河北省保定市高阳中学2014-2015学年高一下学期第十四次周练 英语试题
第一部分 阅读理解(共两节；满分30分)
第一节 (共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。
A
There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care. To water his flowers, he used two buckets. One was a shiny and new bucket. The other was a very old and dilapidated one, which had seen many years of service, but was now past its best.
Every morning, the gardener would fill up the two buckets. Then he would carry them along the path, one on each side, to the flowerbeds. The new bucket was very proud of itself. It could carry a full bucket of water without a single drop spilled (溢出). The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes: before it reached the flowerbeds, much water had leaked along the path.
Sometimes the new bucket would say, “See how capable (能干的) I am ! How good it is that the gardener has me to water the flowers every day ! I don't know why he still bothers with you. What a waste of space you are！”
And all that the old bucket could say was, “I know I'm not very useful, but I can only do my best. I'm happy that the gardener still finds a little bit of use in me, at least.”
One day, the gardener heard that kind of conversation. After watering the flowers as usual, he said, “You both have done your work very well. Now I am going to carry you back. I want you to look carefully along the path.”
Then the two buckets did so. All along the path, they noticed, on the side where the new bucket was carried, there was just bare (光秃秃的) earth ; on the other side where the old bucket was carried, there was a joyous row of wild flowers, leading all the way to the garden.
语篇解读 新桶能圆满地完成浇水任务，漏水的旧桶也无意中恩泽了一路野花。新也好，旧也罢，任何事物都有自己的用处。
1．What does the underlined word “dilapidated” probably mean?
A. 肮脏的 B. 黑色的
C. 破旧的 D. 难看的
2．What was the old bucket ashamed of?
A. His past. B. His aging.
C. His manner. D. His leaking.
