阅读理解

　　Many TV programmes are very realistic．One who watches TV often feels that whatever happened in the film could well happen to him．With only a little imagination, every man in the street becomes a thief, a spy or a murderer．Jane had been watching a spy film at a friend's house．In it, a young girl had been followed and murdered．She felt a little frightened walking to the station．She took the train back to the center of the city．There were a lot of people traveling, so she felt much safer．She looked round at the other people in the train．

　　A man, sitting opposite her, reading a newspaper, glanced(看一下)at her．She thought nothing of it until she saw him staring at her．Remembering the film and feeling very uncomfortable, she got out of the train and went to the bus stop．When the man got on the same bus as her, she found that he was following her．As long as she had been with other people she wasn't frightened, but when she got off the bus, the streets were almost empty．She walked as quickly as she could．She could hear footsteps following her but she didn't dare to look back．After what seemed to have been hours, but was in fact only a few minutes, she reached the front door．She felt for her keys, but was unable to find them, because she was so frightened．The footsteps stopped behind her．She heard a pleasant voice．

　　“I apologize if I frightened you．I'm your new neighbour．I thought I recognized you in the train, but I wasn't sure．”

阅读理解

　　A large number of U．S．presidents had experiences in the army．The best known were Ulysses Grant and Dwight Eisenhower．Grant was general in the American Civil War and Eisenhower was a hero in the Second World War．It happened that they graduated from the same school－West Point Military Academy(西点军校)．One may be surprised to learn that neither of them did well in the school．Eisenhower, for example, was once fined(受罚)because he broke the rules of the school．

　　The jobs of U．S．presidents are tiring．He must keep an eye on anything important that happens at home and abroad．Every day, a lot of work await(等待)him to do, and he has to make many important decisions．When Franklin Roosevelt was a child, he was once brought to visit President Taft．The old president said to him, “When you grow up, you should not be president．It's a tiring job．”

阅读理解

A fox, being caught in a trap(陷阱), was glad to flee by leaving his tail behind him; but upon coming into the world, he began to feel ashamed(耻辱)of losing his tail and almost wished he had died rather than come away without it．However, to make best of the bad matter, he called a meeting of the rest of the foxes, and proposed that all should follow his example．“You have no idea,”said he, “of the ease and comfort with which I now move about; I could never have believed it if I had not tried it myself; but really, when one comes to think it over, a tail is such an ugly, useless, unnecessary thing on us, that the only wonder is that, as foxes, we could have put up with it so long, I propose, therefore, my worthy brothers, that you all do according to the experience that I am most willing to tell you that all foxes from this day forward cut off their tails．”Upon this, one of the oldest stepped forward, and said, “I rather think, my friend, that you would not have advised us to part with our tails if there were any chance of getting your own again．”

阅读理解

A good reader is very much like a good driver．He must change his reading speed to fit his purpose and the material he is reading, just as a driver does to fit the road situation．A good reader may be able to read a thousand words per minute(WPM), but he won't use that speed on every thing he reads．A good reader doing research reading in the library may read at the speed of 1, 000 words per minute as he searches for material for a report．But once he finds something that is useful to him, he may need to slow down to 100 WPM．A good reader may read newspaper and magazine articles at 600 WPM．But it may take him 150 WPM to read his science or maths text．Just as a driver has a wide range(范围)of speed, so does a good reader．

阅读理解

　　Ruben lived in a small village．There was no school there and he had to study in a school in the town．It was nearly five kilometers away from his village．His father couldn't buy a bike for him and he had to go to school on foot．He got up early in the morning．Usually he had to run there in order not to miss the first class．He kept running every day and it was helpful to him．He's strong and tall now and he ran faster than any other man in his village．He took part in several sports meetings and won some medals．The young man is proud of(以……自豪)it and always wants to have a race with others．

　　One day his mother was ill and his father told him to buy some medicine for headache in the town．The young man got there soon．There were many people in the chemist's shop while he was waiting there．And when his turn came, he couldn't find his money．An old woman hinted(暗示)a young man had stolen it．He saw the thief had already left the shop．He ran towards him quickly．The thief found it and began to run．He was happy and tried to catch up with him．

　　“Let's have a race and see who will run faster,”Ruben called out behind．

　　Soon after that he caught up with the thief．But he didn't stop and went on running．At a crossing one of his friends asked, “What are you running for, Ruben?”

　　“I'm running after(追)a thief．”

　　“Where's the thief, then?”

　　“He wants to show that he'll run faster than me, but he's fallen behind!”

阅读理解

　　These days, experiences, like many other things, are becoming increasingly expensive．One has got to pay a lot to get even an ordinary one．

　　Not long ago, I wanted to invite my friend to a lunch．What we really need was a good and quiet place for a talk, not a big meal．So I selected one for people only who belong to a particular club．I belong to the club, too．What could be nicer?“Let's go to the club,”I told my friend．

　　When I ordered a day in advance, I was asked whether I would eat a 20-Yuan lunch．I said, “30 Yuan．”I didn't realize, until I was asked to pay after the lunch, that“30 Yuan”means“30 Yuan for persons each”．

　　There were five people that day, and all of us were surprised by the quality of the 30-Yuan meal(for all, we thought)．The bill came at last：it was 216.40(150 for the five of us plus the money for drinks, fruits and air conditioning)．I paid the bill without a word．

　　What could I say?It was not the club's fault．It was my own ignorance(无知)that made me pay the largest bill in my life．

　　On the whole, it was not so bad．We had a good lunch and at a quiet place．Besides, the experience will help in later years．

　　To support my idea, I have developed my own calculation(算法)：30 Yuan for the lunch and 186.40 for the experience．

　　This paid experience has made me ten times wiser．

阅读理解

　　My husband hasn't stopped laughing about a funny thing that happened to me．It's funny now but it wasn't at the time．

　　Last Friday, after doing all the family shopping in town, I wanted a rest before catching the train, so I bought a newspaper and some chocolate and went into the station coffee-shop－that cheap self-service place with long tables to sit at．I put my heavy bag down on the floor, put the newspaper and chocolate on the table to keep a place, and went to get a cup of coffee．

　　When I came back with the coffee, there was someone in the next seat．It was one of those wild-looking youngsters, with dark glasses and tom clothes, and hair coloured bright red at the front．Not so unusual these days．What did surprise me was that he'd started to eat my chocolate!Naturally, I was annoyed．However, to avoid trouble－and really I was rather uneasy about him－I just looked down at the front page of the newspaper, tasted my coffee and took a bit of chocolate．The boy looked at me closely．Then he took a second piece of my chocolate．I could hardly believe it．Still I didn't start an argument(争论)when he took a third piece．I felt more angry than uneasy．I thought, “Well, I shall have the last piece,”and I got it．

　　The boy gave me a strange look, then stood up．As he left he shouted out．“This woman's crazy!”Everybody stared．That was embarrassing enough, but it was worse when I finished my coffee and got ready to leave．My face turned red－as red as his hair－when I realized I'd made a mistake．It wasn't my chocolate that I'd taken．There was mine, unopened, just under my newspaper．