They were just grasshoppers(蚂蚱). But there were millions of them, which was why dad was so anxious to get rid of them. 

“They’re totally destroying our beans, ”he told Mom over lunchtime one Saturday. “I’ve been trying to keep t hem out of the tomatoes, but I don’t know if I can make it. ”

“Isn’t there something you can do about them? ”Mom asked. She was mostly concerned about the tomatoes. “I think there’s a spray(喷雾)or something, ”Dad said. “I’m going down to the garden center after lunch and see if they have any suggestions. ”

I’m pretty sure that’s what he said. But  what I heard was, “While I’m gone, why don’t you and George come up with your own plan for getting rid of the grasshoppers? ”

And so that’s what we did. It was the summer between fifth and sixth grade, so we were feeling pretty clever and mature. Certainly we knew how to get rid of these grasshoppers. That seemed simple enough. Finally Ron and Don joined us but then, things got a little crazy. Before we knew it we were doing terrible experiments. I won’t describe our experiments. Let’s just call it“The Adventures of the Marquis de Orkin”. Dad came home and saw these different deaths. We were laughing, but the laughter quickly turned to silence when we saw the look on my Dad’s face. 

“What are you boys doing? ”he asked. 

“We’re just sort of helping to get rid of the grasshoppers, ”I said. 

“This isn’t getting rid of grasshoppers, ”Dad said. “This is killing. ”

I was confused. I looked at the insectici de he was carrying. “But aren’t you going to kill grasshoppers with that? ”I asked. 

“Yes, because it’s something we need to do for the protection of our garden, ”he said seriously. “But I’m not going to enjoy it. ”

【文章大意】本文是一篇记叙文。作者家的菜园遭到蚂蚱的破坏, 天真的作者想帮助父亲除掉蚂蚱, 不想他和同伴使用的方法让父亲很生气, 父亲告诫他们: 不能杀生取乐, 要学会仁慈。

1. It can be inferred from the text that　　　. 

A. the tomatoes in the garden were badly damaged by grasshoppers

B. the father was advised to get rid of grasshoppers with insecticide

C. the father asked the author to help catch grasshoppers

D. the author’s way of treating grasshoppers was interesting

【解析】选B。推理判断题。由文章第三段中提到的父亲午饭后要去花卉商店寻求帮助以及倒数第二段中的I looked at the insecticide he was carrying. 可知, 花卉商店建议父亲使用杀虫剂。故选B项。

2. The underlined sentence“And so that’s what we did. ”means that　　　. 

A. we killed the grasshoppers for fun

B. we carried out an experiment on the grasshoppers

C. we thought of a way to deal with the grasshoppers

D. we were clever enough to get rid of the grasshoppers

【解析】选C。推理判断题。在上一段中提到作者认为父亲的言外之意是让作者想办法除掉蚂蚱, 因此此句承接上文, 指“我们就是那样做了”, 即“我们自己想出了除掉蚂蚱的办法”。

3. How did the author’s father feel when he saw what the children were doing? 

A. Angry. 　　　　　　　　 B. Confused. 

C. Satisfied.       D. Fearful. 

【解析】选A。推理判断题。由文章第五段中的最后一句We were laughing, but the laughter quickly turned to silence when we saw the look on my Dad’s face. 以及文章最后一句But I’m not g oing to enjoy it. 可知父亲看到孩子们残杀蚂蚱取乐很生气。

4. In which magazine would you most probably find this passage? 

A. American Laboratory. 

B. Accounts of Chemical Research. 

C. Readers’ Digest. 

D. Technology. 

【解析】选C。文章出处题。本文的主题是“仁慈, 不杀生取乐”。此类题材的文章最有可能来自《读者文摘》这样的期刊。学参网整理分享