Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet”. When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet”. Some people may have more than one skeleton.

　　As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.

　　Before 1932, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.

　　But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.

　　We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor would keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.

　　After a time, people began to suspect(怀疑) every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase “a skeleton in the closet” took on a broader, more general meaning to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.

　　One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man’s guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.

　　Baizac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.

　　The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.   

1. Which of the following situations is suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet” ?

　　A. You have stolen something precious and don’t want it discovered.

　　B. You are a doctor and have to keep a skeleton for research.

　　C. If you have cut open a dead human body for scientific examination you should keep the skeleton secret.

　　D. You have done a crime or done something foolish, but you want to keep other from discovering it.

2. From the text we know that there are _______ theories about how the phrase “skeleton in the closet” came into being.

　　A. one 　　　　　      B. two 　　　　　      C. three 　　　　D. four

3. In Chinese the world “skeleton” means _______.

　　A. 尸体 　　　　　B. 标本 　　　　　C. 收藏 　　　　D. 骷髅

4. Which of the following is right according to the text?

　    A. In the 20th century, doctors realized the importance of anatomy(解剖) in the development of medicine.

　　B. The doctors of the ancient times liked to collect as many skeleton as possible.

　　C. The thieves stole skeletons from tombs in order to help the doctors.

　　D. It was legal that corpses of anybody were cut open for scientific examination in history.

5. From the story Balzac told we know that the wife’s lover must have become _______.

A. a corpse 　　　　B. a phrase 　　　　C. a skeleton 　　　D. a secret

　　Alex Harley was born in the northeast of New York in 1921, but he spent most of his early life with his mother's family in southern Tennessee. His grandmother told him stories about their family. Their history, she said, began with Toby. He was a slave from Africa and his name was Kunta.

　　Alex Harley went to school and then to college. In 1939, he joined the US coastguard. As he was a black his job was to wait on table and wash dishes. In his spare time, be learned to write stories. He served in the coastguard for 20 years. After he retired（退休）, he put all his time into writing.

　　Alex Harley remembered the stories his grandmother had told him. He began to study his family history. After a lot of research, Harley decided that Toby was probably Kunta Kinte of the West African Mandingo people, who was caught near the village of Juffure on the Gambia River. He was sold as a slave in Annapolis, Maryland in 1767. Then Harley made a trip to Gambia and talked with a history expert in Juffure. The African historian made his conclusion stronger.

　　Alex Harley wanted to tell the experiences of the black people in 18th-and-19th-century America. He spent 10 years researching and writing his family story for the book Roots. It was published in 1976. It won a special Pulitzer Prize. A few years later, a film series（连续剧）based on Harley's book was shown on American television.

(1) Choose the right order of the events given in the passage.

a. He made a trip to Gambia.
b. Alex Harley knew the stories about their family.
c. Kunta lived near the Gambia River.
d. Harley retired from the US coastguard.
e. Toby was sold as a slave.
f. He began to study his family history.
A．e,c,b,f,d,a.	B．c,e,b,d,f,a.
C．e,b,d,c,a,f.	D．e,b,d,e,a,f.

(2) When did Harley learn to write stories?

[　　]

A．Before 1959.	B．After 1921.
C．Before 1939.	D．After serving in the army.

(3) Which conclusion did he draw after doing a lot of research?

[　　]

A．Toby was a history expert.

B．Toby's hometown was near the Gambia River.

C．Toby was an African historian.

D．Toby's hometown was Annapolis.

(4) Which of the following might have happened after watching Roots on TV?

[　　]

A．Every American began to talk about their family history.

B．None of Americans began to talk about their family history.

C．Many Americans became interested in researching their family History.

D．Only the black people became interested in researching their Family history.

　 Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits（展品）from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to pop stars.

Room 1 　 The unusual celebrity footwear section is probably the most popular in the entire museum. Started in the 1950s there is a wide variety of shoes and boots belonging to everyone from queens and presidents to pop stars and actors! Most visitors find the celebrities’ choice of footwear extremely interesting.	Room 2 　 Most of our visitors are amazed and shocked by the collection of “special purpose” shoes on show here at the Museum of Footwear. For example , there are Chinese shoes made of silk that were worn by women to tie their feet firmly to prevent them from growing too much!
Room 3 　 As well as shoes and boots, the museum also exhibits shoe-shaped objects. The variety is unbelievable. For example, there is a metal lamp that looks like a pair of shoes, and Greek wine bottles that like legs!	The footwear Library 　 People come from all over the world to study in our excellent footwear library. Designers and researchers come here to look up information on anything and everything related to the subject of footwear.

60. The underlined word “celebrity” in Room 1 may refer to “__________”.

　 A. pop stars　　　　　　 B. famous persons　　　　　　 C. queens　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. presidents

61. All exhibits in each room __________.

　 A. share the same subject

　 B. have the same shape

C. are made of the same material

D. belong to the same social class

62We can learn from the text that __________.

　 A. The oldest exhibits in Room 1 were made in the 1950s.

B. Room 2 is the most visited place in the museum.

C. Room 3 has a less variety of exhibits than the other two.

D. Researchers come to the Footwear Library for information.

63. The purpose of the text is to get more people to __________.

　 A. do research　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. design shoes

　 C. visit the museum　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. follow pop stars

______ about wild plants that they decided to make a trip to Madagascar for further research.

　　A. So curious the couple was

　　B. So curious were the couple

　　C. How curious the couple were

　　D. The couple was such curious