Reading comprehension(閱讀理解)

　　“Wash every day－and you'll die young, my son!” People often said those words; long ago, of course.

　　Napoleon's wife had new clothes every month, instead of a bath. “It's quicker,” she always said. Rich people did not often have a bath. They washed their hands and faces, but not their bodies. Many poor people did not wash at all. A young man once said to a doctor: “Soap and water have never touched my body.”

　　Why didn't people wash in those days long ago?

　　Well, they did not have water in the houses. They carried water from rivers or from holes in the ground(wells). Townspeople bought it from a water-carrier. Sometimes it was very expensive; and soap was always expensive. They drank water, of course; and so they were clean inside. They did not think about the outside! And this is true: They just did not like a bath.

　　Modern life is different. We use a lot of soap and water. And we are all quite clean. However, a few people use too much soap; and they often get ill. Who are those people?

　　Many young women work as hairdressers(美發(fā)師). They wash and then dress(整理) other women's hair. That is their job, and they like it. Young hairdressers sometimes wash thirty heads on a busy day! Their hands are soapy(涂著肥皂的) for seven or eight hours; and that is not a good thing. A young hairdresser's hands are often red and ugly; and she must then go to a doctor.

Questions(根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答下列問題，不超過五個單詞)

1．What did Napoleon's wife mean by saying “It's quicker”?

________ ________ is quicker than ________ ________ ________.

2．There are three reasons to show why people didn't take baths in those days long ago. What are they?

(1) They didn't ________ ________ ________ ________ ________.

(2) ________ ________ ________ are expensive.

(3) They just did not ________ ________ ________.

3．How are modern people different from people in the past?

Modern people ________ ________ ________.

4．What's the problem with young hairdressers?

They use ________ ________ ________ and often ________ ________.

Reading comprehension(閱讀理解)

　　People often say, “Children can't do maths problems. It's because parents can't do their children's homework.” Here's an example to show what I mean.

　　The other day my daughter brought home her maths homework. “I have to subtract(減) 179 from 202,” she said.

　　“It's quite easy,” I said, “You put the 202 over the 179.”

　　“But we need a 10 here. Where is the 10?”

　　“I don't know where the 10 is. Let's just subtract 179 from 202. Nine from two is three. You carry one and add(加) it to seven. Eight from zero is two. The answer is 23.”

　　“We can't do it that way. We have to use the 10.”

　　“Well, I'm going to call your teacher to see how she subtracts 179 from 202.”

　　Over the telephone, I said that I was having a bit of trouble with the homework she had given to my daughter. The teacher said, “In the right-hand column(欄) we have units of one. The two in that column counts for two ones. The zero in the center counts for zero tens. Then two in the left-hand column counts for hundreds. Are you clear?” But I didn't think it was clear.

　　I hung up and found my way to the medicine box. My head was now hurting. I started putting pills of medicine into my mouth. “How many did you take?” my wife asked. “I took one and then I took another… I knew one and one was two, but don't ask me what it is now.”

Questions(根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答下列問題，不超過五個單詞)

1．What did the daughter want her father to do the other day?

She wanted her father to help her ________ ________ ________ ________.

2．Was the father able to do the maths problem?

________, ________ ________.

3．Why couldn't the daughter understand her father?

Because the father's way to do the maths problem ________ ________ ________ the teacher's way.

4．What did the father do then?

________ ________ ________ ________ ________.

5．How did the father feel at last?

________ ________ ________.

6．Can you guess what things would be like in the family after that?

The father would never ________ ________ ________ ________ ________ again.

　　When sailors are allowed ashore(上岸) after a long time at sea, they sometimes get drunk and cause trouble. For this reason, the navy(海軍) always has naval police in big ports. When sailors cause trouble, the naval police come and deal with them.

　　One day, the naval police in one big seaport received an urgent (緊急的) telephone call from a bar in the town. The barman said that a big sailor had got drunk and was breaking the furniture in the bar. The petty(弱小的) officer who was in charge of the naval police guard that evening said that he would come immediately.

　　Now, petty officers who had to go and deal with sailors who were violently(兇暴的) drunk usually chose the biggest naval policeman they could find to go with them. But this particular petty officer did not do this. Instead, he chose the smallest and weakest－looking man he could find to go to the bar with him and arrest the sailor who was breaking the furniture.

　　Another petty officer who happened to be there was surprised when he saw the petty officer of the guard choose this small man, so he said to him, “Why don't you take a big man with you? You may have to fight the sailor who is drunk.”

　　“Yes, you are quite right,” answered the petty officer of the guard. “That is exactly why I am taking this small man. If you saw two policemen coming to arrest you, and one of them was much smaller than the other, which one would you attack?”

1．What do sailors sometimes do when they are allowed ashore after a long time at sea?

2．What does the navy always have?

3．What do the naval police do when sailors cause trouble?

4．Where did the naval police in one big port receive an urgent telephone call from?

5．What did the barman say?

6．Who said, “I will come immediately?”

7．Who did petty officers have to go and deal with?

8．Who did petty officers usually choose to go with them?

9．Who did that particular petty officer choose and what did he choose him to do?

10．What did the petty officer answer when one of his friends said, “Why don't you take a big man with you? You may have to fight the sailor who is drunk?”

　　A certain poet(詩人) had written a play, and arrangements(安排) were being made to perform it. Of course, the poet was asked to give his advice on the scenery(布景), the lighting, and all the other things that help to make a play successful, and he proved to be a very difficult man to please, as he had his own very definite(固定的) ideas of how each scene should look.

　　In one of the scenes in the play, it was necessary to produce the effect of a wonderful sunset, which the young lovers watched together before singing one of their great love songs.

　　The theatre electricians (電工) worked very hard to produce this sunset effect. They tried out all kinds of arrangements and combinations(組合) of lights－red lights, orange lights, yellow lights,blue lights, lights from above, lights from behind, lights from the front, lights from the sides－but nothing satisfied the poet, until suddenly he saw exactly the effect that he had been dreaming of producing ever since he had written his play.

　　“That's it!” he shouted excitedly to the electricians behind the stage. “That's just right! Keep it exactly like that!”

　　“I'm sorry, sir,” answered the chief electrician, “but we can't keep it like this.”

　　“Why ever not?” asked the poet angrily.

　　“Because the theatre is on fire, sir,” answered the chief electrician. “That's what's producing the effect you can see now!”

1．Who had written a play?

2．What was he asked to give?

3．Why did he prove to be a very difficult man to please?

4．What was it necessary to produce in one scene?

5．When did the young lovers watch this wonderful sunset?

6．Who worked hard to produce this sunset effect?

7．What did they try out?

8．What kind of effect did the poet see suddenly?

9．What did he say to the electricians?

10．Why did they say they could not keep that effect?

　　A gay(愉快) young man, who earned his living as a drummer in a band, has just married, and he and his wife were looking for somewhere to live. They saw a lot of places, but there was always something that one of them did not like about them. At last, however, they found a block (街區(qū)) of new flats (單元房) which both of them really liked. However, there was still the problem of whether they should take one of the ground-floor flats, which had a small garden, or one of the upstairs ones.

　　At last they decided on a first-floor flat－not too low down and not too high up－and moved in. After they had bought furniture, carpets, curtains, and all the rest, they gave a big party to celebrate the setting up of their first home together.

　　It was a gay and noisy party, as all the host's friends from the band came and played their instruments. The guests danced, sang and practised on their host's drums.

　　Soon after one a. m. the telephone rang. The hostess went to answer it in the hall, and after she had finished, came back with a happy smile on her face and said to her husband, “That was the man who has just moved into the flat downstairs telephoning, dear. I am so glad we decided not to choose it. He says it is terribly noisy down there.”

1．How did the young man in this story earn his living?

2．What were he and his wife looking for?

3．What were a lot of places like?

4．What was the problem about the block of new flats which both of them really liked?

5．What did they decide on at last?

6．What did they buy?

7．What did they give a party for?

8．Why was the party a gay and noisy one?

9．When did the telephone ring?

10．What did the hostess say to her husband?

　　Mrs. Jones was very fond of singing. She had a good voice, except that some of her high notes tended to sound like a gate which someone had forgotten to oil. Mrs. Jones was very conscious(知道的) of this weakness, and took every opportunity she could find to practise these high notes. As she lived in a small house, where she could not practise without disturbing (干擾) the rest of the family, she usually went for long walks along the country roads whenever she had time, and practised her high notes there. Whenever she heard a car or a person coming along the road, she stopped and waited until she could no longer be heard before she started practising again, because she was a shy person, and because she was sensitive (敏感的) about those high notes.

　　One afternoon, however, a fast, open car came up behind her so silently and so fast that she did not hear it until it was only a few yards from her. She was singing some of her highest and most difficult notes at the time, and as the car passed her, she saw an anxious expression suddenly come over its driver's face. He put his brakes on violently, and as soon as the car stopped, jumped out and began to examine all his tyres carefully.

　　Mrs. Jones did not dare to tell him what the noise he had heard had really been, so he got back into his car and drove off as puzzled as he had been when he stopped.

1．What was Mrs. Jones very fond of?

2．What kind of voice did she have?

3．What did she do about her weakness?

4．Why did she not practise at home?

5．What did she usually do to practise?

6．Whenever she heard a car or a person coming along the road, what did she do?

7．Why did she do that?

8．What happened to her one afternoon?

9．What was she singing at the time?

10．What did Mrs. Jones not dare to tell the driver?

　　Mrs. Jones was over eighty, but she still drove her old car like a woman half her age. She loved driving very fast, and boasted(自夸) of the fact that she had never, in her thirty-five years of driving, been punished for a driving offence(犯法).

　　Then one day she nearly lost her record. A police car followed her, and the policemen in it saw her pass a red light without stopping.

　　When Mrs. Jones came before the judge, he looked at her severely(嚴(yán)厲地) and said that she was too old to drive a car, and that the reason why she had not stopped at the red light was most probably that her eyes had become weak with old age, so that she had simply not seen it.

　　When the judge had finished what he was saying, Mrs. Jones opened the big handbag she was carrying and took out her sewing (縫紉). Without saying a word, she chose a needle with a very small eye, and threaded(穿線于) it at her first attempt(嘗試).

　　When she had successfully done this, she took the thread out of the needle again and handed both the needle and the thread to the judge, saying, “Now it is your turn. I suppose you drive a car, and that you have no doubts about your own eyesight.”

　　The judge took the needle and tried to thread it. After half a dozen attempts, he had still not succeeded. The case against Mrs. Jones was dismissed, and her record remained unbroken.

1．How old was Mrs. Jones?

2．How did she drive her old car?

3．What did she boast of?

4．How did she nearly lose her record?

5．What did the judge think was the reason why she did not stop at the red light?

6．What did she open when the judge finished what he was saying?

7．What did she take out of it?

8．What did she do then?

9．What did she say to the judge when she had successfully done that?

10．What was the result of the judge's unsuccessful attempt to thread the needle?

　　When a big ship is in very rough(不平坦的) sea, it has to be able to bend(彎) a little, otherwise it may break in two. If one end of the ship is on the top of one huge wave, and the other end is on the top of another, with the middle of the ship hanging in between; or if one huge wave comes up under the middle of the ship, leaving the two ends hanging, the ship's own weight will break its back if it is quite stiff(硬的).

　　To make a big ship elastic(有彈性的) enough to avoid (避開) this danger, it has joints where the sections of the ship come together above the water-line, and these joints (連接處) open and shut slightly as the waves lift one section(部分) of the ship or another. This is enough to save the ship from breaking into pieces.

　　One day a sailor was walking along a passage-way in a big ship during a storm when he was surprised to see a boy sitting comfortably in a chair at the end of the passage-way, which was opposite one of the ship's joints. The boy had a bag of nuts beside him, and every time the ship was lifted by a wave and the joint opened, he put a nut in it. As the ship came down again, the joint closed and cracked(壓碎) the nut, gently but firmly. The boy then took it out and put the next one in as the joint opened again.

1．What does a big ship have to do when it is in very rough sea?

2．If one end of the ship is on the top of one huge wave, and the other end is on the top of another, with the middle of the ship hanging in between, what will happen to the ship if it is quite stiff?

3．Why does a big ship have joints?

4．What do these joints do?

5．Where was a sailor walking during the storm in this story?

6．What was he surprised to see?

7．What did the boy have beside him?

8．What did he do?

9．How was the nut cracked?

10．What did the boy do then?

　　Dick was a clever boy, but his parents were poor, so he had to work in his spare(空閑) time and during his holidays to pay for his education. In spite of this, he managed to get to the university, but it was so expensive to study there that during the holidays he found it necessary(必要的) to get two jobs at the same time so as to earn enough money to pay for his studies.

　　One summer he managed to get a job in a butcher's shop during the daytime, and another in a hospital at night. In the shop, he learnt to cut meat up quite nicely, so the butcher often left him to do all the serving while he went into a room behind the shop to do the accounts(賬目). In the hospital, on the other hand, he was, of course, allowed to do only the simplest jobs, like helping to lift people and to carry them from one part of the hospital to another. Both at the butcher's shop and at the hospital, Dick had to wear white clothes.

　　One evening at the hospital, Dick had to help to carry a woman from her bed to the place where she was to have an operation. The woman was already feeling frightened at the thought of the operation before he came to get her, but when she saw Dick, that finished her.

　　“No! No! ” she cried, “Not my butcher! I won't be operated on by my butcher!” and fainted away.

1．Who was a clever boy?

2．Whose parents were poor?

3．What did Dick have to do?

4．What did he find it necessary to do during the holidays?

5．Where did he manage to get a job one summer?

6．What did he learn in the shop?

7．What was he allowed to do in the hospital?

8．What did Dick have to wear both at the butcher's shop and at the hospital?

9．Why was the woman already frightened?

10．Why did she faint away?

　　The war had begun, and George had joined the air force. He wanted to be a pilot, and after some months he managed to get to the air force training school, where they taught pilots to fly.

　　There, the first thing that new students had to do was to be taken up in a plane by an experienced (有經(jīng)驗的) pilot, to give them some idea of what it felt like. Even those who had travelled as passengers in commercial (商業(yè)的) airline planes before found it strange to be in the cockpit(座艙) of a small fighter plane, and most of the new students felt nervous.

　　The officer who had to take the students up for their first flight allowed them to fly the plane for a few seconds if they wanted to and if they were not too frightened (害怕) to try, but he was always ready to take over as soon as the plane started to do dangerous things.

　　George was one of those who took over the controls of the plane when he went up in it for the first time, and after the officer had taken them from him again, George thought that he had better ask a few questions to show how interested he was and how much he wanted to learn to fly. There were a number of instruments(儀器) in front of him, so he chose one and asked the officer what it was.

　　The officer looked at him strangely for a moment and then answered, “That－is the clock. ”

1．What did George want to be?

2．Where did he manage to get to after some months?

3．What was the first thing that new students had to do?

4．What was the reason for taking new students up in a plane?

5．When did most of the new students feel nervous?

6．What did the officer allow the students to do?

7．When was he always ready to take over?

8．What did George do when he went up in the plane for the first time?

9．Why did George ask the officer a question?

10．How did the officer understand that George was really nervous?