A
At 27, after serving in World War II, I dreamed of owning a piece of land.So I moved from central Illinois to Shelbina, Missouri, and bought 236 acres for $6,000. The plot of land was situated on a dirt road and was half farmland and half trees, with an old house that had no running water or electricity. Obviously, it was not what you'd call prime real estate. But it was mine.
I was alone for the first time in my life, and I found it liberating. My days were filled from dawn until dusk with plowing and planting corn. Dinnertime came and went, and I barely remembered to eat.
I wouldn't say I was a great success at farming in Missouri. However, when I went to the store to buy some plowshares, I met a nice woman named Claudette working behind the counter. I also ran into her at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Shelbina each week. I found out later that her manager kept asking her about “that tall boy (and eligible bachelor) from Illinois living out in the country in an old house with no water, no electricity and no housekeeper.”
Claudette and her sister soon visited my farm and put up some curtains. To show my appreciation, I took Claudette out for a ride in my 2ton Studebaker truck. We married in 1954 and have now been together for more than 62 years!
I later sold the Missouri farm for a $3,500 profit and bought 40 acres in Illinois. For many reasons, buying the Missouri farm was a good idea.I will always cherish memories of owning the farm and meeting my beloved.
本文是一篇记叙文。作者在密苏里购买了一块地，在那儿从早忙到晚，精神上也得到了放松。最重要的是作者在那儿收获到爱情。作者将永远怀念拥有农场和遇见他心爱的人的往事。
21．When the author bought the plot of land in Shelbina, ________.
A．it was well equipped
B．he was unsatisfied with it
C．it was not a real estate
D．he worked very hard on it
解析：推理判断题。根据文章第二段内容“My days were filled from dawn until dusk with plowing and planting corn. Dinnertime came and went, and I barely remembered to eat.” 我从天亮到黄昏，都在耕地和种玉米。吃饭的时间来了又去，我几乎不记得吃饭。根据句意可推断出作者忙于种地，非常辛苦。因此D符合题意。
答案：D
22．The underlined word “liberating” in Paragraph 2 can be replaced by the word ________.
A．upset B．interesting C．free D．boring
解析：词义猜测题。根据第二段的内容，作者一生中第一次独自一人，每天从黎明劳动至黄昏，甚至是几乎忘记了吃饭的时间。可以看出是自由的，不受时间的限制的。故可推测出是自由的，故选C。
答案：C
23．The author regards buying the Missouri farm as a good idea because ________.
A．he was able to sell it at the price of $3,500
B．he could recall plenty of experiences in his own farm
C．he got the chance to meet his wife working at a church in Shelbina then
D．he could purchase another house in Illinois as a result of successful farming
解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段For many reasons, buying... meeting my beloved. 可知作者认为在密苏里购买农场是一个好的决定，因为这给了作者许多宝贵的经历，包括在农场生活工作以及收获终身伴侣，故B项正确。
答案：B
