北京市石景山区2014高考英语 阅读理解暑假训练三.docVIP

石景山区2014高考英语阅读理解暑假训练（3）及答案 The Touchstone When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved．But it was not a valuable book, and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for very little money． The book wasnt very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed．It was a thin strip of vellum （） on which was written the secret of the Touchstone ! The touchstone was a small pebble （） that could turn any common metal into pure gold． The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it．But the secret was this: The real pebble would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold． So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles．He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times．So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea．He spent a whole day doing this but none of themPick up another．Throw it into the sea．Pick up another．Throw it into the sea．The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months．One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm．He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done．He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along he still threw it away． So it is with opportunity．Unless we are careful, its easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand, and its just as easy to throw it away． 44．The man bought the book because ____． A．he wanted to read it B．it was very interesting C．there was a secret in the book D．he wanted to find the touchstone 45．We can lea from the passage that the touchstone is ____ ． A．pure B．cold C．magic D．big 46．Why did the man throw the pebbles into the sea? A．Because he didnt w