This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around，and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them. Agreement was reached，and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn't last long.

　　The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.

　　The villagers decided that they couldn't just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides (殺蟲劑) and medicines. Soon there was no money left.

　　Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn't been useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.

　　Now，the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

　　遼寧高考閱讀真題訓練題目：

　　1. From Paragraph 1，we learn that the villagers________.

　　A. worked very hard for centuries

　　B. dreamed of having a better life

　　C. were poor but somewhat content

　　D. lived a different life from their forefathers

　　2. Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?

　　A. The frogs were easy money.

　　B. They needed money to buy medicine.

　　C. They wanted to please the visitors.

　　D. The frogs made too much noise.

　　3. What might be the cause of the children's sickness?

　　A. The crops didn't do well.

　　B. There were too many insects.

　　C. The visitors brought in diseases.

　　D. The pesticides were overused.

　　4. What can we infer from the last sentence of the text?

　　A. Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country.

　　B. Health is more important than money.

　　C. The harmony between man and nature is important.

　　D. Good old days will never be forgotten.

　　遼寧高考閱讀真題訓練答案：

　　1.C　細節(jié)理解題。第一段中有“The people were poor.However, they were not unhappy.”和C項意思一致。

　　2.A　細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段的“This seemed like money for nothing.”句中for nothing 是“免費的”意思，說明青蛙容易得到，并能賺到錢，村民才答應賣。

　　3.B　推理判斷題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段中“They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.”可以推斷出莊稼收成不好，孩子生病與青蛙減少、害蟲增多有關。

　　4.C　推理判斷題。最后一句說明人們過度捕殺造成生態(tài)失衡，由此也影響了人類，因此，可以推斷人與自然的和諧是重要的。