4．Three rich ladies met every day by the river．They sat there and talked the whole day．One day the three ladies quarreled（ 争 吵 ）．One of them said，"Look，how white and beautiful my hands are!"Another one said，"My hands are more beautiful．"The
third one said，"Mine are the most beautiful ones．"An old beggar（乞丐） woman came up to them．"Beautiful ladies，"she said，"I'm hungry．Please give me something to
eat．"But the three ladies gave her nothing．They only asked，"Tell me，old woman，which one of us has the most beautiful hands"
A female farmer was also sitting by the river．She was poor and her hands were rough because of hard work．The old woman came up to her and said，"I'm hungry．Please give me something to eat．"The farmer took out the only cake she had and gave her a half．
The old woman ate it and drank some water．Then she took the farmer by the hand，brought her before the rich ladies and said，"Now I shall tell you whose hands are the most beautiful．The hands of the poor farmer are rough because of work，but they give us food．They are far more beautiful than your hands which have never done anything．"
45．Why did the three ladies quarrel on that day？D
A．Because they argued about who should go to buy a cake．
B．Because they argued about who should give food to the beggar．
C．Because everyone wanted to show that she was the richest．
D．Because everyone wanted to show that her hands were the most beautiful．
46．The underlined word"she"in Paragraph 2refers toB
A．the beggar woman
B．the female farmer
C．the first lady
D．the second lady
47．In what order did the following take place in the story？A
a．Three ladies quarreled with each other．
b．The beggar ate the food and drank some water．
c．A beggar woman came to ask for something to eat．
d．The beggar showed the farmer's hands to the other ladies．
e．A farmer gave the beggar woman half a cake．
A．a，c，e，b，d
B．a，e，b，c，d
C．c，e，a，d，b
D．c，d，c，a，d
48．The old woman said that the farmer's hands were more beautiful because．C
A．she liked dark hands better than white hands
B．the female woman gave her half a cake
C．her hands had worked hard to provide food for people
D．the three ladies didn't give her anything to eat．
分析 【文章大意】本文叙述了三位富有的妇女有天为了谁的手是漂亮的而争吵，当有一次碰见一位乞丐来向她们要吃的东西，她们什么也没有给，只是让回答这个问题．而当乞丐向那位农民要吃的东西时，她给了这位乞丐吃的东西，虽然这位农民的手是最黑的，但是劳动的结果，却是最漂亮的手．
解答 45 D 细节理解题．根据文章：One day the three ladies quarreled（ 争 吵 ）．One of them said，"Look，how white and beautiful my hands are!"Another one said，"My hands are more beautiful．"The third one said，"Mine are the most beautiful ones．"可知三位富有的妇女有天为了谁的手是漂亮的而争吵，故选D．
46 B 词义猜测题．根据文章：A female farmer was also sitting by the river．可知此处划线的she指代那位女农民．故选B．
47 A 细节理解题．根据文章可知，先描写三位富有的妇女有天为了谁的手是漂亮的而争吵，然后一位乞丐来向她们要吃的东西，然后农民给了乞丐半个蛋糕，接下来乞丐吃了食物还喝了些水，最后乞丐让其他女士看那位农民的手．故选A．
48 C 细节理解题．根据文章：The hands of the poor farmer are rough because of work，but they give us food．可知农民的手因为工作而粗糙，但他们给我们食物，所以他们的手更美丽．故选C．
点评 首先要仔细阅读短文，掌握大意，然后结合具体的题目再读短文，从中找出相关信息，就可以确定正确答案．
