题干

阅读下文,完成后面小题。

栅栏两边苹果甜

班超

    ①艾尔和胡安住在普韦布洛村村口两幢并排的房子里,尽管他们的房子十分相似,但艾尔家的庭院里有一棵枝繁叶茂的大苹果树,而胡安家却没有。在艾尔看来,除了家人和好脾气,胡安拥有的东西很少。

    ②春天,苹果树蓬蓬勃勃地开出满树的粉色花朵;秋天,苹果树的枝头缀满红艳、甜美的果实。这时,艾尔每天都会对着苹果树吹嘘一番:“我的苹果树开出的花最美丽,结出的果实最甜美,这使我成为普韦布洛村最棒、最幸福的人!”“那的确是棵很美的苹果树。”胡安赞同地说,“你也让我们一同欣赏它的美丽,我感觉很开心。”听到别人也从他的苹果树上获取益处,艾尔的幸福减少了一大半。他越想越不高兴,为了独享苹果树恩赐的幸福,他悄悄地建造了一道高高的栅栏。

    ③尽管如此,有一年春天,艾尔还是沮丧地看到,苹果树的一根枝条已悄悄伸进了邻居家的庭院。艾尔想:“我不能剪掉它,秋天它还会结出很多的苹果呢。不过,胡安怎么可以从我的树上获得好处呢?”在粉红色花朵盛开的春天,他异常烦恼;到绿叶满枝头的夏天,他心事重重;当果实挂满枝头的秋天来到时,他决定解决此事。

    ④艾尔站在庭院里采摘苹果,他很努力,却怎么也够不到栅栏另一边枝条上的苹果,他很沮丧。然而,第二天,他在家门口发现了一个苹果蛋糕,卡片上面写着“谢谢”,署名“胡安”。艾尔恼火极了,他白皙的脸涨得通红,他把卡片摔到地上,胡安偷了他的苹果!

    ⑤他带着蛋糕,急匆匆赶往市长家。他把蛋糕掷到桌上说:“看这个,这是用从我家树上采摘的苹果制作的,胡安犯了偷盗罪!”市长问:“你肯定做蛋糕的苹果是你的吗?”艾尔怒气冲冲地说:“当然!许多年前,我父亲在庭院里亲手栽下这棵苹果树,土地和树都属于我,苹果当然也属于我。”市长说:“从现在起四天后,法官将去普韦布洛村考察。你既然提交了案子,肯定能得到公正的裁决。”艾尔皱起眉头问:“我应该怎么为法官准备证词?”“你已经站在自己一方讲述了事情,但一个栅栏有两边,就像所有争论一样。法官希望你了解问题的两个方面,请你明天带着胡安的观点再来。”市长说。

    ⑥艾尔朝家的方向走,他努力想象胡安可能会说什么。树枝确实越过了栅栏,胡安又那么贫穷,任何食品当然都受他欢迎。“不过,那是我的苹果树!”艾尔对着一条路过的狗语气坚定地说。

    ⑦第二天清晨,艾尔返回市长家,说出了他想象的胡安一方的辩词。“他会说苹果落到了他家庭院,因此变成他的了。”艾尔说,“但是,如果一条狗跑进他家院子,狗却不会变成他的。”艾尔为自己想出的精彩辩词感觉十分自豪。“但胡安为什么要送给你苹果蛋糕呢?”市长问道。“为什么?嘲笑我呗!”艾尔说。市长说:“可是,胡安没有能力送给别人食物啊。你的说法有欠妥当。一个栅栏有两边,就像所有争论一样,你还需要考虑一天。”艾尔勉强地说:“我将去和胡安谈一谈,但这只会使我的证据更加充分!”

    ⑧晚上,艾尔坐在院子中,出神地凝视着树木和栅栏。A微风下,苹果树发出沙沙的声响;栅栏边,盛开的小花也快活地眨着眼睛。艾尔想:苹果树是我的,所以它的果实也是我的,但是苹果落到了胡安家院子里……胡安为什么要送给我蛋糕呢?

    ⑨艾尔来到胡安家门口,轻轻敲了几下门。胡安打开门,一看是艾尔,就十分友好地笑起来:“你喜欢那个蛋糕吗?我必须感谢你。你家苹果树伸过来的树枝,给我和家人增添了许多快乐,春天的花开、夏天的绿荫,都令我们无比幸福。我知道,拥有普韦布洛村最棒苹果树的人肯定也是最慷慨之人,但那些苹果,当然属于你。我想,我们从你的苹果树那里得到了如此多幸福,只把苹果归还给你就显得过于微薄了,所以,我妻子用所有的苹果烤成了一个香甜的蛋糕,我们希望你喜欢它!”

    ⑩艾尔白皙的脸涨得通红,他感觉自己比一只蚂蚁还要矮小。此时,他最初的气愤已经像绵白糖一般完全融化在水中了。

    ⑪“你愿意和我们共进晚餐吗?”胡安指着餐桌说。餐桌上摆着一些简单的饭菜:豆子、米饭和玉米饼。艾尔知道,明天法官到来时,他不用提供任何证词了。他说:“很乐意,和你们在一起,我很幸福!但请允许我带点东西过来。”B说完,艾尔连忙跑回家,仔仔细细地选了一篮最大、最红的苹果,带着这边的甜甜的苹果去了栅栏的另一边。

上一题 下一题 0.0难度 选择题 更新时间:2019-05-10 10:52:58

答案(点此获取答案解析)

同类题4

任务型阅读

    More and more corporations are taking an interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR is made up of three broad layers. The most basic is traditional corporate charity work. Companies typically spend about 1% of pre-tax profits on worthy projects. But many feel that simply writing cheques to charities is no longer enough. In some companies, shareholders want to know that their money is being put to good use, and employees want to be actively involved in good works.

    Money alone is not the answer when companies come under attack for their behavior. Hence the second layer of CSR, which is a branch of risk management. Starting in the 1980s, with environmental disasters such as the explosion at Bhopal and the Exxon Valdez oil spill, industry after industry has suffered blows to its reputation.

    So, companies often responded by trying to manage the risks. They talk to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and to governments, create codes of conduct(行为准则) and devote themselves to more transparency(透明)in their operations. Increasingly, too. they, along with their competitors, set common rules to spread risks.

    All this is largely defensive, but there are also opportunities for those that get ahead of the game. The emphasis on opportunity is the third layer of CSR: the idea that it can help to create value. If approached in a strategic way, CSR could become part of a company's competitive advantage. That is just the sort of thing chief executives like to hear. The idea of "doing well by doing good" has become popular.

    Nevertheless, the business of trying to be good is bringing difficult questions to executives. Can you measure CSR performance? Should you be cooperating with NGOs and you’re your competitors? Is there any really competitive advantage to be had from a green strategy?

    Corporate social responsibility is now seen as a mainstream. Big companies want to tell the world about their good citizenship with their devotion to social responsibilities. Done badly, CSR is often just window-dressing and can be positively harmful. Done well, though, it is not some separate activity that companies do on the side, a corner of corporate life reserved for virtue(美德):it is just good business.

     (Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS)