Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening,
I was struck by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s
rooftops, huge and round, yellow through the dust and smoke of the city. I
stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking what a pity it was that most
city livers---myself included---usually miss sights like this because we spend
most of our lives indoors.
My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in
a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much
of his life.
I know the feeling. Last December I took my
seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some
friends. We stayed in a forest rest house with no electricity or hot water. Our
group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold
outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high
mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound
could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a
bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon.
Today our lives are connected with glass, metal,
plastic and fiber-glass. We eat and breathe things our bodies were not designed
to process. We have televisions, cell phones, pagers, electricity, heaters,
air-conditioners, cars and computers. White noise and pollution is in the air.
Radio waves and strange lights are constantly disturbing our minds and bodies.
Struggling through traffic that evening at the
end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I saw the moon and remembered
these things. And I thought: before long, I would like to live in a small
cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains
and perhaps write. I may grow old there. But I will be able to walk outside on
a cold silent night and touch the moon.
1.What was the author’s pity in this passage?
A. Most people living in the city failed to see
the beautiful moon.
B. There was too much pollution in the city.
C. There were too many modern inventions.
D. There was too much traffic on the road.
2.What attracted the author most according to
the passage?
A. The mountainous jungle of India. B.
The fullest moon.
C. The high mountains in India. D.
All kinds of modern inventions.
3.The author longs for ________.
A. Camping outside at night B.
Returning to the nature
C. Writing books D.
Watching the moon
4.The main idea of this passage probably is
“________”.
A. Disadvantage of Living in Cities
B. The Pleasure of Being out at Night
C. Touched by the Moon
D. Pollution Caused by Modern Technology
ter. We ordered drinks. While we drank, he talked continually about himself, his family, his wife and her family. He said his wife was rich. He showed me a handful of silver coins that he pulled from his coat pocket.
“Step right in, sir. I’ll take you anywhere in the city.”