Long，long ago, there were a lot of donkeys. The donkeys worked hard every day. They had no time to play or to relax, but they never felt appreciated for the work they did.

   One day two donkeys got bored. They wanted to live a comfortable life. So the donkeys went to see a wise old man. They told him their problem. The wise man agreed that they worked too hard, and he wanted to help the donkeys. “I have an idea,” he said.

   “What is your idea?” asked the donkeys.

   “I will paint you and no one will know you are donkeys,” said the man.

   The man went off to find some paint and he returned in just a few minutes. He had two pots of paint. One pot was filled with white paint, and the other black paint.

   The old man first painted them white, and then painted black stripes over the white paint. When he finished, the donkeys did not look like donkeys. “You no longer look like donkeys.” The old man said. “Everyone will be fooled. I will call you something else, zebras.”

   The zebras went to a field to eat grass. Now they did not have to work.

   Soon, other donkeys saw zebras. They asked the zebras where they came from. When the zebras told the donkeys their secrets, the donkeys all rushed to see the old man.

   “Make us into zebras, too,” they pleaded. So the wise old man painted more donkeys. As he did, more and more donkeys came.

   The old man could not paint fast enough. Soon the donkeys became impatient. They began to kick about, and they knocked over the paint pots.

   There was no more paint. The painted donkeys ran off to become zebras. The unpainted donkeys, because of their impatience, had to return to work.

   This is why it is important to be patient.

46 The two donkeys went to see a wise old man in order to _______.

   A. tell him their problem           B. ask for help

   C. change in to zebras             D. get some grass

47. When the two donkeys returned, why didn’t they have to work?

   A. because they didn’t eat enough grass.

   B. because they didn’t want to work.

   C. because no one knew they were donkeys.

   D. because they were no longer donkeys.

48. What does the underlined word “pleaded” mean?

   A. Advised      B. Ordered      C. Agreed         D. Begged

49. Many donkeys were not painted by the old man because _____

   A. no more paint was left              B. all the paint was used up

   C. they couldn’t wait any longer        D. he was too tired to paint

50. This story tells us ____________.

   A. It is better to be gentle than harsh.

   B. It is better to be patient than hurry.

   C. It is better to be hard working than lazy.

   D. It is better to be quite than noisy.

Nate suffered a hard blow when he lost his job.His boss had spoken rudely, “Your services are no longer needed.” Nate left the building filled with disappointment.By the time he reached home, he was in a deep depression.When he entered his house, he blurted out to his wife Sophia, “I lost my job.I am a complete failure.” A tense silence followed.Then a smile crept across Sophia’s face.“What great news!” she responded.

“Now you can write the book you have always wanted to write.”

“But I have no job and no prospect of a job,” he objected, completely without hope．“If I struggle to be an author, then what will we live on? Where will the money come from?” Sophia took her husband by the hand and led him to the kitchen．Opening a drawer, she took out a box that was full of cash．“Where on earth did you get this?” Nate gasped.“To whom does it belong?”

“It’s ours!” Sophia replied.“I always knew that one day you would become a great writer if only you were given the chance．From the money you gave me for housekeeping every week, I have saved as much as I could so you would have your chance．Now there is enough to last us a whole year.”

What a surprise! What encouragement! What a wife! The unemployed husband did concentrate on writing that year, and the novel he wrote became a literary(文学)masterpiece.The book is The Scarlet Letter.Sophia had an even greater achievement, and she turned Nathaniel Hawthorne from a poor clerk into a world famous master. 

Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph?

       A.Sophia was very disappointed to hear the news  

       B.Nate was too sad to speak any more

       C.Sophia was thinking of how to encourage Nate 

       D.Neither husband nor wife had any idea what to do

Sophia saved money because _______________________．

       A.she knew her husband would lose his job one day  

       B.she knew their life would be in difficulty

       C.she was very careful with money  

       D.she was trying to help her husband in every possible way      

From the passage we can know that Sophia was __________________________．

       A.kind and brave               B.careful and encouraging

       C.friendly and warm-hearted D.honest and determined

What would be the best title for the passage?

       A.Sophia’s Achievement      

B.A Great Writer’s Struggle to Success

       C.Great Encouragement in Hard Times      

D.Failure is the Mother of Success