Two Farmers Workiｎg iｎ the City

有人說，性格決定命運;也有人說，知識改變命運;還有人說，智慧影響命運;這里“兩個打工仔”說，觀念關乎命運——

Two farmers left their village to work in the city. One was going to Shanghai and the other was going to Beijing. At the railway station they changed their mind because they heard that Shanghai people were so smart that one could charge an outsider for showing directions; Beijing people were so generous they would give the poor not only bread but also old clothes.

The farmer 1 had planned to go to Shanghai thought that Beijing was better bacause if one couldn’t earn money he wouldn’t be starved. The farmer who had wanted to go to Beijing thought that Shanghai was better 2 one could earn money by showing the way to others. There must be many other ways to make money. So the two farmers met at the cancellation(退票)window and exchanged their tickets.

The farmer who came to Beijing found that Beijing was really good. He idled away (kill time) the first month but did not starve. He could drink 3 water in the hall of a bank and eat sample snacks at a supermarket free of charge.

The other who came to Shanghai found that Shanghai was indeed a place for making money. One could earn money by doing anything: one could be paid for showing the way， for tending toilets and even for getting water for people to wash their faces. One could earn money 4 he uses his brain or muscles. On the second day he went to a construction site and put some sand and plant leaves in ten bags. He gave the mixture a name called “Flower Pot Soil” and sold to Shanghai flower lovers 5 could not find earth for plants easily. He made 50 yuan that day. One year later he opened a small store in Shanghai.

6 he walked through the streets he noticed that the name board of some stores was dirty. He found out it was 7 the cleaning squads(groups) only cleaned the building but not the name boards. So he bought a ladder， a bucket， a piece of cloth， and 8 a cleaning company for cleaning name boards. Now he employs 150 workers and has branched out to Hangzhou and Nanjing.

Not long ago he took a train to Beijing to investigate(study) the cleaning 9 there. At the Beijing Railway Station a garbage collector pushed his head into the soft seat compartment and asked him for a beer bottle. When he handed the bottle to the man， he was much surprised: the garbage collector was the man 10 he had exchanged tickets five years ago.

1. A. / B. afterC. whoD. when

2. A. thanB. whenC. ifD. because

3. A. bottlingB. bottledC. cleanD. fresh

4. A. whereB. unlessC. sinceD. though

5. A. whichB. thatC. whenD. where

6. A. WhenB. AsC. OnceD. The moment

7. A. thatB. whatC. becauseD. where

8. A. make upB. put upC. set upD. take up

9. A. companyB. workersC. buildingsD. market

10.A. whoB. whomC. for whomD. with whom

問題閱讀

1. Which of the following is a proper title for this story?

A. A Diligent Farmer and a Lazy Farmer

B. Fortunate or Unfortunate

C. One Way， One End

D. A Wrong Exchange

2. For the story， we should say ______.

A. what Beijing did is wrong

B. what Shanghai did is right

C. what Shanghai did helps to be successful

D. what both Beijing and Shanghai did is reasonable

3. Which is the proper statement of this story?

A. The past is the father of the present.

B. It was the 50 yuan that made the settler successful in Shanghai.

C. Diligence makes a worker skilled in his job.

D. Knowledge is power.

4. The author tends to suggest that in your life _________.

A. you ought to suffer something you’ve done

B. you should create something adaptable

C. you must learn something new

D. you have to try something difficult to do

5. The last paragraph shows __________ .

A. the settler in Shanghai was to help the farmer in Beijing

B. the farmer in Beijing had to return to his homeland

C. the farmer in Beijing would continue to pick up cast-off things in the city

D. why the author tells us this story

?襊答案與提示?襍

1. C概括全文之中心思想。

2. D概念判斷。北京，上海的舉措無所謂對錯。

3. A套用諺語，揭示決定這兩個打工仔命運的本源因素。

4. B成功者的本質要素。

5. D作者行文的意圖所在，即寫作目的。

編輯/梁宇清