It was already dark when an old man came to a small town. He found an inn and wanted to stay there for the night. After he had gone to his room, the owner said to his wife, “Look at his bag, dear. I’m sure there are lots of valuable things in it. I want to steal it when he is asleep.”

“No, no,” said the woman. “He must look for his bag tomorrow morning. Then he’ll take you before the judge.” They thought and at last the woman had an idea. “We have forgetful grass,” said the woman, “Why not put some into his food? If he has the food, he will forget to take his bag away.” “How clever you are!” said the owner, “Don’t forget it when you prepare supper for him.”

The old man had the food with the forgetful grass and went to bed. The next morning, when the owner got up, he found the door was open and the old man had left with his bag. He woke his wife up and said angrily, “What a fool! Your forgetful grass isn’t useful at all.”

“No, no,” said the woman. “I don’t think so. He must forget something.”

“Oh, I’ve remembered!” The owner cried out suddenly, “He forgot…”

1.The owner and his wife wanted to _______.

A. get the man’s bag

B. steal the man’s money

C. make the man pay them more

D. hide the man’s bag

2.The owner and his wife put the forgetful grass into the food because _______.

A. the old man always forgot something

B. they wanted to make the food better

C. they hoped the old man would leave the bag in the inn

D. they wanted to know if the grass was useful

3.According to the passage the old man forgot _______.

A. to take his bag away

B. to tell the owner when he left

C. to close the door when he went to sleep

D. to pay them the inn money

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Both the owner and his wife were clever.

B. The owner of the inn got nothing from the old man.

C. The old man left the inn without his bag.

D. The woman forgot to put the grass into the food.

Anna Schiferl hadn’t even got out of bed when she reached for her cell phone and typed a text to her mom, one recent Saturday. Mon was right downstairs in the kitchen. The text? Anna wanted an egg for breakfast. Soon after, Joanna Schiferl called, “If you want to talk to me, Anna, come downstairs and see me!” Anna laughs about it now. “I was kind of being lazy,” she admits.

These days, many people with cell phones prefer texting to a phone call. And that’s creating a communication divide, of sorts—the talkers vs. the texters. Some would argue that it’s no big deal. But many experts say the most successful communicators will, of course, have the competence to do both. And they fear that more of us are unable to have—or at least are avoiding—the traditional face–to–face conversations.

Many professors say it is not common to see students outside of class. “I sit in my office hours lonely now because if my students have a question, they email me, often late at night,” says Renee Houston, a professor at the University of Puget Sound in Washington state. “And they never call.”

As Anna sees it: “There are people you’ll text, but won’t call. It’s just a way to stay in touch with each other.” Some believe that scores of texts each day keep people more connected. “The problem is that the conversation isn’t very deep,” says Joseph Grenny, co-author of the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.

“The problem has been there since we’ve had telephones—probably since the time of a telegraph,” Grenny says. Texting is just the latest way to do that. Though they may not always be so good at deep conversations themselves, Grenny suggests that parents model the behavior for their children and put down their own cell phones. He says that they also should set limits, as Anna’s mom did when she made the “no texting to people in the same house” rule.

1.According to Paragraph 1, Joanna .

A. was very strict with her daughter

B. did not know how to use a cell phone

C. was angry that her daughter got up late

D. did not have any breakfast that morning

2.The underlined word “competence” in Paragraph 2 probably means “ ”.

A. chance B. ability C. courage D. patience

3.In Joseph Grenny’s opinion, .

A. cell phones make people lonelier

B. telephones help people communicate clearly

C. texting helps people have deeper conversations

D. talking should be encouraged instead of texting

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A. Why is communication important?

B. How does texting affect kids at school?

C. Is texting ruining the art of conversation?

D. How can we avoid one-sided conversations?

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