八、阅读短文，完成任务。
In ancient China, King You of Zhou had a beautiful concubine (妃子). Her name was Bao Si. She didn’t smile.
One day, a man got an idea and told it to the king: light the beacon fires (烽火) on the towers. These fires were for asking soldiers to come and protect (保护) the country when
enemies (敌人) arrived. When the lords (大臣) saw the fires, they would bring soldiers to help the king. King You did it. All the lords hurried to the beacon towers with their men, but they found no enemies. Bao Si smiled when she saw this. King You was very happy.
Later, real enemies came. The king lit the beacon fires again, but no one came. They thought it was another joke. At last, the kingdom (王国) fell.
Honesty is very important. If you lose people’s trust, they will never believe you.
任务一 根据短文内容填空，每空一词。
1. Bao Si
didn’t
smile before the king played the trick (把戏).
2. The lords brought soldiers to the beacon towers when they
saw
the fires for the first time.
3. If you lose people’s trust, they won’t
believe
you even if (即使) you tell the truth.
任务二 根据短文内容回答问题。
1. Why didn’t the lords come to help when real enemies came?
Because they thought it was another joke.
2. What can we learn from the story?
Honesty is very important. If you lose people’s trust, they will never believe you.
解析：
【分析】先通读短文，理解周幽王烽火戏诸侯的故事内容及寓意；针对任务一的填空题，逐题定位原文对应句子，提取符合语境的单词，注意时态和否定形式；针对任务二的问答题，定位问题对应的原文段落，提取准确的句子作答，确保答案与原文一致。
【解析】任务一：1. 由原文第一段“She didn’t smile.”可知，褒姒在周幽王玩把戏前不笑，故填didn’t；2. 由原文第二段“When the lords saw the fires, they would bring soldiers to help the king.”可知，诸侯第一次看到烽火时带了士兵，故填saw；3. 由原文最后一段“If you lose people’s trust, they will never believe you.”可知，失去他人信任后，即使说真话也不会被相信，故填believe。任务二：1. 由原文第三段可知，诸侯不来的原因是他们认为这又是一个玩笑，故回答Because they thought it was another joke.；2. 由原文最后一段可知，从故事中学到的道理是诚实很重要，失去他人信任就不会再被相信，故回答Honesty is very important. If you lose people’s trust, they will never believe you.
【答案】任务一：1. didn’t 2. saw 3. believe
任务二：1. Because they thought it was another joke. 2. Honesty is very important. If you lose people’s trust, they will never believe you.
【知识点】英语阅读理解，细节理解题
【点评】本题为英语阅读理解基础题，考查学生对短文细节信息的提取与理解能力，只要认真阅读短文并定位对应内容即可正确解答，难度适中。
【难度系数】0.6
