（一）

It was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were not unhappy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.

Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog's legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own ，and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.

This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around，and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them. Agreement was reached，and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn't last long.

The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.

The villagers decided that they couldn't just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides (杀虫剂) and medicines. Soon there was no money left.

Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn't been useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.

Now，the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

1. From Paragraph 1，we learn that the villagers________.

A. worked very hard for centuries

B. dreamed of having a better life

C. were poor but somewhat content

D. lived a different life from their forefathers

2. Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?

A. The frogs were easy money.

B. They needed money to buy medicine.

C. They wanted to please the visitors.

D. The frogs made too much noise.

3. What might be the cause of the children's sickness?

A. The crops didn't do well.

B. There were too many insects.

C. The visitors brought in diseases.

D. The pesticides were overused.

4. What can we infer from the last sentence of the text?

A. Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country.

B. Health is more important than money.

C. The harmony between man and nature is important.

D. Good old days will never be forgotten.

【答案】

本篇文章为记叙文。主要讲述印度一个小村庄的人们在外乡人的诱导下为了追求金钱收益捕杀青蛙，结果破坏了生态平衡。意识到这个问题后，他们及时停止了捕杀，重新回到了宁静的乡村生活。

1.C　细节理解题。第一段中有“The people were poor.However, they were not unhappy.”和C项意思一致。

2.A　细节理解题。根据第二段的“This seemed like money for nothing.”句中for nothing 是“免费的”意思，说明青蛙容易得到，并能赚到钱，村民才答应卖。

3.B　推理判断题。根据倒数第二段中“They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.”可以推断出庄稼收成不好，孩子生病与青蛙减少、害虫增多有关。

4.C　推理判断题。最后一句说明人们过度捕杀造成生态失衡，由此也影响了人类，因此，可以推断人与自然的和谐是重要的。