Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He stopped by the fence in front of the house where he lived with his aunt Polly. He looked at it, and all joy left him. The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.
　　He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day. They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.
　　He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find something to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea.
　　At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.
　　While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.
　　Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: “Hello! I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”
　　No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom’s mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.
　　Ben said, “Hello, old fellow, you’ve got to work, hey?”
　　Tom turned suddenly and said, “Why, it’s you, Ben! I wasn’t noticing.”
　　“I’m going swimming. Don’t you wish you could? But of course you’d rather work. You seem to like it very much.”

“Like it? Well, I don’t see why I shouldn’t like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”
　　Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said,
　　“Tom, let me whitewash a little.”
　　Tom thought for a moment, was about to agree; but he changed his mind.
　　“No, no, it won’t do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don’t think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough.”
　　“No — is that so? Oh come, let me just try. Only just a little.”
　　“Ben, I’d like to, but if it isn’t done right, I’m afraid Aunt Polly ...”
　　“Oh, I’ll be careful. Now let me try. I’ll give you half of my apple.”
　　“Well, here — No, Ben, now don’t. I’m afraid ...”
　　“I’ll give you all of it.”
　　Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures. The fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn’t run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.
　　He had discovered a great law of human action that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get. 
72. Why did Tom take all his bits of toys out of his pockets?
   A. Because he was tired and wanted to play with his toys.
   B. Because he wanted to exchange his toys with his friends.
   C. Because he wanted to give his toys to his friends. 
   D. Because he wanted to know if he could buy help with his toys.
73. Tom was about to agree to let Ben whitewash when he changed his mind because    

______.
   A. Tom wanted to do the whitewashing himself
   B. Tom planned to make Ben give up his apple first
   C. Tom was unwilling to let Ben do the whitewashing
   D. Tom was afraid Ben couldn’t do the whitewashing well.
74. We can learn from the passage that ______.
   A. Tom was fond of whitewashing the fence
   B. Tom had a lot of friends who were ready to help him
   C. Tom managed to let other boys do the whitewashing for him
   D. Tom was better at whitewashing the fence than others

75. Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?
   A. The Happy Whitewasher       B. Tom And His Fellows
   C. Whitewashing A Fence          D. How To Make Things Difficult To Get

D

It was Sunday morning. All the summer world was bright and fresh, and full of life. There was cheer on every face and a spring in every step.

Tom appeared on the sidewalk with a bucket of whitewash and a long-handled brush. He stopped by the fence in front of the house where he lived with his aunt Polly. He looked at it, and all joy left him. The fence was long and high. He put the brush into the whitewash and moved it along the top of the fence. He repeated the operation. He felt he could not continue and sat down.

He knew that his friends would arrive soon with all kinds of interesting plans for the day. They would walk past him and laugh. They would make jokes about his having to work on a beautiful summer Saturday. The thought burned him like fire.

He put his hand into his pockets and took out all that he owned. Perhaps he could find some way to pay someone to do the whitewashing for him. But there was nothing of value in his pockets—nothing that could buy even half an hour of freedom. So he put the bits of toys back into his pockets and gave up the idea.

At this dark and hopeless moment, a wonderful idea came to him. It filled his mind with a great, bright light. Calmly he picked up the brush and started again to whitewash.

While Tom was working, Ben Rogers appeared. Ben was eating an apple as he walked along the street. As he walked along, he was making noises like the sound of a riverboat. First he shouted loudly, like a boat captain. Then he said “Ding-Dong-Dong”, “Ding-Dong-Dong” again and again, like the bell of a riverboat. And he made other strange noises. When he came close to Tom, he stopped.

Tom went on whitewashing. He did not look at Ben. Ben stared a moment and then said: "Hello! I’m going swimming, but you can’t go, can you?”

No answer. Tom moved his brush carefully along the fence and looked at the result with the eye of an artist. Ben came nearer. Tom's mouth watered for the apple, but he kept on working.

Ben said, "Hello, old fellow, you’ve got to work, hey?"

Tom turned suddenly and said, "Why, it's you, Ben! I wasn't noticing."

"Say — I'm going swimming. Don't you wish you could? But of course you’d rather work — wouldn't you? Of course you would."

Tom looked at the boy a bit, and said "What do you call work?"

"Why, isn't that work?"

Tom went back to his whitewashing, and answered casually,

"Well, maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. All I know is, it suits Tom Sawyer."

"Oh come, now, you don't mean to say that you like it?"

The brush continued to move.

"Like it? Well, I don't see why I shouldn’t like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?" Ben stopped eating his apple. Tom moved his brush back and forth, stepped back to look at the result, added a touch here and there, and stepped back again. Ben watched every move and got more and more interested. Soon he said,

"Say, Tom, let me whitewash a little."

Tom thought for a moment, was about to agree; but he changed his mind:

"No — no — it won’t do, Ben. You see, Aunt Polly wants this fence to be perfect. It has got to be done very carefully. I don’t think there is one boy in a thousand, maybe two thousand, that can do it well enough."

"No — is that so? Oh come, now —let me just try. Only just a little."

"Ben, I'd like to, but if it isn’t done right, I’m afraid Aunt Polly— "

"Oh, I'll be careful. Now let me try. Say -- I'll give you the core（核心）of my apple."

"Well, here — No, Ben, now don't. I'm afraid —"

"I'll give you all of it."

Tom gave up the brush with unwillingness on his face, but joy in his heart. And while Ben worked at the fence in the hot sun, Tom sat under a tree, eating the apple, and planning how to get more help. There were enough boys. Each one came to laugh, but remained to whitewash. By the time Ben was tired, Tom sold the next chance to Billy for a kite; and when Billy was tired, Johnny bought in for a dead rat — and so on, hour after hour. And when the middle of the afternoon came, Tom had won many treasures

And he had not worked. He had had a nice idle time all the time, with plenty of company -- and the fence had been whitewashed three times. If he hadn't run out of whitewash, Tom would have owned everything belonging to his friends.

He had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man or a boy want a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to get.

68．Tom was about to agree to let Ben whitewash when he changed his mind because ______ .

A. Tom wanted to do the whitewashing by himself

B. Tom was unwilling to let Ben do the whitewashing

C. Tom was afraid Ben would do the whitewashing better

D. Tom didn’t want to let Ben do the whitewashing before he made him give up his apple first

69．The underlined word “casually” is most similar to “______” in meaning.

A. carelessly                 B. delightedly               C. seriously                  D. angrily

70．We can learn from the passage that ______ .

A. Tom was interested in whitewashing the fence.

B. Tom had a lot of friends who are ready to help others.

C. Tom was unwilling to whitewash the fence, but he managed to let other boys do it for him

D. Tom was good at whitewashing the fence, so he looked at the result of his work with the eye of an artist.

In 1986, when Monty Reed was a member of the Army Rangers (黑鹰突击 队), he had an accident. "It was a night jump, and we were jumping low," he recalls. "We were training. Somebody got too close to my parachute (降落伞)."The parachute below blocked Reed’s air and his parachute failed to open. Reed crashed a hundred feet to the ground, breaking his back in five places.
The next morning, Reed could not move. "Doctors said it was likely that I would never walk again." Reed stared out of his hospital window, wondering what the future would be like. It was the saddest moment of his life. "The experts are telling me my body doesn’t work! What am I supposed to do?" he thought.
To distract (转移注意力) himself, he picked up a book: Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. The science-fiction describes a set of man-made muscles that would allow people to carry 2,000 pounds. He thought that if he could build something like that, it might be able to lift him out of his wheelchair. So he began his project and finally succeeded in building a set of robot legs. Several years later, he made an amazing recovery and was able to get up and walk away from his wheelchair. He even jumped out of an airplane again to celebrate.
Reed wanted to do something for others with the second chance that life had given him. He has now perfected the robot legs that can get the injured, the elderly and the paralyzed (瘫痪的) out of their wheelchairs. Now he has started his own company to make the legs. "I’ve seen them compete in marathons and go swimming and mountain climbing," he said. "So never give up!"
【小题1】Monty had an accident in 1986 because_______.