When Ben Franklin was only a boy, he always wanted to know about things. He was always asking his father and brothers “What?” and “How?” and “Why?”

They couldn’t always tell him what he wanted to know.

When they couldn’t tell him, Ben tried to find out for himself.

Many times Ben did find out things that no one knew before. The other boys would say, “That Ben Franklin! He’s always finding out something new!”

Ben lived close to the water. He liked to go there to see the boats. He saw how the wind blew them across the water.

One day Ben said to himself, “Why can’t the wind help me float across the water? And I’m going to try.” Ben got his big kite. He took hold of the kite string and ran with it. The wind took the kite up into the air. Then Ben jumped into the water.

The wind blew the kite high into the air. Ben began to float across the water. Soon he was on the other side, and he had not worked at all.

One boy shouted, “Look at Ben floating across the water! His kite takes him to the other side without any work!”

“Yes,” said another. “He’s always finding new ways to do things.”

When he was only a child, Ben             .

A. liked to fly a kite by himself       B. always asked easy questions

C. always liked to play with water    D. always liked to find out how things worked

His father and brothers            .

A. couldn’t answer all his questions    B. could answer all his questions

C. tried hard to find out something new for him 

D. were too busy to answer his questions

How did Ben Franklin float across the water?

A. The other boy took him across it.      B. The water carried him across it.

C. The flying kite took him across it.      D. A boat took him across it.

He found out many things that            .

A. children didn’t know          B. his father and brothers knew

C. people didn’t know           D. most people knew

One day, Wilson was walking quietly along the road when someone hit him hard on the back of his neck. He looked behind him, and saw a young man whom he had never seen before.

  “How dare you hit me like that?” shouted Wilson.

  The young man said he had mistaken Wilson for a friend of his and that he thought Wilson was making a lot of noise about nothing.

  This insult(侮辱) made Wilson even angrier, of course, and he at once decided to bring the young man before a judge.

  Now , the judge who heard the case was a friend of the young man’s father’s, and, although he pretended to be quite fair, he was thinking about what he could do to protect the young man from being punished while at the same time not to be appearing unfair.

  Finally he said to Wilson, “I understand your feelings in this matter very well. Would you be satisfied if I let you hit the young man as he hit you?”

  Wilson said he would not be. The young man had insulted him and should be properly punished.

  “Well, then,” said the judge to the young man, “I order you to pay ten coins to Wilson.”

  Ten coins was very little for such a crime, but the young man did not have it with him, so the judge allowed him to go and get it.

  Wilson waited for him to return with the money. He waited an hour, and then two hours, while the judge took care of other business.

  When it was nearly time for the court to close, Wilson chose a moment when the judge was especially busy, came up quietly and hit him hard on the back of the neck. Then he said to him, “I am sorry, but I can’t wait any longer. When the young man comes back, tell him that I have passed my right to the ten coins on to you.”

Why did the young man hit Wilson from behind?

A. Wilson had hit him before.              B. He had mistaken Wilson for a friend of his.

C. Wilson was a stranger there.             D. Wilson made a lot of noise when he was walking.

The judge thought about how to protect the young man because      .

A. he thought it a small matter                 B. as a judge, he should be fair

C. he thought the man too young to be punished   D. the young man was his friend’s son

According to the passage, while of the following is TRUE?

A. The young man was ordered to hit himself as hard as he had done on Wilson.

B. Wilson was allowed to hit the young man as hard as he had done.

C. Wilson was allowed to do more insulting on the young man.

D. The young man was ordered to hand a lot of money to Wilson.

The judge allowed the young man to go home, hoping      .

A. he would not return any more                B. he could escape from there

C. he would return in two hours                 D. he would get the money

The best title for this passage is      .

A. I’ve passed my right on to you               B. The judge and Wilson

C. Wilson and the young man                  D. The young man was set free

The Man was very sad. He knew that the Cat's days were numbered. The doctor had said there wasn’t anything more that could be done, and that he should take the Cat home and make him as comfortable as possible.

A tear rolled down the Man’s cheek and landed on the Cat’s forehead, The Cat gave him a slightly annoyed look. “Why do you cry, Man?” the Cat asked. “Because you can’t bear the thought of losing me? Because you think you can never replace me?” The Man nodded “yes”.

“Pick up that piece of string from the floor. There, my ‘toy’. The Man reached over and picked up the string. It was about two feet long and the Cat had been able to entertain himself for hours with it. “Now take each end of the string in one hand,” the Cat ordered. The Man did so.

“The end in your left hand is my birth and the end in your right hand is my death. Now bring the two ends together,” the Cat said. The man did so. Then the Cat continued, “You have made a continuous circle. Does any point along the string appear to be different, worse or better than any other part of the string?” The Man inspected the string and then shook his head.

“Close your eyes.” the Cat said. “Now lick your hand.” The Man widened his eyes in surprise. “Just do it,” the Cat said. “Lick your hand, think of me in all my familiar places, and think about all the pieces of string.”

Licking his hand, he discovered what a cat must know, that licking a paw is very calming and allows one to think more clearly. He continued licking and the corners of his mouth turned upward into the first smile he had shown in days. He waited for the Cat to tell him to stop, and when he didn’t, he opened his eyes. The Cat’s eyes were closed. The Man stroked(轻抚) the warm, brown fur, but the Cat was gone.

One day, not long after, there was a new cat on his lap. She was a lovely white cat. It is very different from his earlier beloved Cat and very much the same.

1.Why did the Cat give the man a slightly annoyed look?

A.Because the man’s tears made the Cat really anxious.

B.Because the Cat didn’t know what made the man burst into tears.

C.Because the Cat couldn’t go to sleep when the man was in low spirits.

D.Because the man didn’t have to be so sad and concerned.

2.According to the text, which of the following is the reason why a cat licks paws?

A.Licking paws can make a cat remain calm and have a clear mind.

B.Licking paws will make a cat happy and energetic.

C.Licking paws will make a cat find out many unknown secrets.

D.Licking paws can make a cat stay tidy and healthy.

3.What does the underlined word “string” in paragraph 3 stand for?

A.Life.              B.Birth.             C.Hope.            D.Power.

4.What's the main idea of the passage?

A.Pets play an important part in our life.

B.Life has no end and death is just a new beginning.

C.We should take a positive attitude towards life and live life to its fullest.

D.It gives us some suggestions on how to relieve ourselves when a pet passes away.

 

When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, they usually talk simultaneously(同时的)about a variety of subjects, including children, men, careers and what' s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen -- they can' t do both -- and they don' t understand that women can. Besides, women consider that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships -- not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring at the screen.

During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts.

Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a means of bonding. A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.

There is no convincing evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls' mothers talked them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked  to and looked at, baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents respond to the brain bias of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech,we therefore talk to them more. Consequently, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually pointed to receive only short grunts in reply.

 

1. While watching TV with others, women Usually talk a lot because they

A. are afraid of awkward silence with their families and friends

B. can both talk and watch the screen at the Same time

C. think they can have a good time and develop relationships

D. have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands

2.After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours in order to              .

A. experience the happy time again    B. keep a close tie with her

C. recommend her a new scenic spot   D. remind her of something forgotten

3.What does the author want to tell us most?

A. Women' s brains are better organized for language and communication

B. Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men.

C. Men do not like talking because they rely more on facts.

D. Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Women Are Socially Trained to Talk      B. Talking Maintains Relationships

C. Women Love to Talk                  D. Men Talk Differently from Women

 

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