10．The Corn Planting
Hatch is nearly seventy．He and his wife had a son，Will，who was a fellow always cheerful，bright，alert and a great favorite with all of us．
After high school，Will went to Chicago，where he became a student in the Art Institute．Another young fellow，Hal，from our town，was also a student at the University in Chicago．They got together and had a good many long talks．I got it from Hal that in Chicago，Will's straightforwardness made him popular with all the young fellows．
After Hal graduated，he came home and got a job．He used to go quite often to see Will's father and mother．The talk was always of Will．Hal said Will's parents were like two children wanting to know every little detail Hal could remember about their son's life in the big city．
It was a spring night when Hal got a wire．Will had been killed in a car accident．We went along to take the message to Hatch and his wife．Hal did knock and old Hatch came to the door．He blurt everything right into old Hatch's face．Old Hatch didn't say a word and stood there．The door went shut again with a bang．Suddenly，after a long time，the old man got a hand corn-planter and his wife got a bag of seed corn，and in the moonlight，that night，after they got that news，they were planting corn．They did a row across the field，and then at the end of each row they knelt side by side by the fence．The whole thing went on in silence．
It was the first time in my life I ever understand something about the connection between certain people and the earth-a kind of silent cry，down into the earth，of those two old people，putting corn down into the earth．It was as though they were putting death down into the ground that life might grow again．
21．What made Will popular in the Art Institute？B
A．His artistic talent．
B．His good character．
C．His family background．
D．His friendship with Hal．
22．According to paragraph 3，Will's parentsC．
A．were very kind
B．were very talkative
C．were eager to know about their son's life
D．were fond of the life in the big city
23．On hearing the news of his son's death，HatchA．
A．planted corn
B．pushed Hal out
C．burst into tears
D．fell on the floor
24．According to the last paragraph，the old couple's behavior was toD．
A．reduce their pain
B．have a better harvest
C．memorize their son
D．pray for their son's rebirth．
分析 本文寫了一對老夫婦得知兒子去世的消息后，默默地去種玉米來紀(jì)念兒子的故事．
解答 21．B 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)文中句子Will's straightforwardness made him popular with all the young fellows．Will 的直率使得他受所有年輕人的歡迎，可以看出是Will 的性格受年輕人的喜歡，所以答案選B．
22．C 細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)句子 Hal said Will's parents were like two children wanting to know every little detail Hal could remember about their son's life in the big city．Will的父母就像兩個孩子想知道沒一點(diǎn)Hal所能記起的關(guān)于他們兒子在大城市里生活的細(xì)節(jié)，所以答案選C．
23．A 根據(jù)文章倒數(shù)第二段可以看出，這對老夫婦聽到這個消息后，在晚上就去種玉米了，所以答案選A．
24．D根據(jù)文中最后一段 It was as though they were putting death down into the ground that life might grow again仿佛他們把死亡放在地上，讓生命重新生長，所以D選項(xiàng)符合，故答案選D．
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