第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
Back in the old times, there was an old man, who had spent his life learning many different things. He had traveled to many places as well. “I must be the wisest man in the world.” The man thought to himself. As he grew old, he felt that there was no need for him to learn any longer because of the arrival of the end of life. Every day he spent his time complaining about many things. It seemed that he was satisfied with nothing his life.
One day while he was sitting in the chair, there was a knock on the door. The old man opened the door and found a little girl，whose face was covered with soil． “Can I borrow some fire ?”the girl whispered softly．At that time，matches hadn’t been invented，and people used to borrow fire from neighbors by loading a bucket （铲子） with a few hot coals．It was much better than trying to start a fire with sticks．
Not finding a bucket in her hand，the old man asked impatiently , “Well , where’s your bucket ? How are you going to get the coals home ?” However , the girl said she didn’t have one and went to the fireplace ．She put a pile of cold ashes into her hand and put the coal on top of the ash heap （灰堆）．“Thanks !”she said on her way out．Seeing the girl’s happy and grateful appearance, the man was moved and felt ashamed of himself．“If I can learn something new from a little farm girl, there must be a lot I still don’t know．I’d better get busy while I still have time．”
1．We can learn from the first paragraph that the old man ____________________
A．failed to know what he needed to do
B．lost confidence in himself
C．lost the fame of the world’s wisest man
D．often expressed his dissatisfaction with life
2．How did the girl change the old man’s opinions ?
A．By solving an old problem in a new way
B．By following the old man’s instructions
C．By pointing out his mistakes politely
D．By helping the old man to make a fire
3．It can be inferred from the underlined part in me last paragraph that the old man would become_______________．
A．more confident C．more modest
C．more modest D．more intelligent
4．What can we infer from the text ?
A．Failure is the mother of success B．Action speaks louder than words
C．It’s never too late to learn D．Great minds think alike
