An old English saying says, "Laughter is the best medicine." One person who certainly would have agreed with this is Norman Cousins.
Norman Cousins worked for a magazine called Saturday Review for almost forty years. He also wrote articles about peace, traveling to many different countries to share his ideas.
In the 1960s, after returning to the United States from a busy and tiring trip to Europe, Mr. Cousins got sick. In less than a week after he got back, he could not stand. Every move that he made was painful. He was not able to sleep at night. The doctors told Mr. Cousins that they did not know how to cure his problem and he might never get over the illness. Mr. Cousins, however, refused to give up hope.
Mr. Cousins thought the illness could be caused by unhappy thoughts. He did not want to take medicine to cure himself. Instead, he felt that happy thoughts or laughter might cure his illness.
He began to experiment on himself while still in the hospital by watching comedy shows on television. Mr. Cousins quickly found that ten minutes of real laughter during the day gave him two hours of sleep without pain at night.
Deciding that the doctors could not help him, Mr. Cousins left the hospital and checked into a hotel room where he could continue his experiments with laughter. For eight days, Mr. Cousins rested in the hotel room watching comedy shows on television, reading funny books, and sleeping whenever he felt tired. Within three weeks, he felt well enough to have a holiday to Puerto Rico, where he began running on the beach for exercise. After a few months, Ms. Cousins was able to carry on his work. He had laughed himself back to health.
1.The text is mainly about .
A. a funny person
B. an amazing life
C. an interesting cure
D. a medical experiment
2.How did the doctors respond to Mr. Cousins' illness?
A. They promised to cure him.
B. They didn't think he was really sick.
C. They told him not to give up hope.
D. They said they were unable to help him.
3.Mr. Cousins thought that he could be cured by .
A. thinking happily and laughing
B. writing comedies and being positive
C. taking a holiday and taking good care of himself
D. running on the beach and relaxing
A mouse looked through the hole in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package, and he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Returning to the farmyard, he warned everybody, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken raised her head and said, "Thanks for your warning, Mr. Mouse, but why should I be bothered by a mousetrap?" The pig sympathized, but said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse, I'm sorry for you. I can tell this is a great concern to you, but it is none of my business." The cow was busy eating grass, and said, "I am very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but I can do nothing but pray for you." The mouse returned to the house, head down and depressed, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house﹣like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a snake whose tail was caught by the trap, and it bit her. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.
The farmer killed the chicken to make fresh chicken soup for his wife, but her sickness continued. Friends and neighbors came to visit her, and to feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. Then she died. So many people came for her funeral that the farmer had the cow cooked to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his hole in the wall with great sadness.
1.What does the underlined word in the first paragraph mean?
A. Greatly amused.
B. Completely relaxed.
C. Slightly impressed.
D. Extremely shocked.
2.What can we infer from what the cow said?
A. He could do nothing to help the mouse.
B. He wanted to help the mouse but was too busy.
C. He thought the mousetrap would not harm him.
D. He felt very sorry for not being able to help the mouse.
3.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A. Stupid animals
B. The mousetrap
C. A kind mouse
D. Stories in the farmyard
The doctor thought ________ would be good for you to have a holiday.
A. this B. that C. one D. it
﹣Tom, why are you late again?
﹣Sorry, manager. My car________on my way to the office.( )
A. broke up B. broke down
C. broke out D. broke off
The people living in these apartments have free ___to the swimming pool.( )
A. time B. entrance
C. charge D. access
When the accident happened,how many passengers were in the train?
It 1,300 passengers,208 Japanese . ( )
A. contained; included
B. contained; including
C. included; contained
D. contained; containing