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.
语篇大意：文章讲述了一个园艺工人一直在使用一个破桶来浇花，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“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.”该词是指这个桶已经差不多要坏了，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。根据第二段最后一句“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！”可知是在嘲笑对方，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，浇灌了它那一边的花草。故选D。
