The clock pointed at a quarter before nine when he appeared at the Reform Club. Phileas Fogg had finished the journey round the world in eighty days! Phileas Fogg had won his wager (打赌) of twenty thousand pounds!

How could such an exact man make this mistake of a day? Why did he think that he had arrived in London on Saturday, the twenty-first day of December, when it was really Friday, the twentieth, the seventy-ninth day only from the day he left?

The cause of the mistake was very simple.

Phileas Fogg had gained one day on his journey, because he had travelled eastward. During travelling eastward, he had gone towards the sun, and the days therefore diminished(缩短) as many times 4 minutes as he crossed degrees(经度) in this direction. There are 360 degrees on the circumference (周长) of the earth; and these 360 degrees, multiplied (乘) by 4 minutes, gives 24 hours, the day gained. In other words, while Phileas Fogg, going eastward, saw the sun pass 80 times, his friends in London only saw it 79 times. This is why they waited for him at the Club on Saturday, and not Sunday, as Mr. Fogg thought.

Phileas Fogg, then, had won the twenty thousand pounds; but as he had spent nearly nineteen thousand on the way, the gain was small. His aim was, however, not to win money. He divided the one thousand pounds between Passepartout and Fix. From Passepartout’s share, he deducted(扣除) the cost of the gas which had burned in his room for nineteen hundred and twenty hours.

The next day just after the wedding party, as soon as it was light, Passepartout knocked on his master’s door. Phileas opened it, and asked, “What’s the matter, Passepartout?”

“What is it, sir? Why, I’ve just found out —”

“What?”

“That we might have made the tour of the world in only seventy-eight days.”

“No doubt,” said Mr. Fogg, “by not crossing India. But if I had not crossed India, I should not have saved Aouda out of danger and fell in love with her afterwards, and she would not have been my wife.”

Phileas Fogg had won his wager, and had made his journey around the world in eighty days.

Would you make the tour around the world for less than eighty days?

1.How did Fogg most probably feel after he finished the journey around the world?

A.Proud but a bit afraid. B.Excited but a bit angry.

C.Curious but a bit worried. D.Satisfied but a bit sorry.

2.Which of the following shows the right order of the whole trip?

a. Fogg got married to Aouda. b. Fogg’s friends gathered at the Club.

c. Fogg started the trip around the world. d. The group travelled across India.

A.c-b-d-a B.b-d-a-c C.c-d-b-a D.b-c-a-d

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A.Phileas Fogg had gained one day on his journey, because he had travelled westward.

B.Phileas Fogg didn’t gain a lot though he had won the twenty thousand pounds at last.

C.Phileas Fogg paid for the cost of the gas which had burned in his room for 1920 hours.

D.Phileas Fogg’s friends in London saw the sun pass more times than Fogg.

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