For the 17 years my life was very happy. Then the
first sad thing happened. My mother became very ill. Just before she died, she
asked Elizabeth and me to go to her room. She said, “Victor and Elizabeth, I’m
very happy because you love each other, and because one day you’ll get married.
Everyone in the family loves you, Elizabeth. Will you take my place in the
family, my dear? I can die happy if you look after them when I have gone.”
My mother died and we were very sad, because we loved
her so much. Elizabeth was brave and helped us; her sweet smile gave us some
happiness in the unhappy days after my mother’s death. The time came for me to
go to university(大學). I didn’t want to leave my sad family,
but we all knew that I should go. It was hard to leave, too, because the
parents of my good friend Henry would not let him go to university with me. So
I had gone alone.
On my first day at university I met Professor Waldman.
He gave a wonderful talk to all the students. He ended his talk by saying,
“Some of you will become the greatest scientists of tomorrow. You must study
hard and discover everything that you can.”
After the professor’s talk, I thought very carefully.
I remembered the storm when I was 15; I remembered how the lightning had
destroyed the tree. From then on, I wanted to use electricity to help people,
and I wanted to discover the secrets of life. I decided to work on these two things.
I started to work the next day. I worked very hard and
soon Professor Waldman and I realized that I could learn to be a very good
scientist.
The professor and other important scientists helped
me. I was interested in my work and I did not take one day’s holiday during the
next two years. After two years, I had discovered many things and I built a
scientific machine that was the best in the university. My machine would help
me answer the most important question of all. How does life begin? Is it possible
to put life into dead things? To answer these questions about life I had to
learn first about death. I had to watch bodies from the moment when they died
and the warm life left them. In the hospital and in the university, I watched
the dying and the dead. Day after day, month after month, I followed death, so
it was a dark and terrible time.
I built a tall mast(桅桿)about
150 metres high, which is higher than the tallest building in the city, to
catch lightning and send the electricity down to my machine in the lab. I
believed I could use that electricity to give life to things that were dead.
Then one day, the answer came to me. Suddenly I was
sure that I knew the secret of life.
1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the
passage?
A．Elizabeth
married shortly after Victor’s mother died.
B．Elizabeth was
a brave girl who loved Victor and gave him much help.
C．Victor’s mother was very angry when she knew he loved
Elizabeth.
D．Victor did
not want to leave his family because his mother died not long before.
2.Victor did all the following during his research in
the university EXCEPT that ______.
A．he discovered
many things and built a scientific machine
B．he learnt
much about death both in the hospital and in the university
C．he worked
hard and took only one day’s holiday during the next
two years
D．he built a
tall mast to catch lightning and send the electricity down to the lab
3.According to the writer, the secret of life is to
_______.
A．give life to
things that were dead
B．build the
best machine to learn about death
C．use
electricity to help others
D．become the
greatest scientist of tomorrow
4.Which is the correct order about the life of Victor?
① Victor’s mother passed away.
② Victor got help from the professor and other
scientists.
③ Victor went to university and attended the
professor’s talk.
④ Victor found the answer to giving life to things
that were dead.
⑤ Victor experienced a storm, seeing the lightning
destroying the tree.
A．①②③④⑤ B．⑤①②④③
C．①③②⑤④ D．⑤①③②④
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