Are you a man or a mouse? When people ask this question they want to know if you think you are a brave person or a coward(胆小鬼). But you will never really know the answer to that question until you are tested in real life. Some people think they are brave, but when they come face to face with real danger, they act like cowards. Other people think of themselves as cowardly, but when they meet danger, they act like heroes.
Lenny Sputnik had always thought of himself as a nervous person. He got worried before examinations. He worried about his job and his health. All he wanted in life was to be safe and healthy. Then, on 15th January 1982, a plane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington. Lenny went to the river to see what was happening. Then he saw a woman in the ice-cold water. Suddenly Lenny did not feel afraid. He kept very calm and did a very courageous thing. He jumped into the Potomac, swam to the woman, and kept her head above the water. Seventy-eight people died that day. Thanks to Lenny Sputnik, it was not seventy-nine.
When you are in a very dangerous situation and feel afraid, the body automatically produces a chemical in the blood. This chemical is called adrenalin. With adrenalin in the blood system, you actually feel stronger and are ready to fight or run away. However, when you are completely terrified, the body can produce too much adrenalin. When this happens, the muscles become very hard and you find that you cannot move at all. You are then disabled with fear. That is why, when we are very frightened, we sometimes say that we are ‘petrified’. This word comes from the Greek word ‘peters’ which means ‘stone’. We are so frightened we have become like stone.
1. According to the writer's opinion, a brave person can be judged by ______
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A．his words |
B．his thought |
C．his action |
D．his looks |
2.From what Lenny did, we can conclude that __________
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A．Lenny had a good chance |
B．Lenny was brave |
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C．Lenny liked swimming |
D．Lenny wanted to be a hero |
3. In great danger, a hero always keeps __________.
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A．nervous |
B．worried |
C．calm |
D．disappointed |
4. Adrenalin in our body is ________.
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A．harmful |
B．useless |
C．changeable |
D．dangerous |
5.If a person's body produces too much adrenaline, he will ________.
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A．become stronger |
B．lose his feeling and power |
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C．become a stone |
D．become a hero |
I met the old man at a cafe. “Did you hear the radio news yesterday?” he asked me. “No,” I replied. “Anything exciting?”“Exciting? NO! Something very sad. A group of hungry dogs killed and ate my best friend.”
“Oh, dear!” I cried. “How did it happen?”“He was working on the hillside when the dogs attacked him. When he didn't return, I went to the hillside and found…”“His body?” I asked. The old fellow drank half of his coffee. “No. I told you they were hungry dogs, didn't I? The big bones were lying every where. But they found this.” He pushed open a match box he was holding in his hand. In it was a man's thumb, lying on some white bloody material.
“This is my friend's right thumb. The dogs ate the rest of him”. The old man began to cry. He finished his coffee quickly and left the cafe. I drank mine and called the waiter. “I'll pay the gentleman's bill. His poor friend—how terrible!”“You've heard the news?” The waiter laughed. “Sure. There's a hole in the bottom of the match box. He put his own thumb through the hole. The blood is red ink, I believe. Is the story worth a cup of coffee, sir?”“But he held the box in his right hand.”“Yes, but listeners look into the box. They just can't take their sight off that terrible thing.”“And when he tells the story, he gets free cup of coffee!” I said, laughing. “Yes, sir, but only from strangers who come to this town, and, of course, he does us no harm!”
1. We can learn from this passage ________.
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A．the writer came to the cafe for the first time |
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B．the old man made a living by telling jokes in the cafe |
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C．the writer had known about the old man before |
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D．what had happened to his best friend made the old man mad |
2. Having heard the old man's story, the writer _______ .
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A．couldn't help laughing immediately |
B．showed great mercy upon him |
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C．didn't believe him at all |
D．bought the old man another cup of coffee |
3. It turned out that the thumb in the match box was actually __________.
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A．the right thumb of his best friend |
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B．the thumb he stole from the dead body of an unknown person |
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C．something made of bloody white materials |
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D．his own right thumb |
4.The waiter hadn't let out the truth of the old man's story earlier because _______ .
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A．he was nobody but the best friend of the old man |
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B．the old man wouldn't pay for his coffee if he did |
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C．the waiter hadn't seen through the old man's trick |
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D．the old man helped the cafe in some way |
5. As suggested by the passage, what might happen in the end?
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A．The writer refused to pay the old man's bill. |
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B．The writer decided to make the trick known to the public. |
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C．More strangers would hear the old man's story. |
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D．The old man wouldn't visit the cafe any more. |
I've always loved pigeons(鸽子). Some years ago I managed to persuade my wife to let me buy a few and start 16 them myself. They cost a lot of money and so it spoilt(破坏) our 17 a bit, but my wife never actually stopped me so I 18 carried on. I learnt so much about them that I could 19 a good racer anywhere and I bought some beauties. My pigeons won some top races, and I even began to make a bit of 20 .
You see, people are prepared to pay big prices if they get to know that your pigeons are 21 big prizes.
My wife had been changing her 22 to the pigeons over the last year or two anyway. She was quite 23 of all the prizes we’d won. Then there was the travelling, which she liked. You see some one has to take the pigeons a 24 way off and set them free. Some of the 25 were really nice. I never travelled. I used to like to wait at home and see them come in. They’ve got this wonderful sense of 26 , which can bring them back home so quickly. They’d flown hundreds of miles sometimes 27 storms or against strong winds. And there they’d come, tiny white birds against the great 28 . Then I'd watch them 29 round and come down onto the landing shelf. I'd look at my watch and think, “My goodness, that’s a good 30 . ”And I'd take off the little leg ring and push it through the machine to 31 what time he’d arrived. Then my wife would 32 up and say, “Has he arrived yet?” Then we would work out if we’d won 33 .
Then last year we had a 34 ! All of them got some sort of flu and 35 . It was terrible. I had to burn them all. We lost a fortune, of course.
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20..
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A．flew |
B．died |
C．cured |
D．lost |
—Listen! I heard the birds ______ around us.
—Yeah, what beautiful music!
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A．sang |
B．sing |
C．to sing |
D．singing |
—How can I improve my memory?
—________
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A．Why don’t play concentration games? |
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B．One thing you could do is play concentration games. |
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C．What about to play concentration games? |
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D．It might be a good idea playing concentration games. |
—Do you know where I can get someone ______ my skirt?
—You can have your skirt ______ at Main Street Cleaners.
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A．to shorten; shorten |
B．to shorten; shortened |
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C．shortened; shortened |
D．shortened; to shorten |
