閱讀理解

　　After returning from her round trip, the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station．“The railway owes me 12 pounds,” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office．” You sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night．So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel．It cost me 12 pounds．”

　　Harry was worried．He remembered selling the woman a return ticket．“Come into the office, Madam,” he said politely．“I’ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd．”

　　The woman and her little girl followed him inside．She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered．There was no sailing on May 22nd．How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a ticket for that day．Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child．“You look sun burnt,” he said to her．“Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”

　　“Yes,” she answered, shyly．“The beach was lovely．And I can swim too!”

　　“That’s fine,” said Harry．“My little girl can’t swim a bit yet．Of course, she’s only three…”

　　“I’m four,” the child said proudly．“I’ll be four and a half．”

　　Harry turned to the mother．“I remember your ticket, Madam,” he said．“But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”

　　“Er, well…” the woman looked at the child．“I mean…she hasn’t started school yet, she’s only four．”

　　“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, Madam．A child’s return ticket to Jersey costs …let me see… 13．50 pounds．The law is the law, but since the mistake is mine…．”

　　The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the office．

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　　Henry was an office worker in a big city．He worked very hard and enjoyed traveling in his holidays．

　　He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an advertisement in a newspaper．“Enjoy country life．Spend a few weeks at West Hill Farm．Good food．Fresh air．Horse riding．Walking．Fishing．Cheap and interesting．”

　　“This sounds a good idea,” he thought．“I’ll spend a month at West Hill Farm．I think I can enjoy horse riding, walking and fishing．They’ll make a change from sitting by the seaside and swimming．”

　　He wrote to the farmer．In the letter he said that he would like to spend all of July there．Then on the first of July, he left for West Hill Farm．

　　But four days later, he returned home．

　　“What was wrong with West Hill Farm?” his best friend, Ed, asked him．“Didn’t you enjoy country life?”

　　“Country life was very good,” Henry said．“But there was another problem．”

　　“Oh．What?”

　　“Well,” he said, “the first day I was there a sheep died, and we had roast mutton for dinner．”

　　“What's wrong with that?” Ed asked．“Fresh meat is the best．”

　　“I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner．”

　　“Lucky you!”

　　“You don't understand,” Henry said．“On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner．”

　　“A different meat every day,” Ed said loudly, “ and you are complaining!”

　　“Let me finish,” Henry said．“On the fourth day the farmer died, and I didn't dare(敢)stay for dinner!”

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　　No one knows why we sleep, but it’s certain that we need to．People who are prevented from sleeping begin to suffer obvious effects after a few days－they think less clearly, and they fall asleep during the working hours．

　　There are no rules about sleep．Generally speaking, grown-ups sleep about 7 and a half hours each night and probably more than 60 percent get between seven and eight hours．But perhaps eight percent are quite happy with 5 hours or less, and four percent or so find that they want ten hours or more．If you feel all right, you’re probably getting enough sleep．The important thing is not to worry how much other people get－their needs may be different．Exercise doesn’t seem to increase the need for sleep－office workers, for example, sleep for about as long as people doing physically active work．

　　Children sleep more than grown-ups－perhaps 14 to 18 hours soon after birth, going down to grown-up levels by early teenage(青少年)．Sleep patterns also tend(傾向)to be different in the old people, who may sleep less at night than they did when younger, find sleep getting more broken, and often make it a rule to sleep during the daytime．

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　　What do Napoleon, Clinton and Wang Nan have in common? They are all left-handed．

　　Today, about 15％of the number of people is left-handed．But why are people left-handed? The answer is the way the brain(大腦)works．The brain has two halves---- the right half controls the left side of the body, and the left controls the right side of the body．So right-handed people have a strong left-brain and left-handed people have a strong right brain．

　　The two halves of he brain are about the same size．But each side controls different things．The left side controls language, math and logical(邏輯的)．When you remember new words, or when you put things in order, you use your left side．

　　The right side of the brain controls your love of art, colors and music．It is also good at recognizing(識(shí)別)faces．

　　This does not mean that all artists are left-handed and all accountants(會(huì)計(jì))are right-handed．Some right-handers have a strong right brain, and some left-handers have a strong left-brain．

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　　Paragraph 1

　　Scientists have learned a lot about the kinds of people need．They say that there are several kinds of food that people should eat every day, they are：(1)green and yellow vegetables of all kinds;(2)citrus(柑桔)fruits and tomatoes;(3)potatoes and other fruits and vegetables; 94)meat of all kinds, fish and eggs;(5)milk and foods made from milk;(6)bread or cereal(谷類), rice is also in this kind of food;(7)butter, or something like butter．

　　Paragraph 2

　　People in different countries and different places of the world eat different kinds of things．Foods are cooked and eaten in many different kinds of ways．People in different countries eat at different times of the day．In some places people eat once or twice a day; in other countries people eat three or four times a day．Scientists say that none of the differences is really important．It doesn’t matter whether foods are eaten raw or cooked, canned(罐裝的)or frozen(冷凍的)．It doesn’t matter if a person eats dinner at 4 o’clock in the afternoon or at eleven o’clock at night．The important thing is what you eat every day．

　　Paragraph 3

　　There are two problems, then, in feeding the large number of people on the earth．The first is to find some way to feed the world’s population so that no one is hungry．The second is to make sure that people everywhere have the right kinds of food to make them grow to be strong and healthy．

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　　Now satellites are helping to forecast(預(yù)報(bào))the weather．They are in space, and they can reach any part of the world．The satellites take pictures of the atmosphere(大氣), because this is where the weather forms(形成)．They send these pictures to the weather stations．So meteorologists(氣象學(xué)家)can see the weather of any part of the world．From the pictures, the scientists can often say how the weather will change．

　　Today, nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive satellite pictures．When they receive new pictures, the meteorologists compare them with earlier ones．Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours．This may mean that the weather on the ground may soon change, too．In their next weather forecast, the meteorologists can say this．

　　So the weather satellites are a great help to the meteorologists．Before satellites were invented, the scientists could forecast the weather for about 24or 48 hours．Now they can make good forecasts for three or five days．Soon, perhaps, they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead(提前)．

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　　Different weather makes people feel different．It influences(影響)health, intelligence(智力)and feelings．

　　In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States．People there have heart trouble and other kinds of health problems during this month．In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is very hot at some times and every cold at other times．People in these states have more heart trouble after the weather changes in February or March．

　　The weather can also influence intelligence．For example, in a 1983 report by scientists, IQ(智商)of a group students were very high when a very strong wind came, but after the strong wind, their IQ was 10％below．The wind can help people have more intelligence．Very hot weather, on the other hand(另一方面), can make it lower．Students in many schools of the United States often get worse on exams in the hot months of the year(July and August)．

　　Weather also has a strong influence on people’s feelings．Winter may be a bad time for thin people．They usually feel cold during these months．They might feel unhappy during cold weather．But fat people may have a hard time in hot summer．At about 18C, people become stronger．

　　Low air pressure(氣壓)may make people forgetful．People leave more bags on buses and in shops on low-pressure days．There are a “good weather” for word and health．People feel best at a temperature of about 18 centigrade(攝氏度)．

　　Are you feeling sad, tired, forgetful, or unhappy today? It may be the weather’s problem．

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　　It seems to be strange to you there is a blind spot(盲點(diǎn))on the eyes．Here is an interesting experiment(實(shí)驗(yàn))that can make something disappear, when one eye is open．

　　Make a card about the size of a postcard and write two English letters L and R on it, L on the left and R on the right．First, hold the card about 80 cm away and you see both the letters．Then close your right eye and look at the letter R only with your left eye．And now, as you move the card slowly towards you, you’ll find the letter L disappearing．But if you move the card nearer to your face, the letter will be seen again．Now do the same experiment with your left eye closed, you’ll find the letter R disappearing．

　　Why does the letter disappear? It is because there is a blind spot on the eye．When the image(影像)of the letter falls on the blind spot, it won’t be seen．That is why either of the letters disappears．

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　　Researchers(研究者)have announced(宣布)the result of two studies on the health effects of the drug aspirin(阿斯匹林)．One study shows aspirin can sharply reduce the chance that a healthy, older man will suffer from a heart attack(心臟病)．

　　The study offered two new results from earlier findings．It said taking one aspirin pill every other day helped only healthy men over the age of fifty．It also said aspirin gave the greatest protection against heart attacks to men with low blood cholesterol(膽固醇)levels．

　　Earlier in the United States began a major aspirin study in the early 1980s．It included 22,000 healthy men doctors．All were between the ages of forty and eighty-four．More than 11,000 of the doctors took a harmless pill that contained no drug．The men did not know which kind of pill they were taking．

　　The doctors who took aspirin suffered 44％fewer heart attacks than those taking the harmless pill．139 men who took aspirin suffered from heart attacks．Ten of them died．239 men who did not take aspirin suffered from heart attacks．Twenty-six of them died．

　　The researchers said the doctors’ study provides clear proof that taking aspirin can prevent a first heart attack in healthy, older men．They said, however, the result does not mean every man over the age of fifty should take aspirin．They said aspirin couldn’t help men who do not eat healthy foods, who smoke cigarettes and who are fat．The researchers said men who think they would be helped by taking aspirin should talk with their doctors first．

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