Why is the sea salt? Long before we discovered scientific ways of thinking about it, we explained it in a story. Even though the answer isn’t scientific, it holds some other truth in it — especially about the human heart.
Long ago, a poor old couple lived on the coast. One day, an old storyteller came to their village. The old couple gave him a meal. In return, he gave them a coffee mill ( 磨粉机 ) and said, “Say, ‘Mill, please grind ( 磨粉 )’,” and it’ll make whatever you want, to stop it, say ‘Mill, please cease ( 停止 ) grinding’.”
Soon the old couple had a much better life. They’d been happy people, and they didn’t need much more. But the young couple next door were never satisfied. When they saw the old couple wearing good clothes and buying good food, they burnt with envy ( 羡慕 ). So one day, the young husband went to the old couple’s house secretly and heard, “Mill, please grind hot chocolate!” He was surprised to see it coming out.
Then the young couple stole the mill from the old couple. With it, they rode a horse and set off down the coast, where no one would know them. Along the way, the husband showed proudly and asked, “What do you want it to make?” “Oh. I don’t know. Why not salt?” the wife said. “Mill, please grind salt!” he said. “It works!” the wife shouted. But then they noticed the salt went everywhere. “Make it stop,” the wife said. But the husband didn’t know how. “Mill, please stop grinding! Please, no more!” His words didn’t work. The mill kept grinding. Finally, the young husband threw the mill into the sea as far as he could.
And there it’s been, for hundreds of years, endlessly grinding salt. That’s why the sea is salt.
27 ． The passage is probably a(n) ________.
A ． folk story B ． instruction C ． science fiction D ． science report
28 ． Put the things happened to the mill in correct order.
a. It began to produce salt. b. The young husband threw it.
c. The young couple stole it. d. The old couple got it.
A ． b-d-a-c B ． b-a-d-c C ． d-a-c-b D ． d-c-a-b
29 ． What does the underlined word “ it ” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A ． The coffee. B ． The horse. C ． The mill. D ． The chocolate.
30 ． How did the young husband’s feelings change?
A ． sorry — sad — excited B ． thirsty — excited — afraid
C ． happy — nervous — proud D ． surprised — thankful — happy
31 ． What does the word “ truth ” in Paragraph 1 imply ( 暗指 )?
A ． Being patient. B ． Working properly. C ． Being satisfied. D ． Listening carefully.
A 28 ． D 29 ． C 30 ． B 31 ． C
【导语】本文主要讲了一个关于海水为什么含盐的民间故事。
27 ．推理判断题。本文主要讲了一个关于海水为什么含盐的故事，由此推出可能是一则民间故事。故选 A 。
28 ．细节理解题。根据 “Long ago, a poor old couple lived on the coast. ... In return, he gave them a coffee mill ... Then the young couple stole the mill from the old couple. ... But then they noticed the salt went everywhere. ... Finally, the young husband threw the mill into the sea as far as he could.” 可知正确的顺序是一对老夫妻得到了它，然后年轻夫妻偷了它并让它产盐，最后年轻的丈夫扔了它（ d-c-a-b ）。故选 D 。
29 ．代词指代题。根据 “ ‘Mill, please grind salt!’ he said. ‘It works!’ the wife shouted. But then they noticed the salt went everywhere. ‘Make it stop,’ the wife said.” 可知是想要磨粉机停下来， it 指代 “the mill” 。故选 C 。
30 ．推理判断题。根据 “When they saw the old couple wearing good clothes and buying good food, they burnt with envy.” 可知年轻的丈夫一开始是嫉妒的，不满足于现状，渴望过上想老夫妻一样的生活；再由 “Along the way, the husband showed proudly” 可知偷到磨粉机之后他是激动的；再由 “Finally, the young husband threw the mill into the sea as far as he could.” 可知磨粉机一直产盐，让他很害怕，把磨粉机扔进了海里。感情变化是 “thirsty — excited — afraid” 。故选 B 。
31 ．词义猜测题。根据 “Soon the old couple had a much better life. They’d been happy people, and they didn’t need much more. But the young couple next door were never satisfied.” 可知故事中老夫妻知足，所以生活幸福，而年轻夫妻不知足偷了磨粉机后也没能如愿，由此推出 truth 暗指文中的哲理， “ 要知足 ” 。故选 C 。
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