Napoleon’s Three Questions.doc

Napoleons Three QuestionsA story is told about a Swede who was dying to join Napoleons Grand Army. One evening some of Napoleons soldiers were drinking together when a young Frenchman brought a friend to their table. He explained to them that his friend was a Swede and knew no French, but this Swede admired Napoleon so much that he wanted to join the French army and fight for him.The soldiers looked up and in front of them stood a tall young man with blue eyes, a friendly face, strong arms and broad shoulders. They liked him at first sight. The officers saw that he was just the right sort of man, so they accepted him and he became one of Napoleons soldiers. His new friends smoothed away the difficulties. He fought bravely in many battles and gained their respect. However, his knowledge of French remained very weak, because he was not good at learning languages, but this did not prevent him from fighting hard. Several years later, word came that Napoleon himself was coming to inspect them, and the Swede was warned that the great man would probably ask him some questions. There was some difficulty in explaining this to the Swede, but when at last he understood he became at a loss and very anxious. “The Swede wont understand the questions.” One of the Frenchmen said, “What can he do?” It was well known that Napoleon always asked the same three questions, and usually in the same order. The first question was, “How old are you?” The second was, “how long have you been in my army?” And the third was, “Did you serve in either of my last two campaigns?” The Swede could not possibly remember all these words and so his friends decided to teach him only the answers in their proper order. They gave him a lot of practice. Whenever possible, one of them would stop him, make him stand at attention, and ask him the three questions. “How old are you?” he would demand, and the Swede would answer, “Twenty-three, sir.” Then his friend would ask, “How long have you been in my army?” and the Swede would answer, “Three years, sir.” To the third question, “Did you serve in either of my last two campaigns?” the Swede would answer with pride, “Both, sir!” For many days this practice continued. The Swede would walk about, saying to himself, “Twenty-three, sir. Three years, sir. Both, sir!” Before the day of the inspection, his friends were satisfied. He knew his answer. There ought to be no trouble. Napoleon arrived. Standing in front of the straight lines of soldiers, he looked at them with great satisfaction. Then he began to walk along the lines, smiling sometimes, and saying a few words here and there. The Swede stood quite still, except that his lips moved slightly. He was still practicing. Napoleon suddenly caught sight of the tall soldier and realized at once that he had never seen him before. He stopped in front of the Swede. For some reason, this time the great man began with the second question. “How many years have you been in my army?” he demanded. “Twenty-Three, sir,” said the Swede clearly and well. Napoleon was surprised. He looked at tall man and asked, “How old are you then?” “Three years, sir,” replied the Swede quickly. Napoleon was astonished. “Either you are mad, or I am,” he declared. “Both, sir!” cried the Swede proudly.Choose the correct answers according to the text.1.The Swede has a strong desire to join Napoleons Grand Army in that _.A. he was not good at French and desired to improve his FrenchB. he thought that he who doesnt want to be general is not a good solider C. he admired Napoleon so much that he wanted to fight for him.D. he liked to fight bravely2. The reason why the Swede gained the others respect was that _.A. he always helped the others to smooth away difficulties.B. he was good at learning languages C. he was a tall young man with blue eyes, a friendly face, strong arms and broad shoulders.D. he fought bravely 3.The Swede was at a loss and anxious when he learned that Napoleon would inspect them and ask them some questions because _.A. he was worried that he might not be the sort of solider that Napoleon likedB. he knew no French and was worried to be asked C. he was worried to make some mistakes to annoy NapoleonD. he was worried that Napoleon would drive him out of his army for he knew no French.4. Before the day of the inspection, his friends were satisfied because _A. the Swedes French improved a lot with the help of the others B. the Swede had learned all the answers in the same order by heartC. word came that Napoleon wouldnt come to inspect them D. they believe that the Swede could answer any questions to be asked by Napoleon.5. he may refer to _.A. the Swede B. Napoleon C. one of the soldiers D. not mentioned 6.Napoleon was astonished in that _.A. the Swedes answers are beyond belief B. it was beyond imagination that such a young solider should experience so much C. the Swedes French was so fluent D. the Swede was too proud.7. Such a mistake happened in that _.A. Napoleon shouldnt change the order of his questions B. Napoleon began with the second question C. the Swede didnt learn the answers by heart .D. the Swede was not good at learning French .1.I was about to go out _ it started to rain , which _ me going out.A. while ; prevented B. while ; kept C. when ; kept D. when ; prevented2.When _ why he came late , the boy _ that he was unlucky to meet with an accident, and that it was an old man who gave him a hand.A. asked ; explained me B. asked ; explained to me C. being asked ; explained to me D. being asked ; explained me3.Seeing that her daughter make _ , the mother burst into tears.A. so great a progress B. such a great progress C. so great progress D. such great progress4. It was beyond my imagination that _ little worms eat _ much food a day.A. so ; so B. such ; such C. so ; such D. such ; so5.Seeing the lovely children playing happily , how I wanted to join them and _ with them.A. play B. playing C. played D. plays6.On my birthday ,I _ a lot of gifts but I didnt want to _ them.A. received ; receive B. accepted ; accept C. received ; accept D. accepted ; receive7.He bought several dozen eggs . After he got out of the toilet , he found only three eggs _ in the basket.A. remained B. were remained C. were remaining D.remaining 8._ came that some workers would be fired , _ made all the worker anxious.A. A word ; which B. A word ; that C. Word ; which D. Words ; that9.I have some trouble _ the English language .A. to learn B. in to learn C. learning D. with learning 10. Nobody can imagine the difficulty that I had _ with ever