There once was a little boy who had a bad temper (脾气). His father gave him a bag of nails (钉子). He told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the back of the wall.

The first day, the boy had driven 37 nails into the wall. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his temper, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dropped. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the wall.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it. The father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the wall. He said, “You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the wall. The wall will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry. The wound is still there.”

1.What does the underlined word “hammer” probably mean?

A Hit.

B Fix.

C Hide.

D Throw.

解析：选A。A词义猜测题。根据划线部分后文第二段第一句的“had driven 37 nails into the wall”可知hammer的意思是把钉子用锤子“敲进”墙里。故选A。

2.What did the boy do over the first few weeks?

A Tried to not lose his temper.

B Drove nails into the wall.

C Held his temper all the time.

D Pulled the nails out of the wall.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。根据第二段第一、二句可知，刚开始的几周，男孩每天都会把一些钉子钉进墙里面。故选B。

3.The boy could pull out the nails when _________.

A he became angry

B he wanted to do so

C he controlled his temper

D he hurt someone

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据第三段第三句“The father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.”可知，每当男孩控制住自己脾气的时候，他就可以拔出一枚钉子。故选C。

4.The father wanted to tell his son _________.

A to do many things to help others

B to understand things deeply

C to be nice to other people

D to work very hard

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据最后一段父亲对男孩说的话可知，当你伤害了别人，无论道歉多少次都无济于事，伤口已经形成而且疤痕永远无法消除。由此可知，父亲这样做是想让男孩学会善待他人。故选C。

5.The passage probably comes from ______.

A a dictionary

B a poster

C a storybook

D a notice

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据全文内容可知，文章讲述了男孩钉钉子和拔钉子的故事，告诉了读者一个道理。因此本文可能来自一本故事书。故选C。