阅读理解。
Years ago, there lived a wealthy man named Mr. Cooper who, with his dearest young son John, loved art
collecting. Together they traveled around the world, collecting the finest art treasures.
One winter, war came to the nation, and John left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his
father received a telegram reading that John had died while saving a fellow soldier. Filled with sadness, the old
man cried. On the coming Christmas morning, a soldier called on him and gave him a picture of John.
The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to his will, all of his works of
art would be auctioned (拍卖) on Christmas Day, when he had received the greatest gift of his life. The day
soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to buy some of the world's greatest paintings.
The auction began with a painting of the old man's son. "Who will open the bidding (出价) with $100?" the
auctioneer (拍卖人) asked. Minutes passed, but no one spoke. Finally, a neighbor of the old man's spoke.
"Can I take the painting for ten dollars? It is all I have, and he is a good man."
"Will anyone go higher?"called the auctioneer. After more silence, the auctioneer said, "Going once, going
twice, gone." The gavel (槌) fell. "Now we can get on to the real treasures," someone shouted angrily. But the
auctioneer said that the auction was over. Someone asked,"It's over? We didn't come here for a picture of
some old guy's son. There are millions of dollars worth of art here!"The auctioneer replied, "It's very simple.
According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son...gets all."
1. Why did they travel around the world? [ ]
A. They wanted to visit some well-known artists.
B. They had their own companies around the world.
C. They wanted to visit all kinds of places of interest.
D. They wanted to collect the world's finest art.
2. When did the old man die? [ ]
A. The morning when the solider visited him.
B. Several months after John died.
C. A few days after John served in the army.
D. The day he received the news of John's death.
3. The underlined words "the greatest gift" in Paragraph 3 refer to _____. [ ]
A. a picture of John
B. the painting John collected
C. the finest work of art
D. the telegram about his son
4. A neighbor of the old man's bought the painting of John _____. [ ]
A. because he knew the will of the old man
B. to pick up the world's greatest paintings
C. in honor of John, who was worth respecting
D. because no one else was willing to buy it
5. It can be inferred from the passage that _____. [ ]
A. the old man and the auctioneer were good friends
B. no art collectors wanted to buy Mr. Cooper's collection of art
C. John was a successful art collector and an excellent artist
D. the old man, Mr. Cooper, loved his son very much