Question

Sarah came running in. “Look what I found.” Over the top of the paper I was reading came a crispy long object that caused me to jump. It was a snake skin that had been shed by one of our many garden snakes.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” said my wide-eyed seven-year-old.

I stared at the organic wrapper and thought to myself that it really wasn’t that beautiful, but I have learned never to appear uninterested with children. They see only good quality and excellence in the world until educated otherwise.

“Why does it do this?” Sarah asked.

“Snakes shed their skin because they need to renew themselves,” I explained. “Why do they need to renew themselves?” Sarah asked.

I suddenly remembered an article on this page many years ago where the writer was expressing her concept of renewal. She used layers of paper over a wall to describe how we hide our original selves, and said that by peeling away those layers one by one, we see the original beneath. “We often need to shed our skins and those coatings that we cover ourselves with,” I said to my now absorbed daughter. “We outgrow some things and find other ones unwanted or unnecessary. This snake no longer needs this skin. It is probably too crinkly（起皱的）for him, and he probably doesn’t think he looks as smart in it as he once did.”

Sarah was getting the point. As we talked, I knew that she began to understand, although slightly, that renewal is part of progress; that we need to take a good look at ourselves, our rooms, schoolwork and creativity, and see what we need to keep and what we need to cast off. I was careful to point out that this is a natural consequence of their growth.

“I see, Dad,” said Sarah and jumped off my lap and ran off.

I hoped she would remember this. That often, in order to find our real selves underneath the layers of community and culture with which we cover ourselves year after year, we need to start examining these layers. We need to gently peel some away, as we recognize them to be worthless or unnecessary; or at best, store the ones thrown away as mementoes（念想）of our promotion to a better vitality or spirit.

1.At the first sight of the snake skin, the author was        .

A. scared    B. puzzled

C. uninterested    D. excited

2.Sarah learned from her father that renewal is        .

A. to recover the layers inside

B. to review what has been done

C. a natural part of getting mature

D. the process of finding the unwanted

3.It can be inferred from the passage that the author ________.

A. dislikes the snake skin at all

B. shows concern for nature and culture

C. can grasp the chance to educate children

D. often encourages his daughter to raise questions

4.The author mainly tells the reader that ________.

A. snakes cast off the layers to look smarter

B. we should renew ourselves to get improved

C. snakes shed their skins to renew themselves

D. we should explore our original nature underneath

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.C

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇记叙文。本文叙述了作者的女儿问作者关于蛇为什么会脱皮的问题，作者借机又给女儿进行了一次教育。蛇要脱皮是在成长，人要进步也须不断反省自己，只有会发现自己的缺点才能不断进步。

1.细节理解题。根据文中第一段Over the top of the paper I was reading came a crispy long object that caused me to jump.一句可知，作者看到这个长长的，硬而易碎的东西的时候吓得都跳起来了，scared受惊吓的；puzzled困惑的；uninterested不感兴趣的；excited激动的。故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据文中Sarah was getting the point. As we talked, I knew that she began to understand， although slightly, that renewal is part of progress; 及I was careful to point out that this is a natural consequence of their growth.可知Sarah开始慢慢理解蛇蜕皮也是一种进步，并且作者继续指出这是他们成长的很自然的一种结果。故选C。

3.推理判断题。本文作者的女儿问作者关于蛇为什么会脱皮的问题，作者抓住这个机会给女儿进行了一次教育。因此可推知，作者很善于抓住生活中的小事对孩子进行教育。故选C。

4.推理判断题。作者在文中针对蛇为什么会脱皮这一问题，把蛇的脱皮和人的进步作了类比。借机给女儿进行了一次教育。也是在向我们大家讲述这一道理：人要进步也须不断反省自己，这样才会发现自己的缺点并不断进步。故选B