“拔掉”坏习惯要趁“年轻”
A rich man asked a wise scholar(学者) to get his son away from his bad habits. The scholar took the youth for a walk in a garden. Stopping suddenly, he asked the boy to pull out a very small plant growing there.
The youth held the plant between his two fingers and pulled it out. The old man then asked him to pull out a slightly bigger plant. The youth pulled hard and the plant came out, roots and all. “Now pull out that one,” said the old man, pointing to a bush(灌木). The boy had to pull it out with all his strength.
“Now take this one out,” said the old man, pointing at a big tree. The youth grasped the bottom of the tree and tried to pull it out. But it would not move. “It’s impossible,” said the boy, out of breath.
“So it is with bad habits,” said the scholar. “When they are young, it is easy to pull them out, but when they take hold, they cannot be got rid of. Don’t wait for bad habits to grow in you. Drop them while you have control over it, or they will get control of you.”
The talk with the old man changed the boy’s life.
1.The boy pulled out the first plant _________.
A with his father’s help
B with all his strength
C quite easily
D quite hard
解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第一段最后一句中的“a very small plant”和第二段第一句“The youth held the plant between his two fingers and pulled it out.”可知这株植物非常小，且年轻人仅用两指就将其拔出来了，故选C。
2.Why did the boy get out of breath?
A Because he tried very hard to pull out the tree.
B Because walking through the garden made him tired.
C Because he felt sorry for not being able to pull out the tree.
D Because talking with the scholar made him feel sad.
解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据第二段“bush”“pull it out with all his strength”和第三段的“tree” “impossible”可知年轻人是因为使劲拔树才上气不接下气，故选A。
3.What does the underlined phrase “got rid of” mean?
A Learnt of.
B Controlled over.
C Found out.
D Made to disappear.
解析：选D。D 词义猜测题。根据前文的“When they are young, it is easy to pull them out”可知，当坏习惯还小的时候，很容易就改掉坏习惯，但是当坏习惯长大了(占了上风)，就很难除掉它们，故got rid of应该表示“摆脱，除掉”之意。故选D。
4.The scholar took the boy to the garden to _________.
A do some exercise
B teach him a lesson
C help him pull out plants
D help him stop smoking
解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据文章最后一段男孩的一生都被改变了可推断智者带年轻人去花园是为了给他“上一课”，故选B。
5.Where can you read this passage?
A In a science magazine.
B In an education magazine.
C In a musical magazine.
D In an art magazine.
解析：选B。B 文章出处题。这是一篇具有教育意义的文章，故可能出现在教育杂志里面，故选B。