Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.
People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid.
It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.
1.Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
A. They thought spinach made them strong.
B. They thought Popeye was funny.
C. Spinach had a lot of iron.
D. People liked folic acid.
2.A research group told people that spinach______.
A. made Popeye strong
B. was a green vegetable
C. had less iron than other green vegetables
D. had more iron than other green vegetables
3.The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
A. iron B. folic acid C. spinach D. exercise
4.Folic acid is ______.
A. something in food B. a vegetable C. dangerous D. a certain kind of spinach
Everyone wants some degree of success. Many people believe that they deserve success simply because they believe that they deserve success.
But there is a widespread belief that people who get on in life may be successful not because they deserve it, but because of influential (有影响的) friends or the right background. Sometimes it may just be a comforting and harmless belief, while at the other extreme it can be very destructive. I once met a brilliant young engineer who worked in a chemical plant. Because of her knowledge and experience, she should have been promoted to Production Manager. Instead, the job went to a man who was totally unsuited for the post. Everyone knew that he only got it because he was politically acceptable to his superiors (上司). This injustice discouraged the young engineer and many of her colleagues. It also meant that the factory was much less efficient than it could have been.
At the same time, we should not be pessimistic (悲观的). More and more the modern world depends on having people who are in the job because they are good enough, not just because their faces fit. There is a story of a factory owner who sent for an engineer to see to a machine which would not go. He examined it, then took out a hammer and tapped, once. The machine started up immediately. When he presented his bill, the owner protested, "This can't be right! $ 100 just for tapping a machine with a hammer?" The engineer wrote out a new bill: "For tapping a machine, $1; for knowing where to tap. $99."
1.The engineer at the chemical plant was not promoted because _____.
A. it was politically less good for the boss to accept her than the man
B. her boss did not think she had the fight qualifications for the job
C. the man who got the promotion was more experienced than she was
D. it is more difficult for a woman to get a promotion than for her male colleague
2.The engineer who repaired the machine was right in charging $ 100 because____.
A. he hit the machine to get it started again
B. the factory owner could not have repaired it himself
C. he was charging for his knowledge and expert skills
D. he was the only person who could find out what was wrong with it
3.What can we learn about the author's attitude toward the widespread belief that "people get on in life may be successful not because they deserve it"?
A. He quite agrees with it.
B. He doesn't express his opinion his opinion at it.
C. He completely disagrees with it.
D. He doesn't quite agree with it.
4.According to the text, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Having influential friends or right background seems helpful sometimes.
B. The engineer had good reason to overcharge the factory owner.
C. Not all those who are good in their jobs have the chance to be promoted.
D. Those who are good in their jobs are still largely needed by the modern society.
A traveller was staying in an Egyptian village. One day, she held up her camera to take pictures of the children. Suddenly the young ones began to shout at her. The traveller's face turned red and she apologized to the head for what she was doing, and told him she had forgotten that people in some places believed a person would lose his soul(灵魂) if his picture was taken. She explained to him the operation of a camera for a long time. Several times the head tried to say something, but he couldn't. When she believed that the head didn't fear any longer, the traveller then let him speak. With a smile, he said, "The children were trying to tell you that you forgot to take off the lens(镜头) cap!"
1.The children shouted when the traveller was taking pictures of them because _______.
A. they didn't want to stop playing
B. the traveller forgot to take off the cap on her head
C. they didn't want to have their pictures taken
D. the traveller was not doing well with her camera
2.The traveller explained how to use a camera to the head because _______.
A. the head was very interested in her camera
B. the head wanted to learn to take pictures
C. she was afraid of the head
D. she wanted the head not to worry about what she was doing
3.The traveller made an apology to the head because _______.
A. she thought it was not right to take people's pictures without telling them beforehand(事先)
B. the children would lose their souls
C. she had stayed in the village too long
D. she didn't take a picture of the head first
4.Which of the following is NOT right?
A. The traveller knew something about people in some countries.
B. The children wouldn't mind if the traveller took pictures of them.
C. The head was afraid that the traveller's camera would hurt the children.
D. The traveller didn't understand why the children shouted.
Michel is a young girl who works for the police a handwriting expert (专家). She has helped many criminals (罪犯) by using her special talents (天才).
When she was fourteen, Michel was already interested in the differences in her friends' that she would spend hours them. After college she went to France for a two-year class in handwriting at the School of Police Science.
Michel says that it is for people to hide their handwriting. She can of what she needs to know simply looking at the writing with her own eyes, she also has machines help her make different kinds of paper and ink. This knowledge is often great help to the police.
Michel believes that handwriting is a good of what kind of person the is. "I wouldn't go out with a fellow I didn't like his handwriting.” She says. But she she fell in love with her future husband, a young policeman she studied his handwriting. It is later proved to be , however.
1.A. with B. by C. like D. as
2.A. search B. follow C. catch D. judge
3.A. so B. too C. quite D. extra
4.A. books B. letter C. tongues D. handwriting
5.A. writing B. studying C. settling D. uncovering
6.A. attending B. finishing C. starting D. stepping into
7.A. powerful B. natural C. special D. common
8.A. main B. safe C. easy D. impossible
9.A. most B. nothing C. little D. sight
10.A. with B. by C. of D. about
11.A. so B. for C. thus D. but
12.A. they B. in which C. that D. those
13.A. up B. out C. for D. into
14.A. of B. to C. with D. for
15.A. test B. sign C. means D. habit
16.A. thief B. criminal C. writer D. policeman
17.A. whether B. unless C. if D. after
18.A. adds B. tells C. repeats D. cries
19.A. before B. after C. so D. and
20.A. necessary B. all right C. important D. quite easy
—Will you go to Tom's birthday party tomorrow?
—No，________invited to, for she is the last person I'd like to see.
A．if B．until C．when D．even though
——Does Callum have a new camera?
——Yes. In fact, it is quite similar ______ yours.
A. as B. like C. to D. with
