1.A great _______ happened in the place．

A. flood    B. disease

C. drought    D. war

2.The man said _______ ．

A. people had a bad harvest    B. some of the crops were bad

C. people lost their farms    D. people had little food

3.The word “mad” in the story means _______ ．

A. sad    B. happy

C. angry    D. excited

4.The official didn't think _______ ．

A. the people were hungry    B. the famine was terrible enough

C. the people had to be helped    D. the drought was serious enough

5.Hearing the clever answer，people laughed at _______ ．

A. the official    B. the old women

C. the hungry people    D. the policemen nearby

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.C

4.B

5.A

【解析】本文主要讲述因为干旱庄稼收成不好，一个人向官员上报饥荒，那名官员把每种粮食的收成加在一起，所以认为收成很好。对此，那个人将自己和孩子们的年龄加在一起，算作自己的年龄，以此讽刺官员的故事。

1.细节题。根据第一段中的There was little rain in some place for two years and a lot of people died of hunger可知两年多的时间雨水一直很少，说明是遭遇了干旱。故选C。

2.推理判断题。根据第一段中的So a man reported a famine to an official可知这个人向官员汇报饥荒。再结合后文中的Thirty percent of the normal yield；Twenty percent；Twenty percent可知每种粮食的收成都只有产量的20%、30%，说明人们的收成很不好。故选A。

3.词义猜测题。根据后文官员说的话You've already had seventy percent of the harvest，how dare you trump up（谎报）famine then？“你们收获了70%的庄稼，你怎么还敢谎报饥荒?”官员认为农民的收成很好，所以对于那个人上报饥荒很不高兴。故选C。

4.推理判断题。根据You've already had seventy percent of the harvest，how dare you trump up（谎报）famine then？“你们收获了70%的庄稼，你怎么还敢谎报饥荒?”可知官员认为农民的收成很好，饥荒根本就不严重。故选B。

5.推理判断题。根据前文You've already had seventy percent of the harves可知那名官员把每种粮食的收成加在一起，所以认为收成很好。对此，那个人将自己和孩子们的年龄加在一起，算作自己的年龄，说自己活了一百多岁。但实际上他才70多岁，讽刺官员讲每种庄稼的产量加在一起是不对的。所以人们发笑，是嘲笑那个官员。故选A。