Darwin was not a bright boy. He was much slower than his younger sister, and he was in many ways a naughty boy. However, at the age of eight he was trying to make out the names of all plants he saw, and he was busy collecting all sorts of things and he even imagined producing coloured roses by watering them with certain coloured liquids. Once he read the book Wonders of the World, he wished to work wonders himself some day.

One summer vacation Darwin became a great collector of beetles (甲虫). At that time he only collected them but made no scientific study of them. One day on tearing off the bark (树皮) he saw some unusual beetles, and seized one in each hand, then he saw a third and new kind, which he didn’t want to lose, so he put the one that he held in his right hand into his mouth. But it sent out some gas, which burned his tongue. He was forced to spit it out. It was lost, so was the third one.

Darwin accepted the offer by the navy (海军) to go on a voyage to explore the Southern Sea in the name of the government on a warship at the age of twenty-two. He was on board for five years. And during the long voyage he collected a great many of facts in Natural Science.

【小题1】In his early years, Darwin was _________ in producing coloured roses.

A．successful

B．helped

C．interested

D．not interested

【小题2】In the first paragraph “to work wonders” means ________.

A．to have a wonderful job

B．to work with surprising results

C．to make something difficult to understand

D．to produce beautiful things

【小题3】Darwin put one beetle into his mouth in order to _________.

A．taste the gas it sent out	B．spare his right hand to catch the third one
C．save the life of the beetle	D．eat it as he was hungry

【小题4】According to the passage, which statement of the following is true?

A．“Wonders of the world” was his famous work.

B．He was forced to explore the Southern Sea by the government.

C．When he was young he showed interest in natural science.

D．He ran much slower than his younger sister.