During all this time I never stopped thinking about escape. When I traveled across to the other side of the island (島嶼), I could see the other islands, and I said to myself, “Perhaps I can get there with a boat. Perhaps I can get back to England one day.”
So I decided to make myself a boat. I cut down a big tree, and then began to make a long hole (洞) in it. It was hard work, but about six months later, I had a very fine canoe (獨木舟). Next, I had to get it down to the sea. How silly I was! Why didn’t I think before I began work? Of course, the canoe was too heavy. I couldn’t move it! I pulled and pushed and tried everything, but it didn’t move. I was very unhappy for a long time after that.
That happened in my fourth year on the island. In my sixth year I did make myself a smaller canoe, but I did not try to escape in it. The boat was too small for a long journey, and I did not want to die at sea. The island was my home now, not my prison, and I was just happy to be alive. A year or two later, I made myself a second canoe on the other side of the island. I also built myself a second house there, and so I had two homes.
My life was still busy from morning to night. There were always things to do or to make. I learnt to make new clothes for myself from the skins of dead animals. They looked very strange, it is true, but they kept me dry in the rain.
I kept food and tools (工具) at both my houses, and also wild goats (山羊). There were many goats on the island, and I made fields with high fences to keep them in. They learnt to take food from me, and soon I had goats’ milk to drink every day. I also worked hard in my corn (玉米) fields. And so many years went by.
小題1: The purpose of making a canoe on the island was to _____________.
| A．escape in it | B．get to the other side of the island |
| C．use it for food | D．go around the island |
小題2: To survive, the writer did the following EXCEPT _____________.
| A．keeping goats for milk | B．making clothes from animal skins |
| C．working in the cornfields | D．going fishing in the sea |
小題3:Why didn’t the writer use his first canoe?
| A．Because it was too small for a long journey. |
| B．Because it was too heavy to get down to the sea. |
| C．Because there was something wrong with it. |
| D．Because the writer was busy building a second house. |
小題4:From the story, we can learn that _____________.
| A．the writer tried to make his stay comfortable on the island |
| B．the writer had nothing to do on the wild island |
| C．the writer tried to escape in the second canoe, but failed |
| D．the writer was in prison on the island, losing his freedom |
