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The story of Mr Nanguo
南郭先生的故事（南通通州）
主题: 人与自我/诚实守信 难度星级: ★★★★☆ 用时: /7分钟 KEY→D31
Long long ago, there was a king in the State of Qi. He loved listening to music. His favourite instrument was the yu(竽). The king often asked 300 musicians to play the yu together. He treated them very well. A man named Nanguo heard about this. He wanted to join the band(乐队), but he could not play the yu at all. However, he still got the job.

When the band played for the king, Mr Nanguo just stood in the line. He moved his hands like the others, but he made no sound. Nobody knew he was not playing. He got the same food and money as the other musicians. Later, the old king died. His son became the new king. The new king also liked the yu, but he told the musicians to play one by one. Mr Nanguo was afraid. He ran out of the palace quickly.

The idiom “Be there just to make up the number” comes from this story. It means someone pretends to be able to do something, but they cannot.

词汇积累
musician /mjuˈzɪʃn/ n. 乐师 pretend to do sth. 假装做某事
Read and choose. 根据文章内容,选择最佳答案。
() 1. 逻辑推理 Who is the king?
A. 齐桓公 B. 齐宣王 C. 秦始皇
() 2. When the band played for the king, Mr Nanguo .
A. pretended to play B. played very well C. stood in front of the band
() 3. Mr Nanguo had to run out of the palace because .
A. he didn't like the new king B. he was afraid
C. he didn't want to stay in the palace
() 4. The idiom “Be there just to make up the number” means “”.
A. 画蛇添足 B. 守株待兔 C. 滥竽充数

[答案与解析] 1. B 2. A 解析由“... Mr Nanguo just stood in the line. He moved his hands like the others, but he made no sound.”可知,南郭先生是假装在演奏。 3. B 4. C