Two thieves came to a house to steal something. They dug a hole in the wall of the house. One of them crawled into the house while the other waited outside.

There lived many mice in the house. The woman in the moonlight saw a mouse crawl into the house. “look! In comes one.” She said to the man in the house. Te thief was so frightened that he hurriedly crawled out of the house and said to the one waiting outside, “She found me when I was just in.” But the thief outside didn’t believe him, so he said, “Let us two try to crawl into the house together.” At that time, two mice happened to crawl into the house too. The woman saw the mice and shouted, “In come two. Catch them!” the two thieves were terribly frightened. The man in he house said, “You saw them come in but where are they?” I will catch them tonight.” The two thieves started to run away at once.

The two thieves wanted to make it clear whether they had been found or not the night before. The next day they acted as men selling sweet potatoes and came before the house. The man and the woman were ploughing in their fields. The rope broke and the woman came home for one. She saw two men selling sweet potatoes and wanted to buy some. She picked out two which looked like mice. At the time the man couldn’t wait of her any longer and he ran back from the fields to hurry her up. The woman showed the sweet potatoes to the man and said, “How they look like the two of last night.” The man said, “ I asked you to fetch a rope. Why don’t you hurry for it?” the two thieves ran away very quickly without their sweet potatoes

The two thieves failed to steal anything from the house because ________.

A. they were found out

B. they were frightened by what they had heard in the house

C. they didn’t work together well with each other

D. mice stopped them from doing so

From the last paragraph we know that __________.

the two thieves were farmer selling potatoes.

The woman recognized the two thieves

The woman pretended to know nothing about the two thieves and mad fun of them

The two thieves didn’t know that they were not found at all

When the woman said “How thy look like the two of last night”___________.

A. she referred to the two thieves          B. she meant nothing    

C. she said it on purpose                 D. she referred to the two mice

“__________” is the title for this passage.

A. Two Clever Thieves               B. Terrible Mice

C. Hit the Mark by a Fluke          D. A Clever Couple

Which of the following statements is false?

The two thieves not only failed to steal things but also lost their sweet potatoes.

Whenever thy found mice, the people in the house would try to catch them.

The two thieves ran away at once because they thought the woman had seen them.

The man let the woman go home for a rope, which would be used for catching the thieves.

Mules

       Although the top men in smuggling（走私）business must work together, most of a syndicate’s（集团）small fry, especially the mules, know only their immediate contacts. If caught there is little they can give away. A mule probably will not even know the name of the person who gives him his instructions, nor how to get in touch with him. Usually he even does not know the person to whom he has to make delivery. He will be told just to sit tight in a certain hotel or bar until someone contacts him. In this way if he is blown, coming through airport customs he cannot unwittingly lead agents to the next link in the chain. All the persons at the receiving end do is to hang around the airport among the waiting crowd, and see that the mule comes through safely. If he does not, he is dimply written off（报废；注销）as a loss. To make identification of mules easier, several syndicates have devised their own “club ties” so that a mule wearing one can immediately be picked out.

       Mules often receive careful training before embarking on their first journey. One Beirut organization, for example, uses a room with three airline seats in it. There the trainee mules sit for hours on end wearing weighted smuggling vests beneath their clothes, so that they become accustomed to standing up after a long flight in a natural way, and without revealing what they are carrying. An outfit in Brussels maintained a comfortable apartment where the mules could relax and get a firm grip on themselves on the night before their first journey; they were helped to dress before setting out for the airport in the morning. More often than not a courier will not know precisely where he is going or what flight number is until he is actually handed his tickets at the airport. This prevents the careless boast in some bar or to a girl friend the night before.

       Mules occasionally run off with the goods to keep the profit themselves. As insurance against this, a syndicate often sends a high-up on the same plane to keep a wary eye on couriers, particularly new ones. Even then things can go badly wrong. One international currency smuggler who was having trouble getting money out of Britain was offered help by a group of men who said they were in a position to “fix thing” – for a fee of course. Foolishly, the smuggler agreed to accept their help. When he got to London’s Heathrow Airport, he handed over to one of the men a black suitcase containing nearly $90,000 in cash, destined for Frankfurt. Just to keep an eye on things, the smuggler went along on the same plane. When they landed at Frankfurt he was handed back his suitcase. He beat a straight path to the men’s toilet, opened the case, and found only old clothes. The courier had switched suitcase en route, but the smuggler could hardly run to the police and complain that “the man who was smuggling money out of England for me has stolen it.”

What is a “mule”?

A A person who sends smuggling goods for a syndicate is called mule.

B A person in charge of smuggling goods is called mule.

C A person who makes delivery for a syndicate is called mule.

D A person who receives instructions from a smuggler is called mule.

The sentence “if he is blown” in line (6) is closest in meaning to

A if he is arrested.                  B if he is recognized, but not necessarily arrested.

C if he is recognized and arrested.     D if he runs away.

Why does the author give an example in the last paragraph?

A To show how a smuggler is caught. 

B To show a smuggler is afraid of the police.

C To show to keep a wary eye on couriers is useless.

D To show mules may keep the profit for themselves.

how does a mule work?

A Jointly.                   B Independently.

C consciously.               D Separately.