1. (2023九下·海珠月考)  完形填空

Once upon a time, a beautiful young lady married a young man. The couple led a 1  life, except for one problem: the husband spent all his time dreaming of turning dirt into gold. In those days, such people were called alchemists. Soon the husband ran through all his money. So the wife begged him to find a job. But he 2  with his dream.

Finally the wife went to her father about the problem. The father asked to see the young man. The young man arrived and expected his father-in-law would be 3 . To his surprise, his father-in-law told him that he had been an alchemist before.

"Now you need one more thing to change dirt into gold, and I have only recently discovered this 4 ." The old man whispered, "It is the silver powder that grows on banana leaves. You must plant the bananas yourself and put spells on them. When the plant grows, the powder will become magical. And you need two pounds of it."

The son-in-law shouted loud. "That would require hundreds of banana plants!"

"Yes," sighed the old man, "That's why I am too 5 to complete the work myself."

"Do not 6 !" said the young man, "I will!" So the old man taught him the magic spells and gave him enough money to start the project.

The next day, the young man began to work just as the old man had told. Each day he looked after the plants 7 . It took him several years to collect two pounds of the powder. He rushed to his father-in-law's house.

"I have the magic powder!" he cried with 8 .

"Wonderful!" said the old man. "Now I can show you how to turn dirt into gold! But first you must bring your wife here."

The young man was puzzled, but obeyed. When his wife appeared, the old man asked his daughter, "While your husband was collecting the powder, what did you do with the bananas?"

"I 9 them," the daughter said, "That's how we've made a living. I have also saved money."

"May I see it?" asked the old man. So his daughter hurried home and returned with several bags. The old man opened them, saw that they were full of gold. Then he took a handful of 10 , and put it next to the gold.

"You see," he said, turning to his son-in-law, "You have changed dirt into gold!"