阅读理解一则

Once upon a time， two brothers lived on two farms which were next to each other. One day， they had a small misunderstanding (误会)， and it grew into a big difference. Finally， it turned into an exchange of bitter words.

One morning there was a knock on the older brother’s door. It was a carpenter(木匠). “Do you have a few small jobs here?” he asked.

“Yes，” said the older brother. “Look at that farm. It’s my younger brother’s. There was a meadow (草地)between us. Last week he dug a stream between us. Well， he may have done this to make me angry， but I’ll do him one better. See those woods（树林）? I want you to cut those trees down and build a fence(栅栏)， so I won’t need to see his face again.”

The carpenter said ，“I’ll make something really nice for you.”

Then the older brother went to town for some business. When he returned， his eyes opened wide. There was no fence there at all. It was a bridge! His younger brother was coming toward them， saying， “My dear brother， you built this bridge even after all of the things I’ve done! Thank you.”

The two brothers took each other’s hands. They turned to see that the carpenter was leaving. “Wait! I have a lot of other jobs for you，”said the older brother. “I’d love to stay，” the carpenter said， “but I have many more bridges to build.”

1. What does the underlined sentence probably mean?

A. The two brothers argued with each other.

B. The two brothers had a fight with each other.

C. The two brothers quarreled with each other.

D. The two brothers didn’t say any words.

2. Who invited the carpenter to the older brother’s house?

A. The older brother.

B. The carpenter himself.

C. The younger brother.

D. The passage did not tell us.

3. What did the older brother ask the carpenter to do?

A. Dig a stream.

B. Cut trees down.

C. Build a fence.

D. Build a bridge.

4. According to the passage， which is not true?

A. What the carpenter had done surprised the older brother.

B. The younger brother felt sorry for what he had done.

C. The two brothers became good brothers in the end.

D. The carpenter was only able to build bridges.

5. Which title is the best for the passage?

A. Build bridges， not fences.

B. How to build a bridge.

C. An intelligent carpenter.

D. A story about two brothers.

[参考答案及简析]

有人说，两个吵架的人中第一个转身道歉的人便是天使。你愿意做那个天使吗？其实，只要你说声“对不起”，就会建起一座爱的桥梁。这是一篇关于两兄弟和一个木匠的故事。两兄弟因误解而发生口角，并发展到做出让对方很生气的事情。一个木匠化解了他们之间的矛盾，让兄弟两人重归于好。

1. C 句意推断题。兄弟之间发生误解，产生了大的分歧，导致口舌相争。“an exchange of bitter words（交换讽刺的话语）”正是表达了这个意思。

2. B 细节理解题。由第二段最后一句“‘Do you have a few small jobs here?’ he asked” 可以看出木匠是来找工作的，因此是木匠自己找上门的，不是哥哥叫来的。

3. C 细节理解题。第三段中的“I want you to cut those trees down and build a fence...”这一句告诉我们，哥哥要求木匠为他做栅栏。

4. D 细节理解题。A项说木匠做的事让大哥很吃惊，这是对的；B项说弟弟为他所做的事感到后悔，这也是对的；C项说兄弟两人重归于好也是对的。D项说木匠只会建桥，这显然是错误的，事实上木匠不仅会建桥，更重要的是他善于化解人和人之间的矛盾。这里的“桥”一语双关。

5. A 主旨大意题。A 项正好反映文章的主旨，人和人之间要沟通，需要“心桥”，不要“栅栏”，不要障碍。