When Paul was a boy growing up in Utah, he happened to live near a copper smelter (炼铜厂), and the chemicals that poured out had made a wasteland out of what used to be a beautiful forest. One day a young visitor looked at this wasteland and called it an awful area. Paul knocked him down. From then on, something happened inside him.
Years later Paul was back in the area, and he went to the smelter office. He asked if they had any plans or if they would let him try to bring the trees back. The answer from that big industry was “No”.
Paul then went to college to study the science of plants. Unfortunately, his teachers said there weren’t any birds or squirrels to spread the seeds. It would be a waste of his life to try to do it. Everyone knew that, he was told. Even if he was knowledgeable as he had expected, he wouldn’t get his idea accepted.
Paul later got married but his dream would not die. And then one night he did what he could with what he had. As Samuel Johnson wrote, “It is common to overlook what is near by keeping the eye fixed on something remote. Attainable good is often ignored by minds busied in wide ranges.” Under the cover of darkness, he went secretly into the wasteland and started planting.
And every week, he made his secret journey into the wasteland and planted trees and grass. For fifteen years he did this against the plain common sense. Slowly rabbits appeared. Later, as there was legal pressure to clean up the environment, the company actually hired Paul to do what he was already doing.
Now the place is fourteen thousand acres of trees and grass and bushes, and Paul has received almost every environmental award Utah has. It took him until his hair turned white, but he managed to keep that impossible vow (誓言) he made to himself as a child.
21. When Paul was a boy, _______.
A. he had decided never to leave his hometown
B. the economy of Utah depended wholly on the copper smelter
C. he hit a young visitor because of his comments on the wasteland
D. he stopped the copper smelter polluting the area
22. Paul went to college to study the science of plants, because _______.
A. he thought his knowledge would make his advice more convincing
B. he wanted to find out the best way to save the area himself
C. he was interested in planting trees since he was young
D. he wanted to get more knowledgeable people to help him
23. What does the underlined phrase “the plain common sense” probably mean?
A. It was impossible for trees to grow on the wasteland.
B. His normal work and life would be greatly affected.
C. No one would like to join him in the efforts.
D. He had to keep everything he did secret.
24. The company hired Paul to plant trees and grass because_______.
A. they realized the importance of environmental protection
B. what Paul was doing moved them
C. they had legal pressure
D. Paul persuaded them to help him