Sometimes, as they say, there is a very thin line between the greatness and the ridiculous. I never really thought about it until a clear winter morning when I was relaxing in the sun and burying my nose in a novel. Suddenly and rudely, I was pulled back to reality.
“Madam!” It was a strange cry. I put my book down. “Madam!” It was coming from the kitchen. I hurried in to it and found Ramu, our soldier.
“I found him, madam! And I’ve got him!” He cried and pointed to a drawer that was shaking.
A human could not hide in a drawer. A snake wouldn’t make sound like that, I thought. Ah! It must be that rat! “Good for you, soldier, I thought. But now what?”
He smiled and said, “I’ll bag it.” Expertly, he caught the rat, tied its neck, like the way you’d put a rope on a dog.
Something must have shown on my face. “Cannot kill the rat, madam,” Ramu apologized softly. “I’ll take it to the other side of the river and leave it.” Clearly, he did not think it was necessary to hurt this small rat.
Before I could reply, he had let the rat out of the bag, and — to my surprise — began walking it out of the kitchen.
“Wait!” I shouted, “it’s just going to come back.”
Ramu stopped and turned back to me. “Then I’ll catch it again, madam.” He promised.
I watched, as the two, man and rat, set off, and walked together? It was a sight I’d never seen: a small rat walking down the road behind a strong man.
When I calmed down, I looked over the wall to make sure they were really going all the way to the river. Then, to my amazement, Ramu handed over the rope to a boy on the bike. I watched to my further surprise as the rat began to run to keep up with the boy.
When I retell this story at parties I often play up the funny part. As I write this, however, I thought deeper: the unexpected kindness I saw, between man and the rat, proved the soldier’s deep belief — ________. He, more than many of us, I believe, truly understood the value of life.
37. What does the underlined word “him” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.Soldier. | B.Snake. | C.Rat | D.Boy. |
38. What can we infer from the passage?
A.The writer felt angry for letting the rat go. |
B.The rat has been around for many times. |
C.The soldier gave the rat to the boy as a gift. |
D.The boy finally took the rat home on his bike. |
39. Which of the following can be best filled in the blank ________ in the last paragraph?
A.All men are born equal | B.Two heads are better than one |
C.Time waits for no man | D.Life is fall of ups and downs |
40. What can we learn from the soldier?(请用约40词回答)