The host poured the tea into the cup and
placed it on the small table in front of his guests, who were a father and
daughter, and put the cover on the cup. Apparently thinking of something, he
hurried into the inner room, leaving the thermos (热水瓶) on the table. His two
guests heard a cupboard opening.
They remained sitting in the sitting room,
the ten-year-old daughter looking at the flowers outside the window, the father
just about to take his cup, when the crash came, right there in the sitting
room. Something was hopelessly broken.
It was the thermos, which had fallen to the
floor. The girl looked over her shoulder, shocked, staring. It was mysterious.
Neither of them had touched it, not even a bit. True, it hadn't stood steadily
when their host placed it on the table, but it hadn't fallen then.
The explosion caused the host to rush back.
Gawking at the steaming floor, the host said "It doesn't matter! It
doesn't matter!"
The father started to say something. Then
he said softly, "Sorry, I touched it and it fell."
"It doesn't matter," the host
said.
When they left the house, the daughter
said, "Daddy, did you touch it?"
"No. But it stood so close to me.
"
"But you didn't touch it. I saw your
reflection in the window glass. "
The father laughed. "What then would
you give as the cause of its fall?"
"The thermos fell by itself. The floor
is not smooth. Daddy, why did you say that you …"
"That won't do, girl. It sounds more
acceptable when I say I knocked it down. There are things which people accept
less the more you defend them. The truer the story you tell, the less true it
sounds. "
The daughter was lost in silence for a
while. Then she said, "Can you explain it only in this way?"
"Only in this way," her father
said.
56. Which statement is a possible theme of
this story?
A. People rarely tell the truth.
B. You can't always make people believe the
truth.
C. If you defend yourself, people will
believe you.
D. People should take the blame for what
they didn't do.
57. It can be inferred from the story that
the father _______.
A. didn't know the host
well
B. felt satisfied that he didn't tell the truth
C. was sorry that he told the truth
D. didn't think the host would believe the truth
58. From the story we know that the
daughter ________.
A. thought her father should tell the
truth B. didn't know why the
thermos fell
C. knocked over the
thermos
D. strongly objected to her father's explanation
59. The underlined "gawking at"
probably means _______.
A. staring at with
anger
B. looking at curiously
C. glancing at
hopelessly
D. looking at in a dull way