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 1  upon him and he asked, “How many buckets（桶） of water are there in the pond?”The ministers looked at each other,  2  to 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  5  their wit’s end. At this time a child appeared  6  declared that he knew the answer. The king told his  7   ministers to go with the child for the measurement. To their 8  the child refused the suggestion with a smile, “It is very easy. No  9  to go to the pond.” This made the king laugh  10  , “Alright, let us know what it is.” The child winked （眨眼） and said, “That  11  on the size of the bucket. If it is as big as the pond, there is one bucket of water; if it is  12  as big, two buckets; if one third as big, three buckets; if…” “Stop! That’s it. You’ve got the  13 .” The king was satisfied and the child was duly rewarded.

Why did the ministers feel it so  14   to settle the problem? Because they fell in a pitfall （陷阱）, following a  15  way of thinking. People’s thinking often goes a habitual way — the beaten track of straightforwardness.  16  is a static （静态的） way presupposing every object definite and certain, i.e. the size of the pond and the bucket should be clearly  17. If one of them is unknown, it will be difficult to do the measurement, let alone  18 . Why not change your mode of thought — from static to dynamic（动态的）, from concrete to  19 ? If you adopt an indirect way and try to find out the proportional relation between the pond and the bucket, you’ll get an answer — flexible yet  20 to 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．A．fixed                  B．focused             C．came               D．looked

2．A．struggling            B．thinking             C．falling              D．failing

3．A．disappointed         B．excited              C．pleased             D．contented

4．A．killed                  B．punished           C．blamed              D．scolded

5．A．on                     B．at                    C．in                    D．by

6．A．who                   B．whom              C．whose              D．he

7．A．exciting              B．amazing            C．surprising          D．trembling

8．A．doubt                 B．surprise             C．envy                D．delight

9．A．good                  B．use                  C．need                D．wonder

10．A．wonderfully       B．joyfully             C．cheerfully          D．doubtfully

11．A．decides             B．depends            C．calls                 D．looks

12．A．half                  B．both                 C．all                    D．wholly

13．A．award               B．reward             C．answer             D．number

14．A．easy                 B．difficult             C．fast                  D．slow

15．A．wrong              B．correct             C．right                D．incorrect

16．A．This                 B．That                 C．It                    D．Such

17．A．marked             B．measured          C．signed              D．known

18．A．another             B．other                C．one                  D．both

19．A．detailed             B．easy                 C．simple              D．abstract

20．A．appropriate         B．available            C．adequate           D．proper

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  1  upon him and he asked, “How many buckets(桶) of water are there in the pond?” The ministers looked at each other,  2  to 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  5  their wit’s end. At this time a child appeared 6  declared that he knew the answer. The king told his  7 ministers to go with the child for the measurement. To their  8  , the child refused the suggestion with a smile, “It is very easy. No 9  to go to the pond.” This made the king laugh  10  , “Alright, let us know what it is.” The child winked (眨眼) and said, “That  11 on the size of the bucket. If it is as big as the pond, there is one bucket of water; if it is  12 as big, two buckets; if one third as big, three buckets; if...” “Stop! That’s it. You’ve got the  13 .” The king was satisfied and the child was duly rewarded.

Why did the ministers feel it so  14   to settle the problem? Because they fell in a pitfall (陷阱), following a  15  way of thinking. People’s thinking often goes a habitual way — the beaten track of straightforwardness.  16  is a static (静态的) way presupposing every object definite and certain, i.e. the size of the pond and the bucket should be clearly  17 . If one of them is unknown, it will be difficult to do the measurement, let alone  18. Why not change your mode of thought — from static to dynamic（动态的）, from concrete to  19? If you adopt an indirect way and try to find out the proportional relation between the pond and the bucket, you’ll get an answer — flexible yet 20   to 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．A．fixed                B．focused           C．came           D．looked

2．A．struggling              B．thinking           C．falling             D．failing

3．A．disappointed            B．excited            C．pleased           D．contented

4．A．killed                  B．punished            C．blamed           D．scolded

5．A．on                    B．at                C．in                D．by

6．A．who                 B．whom             C．whose            D．he

7．A．exciting               B．amazing          C．surprising       D．trembling

8．A．doubt               B．surprise           C．envy            D．delight

9．A．good              B．use              C．need            D．wonder

10．A．wonderfully          B．joyfully           C．cheerfully       D．doubtfully

11．A．decides              B．depends          C．calls            D．looks

12．A．half                B．both                C．all               D．wholly

13．A．award                B．reward            C．answer           D．number

14．A．easy               B．difficult           C．fast             D．slow

15．A．wrong               B．correct            C．right            D．incorrect

16．A．This               B．That              C．It                D．Such

17．A．marked              B．measured                  C．signed            D．known

18．A．another              B．other               C．one             D．both

19．A．detailed              B．easy                C．simple            D．abstract

20．A．appropriate            B．available             C．adequate         D．proper