中考英语阅读理解练习：花房

　　There was once a man called Mr. Flowers, and flowers were his only joy in life. He spent all his free time in one of his four glass-houses and grew flowers of every color, with long and difficult names, for competitions (比赛). He tried to grow a rose of a new color to win the silver cup (银杯) for the Rose of the Year.

　　Mr. Flowers’ glass-houses were very near to a middle school. Boys of around thirteen of age were often tempted (引诱) to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flowers’ glass-houses. So Mr. Flowers did his best to be in or near his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day.

　　But it was not always possible to be on watch at those times. Mr. Flowers had tried in many ways to protect his glass, but nothing that he had done had been useful. He had been to school to report to the headmaster; but this had not done any good. He had tried to drive away the boys that threw stones into his garden; but the boys could run faster than he could, and they laughed at him from far away. He had even picked up all the stones that he could find around his garden, so that the boys would have nothing to throw; but they soon found others.

　　At last Mr. Flowers had a good idea. He put up a large notice (布告) made of good, strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses. On it he had written the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flowers had no further trouble; the boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice than at the glass-houses.

　　6. It was Mr. Flowers’ hope to ________.

　　A. build glass-houses in his free time

　　B. grow the Rose of the Year in a silver cup

　　C. win a silver cup for growing a rose of a new color

　　D. grow a rose with the longest name

　　7. Boys were often tempted to ________.

　　A. throw stones at Mr. Flowers’ glass-house

　　B. throw stones at Mr. Flowers from their school

　　C. be in or near by Mr. Flowers’ glass-houses

　　D. play with Mr. Flowers near his glass-houses

　　8. Mr. Flowers stayed in or near by his glass-houses _______.

　　A. at times when school-boys were walking near them

　　B. all the school day when there were no boys about

　　C. where he could not be seen by the boys passing

　　D. in his free time at the beginning and end of the school day

　　9. Mr. Flowers had tried to ______ to protect his glass.

　　A. be on watch in his free time B. ask the headmaster for help

　　C. pick up all the stones around his garden D. do all the above

　　10. Mr. Flowers’ good idea was to ______.

　　A. write some words on the glass

　　B. put up a large notice to cover his glass-houses

　　C. give the boys something else to throw stones at

　　D. send for policemen

　　Mr. Flowers嗜花如命，他种花的暖房位于一所学校附近。一些男孩子经常朝他种花的暖房上扔石块。尽管他绞尽脑汁，想尽了一切办法，都无济于事。最后Mr. Flowers想出了一个高招。他挂起了一块结实的布告牌，上面写着“请不要朝布告牌扔石块”。孩子们的兴趣于是转向了这块木牌，Mr. Flowers自此高枕无忧了。

　　6. C。“…to win the silver cup for the Rose of the Year.”一句中，不定式在句中作目的状语，也是Mr. Flowers的愿望之所在。

　　7. A。第二段前两句有明确的说明。

　　8. D。“So Mr. Flowers did his best to be in or near his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day.”是该题的出处。

　　9. D。为了保护自己的玻璃房子不受损坏，想尽了各种方法。选项A、B、C所述内容均在文中有明确的阐述。

　　10. C。由最后一段，特别是其中的关键词large, good, strong以及布告上的DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE, 可知他制作布告牌的真正目的不是要它对孩子们起警示作用，而是利用孩子们的心理让其当作他们投掷的靶子。