文章大意:本文是一篇记叙文。这篇寓言故事讲述了一个国王设置的考验,他将一块大石头放在村庄的主街中央,并把金币藏在石头下面。然而,经过一天的观察,国王发现所有人都抱怨石头危险,但没有人试图移动它。直到一个小女孩出现,她决定将石头移开以保护其他人的安全。国王向她解释自己的意图,并给她金币作为奖励。这个故事告诉我们,当我们看到问题时,我们应当采取行动来解决它们,而不只是抱怨。
【课文原文】
THE STONE IN THE ROAD
Once upon a time there was a king who often thought, “Nothing good can come to a nation whose people only complain and expect others to solve their problems.” One day, he had an idea.
Early one morning, the king disguised himself and went to a local village. He placed a large stone in the middle of the main street and hid gold coins under the stone. Then he hid behind a huge maple tree and watched.
The first person down the street was a milkman with his cart. He crashed into the stone, spilling the milk everywhere. “What fool put this stone here?” he shouted. He picked himself up and angrily went away.
After a while, a group of women came along, each balancing a pot of water on her head. One woman tripped over the stone and her water pot went crashing to the ground. She picked herself up and limped away in tears. Neither she nor her friends thought about moving the stone out of the road.
The king watched all day as many people complained about the stone, but he found nobody making an attempt to move it. The king was in despair. “Is there no one in this village who feels any responsibility to keep their neighbours from harm?”
Just then, the king saw a young girl coming along. She was the daughter of a local farmer. She had been working all day and was very tired. But when she saw the stone, she said to herself, “This stone is a danger to anyone who comes down the street after dark. I’ll move it out of the way.”
The girl pushed the stone with all her might. After a great deal of effort, she finally succeeded in moving it to the side of the street. Imagine her surprise when she saw the gold coins where the stone had been!
Just then, the king stepped out from behind the tree. “Oh sir,” the girl said, “does this gold belong to you? If not, we surely must find the owner, for he will certainly miss it.”
The king said, “My dear, the gold is mine. I put it in the road and moved the stone over it. Now the gold is yours, because you are the only person who has learnt the lesson I wanted to teach my people.”
44. Fast reading
This passage is a
________. It tells a king tested his national quality by
________ in the middle of the main street and seeing the villagers’ responses.
45. Careful reading
True or False
(1) Early one morning, the king went to a local village, followed by his attendants.
________(2) The milkman saw the the large stone in the middle of the street and went away round it.
________(3) The group of women all tripped over the stone and their water pots went crashing to the ground.
________(4) At last a girl pushed the stone to the side of the street and found the gold coins.
________(5) The girl found the owner of the gold coins and returned them.
________