完形填空

　　It was very late at night．An old man came to a small town．He found an inn(小旅馆)and Wanted to slay there for the night．After he went to his room, the owner said to his 　　1　　．"Look at his bag．There must be much money in it．Let's take it away when he's 　　2　　, shall we?

　　"Oh, no," said the woman．"He must 　　3　　 his bag when he wakes up tomorrow morning．If he can't find it, he'll telephone the police．"

　　They thought for a few minutes．Then the woman had an 　　4　　．"We have forgetful grass．Why not put some forgetful grass into his food? If he 　　5　　 the food, he will forget lo take his bag away．"

　　　The old man ate the food 　　6　　 the forgetful grass and went to bed．The next morning when the owner got up, he found the door 　　7　　 and the old man had gone away with his bag．He woke his wife up and said to her angrily, "How foolish you are! Your forgetful grass isn't 　　8　　 at all．"

　　"No, I don't think so．He must forget 　　9　　," his wife said．

　　"Oh! I remember now! He forgot to 　　10　　 for the night," cried out the man suddenly．Then they looked at each other without saying a word．

阅读理解

　　“How are you?” is a nice question．It’s a friendly way that people in the U．S．A greet each other．But “How are you?” is also a very unusual question．It’s a question that often doesn’t need an answer．The person who asks“ How are you?” hopes to hear the answer “Fine”, even if the person’s friend isn’t fine．The reason is that “How are you?” isn’t really a question and “Fine” isn’t really an answer．They are simply other ways of saying “Hello” or “Hi”．

　　Sometimes, people also don’t say exactly what they mean．For example, when someone Asks “Do you agree?”, the other person might think, “No, I disagree．I think you’re Wrong…”But it isn’t very polite to disagree so strongly, so the other person might say “I’m not sure．” It’s a nicer way to say that you don’t agree with someone．

　　People also don’t say exactly what they are thinking when they finish talking with other people．For example, many talks over the phone finish when one person say “I’ve to go now．” Often, the person who wants to hang up gives and excuse：“Someone’s at the door．” “Something is burning on the stove．” The excuses might be real, or not．Perhaps the person who wants to hang up simply doesn’t want to talk any more, but it isn’t polite to say that．The excuse is more polite, and it doesn’t hurt the other person．

　　Whether they are greeting each other, talking about an idea, of finishing a talk, people don’t say exactly that they are thinking．It’s an important way that people try to be nice to each other, and it’s part of the game of language．