阅读理解
When Johnny Cash sings, people listen．His big, deep voice rumbles out of radios and jukeboxes across North America．His records sell by the million．Country music fans everywhere know his big hits．They love songs like “Hey Porter” “Ring of Fire” and “Folsom Prison Blue”．
Johnny Cash sings about a hundred concerts a year．People like what they hear－and what they see, too．Rugged and big-shouldered, the singer stands six-two without his black boots on．He has a two-hundred-pound package of muscle and talent．And that scar(疤痕)on his cheek? It’s a bullet hole, of course!
In the minds of most people, Johnny Cash is “Mr．Tough(violent)Guy”．He’s an ex-drug addict(上瘾者)who was once put in prison．His grandmother was an Indian．To keep from starving, he once had to live on wild rabbits killed from forty feet away with a knife．Some people say he even killed a man．
In fact, most of the Johnny Cash story is just that－a story．True, years ago he had a “drug habit” for a short time．He “popped” pills．But he never used heroin or other “hard” drugs．Sometimes he’d go wild and get locked up for a few hours．But he never served a prison sentence．There’s no Indian blood in his veins．He’s been a killer only in song．As for the“ bullet hole”, it’s an old scar left by a doctor who opened a cyst(囊肿)．
People who know Johnny Cash well say he’s a“ gentle guy”, a “generous guy”－anything but a “tough guy”．How did the stories get started? Some of them, like the story about the “Indian grandmother”, he made up long ago to add excitement to his career．Others, like the“ bullet hole”, simply got started．Now there’s little the singer can do to change people’s minds．“They just want to believe it, ” he says．
