Equal Inheritance

A certain merchant had two sons. The elder son was his favorite, and he intended to leave all his wealth to this son when he died. The mother felt sorry for her younger son, and she asked her husband not to tell the boys of his intention. She hoped to find some way of making her sons equal. The merchant heeded her wish and did not make known his decision.

One day the mother was sitting at the window weeping. A traveler approached the window and asked her why she was weeping.

“How can I help?” she said. “There is no difference between my two sons, but their father wishes to leave everything to one and nothing to the other. I have asked him not to tell them of his decision until I have thought of some way of helping the younger, but I have no money of my own, and I do not know what to do in my misery.”

Then the traveler said to her, “There is help for your trouble, Tell your sons that the elder will receive the entire inheritance(遗产), and that the younger will receive nothing. Then they will be equal.”

The younger son, on learning that he would inherit nothing, went to another land, where he served his apprenticeship and learned a trade. The elder son lived at home and learned nothing, knowing that someday he would be rich.

When the father died, the elder son did not know how to do anything and spent all his inheritance, however the younger son, who had learned how to make money in a foreign country, became rich.

1.In her mother’s opinion, the younger son should             .

      A.become richer than his brother

       B.get half of the family wealth

       C.know his father’s intention

       D.learn a way to earn money

2.The mother was weeping because she felt             .

       A.angry                  B.moved                 C.helpless               D.ashamed

3.What is the message of the story?

       A.Inheriting money sometimes brings a person bad luck.

       B.Brothers should learn to get along well with one another.

       C.People with enough money don’t have to work hard for success.

       D.Learning to earn money is more important than having money given.

Australians have been warned they face a life or death decision over their water — drink recycled sewage (污水) or die.

With the drought continuing, the country is set to be forced to use purified waste water for drinking, even though there is great disagreement to the measure.

Queensland has become the first state to introduce the policy after a warning from its premier.
“I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water,” said Peter Beattie. “These are difficult decisions, but you either drink water or you die. There's no choice. It's liquid gold, it's a matter of life and death.”  

Beattie said Australia's second largest state would become the first to use recycled water for drinking.

Water is recycled in Britain and parts of northern Europe along with the US and Israel.  

But Australians have never liked the idea.  

To try to change the way Australians think, Prime Minister John Howard and Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull have backed Queensland’s move. "I am very strongly in favour of recycling and Mr Beattie is right and I agree with him completely," Howard said.  

Turnbull added that Australian cities, all now facing water shortages because of the worst drought on record, must start to use recycled water. "All of our big cities have to widen the range of water sources to include sources which are not dependent on rainfall," he said.

1.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A.Queensland is the second largest state in Australia.

B.Some European countries have taken the measures already.

C.Queensland suffers most from the drought among the other states.

D.Australians usually depend on rainfall for their water sources.

2.From the passage, it can be inferred that______.

A.other ways to solve the water shortage may be discussed and discovered

B.many Australians like the idea of drinking recycled water

C.big cities in other states will not follow Queensland

D.Britain faces the same drought problem as Australia does

3.What does the underlined word “backed” probably mean?

A.supported        B.adopted            C.changed    D.fell behind

4.The title for this passage would probably be ______.

A.Live or Die? A Life or Death Decision Over Water

B.A Perfect Solution to Water Shortage

C.No to Recycled Water

D.Rainfall or Sewage? No One Cares

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