There was a king who gave his daughter a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. So the king asked to search for it and put a reward for＄50,000 for anyone who found it.
One day, a clerk was walking home along a river when he saw something shinning in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it to get the ＄50,000 reward.
He put his hand in the river and tried to catch the necklace, but somehow missed it and didn’t catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again.
But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling sad. Just then, an old man walking by saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn’t want to share the secret with him, thinking he might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell him anything.
The old man could see this man was troubled. He again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk told him about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing.
The old man then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was hanging on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to take a reflection of the real necklace all this time.
【小题1】The clerk tried to get the diamond necklace to ________________.

There was a king who gave his daughter a beautiful diamond necklace. The necklace was stolen and his people in the kingdom searched everywhere but could not find it. So the king asked to search for it and put a reward for＄50,000 for anyone who found it.
One day, a clerk was walking home along a river when he saw something shinning in the river and when he looked, he saw the diamond necklace. He decided to try and catch it to get the ＄50,000 reward.
He put his hand in the river and tried to catch the necklace, but somehow missed it and didn’t catch it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. He tried again.
But strangely, he still missed the necklace! He came out and started walking away, feeling sad. Just then, an old man walking by saw him, and asked him what was the matter. The clerk didn’t want to share the secret with him, thinking he might take the necklace for himself, so he refused to tell him anything.
The old man could see this man was troubled. He again asked the clerk to tell him the problem and promised that he would not tell anyone about it. The clerk told him about the necklace and how he tried and tried to catch it, but kept failing.
The old man then told him that perhaps he should try looking upward, toward the branches of the tree, instead of in the river. The clerk looked up and true enough, the necklace was hanging on the branch of a tree. He had been trying to take a reflection of the real necklace all this time.
【小题1】The clerk tried to get the diamond necklace to __________.

There was once a farmer who had a fine olive orchard（橄榄园）. He was very hardworking, and the  36  always prospered（繁荣）under his care. But he knew that his three  37  looked down upon the farm work, and were eager to make wealth.
When the farmer was  38  and felt that he would die, he  39  the three sons to him and said, “My sons, there is a pot of gold  40  in the olive orchard. Dig for it, if you wish it.”
The sons tried to  41  him to tell them in what part of the orchard the  42  was hidden, but he would tell them nothing more.
After the farmer was  43 , the sons went to work to find the pot of gold; since they did not  44  where the hiding-place was, they agreed to begin in a line, at one  45  of the orchard, and to dig until one of them should find the money.
They  46  until they had turned up the  47  from one end of the orchard to the other,  48  the tree-roots and between them.  49  no pot of gold was to be found. It seemed as if someone must have stolen it, or as if the farmer had been wandering in his wits. The three sons were bitterly  50  to have all their work for nothing.
The next olive  51 , the olive trees in the orchard bore（结果实）more fruit than they had  52  given; when it was  53 , it gave the sons a whole pot of gold.
And when they saw how much money had  54  the orchard, they suddenly understood what the wise father had  55  when he said, “There is gold hidden in the orchard. Dig for it, if you wish it.”

Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My brother, mother and I live in a very rural district on the Big Island of Hawaii. Our farm is at least a dozen miles from the most basic of services. Consequently, we take weekly trips to COSTCO to procure fuel and supplies. About a month ago, we’d finished loading up the SUV and prepared to leave. As I settled into my seat, I glanced down at the roadside, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and read it carefully. Instantly, I was grateful I did.
The form turned out to be a receipt from the State Motor Vehicle Division, documenting the owners’ payment of their Vehicle’s Registration fees. Quickly, I put myself in their shoes and figured: no one would throw this out, especially if it was current. I also looked over the form for contact or any personal data, perhaps a license tag or telephone number. But that seemed impractical. Although the form had been born on the wind, where in the busy, crowded parking lot would I find the owners? Had it been lying there for a few minutes or a week? So I checked the date, the fees paid, noted the names of the owners and pocketed the receipt. Recalling the parable of the Good Samaritan, I concluded that the best and easiest step to take was to put the form in an envelope addressed to the couple and send it to them by post. Further, I imagined how crazy I’d be if I had misplaced my receipt. Much easier to attempt returning it than to leave them angry, upset, etc. over the loss.
By the end of the week, I received a beautiful thank-you letter from a very grateful and happy couple containing a hand written message and a gift card to use at any Starbuck’s. In her note, the wife explained how a gust of wind snatched their receipt from a pocket in her car’s passenger door. They had panicked and searched crazily for quite some time before giving up. It felt great to know I’d helped someone avoid a major loss by doing something that at first glance seemed minor or even unimportant.
【小题1】What did the author really mean when he said “Instantly, I was grateful I did.”?

Recently, I experienced a wonderful lesson in how little things still mean a lot. My brother, mother and I live in a very rural district on the Big Island of Hawaii. Our farm is at least a dozen miles from the most basic of services. Consequently, we take weekly trips to COSTCO to procure fuel and supplies. About a month ago, we’d finished loading up the SUV and prepared to leave. As I settled into my seat, I glanced down at the roadside, when a piece of paper caught my eye. I picked it up and read it carefully. Instantly, I was grateful I did.

The form turned out to be a receipt from the State Motor Vehicle Division, documenting the owners’ payment of their Vehicle’s Registration fees. Quickly, I put myself in their shoes and figured: no one would throw this out, especially if it was current. I also looked over the form for contact or any personal data, perhaps a license tag or telephone number. But that seemed impractical. Although the form had been born on the wind, where in the busy, crowded parking lot would I find the owners? Had it been lying there for a few minutes or a week? So I checked the date, the fees paid, noted the names of the owners and pocketed the receipt. Recalling the parable of the Good Samaritan, I concluded that the best and easiest step to take was to put the form in an envelope addressed to the couple and send it to them by post. Further, I imagined how crazy I’d be if I had misplaced my receipt. Much easier to attempt returning it than to leave them angry, upset, etc. over the loss.

By the end of the week, I received a beautiful thank-you letter from a very grateful and happy couple containing a hand written message and a gift card to use at any Starbuck’s. In her note, the wife explained how a gust of wind snatched their receipt from a pocket in her car’s passenger door. They had panicked and searched crazily for quite some time before giving up. It felt great to know I’d helped someone avoid a major loss by doing something that at first glance seemed minor or even unimportant.

1.What did the author really mean when he said “Instantly, I was grateful I did.”?

A．He was lucky to notice the paper on the roadside.

B．He was happy to do shopping in the district for it was convenient.

C．He was right to pick the paper up because it was important.

D．He was thankful to pick up the paper because he found it for a long time.

2.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the short passage?

A．I rode my car to COSTCO to buy supplies a month ago.

B．The receipt was out of date, so the owner threw it away.

C．I waited on the roadside for the receipt owner for half a day.

D．I called up the owner to take back the receipt.

3.The author decided to give the paper back to the owner because ______.

A．it was useless for him

B．he knew the owner was upset about losing it

C．the owner asked him to do so

D．he knew the owner would reward him for it

4.Which would be the best title for this passage?

A．How I helped the couple                  B．The loss of an important receipt

C．The owner of the receipt                 D．Little things still mean a lot