A Fable for Tomorrow

    There was once a town in the heart of America．All life there seemed to live in peace with its surroundings 1．The town lay in the232 middle of wealthy farms，with fields of rice，wheat，corn or other crops，and hillsides of trees of orange，apple or other fruits．In spring，white clouds moved slowly above the green fields．In summer wheat waved in the wind，producing the song of a golden 2 ocean．In autumn various fruits changed the color of the slopes 3．The foxes barked in the hills and goats silently 4 crossed the fields，half hidden in the fog of the autumn mornings．Along the roads fresh wildflowers delighted the traveler's eye through much of the year．Even in winter the roadsides were places of beauty．Countless 5 birds came to feed on the seed heads of the dried plants rising above the snow The countryside was，in fact，famous for its rich and various kinds of bird life．When the flood of birds poured in through spring and autumn people traveled great distances to visit them．Others came to fish the streams，pools or ponds，which flowed clear and cold out of the hills．So it had been from the days many years ago，when the first settlers raised their houses，sund their wells and built their cattle 6 shelters 7．Then a great misfortune 8 crept 9 over the town and everything began to change．Strange illnesses swept the chickens；the cattle grew sick and died．Everywhere was a shadow of death．The farmers spoke 10 of many illnesses among their families．In the hospital in the town，the doctors were troubled by the causes of the new kinds of illness appearing among their patients．There had been several sudden 11 and unexplained deaths，not only among the grown-ups，but even among the children．They would be stricken suddenly while at work or play and die within a few hours．There was a strange stillness．The birds—nobody knew where they had gone．The fruit trees-they were coming into flower but bore no fruit．The roadsides，once so beautiful，were lined with brown grassas though they had been swept by fire．They were，too，silent，deserted by all living things．Even the streams were now lifeless，for all the fish died．No evil，no heaven，no enemy action had silenced the life of the place．Some months before，rains of bitter 12 taste，sometimes mixed with grains of sand，black as coal，had fallen upon the roofs and hills，fields and streams．This town does not actually exist，but it might easily have a thousand examples of this kind in America or elsewhere 13 in the world．I know of no town that has experienced 14 all the misfortunes 15 I describe．Yet every one of these has actually happened somewhere，and many real towns or cities have already suffered a number of them．Great misfortunes have crept over us without our notice，and this imagined town may easily become real．That we shall all know．Exercises：

    回答下列问题：

    ①What kind of life did the people live before rain？

    ②Did the town has experienced all the misfortune as writer de-scribe？

    ③Why did the fruit trees come into flower but bore no fruit？

    ④What do you learn from the story？