Question

Many Years ago three soldiers, hungry and tired of battle, came upon a small village. The villagers, suffering a bad harvest and the many years of war, quickly hid what little they had to eat and met the three in the village square, shaking their heads and sighing, “Well, we are starving.” The soldiers communicated with each other quietly and then the first soldier turned to the villagers. “Your poor fields have left you nothing to share, so we will share what little we have: the secret of making soup from stones.”

Naturally the villagers were intrigued and soon a fire was built to the villager’s greatest pot, and then the soldiers dropped in three smooth stones.

‘“Now this will be a fine soup,” said the second soldier, “but a handful of salt and some parsley (香芹) would make it wonderful!” Up jumped a villager, crying “What a piece of luck! I’ve just remembered where some has been left!”

And off she ran, returning with parsley. As the pot was boiling, the memory of the villagers improved: soon carrots, beef and cream had found their way into the great pot. They ate and danced and sang well into the night, thrilled about the feast and their new-found friends. In the morning the three soldiers awoke, finding all the villagers standing before them. At their feet lay a bag of the village’s best bread and cheese. “You have given us the greatest gift.” said an elder, “and we shall never forget.” The third soldier turned to the crowd, and said, “There is no sccret, but this is certain: people working together can accomplish great things.” At last the light dawned on villagers. Off the soldiers wandered, down the road.

1.The villagers hid food at first mainly because       .

A. they didn’t want to share their little food

B. they had a poor harvest that year

C. they had nothing to eat at all

D. they were sick of soldiers

2.What does the underlined word “intrigued” probably mean?

A. Unwilling.    B. Satisfied.

C. Interested.    D. Generous.

3.What can we learn from the text?

A. The stones used to make the soap were magical.

B. The villagers were grateful to the soldiers at last.

C. The villagers provided nothing other than the soup.

D. The stone soup didn’t agree with most of the villagers.

4.What’s the secret of making stone soup?

A. To be patient.    B. To share.

C. To be honest.    D. To forgive.

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.C

4.B

【解析】文章通过讲述士兵们和村民们共同煮石头汤的故事，告诉我们共同合作和分享的重要性。

1.A

推理判断题。根据第一段The villagers, suffering a bad harvest and the many years of war可知由于收成不好和连年的战争，更主要是他们不愿和士兵们分享，所以把粮食们藏了起来。故选A.

2.C

猜测词义题。因为士兵们要和村民们分享用石头煮汤的秘密，所以村民们很好奇，很感兴趣。“intrigued”好奇的，与Interested同义，故选C.

3.B

推理判断题。根据最后一段At their feet lay a bag of the village's best bread and cheese. "You have given us the greatest gift," said an elder, “and we shall never forget.”可知村民们送来最好的食物来表达对士兵们的感激之情，故选B.

4.B

推理判断题。根据最后一段"There is no secret, but this is certain: people working together can accomplish great things."可知只要人们合作就能完成大事，即学会分享。故选B.