Question

“Where’s Papa going with the ax(斧子)?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.

“Out to the pig house,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.”

“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.

“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never grow up to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.”

“Do away with it?” screamed Fern. “You mean kill it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?” Mrs. Arable put some cream on the table. “Don’t cry, Fern!” she said. “Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway.”

Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Fern's sneakers(运动鞋)were all wet by the time she caught up with her father.

　　“Please don't kill it!” she cried. “It’s unfair.” Mr. Arable stopped walking.

“Fern,” he said gently, “you will have to learn to control yourself.”

“Control myself?”cried Fern. “This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.” Tears ran down her face and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand.

“Fern,” said Mr. Arable, “I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!”

“But it’s unfair(不公平),” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?”

Mr. Arable smiled. “Of course not,” he said, looking down at his daughter with love. “But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another.”

“I see no difference,” replied Fern, still hanging on to the ax. “This is the most terrible case of injustice(不公正) I ever heard of.”

A queer look came over John Arable’s face. He seemed almost ready to cry himself.

“All right,” he said. You go back to the house and I will bring the runt when I come in. I’ll let you start it on a bottle, like a baby. Then you’ll see what trouble a pig can be.”

1.We can infer from the text that Mr Arable ______________.

A.does not like raising little pigs B.has had little experience raising pigs

C.makes a living by doing with little pigs D.has probably raised many pigs in his lifetime

2.Mr Arable seemed almost ready to cry because he ______________.

A.is angry about what his daughter has done

B.does not like to lose an argument with his daughter

C.gets worried about how difficult it would be to raise the pig

D.is touched by his daughter’s willingness to stand up for the little pig

3.We can tell that Mr Arable agrees to let the little pig go because ______________.

A.he finally agrees with his daughter

B.he believes that the pig will die soon

C.he believes that raising a pig will teach Fern some lessons

D.he realizes that taking care of a little pig is not that difficult

Answer 1