阅读理解。
Although it might have happened anywhere, my encounter with the green banana started on a steep
mountain road in the central area of Brazil. I was driving up through beautiful countryside when the radiator
(水箱) began to leak. I stopped at the next village, which consisted of a small store and a few houses. People
came over to look. "That's easy to fix," a man said. He sent a boy running for some green bananas. He patted
me on the shoulder, assuring me that everything would work out. "Green bananas," he smiled. Everyone agreed.
We chatted casually while all the time I was wondering what they could possibly do to my radiator with
their green bananas. I did not ask them, though, as that would show my ignorance, so I talked about the beauty
of the land that lay before our eyes. Huge rock formations, like Sugar Loaf in Rio,rose up all around us. "Do
you see that tall one right over there?" asked the man, pointing to a particularly tall, slender pinnacle (尖端) of
dark rock. "That rock marks the center of the world."
I looked to see if he was teasing me, but his face was serious. He, in turn, inspected me carefully, as if to
make sure I grasped the significance of his statement. The occasion called for some show of recognition on
my part. "The center of the World?" I repeated, trying to show interest. He nodded, "The absolute center.
Everyone around here knows it."
At that moment the boy returned with an armful of green bananas. The man cut one in half and pressed
the cut end against the radiator jacket. The banana melted into a glue against the hot metal, stopping the leaks
instantly. I was so astonished at this that I mush have looked rather foolish and everyone laughed. They then
refilled my radiator and gave me extra bananas to take along. An hour later, after using the green banana once
more, my radiator and I reached our destination.
It took me a little longer to fully grasp the importance of the rock which the villagers believed marked the
center of the world. I had at first doubted their claim, as I knew for a fact that the center was located
somewhere else in New England. After all, my grandfather had come from there. But gradually I realized the
village people had a very reasonable belief and I agreed with them. We all tend to regard as the center that
special place where we are known, where we know others, where things mean much to us, and where we
ourselves have both identity and meaning: family, school, town and local region could all be our center of the
world.
The lesson which gradually dawned on me was actually very simple. Every place has special meanings for
the people in it, and in a certain sense every place represents the center of the world. The world has numerous
such centers, and no one student or traveler can experience all of them. But once a conscious breakthrough
to a second center is made, a life-long perspective and collection can begin.
The cultures of the world are full of unexpected green bananas with special value and meaning. They have
been there for ages, ripening slowly, perhaps waiting patiently for people to come along to encounter them. In
fact, a green banana is waiting for all of us if we would leave our own centers of the world in order to
experience other places.
1. The author stopped at a village on his way because he wanted to ____.
A. have his car repaired
B. enjoy the beautiful scenery
C. look for some bananas to fix his radiator
D. talk to some villagers to learn about their way of life
2. What's the author's reaction to the man's remarks on the center of the earth?
A. He thought the man was serious about what he said.
B. He thought that the man was telling the truth.
C. He thought that the man was telling a story.
D. He thought the man was making fun of him.
3. What does the author come to learn from the man's remarks?
A. The rock mentioned by the man is really the center of the world for everyone.
B. There are lots of such "rocks" in the world representing the center of the world.
C. There is only one center in the world that is actually in New England.
D. As a matter of fact, the center of the world does not exist in his opinion.
4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. A green banana refers to a banana that is not ripe.
B. A green banana is something that can be used to repair a leaking radiator.
C. A green banana refers to a certain culture that is unknown to an outsider.
D. A green banana is something useful that we find unexpectedly.
