Cyril was a small town. The houses there were all made of wood; almost everything in the houses such
as cupboards, tables and chairs were made of wood, too. And all the houses faced south. The town was
never peaceful. Fire broke out once a week on summer afternoons. People there were puzzled who the real
firebug was.
One day a big fire broke out. It was said that a black had jumped out of the house on fire, so the police
arrested all the blacks in the street. However, fire never stopped to breaking out when the blacks were in
prison. Watson, a physics teacher didn't believe that the blacks were the firebugs, for he really knew about
those blacks. He made up his mind to find out who the real firebug was.
One day he was invited to drink in a pub and happened to notice that many bottles and plastic plates
were baked by the hot sunrays. Suddenly he realized what the actual fact was. He jumped with joy, saying,
"I've got the answer!"
Watson dashed out of the pub to his friend's house nearby, which also faced south. He made an
experiment there to prove his idea.
The next Saturday afternoon, Watson asked some policemen and newsmen to come to the house. They
were told that the real firebug would be shown there. At that time the sun was shining full into the house and
it became hotter and hotter inside the room.
Someone wanted to draw the curtains together, while another was going to use a bottle to drink water,
but neither got permission from Watson, who wanted to let the firebug in.
"Now," said Watson,"this house will soon catch fire." People looked at each other in surprise. Watson
asked them to look at the bottles and focus on the table cloth. After a while the cloth gave off a burning
smell and began to catch fire!
The mystery of fire was discovered, but the police wouldn't believe him and insisted that blacks had
been the firebugs. Instead they arrested Watson and put him into prison. But Watson said he would never
turn against science.
1. The town was never peaceful, for fire broke out _____.
A. in the afternoon
B. in prison
C. at any time
D. at night
2. Why did the police arrest all the blacks?
A. One of them had jumped out of the home on fire.
B. They were thought to be the firebugs.
C. The police hated all the black people.
D. The blacks knew something about the fires.
3. Drinking in a pub, Watson realized what the actual fact was _____.
A. by experiment
B. by backing the bottles
C. through the hot sunrays
D. by accident
4. By making an experiment, they knew the real firebug was _____.
A. the blacks
B. bottles
C. sunrays
D. plastic plates
5. Watson was put into prison, because _____.
A. he had told a lie though a teacher
B. he had fund out the real firebug
C. he had turned against science
D. he had made friends with the blacks
