Question

Once upon a time a king, in the company of his ministers, went to the imperial garden for a walk. When he was walking around a pond, a strange idea 1upon him and he asked, “How many buckets(桶) of water are there in the pond?” The ministers looked at each other, 2to give an answer.
Rather 3, the king ordered, “You have three days’ grace. Any one who offers an answer will be handsomely awarded. Those who fail will be 4.”
The time limit was due in the twinkling(闪烁)of an eye, yet the ministers were still at their wit’s end. At this time a child appearedwho declared that he knew the answer. The king told his5ministers to go with the child for the measurement. To their 6, the child refused the suggestion with a smile, “It is very easy. No 7to go to the pond.” This made the king laugh 8, “Alright, let us know what it is.” The child winked (眨眼) and said, “That 9on the size of the bucket. If it is as big as the pond, there is one bucket of water; if it is halfas big, two buckets; if one third as big, three buckets; if...”“Stop! That’s it. You’ve got the 10.” The king was satisfied and the child was duly rewarded.
Why did the ministers feel it so differentto settle the problem? Because they fell in a pitfall (陷阱), following a wrong way of thinking. People’s thinking often goes a habitual way — the beaten track of straightforwardness. 11is a static (静态的) way presupposing every object definite and certain, i.e. the size of the pond and the bucket should be clearly12. If one of them is unknown, it will be difficult to do the measurement, let alone 13. Why not change your mode of thought — from static to dynamic(动态的), from concrete to 14? If you adopt an indirect way and try to find out the proportional relation between the pond and the bucket, you’11 get an answer — flexible yet15to solve the problem.
Sometimes to get out of the difficulty one must change one’s way of thinking, or simply change one’s approach towards a problem.

1. 1.
   1. A.
      fixed
   2. B.
      focused
   3. C.
      came
   4. D.
      looked
2. 2.
   1. A.
      struggling
   2. B.
      thinking
   3. C.
      falling
   4. D.
      failing
3. 3.
   1. A.
      disappointed
   2. B.
      excited
   3. C.
      pleased
   4. D.
      contented
4. 4.
   1. A.
      killed
   2. B.
      punished
   3. C.
      blamed
   4. D.
      scolded
5. 5.
   1. A.
      exciting
   2. B.
      amazing
   3. C.
      surprising
   4. D.
      trembling
6. 6.
   1. A.
      doubt
   2. B.
      surprise
   3. C.
      envy
   4. D.
      delight
7. 7.
   1. A.
      good
   2. B.
      use
   3. C.
      need
   4. D.
      wonder
8. 8.
   1. A.
      wonderfully
   2. B.
      joyfully
   3. C.
      cheerfully
   4. D.
      doubtfully
9. 9.
   1. A.
      decides
   2. B.
      depends
   3. C.
      calls
   4. D.
      looks
10. 10.
    1. A.
       award
    2. B.
       reward
    3. C.
       answer
    4. D.
       number
11. 11.
    1. A.
       This
    2. B.
       That
    3. C.
       It
    4. D.
       Such
12. 12.
    1. A.
       marked
    2. B.
       measured
    3. C.
       signed
    4. D.
       known
13. 13.
    1. A.
       another
    2. B.
       other
    3. C.
       one
    4. D.
       both
14. 14.
    1. A.
       detailed
    2. B.
       easy
    3. C.
       simple
    4. D.
       abstract
15. 15.
    1. A.
       acceptable
    2. B.
       available
    3. C.
       adequate
    4. D.
       proper

Answer 1

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