One day when some government officials(官員) were building a barn(谷倉), they found a mouse hole in a corner and used smoke to make the mice inside the hole come out. A while later they indeed saw mice running out, one after another. Then, everyone thought that all the mice had escaped. But just as they began to clean up, they saw two mice squeezing(擠)out at the mouth of the hole. With some efforts, the mice finally got out. However, it was strange that after they came out of the hole, they didn’t run away immediately. Instead, one chased after the other near the mouth of the hole. It seemed that one was trying to bite the tail of the other.
Everyone was puzzled(困惑), so they stepped near to take a look. They realized that one of the mice was blind and couldn’t see anything, and the other was trying to allow the blind mouse to bite on his tail so that he could pull the blind one with him to escape.
After seeing what happened, everyone was speechless and lost in thought. During the meal time, the group of people sat down in a circle and started to chat about what happened to the two mice.
One serious American official said, “I think the relationship between those mice was that of king and guard(衛兵).” The other thought for a while and said, “That is why!”
A smart Frenchman said, “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of husband and wife.” Again the others thought for a while, and all felt
it made sense.A Japanese said, “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of mother and son.” Once again the others thought for a while, and felt this was more reasonable. So they expressed(表達) agreement another time.
At that moment, one Chinese asked, “Why did those two mice have to have a certain relationship?”
Suddenly, the group looked back at the Chinese and stayed speechless. The American official, the French and the Japanese who had spoken earlier all lowered their heads in shame(羞愧), and did not dare to answer.
In fact, the true love is not built on friendship, loyalty(忠誠) or blood relationship.
Instead, it is based on no relationship.
【小題1】Neither of the two mice ran away immediately because ________.
| A．one was biting the other |
| B．the mouth of the hole was too small |
| C．they were not afraid of smoke |
| D．one was trying to help the blind one |
【小題2】 Why did the officials lower their heads in shame according to the passage?
| A．They didn’t dare to answer. |
| B．They didn’t realize the importance of protecting animals. |
| C．They felt sorry they had driven a poor blind mouse away. |
| D．They didn’t express themselves much better. |
【小題3】It is clear that ________.
| A．all the mice came out of the hole easily |
| B．each of the people understood the relationship differently |
| C．the people wanted to kill the mice with smoke |
| D．the people knew one of the mice was blind at first |
【小題4】The words “
it made sense” probably mean ________
| A．it was correct | B．it was strange |
| C．it was funny | D．it was sweet |
【小題5】The best title for the passage is ________.
| A．Two Lovely Mice | B．Help Produces Love |
| C．Love Is All | D．Friends in Need |
It was an exciting moment for Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a retired married couple from Harbin, China. It was also a great moment for China because it was the country’s first gold medal in the pairs figure(花樣) skating competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
