There is an old Chinese tale about a woman whose only son died. Sadly, she went to the holy man and asked, “What magical things do you have to bring my son back to life?”
Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, “Fetch me a mustard (芥菜) seed from a home that has never known sadness. We will use it to drive the sadness out of your life.” The woman happily went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed.
She first came to a splendid house, knocked at the door and said, “I am looking for a home that has never known sadness. Is it such a place? It is very important to me.”
They told her “You’ve certainly come to the wrong place” and began to describe all the tragic things that had happened to them recently.
The woman said to herself, “I have had misfortune of my own. Who is able to help these poor, unfortunate people?” She stayed to comfort them, and then went on in search of a home that had never known sadness. But wherever she went, she found one tale after another of sadness and misfortune. She became so involved in other people’s sorrow that finally she forgot about her search for the magical mustard seed, never realizing that it had, in fact, driven the sadness out of her life.
小题1:Which of the following does the story lead us to believe?
A．Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
B．Time passed cannot be called back again.
C．You can’t feel happy unless compared with others.
D．You can’t expect to know the result until you have tried.小题2:Instead of sending the woman away, the holy man .
A．asked her to help him first
B．tried to comfort her with kind words
C．asked her to look for a thing that didn’t exist at all
D．tried to encourage her by talking with her小题3:Leaving the holy man, the woman .
A．was full of hope
B．was filled with sadness
C．was determined to try again
D．became discouraged小题4:The best title for the text would be “ ”.
A．A woman’s misfortune
B．A nice surprise
C．The holy man’s faith
D．Cure for sadness
小题1:C
小题2:C
小题3:A
小题4:D
题目分析：本文叙述了作者由于自己的儿子去世，很伤心，于是她请神圣的人那里问：有什么方法让她的儿子复活。这位神圣的人建议她去寻找魔幻的芥菜种子，但是她所到之处，她发现一个又一个故事的悲伤和不幸。她忘了自己的伤心了。
小题1:细节理解题。根据She became so involved in other people’s sorrow 与别人分享忧愁，才会觉得快乐故选C。
小题2:细节理解题。根据Instead of sending her away or reasoning with her, he said to her, “Fetch me a mustard (芥菜) seed from a home that has never known sadness. 让她去寻找一种根本不存在的东西，故选C。
小题3:推理判断题。根据The woman happily went off at once in search of that magical mustard seed. 根据happily可知她是充满希望的，故选A。
小题4:标题归纳题。根据never realizing that it had, in fact, driven the sadness out of her life.故选D。
点评：标题是文章中心思想的精炼表达，多为词组或短语，涵盖性强。做这类题目时，要在阅读全文的基础上，以文章话题为核心，通过比较选项的概括性或 覆盖面，得出正确的标题。正确标题的归纳范围要恰如其分，避免过于具体或断章取义。错误的干扰往往是局部信息，以事实细节替代概括大意。