Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B. C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world's population is left-handed.

Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person's two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain(脑). The right side of the brain, which makes a person's hands and eyes work together, controls(控制) the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged(伤害) when they are born. However, this doesn't happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因)for right-handedness, he/she may become either right-handed or left-handed according (根据)to the chance and the people they work or live with.

Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don't have to.

56. After studying works of art made at different times in history, the scientists

found ____________.

A. the art began from 1,500 B. C.

B. the works of art ended in the 1950s

C. most people shown in the works of art are right-handed

D. most people shown in the works of art are left-handed

57. How many people in the world are left-handed now?

A. Less than one sixth.　　　 　　　　　　 B. More than a half.

C. About 40%.　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 D. The passage doesn't tell us.

58. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed.

B. Scientists think there must be some reason why people become left-handed.

C. Today children are not made to use their right hands only.

D. Left-handedness is cleverer than right-handedness.

59. What is the best title for this passage?

A. Left-handed People 　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Scientists' New Inventions

C. Which Hand　　　　　　　 　　　　 D. Different Brains, Different Hands

Once upon a time, there lived a rich man. He had a servant (仆人). He and the servant loved wine and good food very much. Each time the rich man left his home; the servant would drink the wine and eat up all the nice food in the house. The rich man knew what his servant did, but he had never caught his servant doing that.

　　One morning, when he left home, he said to the servant, “Here are two bottles of poison (毒药) and some nice food in the house. You must take care of them.” With these words, he went out.

　　But the servant knew that what the rich man had said was untrue. After the rich man was away from his home, he enjoyed a nice meal. Because he drank too much, he was drunk and fell to the ground. When the rich man came back, he couldn’t find his food and his wine. He became very angry. He woke the servant up. But the servant told his story very well. He said a cat had eaten up everything. He was afraid to be punished(惩罚), so he drank the poison to kill himself.

1.In the story, _______ liked wine and good food very much.

    A. the rich man 　　B. the servant 　　C. both A and B 　　D. neither A and B

2.The rich man knew that it was _______ that drank the wine and ate up all the nice food.

A. the cat 　　 　　B. himself 　　　    C. nobody 　　　　D. the servant

3.The rich told the servant that there was poison in the two bottles, because_______.

A. there was in face poison in the bottles

B. he did not want the servant to drink his wine

C. he wanted to kill the cat

D. he wanted to kill the servant

4.In fact, _______ate all the nice food and drank the wine.

A. the servant   B. cat   C. the rich man   D. nobody

5.From the story, we know that the servant is very _______.

A. lazy   B. bad   C. clever   D. kind

完形填空

One night a man came to my house. He said to me, “There is a family with eight 　1　. They have not eaten for days.” After I asked him where the family was, I took some 　2　 with me and left.

When I finally got to that family, I 　3　 those little children were too hungry to say 　4　. I gave the food to the mother. She took half of it, and then 　5　. When she returned, I asked her, “　6　 did you go?” She gave me this simple 　7　, “To my neighbours — they are also 　8　!”

I was not surprised that she gave the food to others, because poor people are always very 　9　. But I was surprised that she gave her 　10　 half the food when her children were still hungry. Usually, when we are in trouble, we always think of ourselves first, and we have no time for others.

1.                A．children        B．workers        C．farmers   D．cooks

2.                A．flowers         B．wine           C．food D．water

3.                A．showed        B．watched        C．looked   D．found

4.                A．a sentence      B．a word         C．it    D．nothing

5.                A．went out        B．came back       C．rushed in D．hurried back

6.                A．When          B．Where         C．How D．Why

7.                A．question        B．decision        C．answer   D．lie

8.                A．ill             B．unhappy        C．tired D．hungry

9.                A．kind           B．sad            C．happy    D．bad

10.               A．people         B．neighbours      C．family D．children

With a hat by his feet，a blind boy sat on the steps of a building. He held up a sign which said，" I ' m blind, please help. "
Only a few people put    1   in the hat. A man was walking by. He    2   some coins into the hat. He then turned the sign    3  . wrote some words, put the sign back and left.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people   4   to give money to the blind boy.　　That afternoon the man came to see    5  things were. The boy recognized his footsteps (脚步声) and asked, "Were you the one who    6  my sign this morning? What did you write?"
The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a   7 way. "What he had written was," Today is a beautiful day,   8  I cannot see it. "
Both the   9  told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply 　10　people to help by throwing some money into the   11  . The second one, however, told people that they were able to enjoy the  12  of the day, but the boy couldn't    13   he was blind.
There are at least two lessons we can learn   14  this story. First, be thankful for what
you have. Someone else has less. Help them if you can.  15  , be creative. Think differently.
　There is always a better way !