“Dr.Papaderos,what is the
meaning of life?”
The usual laughter followed,and
people stirred(骚动)to go.Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at
me for a long time,asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my
eyes that I was.
“I will,answer your
question.”
Taking his wallet out of his hip
pocket,he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round
mirror,about the size of a quarter.And what he said went like this:
“When I was a small
child,during the war,we were very poor and we lived in a remote village.One
day,on the road,I found the broken pieces of a mirror.A German motorcycle had
been wrecked in that place.
I tried to find all the pieces
and put them together,but it was not possible,so I kept only the largest
piece.This one,and,by scratching it on a stone.I made it round. I began to play
with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light
into dark places where the sun would never shine——in deep holes and crevices(裂缝)and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the
most inaccessible places I could find.
I
kept the little mirror,and,as I went about my growing up,I would take it out in
idle moments and continue the challenge of the game.As I became a man,I grew to
understand that this was not just a child’s
game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life.I came to
understand that I am not the light or the source of light.But light——truth,understanding,knowledge——is
there,and it will shine in many dark places only if I reflect it.
I am a fragment(碎片)of a mirror whose whole design and
shape l do not know.Nevertheless,with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this
world——into the black places in the hearts of men—and
change some things in some people.Perhaps others may see and do likewise.This
is what I am about.This is the meaning of my life.”
1.On hearing the author’s
question,Dr.Papedotes at
first.
A.laughed at his
foolishness
B.wasn’t sure of the answer
C.doubted his
seriousness D.wasn’t interested at all
2.How did Dr.Papaderos get the small round mirror when he was a
child?
A.He found it on the road and
made it round.
B.A dying German soldier gave him
as a present.
C.He chanced to find it in the
street while playing.
D.He put the broken pieces
together and made it.
3.Why did Dr.Papaderos like the small round mirror so much as a
child?
A.Because he was too poor to
afford other toys.
B.Because it could shine the
places where tke sun couldn’t reach.
C.Because he believed it would
bring good luck to him.
D.Because it tofd him a lot about
what life really meant to him.
4.The underlined“metaphor”in the 7th paragraph most probably
means .
A.symbol B.source
C.light D.purpose
5.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
A.A Special Game in the
Childhood B.A Broken
Piece of Mirror
C.Dr.Papaderos’Experience
D.The Meaning of Life