TheLeshanGiantBuddhaisastatueofMaitreya(弥勒大佛)insittingposture.TheBuddhaislocatedinSichuanProvincefacingMinRiverQingyiRiverandDaduRiver.InDecember，1996，theBuddhawasincludedbyUNESCOonthelistof

Question

   The Leshan Giant Buddha is a statue of Maitreya (弥勒大佛) in sitting posture. The Buddha is located in Sichuan Province facing Min River Qingyi River and Dadu River. In December，1996，the Buddha was included by UNESCO on the list of the World Heritage sites.

    The statue was begun in the year 713 in the Tang Dynasty and finished in the year 803. The Buddha is 71 metres high. The eight-metre-long instep (脚背) is big enough for one hundred people to sit on and the 28-metre-wide shoulder is large enough to be a basketball playground.

    A monk called Hai Tong is connected with the Buddha forever. At that time wild waters brought out many boat accidents and people just put the disaster down to the presence of a water spirit. So Hai Tong decided to make a statue beside the river thinking that the Buddha would bring the water spirit under control. After 20 years’ begging from door to door he finally collected enough money for the plan. When some local government officials had designs on tempting this amount of money Hai Tong said that they could get his eyeball but not the money raised for the Buddha. After he dug out his eyeball these officials ran away scared. The project was half done when Hai Tong passed away and two of his disciples (门徒) continued the work. After a total of 90 years’ hard work the project was finally completed.

    Having such a long history the Buddha was nearly destroyed by the erosion of wind and rain. The Chinese government began the repairing work in 1963 under the instruction of experts from UNESCO.

64. What’s the main idea of this passage?

   A. To say where the Leshan Giant Buddha is.

   B. To explain the Leshan Giant Buddha briefly.

   C. To tell us how the Leshan Giant Buddha was built.

   D. To mention how the Leshan Giant Buddha came into the World Heritage sites.

65. How did Hai Tong get the money for the Buddha?

   A. By calling for donation.           B. By working on the river.

   C. By asking the government.         D. By selling his eyeball.

66. According to the passage the Leshan Giant Buddha _____.

    A. was completed when Hai Tong was alive        B. didn’t exist now

    C. played a good role in controlling the river

D. has been a World Heritage site for over ten years

67. Hai Tong hoped to build the statue to ______.

   A. make his temple more famous             B. show respect to the water spirit

   C. protect the safety of the local people        D. get more people to believe in Buddhism.

Answer 1

BADC