Ⅰ.阅读理解
There was a gardener who looked after his garden with great care. To water his flowers, he used two buckets(桶). 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 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.
文章讲述了一个园艺工人一直在使用一只破桶来浇花，以此告诉我们任何一样事物的存在都是有理由的。
1．What does the underlined word “dilapidated” probably mean?
A．Great. B．Dark.
C．Wornout. D．Excellent.
答案：C
解析：词义猜测题。根据前一句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.可知，该词意思与old相近，是指这只桶是破旧的，下文The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes也给了提示。故选C。
2．What was the old bucket ashamed of?
A．His past. B．His aging.
C．His manner. D．His leaking.
答案：D
解析：细节理解题。根据第二段最后The old bucket felt very ashamed because of its holes：before it reached the flowerbeds，much water had leaked along the path.可知，旧桶对自己的漏水很羞愧，故选D。
3．The new bucket made conversations with the old one mainly to ________.
A．laugh at the old one
B．take pity on the old one
C．show off its beautiful looks
D．praise the gardener's kindness
答案：A
解析：推理判断题。根据第三段See how capable 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！(看看我有多能干！园丁让我每天给花浇水，真是太好了！我不知道为什么他仍然使用你。你真是浪费空间！)可推知，新桶与旧桶对话主要是为了嘲笑旧桶，故选A。
4．Why was the old bucket still kept by the gardener?
A．Because it was used to keep a balance.
B．Because it stayed in its best condition.
C．Because it was taken as a treasure.
D．Because it had its own function.
答案：D
解析：推理判断题。根据文章最后一段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.可知，这只破桶也有作用和价值，因为漏水，它浇灌了通向花园的路边的花草，故它的存在仍然是有价值的，故选D。
