阅读理解

　　An old man was going home late one night with his horse and cart after a day’s hard work．When he was not far from his house, the light on the cart went out．He tried but could not mend it．

　　He was near his home, and so he went along the road without a light．When a policeman saw this, he stopped the old carter．

　　“Where’s your light?” asked the policeman．“No one may take a cart along a road at night without a light．You know that．You’ve broken the law．”

　　“I had a light, ” said the old man, “but it has just gone out．”

　　“I don’t believe that story, ” said the policeman．He took out a book and got ready to write．“What’s your name and where do you live?” he asked．

　　“Please don’t take my name, ” said the old man．“My house is just there．You can see it from here．I had a light nearly the whole way．I haven’t come far without a light．”

　　“You came all the way without a light．What’s your name?”

　　The carter quickly took the policeman’s hand and put it down on the top of the light．The light was still hot, and burnt the policeman’s hand．He jumped and he was very angry．

　　“Now, what do you think?” said the carter．“Did I come all the way without a light?”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　The sun is a huge, hot, bright star．It is important because without it there would be no life on the earth．The sun gives us light and heat．

　　All living things need light and heat from the sun to live．Plants need light and heat to grow．They use the light from the sun to make food．We cannot make our own food, but plants can．All the food we eat comes from plants in a food chain(链)which starts with the sun．For example．

　　Animals need sunlight, too．Just like us, their food comes from a food chain which begins with the sun and the plants．

　　sun→leaf→caterpillar(毛虫)→bird

　　sun→seaweed(海藻)→small fish→whale(鲸)

　　Sunlight means we can see during the day．If there was no sun, it would be dark all the time．Even when the sky is cloudy, the sunlight is very strong and it shines through the clouds．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　It seems to be strange to you there is a blind spot(盲点)on the eyes．Here is an interesting experiment 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．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　In the sea there are many islands．In its warm waters there are some little ones．We call them “coral Islands”．

　　A coral island is very nice to look at．It looks like a ring of land(一圈陆地)with trees, grass, and flowers on it．One part of the ring is open to the water．There is a little round lake inside the island．

　　If you look into this lake, you will see beautiful coral．You may think they are flowers．If you look at a piece of coral, you will see many little holes in it．In each of these holes a very small sea animal has lived．These sea animals make the coral．

　　They began to build under the water．Year after year, the coral grew higher and higher．At last it grew out of the water．

　　Then the sea brought it small trees and something else．After some years, these things changed into earth．Sometimes the wind brought seeds to this earth．Sometimes birds flew over it and brought seeds to the island．

　　The little seeds grew．In a few years there were plants all over the island．In a few more years there were trees growing there．

　　So you see, these islands were built little by little．The workers were very small．Do they not teach us a lesson?Can you think what the lesson is?

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Several years ago, a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America．One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world, and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York．

　　The reporter was talking to them about being important．

　　“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker．

　　The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President of the United States is really important．”

　　The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company．“Do you agree with that?” she asked．

　　The man shook his head, “No．I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House．You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it．”

　　The reporter turned to the third man．“Do you think so?”

　　“No, I don’t．” he said．“I don’t think that makes the visitor important．That makes the President important．”

　　“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked．

　　“Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ’it’s for you．’”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Three men traveling on a train began a conversation about the world’s greatest wonders．

　　“In my opinion, ” the first man said, “the Egyptian pyramids are the world’s greatest wonder．Although they were built thousands of years ago, they are still standing．And remember：the people who built them had only simple tools．They did not have the kind of machinery that builders and engineers have today．”

　　“I agree that the pyramids in Egypt are wonderful, ” the second man said, “but I do not think they are the greatest wonders．I believe computers are more wonderful than the pyramids．They have taken people to the moon and brought them back safely．In seconds, they carry out mathematical calculations that would take a person a hundred years to do．”

　　He turned to the third man and asked, “What do you think is the greatest wonder in the world?”

　　The third man thought for a long time, and then he said, “Well, I agree that the pyramids are wonderful, and I agree that computers are wonderful, too．However, in my opinion, the most wonderful thing in the world is this thermos．”

　　And he took a thermos out of his bag and held it up．

　　The other two men were very surprised．“A thermos?”they exclaimed, “But that’s a simple thing．”

　　“Oh, no, it’s not, ”the third man said．“In the winter you put in a hot drink and it stays hot．In the summer you put in a cold drink and it stays cold．How does the thermos know whether it’s winter or summer?”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　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(柑橘)fruits and tomatoes;(3)potatoes and other fruit and vegetables;(4)meat of all kinds, fish and eggs;(5)milk and foods made from milk;(6)bread or cereal(谷类), rice is also in this kind of food;(7)butter, or something like butter．

　　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 or frozen．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．

　　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．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Ellen Parker was worried about her health．She could not walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stares．She was soon out of breath．

　　“I suppose I had better go to the doctor, ” she thought．

　　She went to the doctor and told him her problem．

　　“I’m not surprised at all, ” he said．“It’s obvious what your problem is．”

　　He looked her over then gave her some advice．

　　“If you don’t do what I say, Mrs．Parker, ” he said, “you will have a heart attack．It could kill you．”

　　Ellen Parker was very worried as she left the doctor’s．She knew that she had to take his advice but that it would not be easy and it would take time．

　　The next day she went shopping．The first shop she went into was a butcher’s shop(肉铺)．

　　“I’d like ten pounds of steak(牛排), please, ” she said．

　　“Certainly, madam, ” the butcher replied and went into the cold room and found a large piece of steak．He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and put it on the scale(天平)．

　　“That’s just under ten pounds, ” he said．

　　“That big enough, ” Mrs．Parker said．

　　The butcher worked out the price．

　　“At ＄4.99 a pound that will be ＄49.50, please．Would you like me to cut it up into smaller pieces for you?”

　　“Oh, I don’t want to buy the meat, ” Mrs．Parker said．

　　“If you don’t want to buy it, ” the butcher replied angrily, “why did you ask me to get it for you?”

　　“My doctor told me that I am overweight and I have to lose ten pounds．I wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Different weather makes people feel different．It influences 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 very 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 of a group of 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, 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 18°C, people become stronger．

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

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

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)