Question

There was a man named Chow Khok who had a baby donkey. When the foal was fat, Chow Khok said to his son, “Our donkey is nice and fat now. He will bring us a good price at the market. But if we walk him all the way to the market, he will grow thin and no one will want him. I think that we should tie him gently to a pole and carry him between our shoulders. ”

The son agreed. So they tied the donkey’s four legs to a long pole. Then, placing the ends of the pole on their shoulders, they started to walk to the village with the donkey hanging upside down between them.

As they walked along the road, a group of people saw them and began laughing. “Ho, ho, ho! Why are these stupid people carrying a donkey? Hey, both of you! Are you crazy carrying a donkey on a pole? Why don’t you get on his back and ride him?”

Chow Khok and his son heard the crowd’s laughter and were greatly embarrassed(局促不安的). They discussed the matter together. “I suppose we must look strange to these people. Let’s untie our donkey and get on him. But he is really too small for both of us to ride. What shall we do?”

After thinking a bit, Chow Khok said to his son, “I know. You ride the donkey, since you are smaller, and I will walk behind. ”

His son agreed. So they untied the donkey’s legs and continued down the road, the son riding and the father walking behind.

When they arrived at the edge of the village, some people called out to the son, “Who is that old man walking behind you?”

“Oh, ” replied the son. “He is my father. ”

Then a villager scolded(訓斥)the boy. “You are an ungrateful(不覺得感激的) son. You shouldn’t let your father walk behind you like a servant. Get off and let your father ride. ”

The embarrassed son turned to look at his father, who quickly whispered, “Yes, yes. I will get on the donkey. You walk in front. ”

So the father got on the donkey and the boy walked ahead. Soon they arrived at the village well, where many girls were getting water for their families. Seeing the young boy walking tall in front of the donkey, all the girls thought him quite handsome.

“Hey!” they called to the old father on the donkey. “This donkey is beautiful and the tall boy is handsome. You look like an ugly old monkey sitting up there. Why don’t you get off and let this handsome boy ride?”

When the son heard the girls, he turned to his father and said, “Papa, now we made a mistake again. These girls say that I should ride the donkey. What do you think?”

Wearily(疲憊的), his father answered, “First you ride the donkey and it is a mistake. Then I ride the donkey and it is a mistake. Now, suppose you come up here and sit in front of me and we will ride together. ”

The boy climbed up and they continued through the village until they reached the custom house（稅務所）. The customs officer stopped them and asked, “Where are you both going with that donkey?”

“Sir, ” Chow Khok answered, “we are taking the donkey to sell him at the village market. ”

The officer scowled(皺眉) at him. “That donkey is very small, ” he said. “Why are you both sitting on him? You’ll break his back and then you’ll never be able to sell him. A little donkey like that! You should carry him. ”

Chow Khok and his son listened in embarrassment. Shaking his head hopelessly, Chow Khok said, “How can we satisfy all the people in this world? When we carried our donkey on a pole, they said we should ride him. When you rode our donkey, they said that you were an ungrateful son. When I rode our donkey, they said that I looked like a monkey. When we both rode our donkey, they said that we would break his back. How can we satisfy all the people in this world? What shall we do now?”

Taken from Cambodian Folk Stories from the Gatiloke

1. Folk tales often teach a lesson about how people should behave. Which of these lessons might you learn from the folk tale?

A. People are usually unkind.

B. It’s impossible to please everyone.

C. You should never listen to other people.

D. You should trust yourself all the time.

2. What can you infer about Chow Khok based on his actions?

A. Other people’s opinions were important to Chow Khok.

B. He was a generous man.

C. He didn’t feel comfortable talking to other people.

D. He was stupid.

3. Which statement best describes Chow Khok at the end of the story?

A. He’s very angry. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. He is happy.

C. He is confused. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   　　D. He is comfortable.

 

Answer 1

答案：B;A;C
提示：

1 民間的寓言通常是諷刺一些人，故本題選B 2 別人的觀點對Chow Khok的影響很大，故本題選A 3 由于沒有主見，Chow Khok最后自然很迷惑。