There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy ____1____ he was content. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along ____2____. The wise man says, “If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist you could probably own your own ____3____.” And then he went away.

That night the farmer ____4____ sleep. He was unhappy and discontent. The next morning he made ____5____ to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went ____6____ diamonds. He looked all over Africa and Europe and couldn’t ____7____ any. When he got to Spain, he was ____8____ broke and couldn’t afford to live. He got so ____9____ that he threw himself into the Barcelona River.

Back home, the person who had bought his ____10____ was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the ____11____ of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle (闪耀) like a rainbow. He ____12____ the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He told him it was a diamond. The man was ____13____, he said, “No, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I’ll show you. There are many more.” They went and picked some samples and sent them for ____14____. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered ____15____ acres and acres of diamonds.

1.1.

A because

B until

C so

D unless

解析：选A。A 考查连词辨析。根据后文内容当他不满足于现状时，他变得不开心可知，此处前后两句存在逻辑上的因果关系。故选A。

2.2.

A it

B them

C her

D him

解析：选B。B 考查代词辨析。句意：一天，一位智者来到他面前，告诉他钻石的荣耀和伴随钻石而来的权力，因此此处them指代前面提到的diamonds。故选B。

3.3.

A town

B street

C county

D country

解析：选D。D 考查名词辨析。根据前面的“If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city.”可知，如果你有一颗拇指那么大的钻石，你就可以拥有自己的城市，因此可推测如果你有拳头那么大的钻石，你就可能拥有比城市还大的地盘，选项中country最符合。故选D。

4.4.

A might not

B mustn’t

C couldn’t

D needn’t

解析：选C。C 考查情态动词辨析。根据后面的“He was unhappy and discontent.”可知，那天晚上，农夫很不高兴，也很不满，由此可知他睡不着。故选C。

5.5.

A opportunities

B arrangements

C promises

D attempts

解析：选B。B 考查名词辨析。根据后面的“sell off his farm, took care of his family”可知，第二天早上，他就“安排”卖掉农场和安顿家人，之后就上路了。故选B。

6.6.

A in spite of

B in support of

C on account of

D in search of

解析：选D。D 考查名词短语辨析。根据前面提到的钻石的荣耀以及农夫晚上不满足现状失眠可知，他踏上了“寻找”钻石之路。故选D。

7.7.

A buy

B transport

C find

D choose

解析：选C。C 考查动词辨析。根据后面的“couldn’t afford to live”可知，他并没有“找到”任何钻石。故选C。

8.8.

A emotionally

B physically

C mentally

D financially

解析：选D。D 考查副词辨析。根据后面的“couldn’t afford to live”可知，他并没有找到任何钻石，现在就连生计都不能维持了，由此可知他“经济上”破产了。故选D。

9.9.

A ashamed

B nervous

C miserable

D guilty

解析：选C。C 考查形容词辨析。根据前面“couldn’t afford to live”他连生计都不能维持和后面的“he threw himself into the Barcelona River”他跳进巴塞罗那河自杀了，可推知他很痛苦。故选C。

10.10.

A farm

B city

C country

D river

解析：选A。A 考查名词辨析。根据前面的“sell off his farm”可知，农场被卖掉了，现在在他家乡农场的是另外一个人。故选A。

11.11.

A heat

B rays

C shadow

D tear

解析：选B。B 考查名词辨析。根据后面的“hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow”可知，清晨的“阳光”照在一块石头上，使它像彩虹一样闪闪发光，也让买下农场的人注意到了他。故选B。

12.12.

A picked up

B rolled away

C cast away

D fell on

解析：选A。A 考查动词短语辨析。根据后面的“put it in the living room”可知，他把那块发光的石头“捡起来”，并且放在了客厅。故选A。

13.13.

A curious

B doubtful

C excited

D stupid

解析：选B。B 考查形容词辨析。根据后面的“No, that’s just a stone I picked up from the stream”可知，他不相信智者的话，因为他认为那只是普通石头。故选B。

14.14.

A approval

B repairs

C analysis

D experiments

解析：选C。C 考查名词辨析。根据前面的“picked some samples”和后面的“Sure enough, the stones were diamonds.”可知，他们捡了一些样本，并且确定了这些石头都是钻石，由此可知他们把这些石头都送去“分析”了。故选C。

15.15.

A up

B of

C in

D with

解析：选D。D 考查介词辨析。cover with覆盖。故选D。