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Two sons worked for their father on the familys farm. The__ 36__ brother had for some years been given more responsibility and __37__ , and one day the older brother asked his father to__ 38__ why.

The father said, “First, go to the Kellys__ 39__ and see if they have any geese for sale — we need to add to our stock.”

The brother soon returned with the__40__, “Yes they have five geese they can__41__to us.”

That father then said, “Good, please ask them the__ 42__ ”

The son returned with the answer, “The geese are ￡10 each.”

The father said, “Good, now ask if they can__ 43__ the geese tomorrow.”

And__ 44__the son returned with the answer, “Yes, they can deliver the geesetomorrow.”

The father asked the older brother to wait and__45__ , and then called to the younger brother in a__ 46__ field, “Go to the Davidsons farm and see if they have any__47__ for sale — we need to add to our stock.”

The younger brother soon returned with the answer, “Yes, they have five geese for ￡10 each,__48__ten geese for ￡8 each; and they can deliver them tomorrow — I asked them to deliver the five __49__they heard something different__ 50__ us in the next hour. And I agreed that if we want the__51__five geese we could__ 52__them at ￡6 each.”

The father__53__tothe older son, who__54__ his head in appreciation—he now__55__why his brother was given more responsibility and reward.

36. A. older B. younger

C. taller D. thinner

37. A. reward B. guide C. right D. chance

38. A. translate B. demonstrate C. explain D. find

39. A. shop B. office C. factory D. farm

40. A. reaction B. conclusion C. answer D. comment

41.A. send B. sell C. lend D. offer

42.A. price B. date C. time D. weight

43.A. prepare B. deliver C. order D. provide

44.A. in a short time B. at all times C. at one time__D. at a time

45.A. research B. think C. learn D. listen

46.A. rich B. small C. nearby D. green

47.A. geeseB. chickens C. pigs D. ducks

48.A. though B. or C. but D. and

49.A. after B. until C. unless D. if

50.A. in B. on C. of D. from

51.A. extra B. spare C. unusual D. special

52.A. visit B. buy C. borrow D. rise

53.A. turned B. pointed C. talked D. smiled

54.A. shook B. lowered C. bent D. nodded

55.A. wondered B. realized C. admittedD. noticed

本文以兄弟二人辦同一件事情的不同效果向讀者說(shuō)明這樣一個(gè)道理：做事要有獨(dú)立自主意識(shí)和創(chuàng)新意識(shí)，要善于運(yùn)用“框外思維”。

36. B。從下文看，父親是讓小兒子做更多的事情，給他更多的獎(jiǎng)賞，關(guān)于兄弟二人，文中未作高矮胖瘦的比較，故答案不考慮A、C、D。

37. A。根據(jù)文章末句why his brother was given more responsibilities and rewards可知答案為A。

38. C。大兒子問(wèn)父親這究竟是為什么，叫父親解釋(explain)他之所以這樣做的原因。

39. D。根據(jù)后文父親對(duì)小兒子講的話Go to the Davidsons farm and see if they … 中可以得出答案。

40. C。 父親叫兒子去問(wèn)問(wèn)是否有鵝賣(mài)，所以兒子應(yīng)是帶著問(wèn)話的結(jié)果回來(lái)了，后文多次出現(xiàn)returned with the answer也是明顯的提示。

41. B。父親叫兒子去問(wèn)問(wèn)是否有鵝賣(mài)，從for sale判斷應(yīng)選B。

42. A。從大兒子的回答The geese are ￡10 each可知第二次父親是叫他去問(wèn)鵝的價(jià)格(price)。

43. B。從大兒子的回答they can deliver the geese tomorrow可知這次父親是叫他去問(wèn)明天是否可以把鵝送到 (deliver)。

44. A。從上文的nearby可知，他們距Kelly農(nóng)場(chǎng)不遠(yuǎn)，所以大兒子第三次去了又很快(in a short time)回來(lái)了。

45. D。從文章情景看，父親讓大兒子等著，聽(tīng)聽(tīng)(listen)小兒子回來(lái)后的回復(fù)，就知道他讓小兒子多做事的原因了。

46. C。父親的喊聲能聽(tīng)得見(jiàn)，說(shuō)明小兒子是在附近的(nearby) 一塊地里。

47. A。從下一段他跟父親講的情況看，父親同樣是叫他去看看那家農(nóng)場(chǎng)是否有鵝賣(mài)。

48. B。買(mǎi)五只鵝，每只鵝十塊；買(mǎi)十只鵝，每只鵝八塊，此處是講到兩種不同的購(gòu)買(mǎi)方式，是選擇關(guān)系，故選B。

49. C。 (見(jiàn)50 )

50. D。我叫他們就送五只鵝過(guò)來(lái)，除非我們?cè)谝恍r(shí)內(nèi)沒(méi)有跟他們講其它的情況。unless = if …not ; different from …表示“與……不同”

51. A。(見(jiàn)52 )

52. B。如果我們想多買(mǎi)五只的話，我們就可以每只6塊的價(jià)格買(mǎi)。extra 意為“額外的，另外的”。

53. A。小兒子講完后，父親轉(zhuǎn)向(turned to)大兒子。

54. D。從in appreciation(欣賞地)可知，大兒子并無(wú)怨言，他認(rèn)識(shí)到父親為什么會(huì)那樣做，故應(yīng)為“點(diǎn)頭”(nodded)，而非“搖頭”或“垂下頭”。

55. B。從自己與弟弟辦同一件事的對(duì)比中，他認(rèn)識(shí)到(realized)為什么弟弟會(huì)被給予更多的事做，會(huì)得到更多的獎(jiǎng)賞。