Question

The host poured the tea into the cup and placed it on the small table in front of his guests, who were a father and daughter, and the cover on the cup. Apparently thinking of something, he hurried into the inner room, leaving the thermos(热水瓶) on the table. His two guests heard a cupboard opening.

They remained sitting in the sitting room, the ten-year-old daughter looking at the flowers outside the window, the father just about to take his cup, when the crash came, right there in the sitting room. Something was hopelessly broken.

It was the thermos, which had fallen to the floor. The girl looked over her shoulder, shocked, staring. It was mysterious. Neither of them touched it, not even a bit. True, it hadn’t stood steadily when their host placed in on the table, but it hadn’t fallen then.

The explosion caused the host to rush back. Gawking at the steaming floor, the host said, “It doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter!”

The father started to say something. Then he said softly, “Sorry, I touched it and it fell.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said the host.

When they left the house, the daughter said, “Daddy, did you touch it?”

“No, but it stood so close to me.”

“But you did not touch it. I saw your reflection in the window glass.”

The father laughed. “What would you give as the cause of its fall?”

“The thermos fell by itself. The floor is not smooth. Daddy, why did you say that you…”

“That won’t do, girl. It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down. There are things which people accept less the more you defend. The truer the story you tell, the less true it sounds.”

The daughter was lost in silence for a while. Then she said, “Can you explain it only in this way?”

“Only in this way,” her father said.

1.Which statement is a possible theme of this story?

A. People should take the blame for what they didn’t do.

B. People rarely tell the truth.

C. If you defend yourself, people will believe you.

D. You can’t always make people believe the truth.

2.The underlined phrase “Gawking at” probably means ___________.

A. staring at with anger

B. looking at curious

C, looking at in a dull way

D. glancing at hopelessly

3.It can be inferred from the story that the father____________.

A. didn’t know the host well

B. didn’t think the host would believe the truth

C. was sorry that he told the truth

D. felt satisfied that he didn’t tell the truh

4.From the story we know that the daughter ___________ .

A. thought her father should tell the truth

B. didn’t know why the thermos fell

C. glancing at hopelessly

D. looking at in a dull way

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：文章主要讲述了一个小故事。一位父亲带女儿在他人家做客，由于主人没有把热水瓶放好，结果热水瓶掉到了地上摔破了。女孩父亲对主人说是自己不小心打翻的，而女孩却认为父亲应该说出事情的真相。

1.It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down. There are things which people accept less the more you defend. The truer the story you tell, the less true it sounds.”可知，人们越是为自己辩护，可信度就越低。解释得越真实，听起来却不那么真实。有时候，事实是无法令人信服的。故选D。

2.The explosion caused the host to rush back. Gawking at the steaming floor”听到爆炸声，主人跑了回来，带带地看着冒着热气的地板。A怒视；B好奇地看；C呆视；D绝望地看，故选C。

3.“The thermos fell by itself. The floor is not smooth. Daddy, why did you say that you…” ... “That won’t do, girl. It sounds more acceptable when I say I knocked it down. There are things which people accept less the more you defend.”可知，热水瓶是自己掉在地板上的，但女孩的爸爸却称是自己打翻的，因为他认为主人不会相信是水瓶自己掉落的。故选B。

4.“Daddy, did you touch it?” ...“But you did not touch it. ... “The thermos fell by itself. The floor is not smooth. Daddy, why did you say that you…””可知，女孩知道不是爸爸打翻的热水瓶，而且爸爸应该告诉主人真相，故选A。

考点：故事类短文阅读