中学生科普英语趣味阅读

初中英语阅读：科普知识与现代技术（含答案）NO1.---未来的汽车NO2.一热空气占据更大空间NO3.一眼睛识别系统NO4.一网络科技的利弊NO5.—卫星气象NO6.一睡眠NO7.一智能服装NO8.一智能城市NO9.一大脑科学科普类文章是中考英语的常考题材，每年中考都有所涉及，这类文章的总特点是：科技词汇多，句子结构复杂，理论性强，逻辑严谨。

解题时要注意：1.平时多阅读科普知识类文章，学习科普知识，积累常见的科普词汇。

2.要熟悉科普文章的结构特点。

科普类文章一般由标题、导语、背景、主体和结尾五部份组成。

标题是文章中心思想高度而又精辟的概括，但根据历年的中考命题情况来看，这类阅读理解材料一般不给标题，而要求选择标题。

导语一般位于文章的首段。

背景交待一个事实的起因。

主体则对导语概括的事实进行详细叙述，这一部分命题往往最多，因此，阅读时，要把这部分作为重点。

结尾往往也是中心思想的概括，并与导语相呼应，命题者常常在此设计一道推理判断题。

3.在进行推理判断时，一定要以阅读材料所提供的科学事实为依据，同时所得出的结论还应符合基本的科普常识。

NO1.---未来的汽车On a sunny day last January, people got together at a parking lot in Las Vegas to see small vehicles that looked more like colorful eggs than ordinary cars. These vehicles were electric, ran on two wheels instead of four and held only two passengers. Thanks to their tiny size, six of the vehicles would fit in a parking spot. If the idea of parking such a small car makes you nervous, don’t worry: these cars can park themselves. And they can return to their owners when controlled by a button on a cellphone.The vehicle is called the EN-V(Electric Networked-Vehicle). It is built by General Motors, or GM, arid it points to what future vehicles might be like. It is designed to be energy-saving, solve environmental problems and help ease traffic jams, parking and safety concerns. The automaker says its next concept car^概念车)will help drivers get whatever they want. According to GM, the company has also designed an electric vehicle named Lean Machine. However, it is a small three-wheeler and this single-seater vehicle looks like a motorcycle. One day, such small, electric vehicles might safely carry people around，especially in crowded cities.Scientists and engineers are finding new ways to make cars safer, smarter and more efficient, oruse less energy. New cars may help you keep track of your health by reminding you to take medicine. If it’s elec tric, your car may send you a message reminding you to recharge it. Cars will talk to other cars, your computer, your phone and your iPa d. They’ll help drivers s ave energy, watch out for other drivers and avoid walkers on the streets.This is the future of vehicles: safer, smarter and more energy-saving. Besides, they might even drive themselves down the highway or through a city. You can sit back and enjoy the ride.1. Why did people get together at a parking lot?A.They wanted to see some colorful eggs.B.They came to see an unusual parking lot.C.They came to watch a kind of new vehicle.D.They were invited to drive some smart vehicles.2. According to Paragraph 3, future cars can do all of the following things EXCEPTA.running both on land and in waterB.helping keep track of your healthC.talking to other cars and your phoneD.saving energy and avoiding passers-by3. Both the EN-V and Lean Machine.A. have only two wheelsB. can hold two passengersC. are environment-friendlyD. look like a motorcycle4. The text is mainly about.A.a parking lotB.the future of carsC.the traffic rules in AmericaD.the functions of modern cars答案：1. C2. A3. C4. BNO2.—热空气占据更大空间Warm air needs more roomAs its temperature rises, air starts to act a little differently. Find out what happens to a ba1100n(气球)when the air inside it heats up with this fun science experiment for kids.What you will need.•An empty bottle• A balloon• A pot of hot water (not boiling)InstructionsI.Stretch（伸展）the balloon over the mouth of the empty bottle.2.Put the bottle in the pot of hot water. Let it stand for a few minutes and watch what happens.What is happening?As the air inside the balloon heats up, it starts to expand. The molecules（分子）begin to move faster and further apart form each other. This is what makes the ba lloon stretch. There is still the same amount of air inside the balloon and the bottle. It has just expanded as it heats up. Warm air therefore takes up more space than the s ame amount of cold air. It also weighs less than cold air occupying （占据）the same space. You might have seen this principle^ 理）in action if you’ve flown in or watched a hot air balloon1. What don’t you need?A. An empty bottle.B. A balloonC. A pot hot water.D. A cup.2. You should put in the pot of hot water.A.the bottleB. the balloonC. the cupD. the air3. What does the underlined word “ expand” mean?A.收缩B.膨胀C.运动D.远离4. When air is heated, what will happen?A.The molecules move slower and get together.B.The molecules will stop moving.C.The molecules move faster and further apart from each other.D.The molecules will get closer to each other.5. Where may you see the passage?A.On a science magazine for kidsB. In a storybookC. In a cartoon bookD. In an English book.答案：DABCANO3.一眼睛识别系统Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The programme works because everyone’s eyes are different. So in the future you won't have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You'll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are. The eye-recognition（眼睛识另ij） programme is tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain and Italy.Scientists are working on other systems, such as knowing you from the shape of your face or hand or even your smell! And machines can already tell who you are from your voice or your fingerprint （指纹）.But eye-recognition will replace other ways of finding out who you are. It is better, because your eyes don’t change as you get older, or get dirty like hands or fingers. And even twins have different eyes, so the programme can be up to 94% correct, depending on how good the technology is. In Britain, it was found that 91% of people said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition.根据短文内容，选择正确答案。

趣味英语阅读20篇（01）The Day Before YesterdayMark is a good student in school. But he is not clean. His face and hands are often dirty.One morning, Mark goes to school. His teacher looks at him and says, “Mark, I know what you eat for breakfast.”“What?” Mark asks.“Eggs,” says his teacher. “Your face and your mouth tell me that.”“No, sir,” Mark says. “Not today or yesterday, but the day before yesterday.”（）1.What does Mike like? Mike is ________A. cleanB. dirtyC. white（02）The Best JobBetty is a lazy girl. She doesn't study hard, and she doesn't help her mother with the housework, either."What are you going to be when you grow up, Betty?" Mother asks. "You're too lazy. No job will ever fit you.""But I know one," says the girl, "I'm going to be Father Christmas,""You want to be Father Christmas?" Mother is surprised, "But why?""Because he works only one day in a whole year."1.What does Betty want to be when she grows up? _____________________ Why?_____________________________________________________________ 2.When does Father Christmas work? _______________________________It’s time to go home now. I am on a bus on a rainy day, and a woman with a d（03）og gets on the bus. It is a big dog and its feet are not clean.I don’t want the dog to sit near me. But the woman says to the conductor（售票员）. “Oh, I pay for my dog. Can he sit here like the other people?”The conductor looks at the dog and says, “Yes, madam, but he can not put his feet on the chair.”( ) 1. I don’t want the dog to sit near me because ______.A. the dog is bigB. the dog is not cleanC. the dog has not ticket( ) 2. The meaning of the conductor’s word is _______.A. the dog’s feet are like the other peopleB. the dog must be like a manC. the dog can not sit on the chair （04）A rich man decided (决定) to give his mother a birthday present. "My present will be better than any of my brothers." he thought. He heard about an amazing (令人惊异) bird. The bird could speak five languages (语言). He bought the bird at once and sent it to his mother. It cost (花费) him 100 dollars. The day after her birthday, he called his mother. "How did you like the bird, Mom? " he asked eagerly (亲切地). His mother answered, "Well, it's delicious!"1. Does the man have any brothers?2. How much is the bird?（05）We Are Not in the ZooA woman comes into a bank with her son in her arms. The boy is only two years old. He's eating a cake.When the woman comes to one of the windows of the iron（铁）railings（栏杆）, the boy watches the teller（出纳员）carefully. Then he gives his cake to the teller. The teller smiles and shakes his head.“Oh, no, my dear. Don't do that. We aren't in the zoo.” His mother says. Then she says to the teller,“I'm sorry, please forgive my son. He has just been to the zoo.”Where does the man go with her son?__________________________________ （06）Sam is a lazy boy. One day, his mother says to him, “Sam, look your sheet（被单）. It’s too dirty. Would you like to wash it now?” Sam looks at the sheet and then says, “I don’t think it’s dirty. I can turn the sheet over. Is that all right?” Sam’s mother is very angry, “How lazy you are! I turned it over last week!”判断下列句子正(T)误(F)。

初中英语阅读--科普知识发明现代技术RobotsThe technology is improving every day. We will see some very exciting home robots in the next few years. In the future the robots can do lots of things:★ Getting thingsIn a few years, it will bepossible to tell your homerobot to get a piece of breadfor you. The robot will useits eyes and an arm to getthe bread for you.★ Watering plantFuture robots will carrywater to water plants.★ Telling dangerA home robot will find out fire, smoke and other danger easily. Every night the robot will make its rounds to make sure that everything is right.★ Looking after childrenA robot will help us look after our children well when we are not at home.Choose the best answer according to the passage.( ) 1. A robot will get something for you with __________.A. a handB. eyes and a legC. an armD. eyes and an arm( ) 2. What does “make its round” mean in Chinese?A.转圈B.巡查C.工作D. 制作( ) 3. What will robots do when people are not at home?A. Robots will do housework with the children.B. Robots will cook for the children.C. Robots will look after the children.D. Robots will smoke with the children.( ) 4. Robots can do all the following things EXCEPT (除了) __________.A. Carry heavy things.B. Look after children.C. Look after plants.D. Get things for people.( ) 5. What is the passage about?A. The food of robots.B. The dream of robots.C. The future of robots.D. The life of robots.TVMany people like to watch TV. Watching TV is one of the most important activities (活动) of the day. TV brings the outside world to the people. Some people saythe world is smaller thanbefore, because of TV.What’s going on in theother countries? How dopeople live in the other placesfar away? Is there a sportgame? If you want to answerthese and the other kind ofquestions, just turn on the TVand watch it. You can see alot and learn a lot. People canalso learn on the radio. But with TV you can learn better andmore easily. Because you can hear and watch, TV helps us to open our eyes. TV also gives us some new ideas.Choose the best answer according to the passage.( ) 1. Some people say the world is smaller than before because of ________.A. TVB. radioC. newspaper( ) 2. With TV we can learn better and more easily than radio because _______.A. we can hearB. we can watchC. we can hear and watch ( ) 3. ______ the TV and you can learn a lot.A. Turn onB. Turn offC. Turn over( ) 4. Many people like to _______.A. watch TVB. see TVC. look at TV( ) 5. ______ brings outside world to the people.A. TVB. RadioC. NewspaperMake true (T) or false (F).( ) 1. Watching TV is the only important thing of a day.( ) 2. Because of TV, some people say the world is bigger than before.ComputersWe are already familiar with computers— computers work for us at home, in offices and in factories. But it is also true that many children today are using computers at schools before they can write. What does this mean for the future? Are these children lucky or not? Many people who do not know about computers think of them as machines that children play with. They worry that children do not learn from experience but just from pressing a button and that this is not good for them. They think that children are growing not knowing about the real world.But people whounderstand more aboutcomputers say thatcomputers can be verygood for children. Acomputer can helpthem to learn about thereal world more quickly,to learn what they wantto learn and think for themselves. And for the future, don’t we need people who can think clearly, who know how to get information quickly and use it well? What do you think?Choose the best answer according to the passage.( ) 1. “To be familiar with” me ans to ______.A. know nothingB. know aboutC. dislikeD. like( ) 2. Does everyone think computers are good for children?A. Yes, they do.B. No, not everyone thinks so.C. They don’t know.D. They are not sure.( ) 3. What can computers help children to do?A. To think clearly, to do homework and to write.B. To play games, to do math and to copy.C. To think clearly, to get information and to use it well.D. To count, to clean the house and to get information.( ) 4. Does the writer think computer is a good thing?A. It isn’t mentioned.B. No, he doesn’t think so.C. He doesn’t know.D. Yes, he does.Albert EinsteinOne day the famous American scientist Albert Einstein met an old friend of his on a street in New York.“Mr Einstein,” said the friend, “ it seems that you need to put on a new overcoat. Look, how worn-out it is!”“It doesn’t matter,” answered Albert Einst ein. “No one knows me here in New York.”Several years later they met inNew York again. Einstein had been a world-famous physicist after then buthe still wore the same old overcoat.Once more his friend persuaded him to buy a new one.“There is no need now,” said Einstein, “Everybody here has known me.”Locating the answers1. Where did Albert Einstein met an old friend of his?______________________________________________________2. What did the friend want him to buy?______________________________________________________3. How about Einstein’s overcoat?_____________________________________________________4. Did Einstein still wear the same old overcoat when he became a world-famous physicist?_____________________________________________________5. What did Einstein say when the friend persuade once more him to buy a new overcoat?_____________________________________________________During the day we work and play. At night we sleep. Our bodies rest while we sleep. In the morning we are ready to work and play again. Our bodies grow most while we are asleep. Children usually need more sleep than adults. They can learn their lessons better after they have had plenty of rest. Boys and girls who are eight or nine years old need ten hours of sleep every night. Our bodies need plenty of air when we sleep. If we do not get enough fresh air, we will feel tired when we wake up. While in bed we must not cover our heads. Our lungs（肺）need to get enough fresh air. If we keep our windows open at night, we can have plenty of fresh air in the room.1. Our bodies grow most while we are ________________.A. eatingB. playingC. sleepingD. exercising2. Too little sleep makes us ________.A. tiredB. hungryC. happyD. grow3. What may cause us to feel tired in the morning?A. Too much air.B. Not enough fresh air.C. Too much cold air.D. Too much sleep.4. How many hours of sleep should 9-year-old children have every night?A. Eight hours.B. Nine hours.C. Ten hours.D. Eleven hours5. What do our lungs need most?A. Fresh air.B. Cold air.C. Warm air.D. Exercises.【答案】1.C2. A3. B4. C5. ANow satellites are helping to forecast(预报) the weather. They are in space, and they can reach any part of the world. The satellites take pictures of the atmosphere (大气), because this is where the weather forms (形成). They send these pictures to the weather stations. So meteorologists(气象学家) can see the weather of any part of the world. From the pictures, the scientists can often say how the weather will change.Today, nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive satellite pictures. When they receive new pictures, the meteorologists compare them with earlier ones. Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours. This may mean that the weather on the ground may soon change, too. In their next weather forecast, the meteorologists can say this.So the weather satellites are a great help to the meteorologists. Before satellites were invented, the scientists could forecast the weather for about 24or 48 hours. Now they can make good forecasts for three or five days. Soon, perhaps, they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead (提前).1. Satellites travel __________.A. in spaceB. above spaceC. above the groundD. in the atmosphere2. Why do we use the weather satellites to take pictures of the atmosphere？Because_______.A. clouds form thereB. the weather forms thereC. the weather satellites can do it easilyD. the pictures can forecast the weather3. Meteorologists forecast the weather _______.A. without studying satellite picturesB. before they receive satellite picturesC. when they have received satellite picturesD. after they have compared the new satellite pictures with the earlier ones4. Maybe we’ll soon be able to forecast the weather for _________.A. one dayB. two daysC. five daysD. seven days or even longer5. The main idea of this passage is that satellites are now used in __________.A. taking pictures of the earthB. receiving pictures of the atmosphereC. weather forecastingD. doing other work in many waysWe are already familiar with computers—computers work for us at home, in offices and in factories. But it is also true that many children today are using computers at schools before they can write. What does this mean for the future? Are these children lucky or not?Many people who do not know about computers think of them as machines that children play with. They worry that children do not learn from experience but just from pressing a button and that this is not good for them. They think that children are growing not knowing about the real world.But people who understand more about computers say that computers can be very good for children. A computer can help them to learn about the real world more quickly, to learn what they want to learn and think for themselves. And for the future, don’t we need people who can think clearly, who know how to get information quickly and use it well? What do you think?1.“To be familiar with” means to ______.A. know nothingB. know aboutC. dislikeD. like2. Does everyone think computers are good for children?A. Yes, they do.B. No, not everyone thinks so.C.They don’t know.D. They are not sure.3. What can computers help children to do?A. To think clearly, to do homework and to write.B. To play games, to do math and to copy.C. To think clearly, to get information and to use it well.D.To count, to clean the house and to get information.4. Does the writer think computer is a good thing?A.It isn’t mentioned.B.No, he doesn’t think so.C.He doesn’t know.D. Yes, he does.Light travels at a speed which is about a million times faster than the speed of sound. You can get some idea of this difference by watching the start of a race. If you stand some distance away from the starter, you can see smoke from his gun before thesound reaches your ears.This great speed of light produces some strange facts. Sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach us. If you look at the light of the moon tonight, remember that the light rays left the moon 1.3 seconds before they reached you. The nearest star is so far away that the light that you can see from it tonight started to travel towards you four years ago at a speed of nearly 2 million km. per minute. In some cases, the light from one of tonight’s stars had started on its journey to you before you were born.Thus, if we want to be honest, we can’t say, “The stars are shining tonight.” We have to say instead, “The sta rs look pretty. They were shining four years ago, but their light has only just reached the earth.”1. Light speed is ______ sound speedA. as fast asB. a million times slower thanC. about millions of times faster thanD.about a million times faster than2. If you stand 200 metres away from a man who is firing a gun to start a race, you will find out that ______.A. you can hear the sound before you see the smokeB.the sound does not travel as fast as lightC. the sound will reach you before the man firesD.sound travels about a million times faster than light3. Sunlight obviously (明显地) ______ than the light of the moonA. has to travel a greater distanceB. moves less quicklyC. travels much more quicklyD. is less powerful(有力的)4. The scientific way of saying "The stars are shining tonight" should be ______.A. the stars have been shining all the timeB.the stars seen tonight will shine four years laterC. the stars were shining long ago but seen tonightD.the starlight seen today could be seen four years agoAlfred Nobel, the great Swedish inventor and industrialist, was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833, but moved to Russia with his parents in 1842, where his father, Immanuel, made a strong position for himself in the engineering industry. Immanuel Nobel invented landmine and made a lot of money from the government during the Crimean War, but went bankrupt soon after. Then, the family returned to Sweden in 1859, where Alfred began his own study of explosives in his father’s lab. He had never been to school or university but had taught himself, and by the time he was twenty, he became a skillful chemist and excellent linguist, speaking Swedish, Russian, German, French and English. He built up over 80 companies in 20 different countries. He was always searching for a meaning to life. He spent much time and money working on how to end the wars, and the peace between nations, until his death in Italy in 1896. His famous last will, in which he left money to provide prizes for outstanding work in physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, literature and peace, is a memorial to his interests and ideas. And so, the man is remembered and respected long after his death.根据短文内容，选择能回答所提问题的正确答案。

一. 阅读短文, 完成文后各题。

（ A ）Most cats like to catch mice and eat them. But this cat and this mouse got on well（相处得好）.I will tell you why they were friends.One day, the cat ran into a net (网) and could not get out of it. He bit（咬）with his teeth, but it was no use. Then the cat heard a little voice: “I will help you. But you must promise （答应）not to hurt me when you get out.” The cat looked round and saw a mouse. “Please help me,” said the cat. “I will not hurt you.”So the mouse bit at the net with her teeth and made a small hole, thenthe cat got out. “Thank you,” said the cat. “I will do you a good turn（回报你）one day.”Not long after this, the cat heard “Squeak（吱吱的叫声）! Squeak!”He looked about and saw the mouse in a corner. Her tail（尾巴）was ina trap（老鼠夹）and could not get out. The cat opened the trap and helpedthe mouse.After this, the cat and the mouse became good friends.1.Which of the following sentence is true?A.Every cat likes to catch and eat mice.B.No cat likes to catch and eat mice.C.Most cats like to catch and eat mice.D.Cat and mouse are always good friends.2.Who can make a hole on the net?A. The cat.B. The mouse.C. Both of them.D. No one.3. Which part of the mouse was in a trap?A. Her leg.B. Her tail.C. Her hand.D. Her nose.4. The cat and the mouse became good friends because __________.A. the cat didn’t like to eat mouseB. the mouse had helped the catC. they helped each other（彼此）D. the cat had helped the mouse( B )A little boy didn’t say a word until he was three years old. His mother tookhim to every doctor, but there was no use. He was healthy and bright , so thedoctors told his mother not to worry.One morning the boy suddenly knocked on the table and cried out, “These eggs are terrible!” The mother was very glad at hearing her son speak, and asked, “Why didn’t you say anything before?”“Well.” He answered, “up to now, the eggs have been very good.”1.Why didn’t th e little boy say a word?A.He didn’t want to say.B.He couldn’t say.C.He was ill.D.There was something wrong with his health.2.The little boy didn’t say a word before he was ___________years old.A. oneB. twoC. threeD. four3. What made the boy say his first word?A. An apple.B. A banana.C. An egg.D. A pear.4. The mother was very _________ after hearing her son speak.A. anxiousB. worriedC. angryD. glad5. The boy was ________ after seeing every doctor.A. illB. healthy and brightC. foolishD. surprising( C )One afternoon Mary and her little brother Tom were playinghide-and-seek（捉迷藏）in the street just outside the pose office. Maryhad closed her eyes when Tom found that the door of the letterbox hadbeen opened. The postman had just taken all the letters out and gone intothe post office. Tom climbed into the letterbox and closed the door fromthe outside. When he knew he couldn’t get out, he became very afraidand began to cry.At the same time, Mary was looking for him everywhere, but she couldn’t find him. Then she came back to the letterbox, and heard her brother crying in it. She ran to tell the postman.With the help of the postman, Tom got out of the letterbox. “Nexttime if you want to play hide-and-seek, don’t hide in the letterbox.”1.Mary and Tom were playing __________.A. near the post officeB. at homeC. in the courtD. at school2. When playing, Tom hid himself ___________.A. under a tableB. in a roomC. in a letterboxD. behind a tree3. Tom cried in the letterbox because ___________.A. he was missing his motherB. he was hungryC. his leg was hurtD. he couldn’t get out of it4. Who helped Tom get out of the letterbox?A. His mother.B. Mary.C. The postman.D. A neighbor.5. Why the door of the letterbox was opened when Tom found it?A. The postman forgot to lock it.b. It was often opened.C. Tom opened it.D. The postman had no time to lock.( D )The crow （乌鸦）is an ordinary（普通的）bird. It is about twenty inches（英寸）long and black all over. Crows are dirty birds because they live on old bad food. Crows eat a lot of waste food. In this way they are more useful to us than any birds. They clean upthe dirty things in our streets. Crows are always hungry. They look for foodall day long, and in the evening you can see them in large numbers flyingback to their nests（窝）in the trees. They sleep there at night.Crows are much noisier than other birds. Very often a large number ofcrows will get together on one house and talk. Sometimes they talk together, and sometimes they do it by turns like human beings（人类）. It is easy to tell from（区别）crows’ sounds whether they are pleased or angry. Perhaps crows talk a lot because they are friendly birds.A pair of crows will live together all their lives, and if one of them dies, the other one becomes very sad and quiet for the rest of its life and sometimes it dies, too.1. A crow is _________ inches long.A. more than tenB. thirtyC. tenD. less than twenty2. Why are crows dirty?A. They are black all over the body.B. They like to eat dirty food.C. They usually talk.D. They don’t have baths.3. Crows are usually _________.A. hungryB. pleasedC. sadD. kind4. Why are crows more useful to us than any birds?A. They are usually noisy.B. They are usually dirty.C. They are flying in large numbers.D. They eat a lot of waste food.5. You can tell from crows’ sounds _________.A. whether they are hungry or fullB. whether they are pleased or hungryC. whether they are ill or healthyD. whether they are living or dead.二．阅读短文，判断正误。

1．Honesty诚实A man went to an insurance office to have his life insured. The manager of the office asked him how old his parents were when they died.“Mother had a bad heart and died at the age of thirty. Father died of tuberculosis when he was thirty-five.”“I am very sorry,”said the manager,“we cannot insure your life as your parents were not healthy.”As the man was leaving the office, depressed, he met a clerk, who had overheard the conversation.“You must not be so frank and tell the truth,”said the clerk,“no office will insure you if you speak like that. Use your imagination a little.”The man went to another office and was shown into the manager's room.“Well, young man, how old were your parents when they died?”“Mother was ninety-three, and she died from a fall off her bicycle. Father was ninety-eight and he died while he was playing football.”判断正误，正确的写“T”，错误的写“F”。

初中英语趣味阅读理解题及答案完整版初中英语趣味阅读理解题及答案完整版初中英语趣味阅读理解题及答案1Ellen Parker was worried about her health. She could not walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stairs. She was soon out of breath.“I suppose I had better go to the doctor,” she thought.She went to the doctor and told him her problem.“I’m not surprised at all,” he said. “It’s obvious what your problem is.”He looked her over and then gave her some advice.“If you don’t do what I say, Mrs. Parker,” he said, “you will have a heart attack. It could kill you.”Ellen Parker was very worried as she left the doctor’s. She knew that she had to take his advice but that it would not be easy and it would take time. The next day she went shopping. The first shop she went into was a butcher’s shop.“I’d like ten pounds of steak, please,” she said.“Certainly, madam,” the butcher replied and went into the cold room and found a large piece of steak.He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and put it on the scale. “That’s just under ten pounds,” he said.“That big enough,” Mrs. Parker said.The butcher worked out the price.“At $ 4.99 a pound that will be $49.50, please. Would you like me to cut it up into smaller pieces f or you?”“Oh, I don’t want to buy the meat,” Mrs. Parker said.“If you don’t want to buy it,” the butcher replied angrily, “why did you ask me to get it for you?”“My doctor told me that I am over-weight and I have to lose ten pounds. I wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like.”1. Why did Ellen Parker visit the doctor?A. She had had a heart attack.B. She had a problem with her health.C. She was unhappy about her weight.D. She could not sleep well.2. What did the doctor advise her to do?A. To lose weight.B. To eat more meat.C. To come and see him again.D. To look after her heart.3. Why did Ellen Parker ask for ten pounds of steak?A. She wanted to buy some for dinner.B. She wanted to lose weight.C. Her doctor had told her to eat steak.D. She wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like.4. What was Ellen Parker's real problem?A. She ate too much steak.B. She weighed too much.C. The doctor did not know.D. She could not walk very quickly.5. What did the doctor think might happen to Ellen?A. She might put on more weight.B. She might stop eating too much.C. She might have a heart attack.D. She might go to another doctor.完整版初中英语趣味阅读理解题及答案2Several years ago, a television reporter was talking to three of the most important people in America. One was a very rich banker, another owned one of the largest companies in the world,and the third owned many buildings in the center of New York. The reporter was talking to them about being important.“How do we know if someone is really important?” the reporter asked the banker.The banker thought for a few moments and then said, “I think anybody who is invited to the White House to meet the President of the United States is rea lly important.”The reporter then turned to the owner of the very large company. “Do you agree with that?” she asked.The man shook his head, “No. I think the President invites a lot of people to the White House. You’d only be important if while you were visiting the President, there was a telephone call from the president of another country, and the President of the US said he was too busy to answer it.”The reporter turned to the third man. “Do you think so?”“No, I don’t.” he said. “I don’t think that ma kes the visitor important. That makes the President important.”“Then what would make the visitor important?” the reporter and the other two men asked. “Oh, I think if the visitor to the White House was talking to the President and the phone rang, and the President picked up the receiver, listened and then said, ‘it’s for you.’”1.This story happened in _______.A. EnglandB. AmericaC. JapanD. Australia2.There are _______ in this passage.A. two men and two womenB. three men and one womanC. three women and one manD. four women3.The banker thought _______.A. he was really important because he was a rich bankerB. the visitor to the White House was really importantC. the visitor who met the President of the United States in the White House was really important.D. the reporter was really important4.The owner of the very large company thought _______.A. she was really important because she owned one of the largest companiesB. the banker was really important.C. the owner of many buildings in the center of New York was really importantD. the visitor would be really important if while he was visiting the President, the President would not answer any telephone call5.The owner of many buildings thought _______.A. he was really important because he owned many buildings in the center of New YorkB. the owner of the very large company was really importantC. the visitor was really important if he talking to the President and the President received a telephone call for the visitorD. the person who worked in the White House was really important完整版初中英语趣味阅读理解题及答案3A farmer had a cow. He took very good care of this cow and one day when it was ill, he was very worried. He telephoned the vet. “What’s the problem?” The vet asked him when hearrived.“My cow’s ill,” the farmer said. “I don’t know what's the matter with her. She’s lying down and won’t eat. She’s making a strange noise.”The vet looked over the cow. "She’s certainly ill," he said, "and she needs to take some very strong medicine." He took a bottle out of his box, put two pills into his hand and said, "Give her these. The pills should make her better." “How should I give them to her?” the farmer asked.The vet gave him a tube and said, "Put this tube in her mouth, then put the pills in the tube and blow. That’ll make it."The next day the vet came to the farm again. The farmer was sitting outside his house and looked more worried. “How’s your cow?” the vet asked.“No change,” the farmer said, “and I’m feeling very strange myself.”“Oh?” the vet said, "Why?"“I did what you said,” the farmer answered. “I put the tube in the cow’s mouth and then put two pills down it.”“And?” the vet asked.“The cow blew first,” the farmer said.1. In the story, the vet must be _________.A. the farmer's friendB. a milk factoryC. a hospital for cowsD. a doctor for animals2.The farmer asked the vet for help when his cow _______A. couldn't lie downB. didn't eat the pillsC. couldn't make any noiseD. was ill3.What medicine did the vet give the farmer?A. Bottle of pills.B. A long tube.C. Two pills.D. A small box.4.The vet taught the farmer how _________.A. to blow the tubeB. to make the cow take the pillsC. to take the medicineD. to put the tube in his mouth5.Which of the following is true?A. The farmer ate the pills himself.B. The cow got better after taking the medicine.C. The vet came to help the farmer change the cow the next day.D. The farmer waited for the vet outside his house the next day.完整版初中英语趣味阅读理解题及答案4Henry was an office worker in a big city. He worked very hard and enjoyed traveling in his holidays. He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an advertisement in a newspaper. “Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at West Hill Farm. Good food. Fresh air. Horse riding. Walking. Fishing. Cheap and interesting.”“This sounds a good idea,” he thought. “I’ll spend a month at West Hill Farm. I think I can enjoy horse riding, walking and fishing. They’ll make a change from sitting by the seaside and swimming.” He wrote to the farmer. In t he letter he said that he would like to spend all of July there. Then on the first of July, he left for West Hill Farm. But four days later, he returned home.“What was wrong with West Hill Farm?” his best friend, Ed, asked him. “Didn’t you enjoy country life?”“Country life was very good,” Henry said. “But there was another problem.”“Oh. What?”“Well,” he said, “the first day I was there a sheep died, and we had roast mutton for dinner.”“What's wrong with that?” Ed asked. “Fresh meat is thebest.”“I kno w, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner.”“Lucky you!”“You don't understand,” Henry said. “On the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner.”“A different meat every day,” Ed said loudly, “ and you are complaining!”“Let me finish,” Henry said. “On the fourth day the farmer died, and I didn't dare to stay for dinner!”1.How did Henry find out about the farm?A. He saw it in a newspaper advertisement.B. His best friend told him.C. He wrote to the farmer.D. Maybe he learned it from the radio.2. Henry came back home several days later because ________.A. he didn't like the country life at allB. the farmer wasn’t friendly to himC. his holiday was overD. he thought he might have to eat the farmer3. “…and you are complaining!”, the word “complain” means ______.A.夸奖B.解释C.抱怨D.故弄玄虚4.Which of the following sentences is true?A. Ed could eat a different kind of meat every day.B. Henry thought he could enjoy a change.C. Henry couldn't think of anything else to do, so he went to the farm.D. The farmer died because of the bad meat he ate.5.Which is the best title for the passage?A. What a beautiful farm!B. Have a good time.C.A short holidayD. Henry and the farmer.。

Test 1A Robot with a Sense of HumorWanna hear a joke？This nifty little robot’s got a few—and it can tell if you’re interested. Recently the Japanese company Hitachi has invented a robot that has its own sense of humor and the ability to understand when someone else doesn’t share it.The red­and­white robot is known as EMIEW2.It stands at 80 centimeters—no taller than a small child—and is equipped with a pair of roller skates that allow it to quickly move around.The robot is programmed to recognize key words in a sentence，such as “how many”，in order to understand what sort of question it’s being asked.The little robot is further programmed to understand a wide range of human responses，such as shrugs or nods.It has the ability to carry on a short conversation with a human—without being given a script and it allows the robot to work out whether or not the person it’s talking to understands its joke.For example，the robot is asked how many people work at the Hitachi lab，and it answers，“We have two swans.” When its human conversation partner appears puzzled，the robot says，“You got it？I’m kidding.We have about 800 people working here.”“Maybe EMIEW2’s sense of humor needs a lot of work，” said Hitachi’s Hisashi Ikeda，“its ability to understand human reactions was an important step forward.”“The new technology makes it possible for a robot to understand what a human means，even if they gesture，”he said.EMIEW2 is short for Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as a Workmate.Hitachi hopes to have EMIEW2 provide company to people，serving as a house­pet or even a receptionist or caregiver.Notes：1．nifty [′nIftI]adj.俏皮的；漂亮的2．Hitachi日立，日本一家全球最大的综合跨国集团3．response [rI′spɒns]n．反应4．shrug [ʃrʌɡ]n．& v．耸肩5．script [skrIpt]n．剧本6．Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as a Workmate具有卓越的灵活性和交互性的工作伴侣7．receptionist [rI′sepʃənIst]n．接待员Have a Try：1．How does the robot move around?A．By a pair of roller skates.B．By its two legs.C．By human beings.D．By electricity.2．The robot can do the following things EXCEPT .A．having a talk with humansB．making gesturesC．telling jokesD．recognizing whether you understand its jokes3．We know from the reading that .A．the robot determines if you’ve got the “joke” it has just told by asking you questions B．the robot tells perfect jokesC．the robot can answer whatever questions you askD．the robot will be a perfect house or office helper in the futureTest 2Family MealsTeenagers who turn off the TV and sit down to family meals are less likely to have eating disorders，take drugs，drink or struggle at school.A study has connected eating together with lower rates of bulimia and anorexia.Kids who are used to eating round the table are less likely to take up smoking to lose weight.Besides，they are more likely to have meals on time.Researcher Barbara Fiese said，“In many people’s opinion，teenagers don’t want to be around their parents very much.Besides this，they are too busy with their studies and spend more time with their friends.”The study shows happy families have teenagers who eat with their parents often.These teens have less bad diet or dangerous eating habits.“For most parents，it is difficult to get their families together around the table seven days a week.But if they can have three family meals a week，it will be good for their children’s health，”she added.Professor Fiese has found that teens who eat at least five meals a week with their families are 35 percent less likely to be “disordered eaters”．Even three family meals a week helped，withyoungsters 12 percent less likely to be overweight than those who ate with their families less often.They were also 24 percent more likely to eat healthy foods and have healthy eating habits than those who didn’t share three meals with their families.Teens can also use family meals as a time to get their thoughts across.Professor Fiese said，“Family meals give them a place where they can go regularly to check in with their parents and express themselves freely.”Notes：1．eating disorders饮食失调症2．bulimia [bu′lImIə]n．暴食症3．anorexia [ˌænə′reksIə]n．厌食症Have a Try：1．Which of the following is NOT a reason why children don’t eat with their parents? A．They don’t want to be with their parents too often.B．They spend a lot of time with friends.C．They think their parents are too strict.D．They are too busy with their studies.2．What can we learn from the passage?A．It is hard for family members to sit together for meals often.B．It is good for family members to watch TV while having meals.C．Parents will have meals on time if they eat with their children.D．Teenagers who have meals with their parents are cleverer.3．In the article，the author intends to tell us .A．eating together as a family creates better eating habits later in lifeB．the more often teenagers have meals with their parents，the less likely they behave badly C．eating with parents is importantD．the more often teenagers eat with their families，the healthier they areTest 3I Listen to ColorI come from a place where the sky is always grey，where flowers are always grey，and wheretelevision is still in black and white.I actually come from a world where color doesn’t exist.I was born with achromatopsia.I was born completely color­blind.So I’ve never seen color，and don’t know what it looks like.But since the age of 21，I can hear color thanks to a magic electronic eye called “eyeborg”：a color sensor between my eyes connected to a chip installed at the back of my head that transforms color frequencies into sound frequencies that I hear through my bone.I’ve had the electronic eye permanently attached to my head and I’ve been listening to colors nonstop since 2004.So I find it completely normal now to hear colors all the time.Since I started to hear color，my life has changed dramatically.Art galleries have become concert halls.I can hear a Picasso.And supermarkets have become like night clubs.I love how they sound. My sense of beauty has changed.Someone might look very beautiful but sound terrible，and someone might sound very harmonious but look awful.So I find it reallyexciting to create sound portraits of people.Instead of drawing the shape of someone’s face I write down the different notes I hear when I look at them，and then I send them an mp3 of their face.Each face sounds different.I can even give face concerts now，concerts where I play the audience’s faces.The good thing about doing this is that if the concert doesn’t sound good，it’s their fault.I also found out that things I thought were colorless are not colorless at all.Cities are not grey.Lisbon is yellow turquoise；London is very golden red...and humans are not black and white.Human skins range from light shades of orange to very dark shades of orange.We are all orange.If we extend our senses，we will consequently extend our knowledge.Notes：1．permanently [′pз：mənəntlI]ad v.永久地2．turquoise [′tз：kwɒIz]adj.蓝绿色的；宝石绿的Sentence：If we extend our senses，we will consequently extend our knowledge.延伸感官，获得知识。

初中英语专项阅读—科普小品AWe know that many animals do not stay in one place. Birds, fish and other animals move from one place to another at a certain time. They move for different reasons: most of them move to find food more easily, but some move to get away from places that are too crowded.When cold weather comes, many birds move to warmer places to find food. Some fishes give birth in warm water and move to cold water to feed. The most famous migration is probably the migration of one kind of fish, which is called “salmon”. This fish is born in fresh water but it travels many miles to salt water. There it spends most of its life. When it is old, it returns to its birthplace in fresh water. Then it gives birth and dies there. In northern Europe, there is a kind of mouse. They leave their mountain home when it becomes too crowded. They move down to the low land. Sometimes they move all the way to the seaside, and many of them are killed when they fall into the sea.Recently, scientists have studied the migration of a kind of lobster(龙虾). Every year, when the season of the bad weather arrives, the lobsters get into a long line and start to walk across the bottom of the ocean. Nobody knows why they do this, and nobody knows where they go.So, sometimes we know why humans and animals m ove from one place to another, but at other times we don’t. Maybe living things just like to travel.Choose the best answer according to the passage.( )1. The main reason why animals move from one place to another is ________.A. to find food more easilyB. that they are afraid of humansC. that they feel too crowdedD. that they don’t like the same place( )2. The salmon is born in ________ and live in ________ most of the time.A. warm water; fresh waterB. cold water; salt waterC. fresh water; salt waterD. warm water; cold water( )3. The underlined word “migration” in the second paragraph means “______” in Chinese.A. 撤退B. 迁徙C. 活动D. 游动( )4. The lobsters usually move when ________.A. the place is crowdedB. winter comesC. the bad weather arrivesD. they give birth( )5. What’s the main idea of this passage?A. The migration of some animals.B. Why living things like to travel.C. Some interesting fishes.BWhat is life on Pluto(冥王星) like? Is it any different to life on the earth?If you lived on Pluto, you’d have to live 248 earth years to celebrate your first birthday in Pluto years. It takes Pluto much longer to make one lap (circle) around the sun. One Pluto year is the same as 248 earth years.If you weigh 45 kilograms on the earth, you would weigh only 3.6 kilograms on Pluto! Pluto is much smaller than the earth. Gravity(重力) on Pluto is only 8 percent of that on the earth.Remember to bring plenty of clothes if you visit the star. Pluto is cold. Because it is far away from the sun, the temperature on it is about 200 degrees centigrade below zero. It gets even colder as it moves farther from the sun in its orbit(轨道). From Pluto, the sun looks like a dot in the sky, and it is the brightest star you can see. The light from the sun is as bright on Pluto as the light from the full moon on the earth.Complete the table below according to the passage.A 1-5 ACBCAB 1. 248 2. 3.6 kg 3. 100% 4. 200℃below zero5. The light from the sun is as bright on Pluto as the light from the full moon on the earth.CBananas don’t grow on trees. They grow on a thick stalk(茎) that looks just a little like a stalk of corn. The stalk is soft enough to be cut with a knife.It takes about a year before bananas are ready to be picked. Some are as small as fingers. Others are as long and thick as men’s arms. Some banana plants grow as tall as a house — even taller!Not all bananas are eaten as fruit. Some never get sweet, and they are cooked as a kind of vegetable.People in most countries never see a banana until it reaches the store. But if you visited a country where it’s hot and rains a lot all the year, you might see a banana plantation(种植园), a large farm where bananas grow.The tasty fruit doesn’t come from a seed but from a root planted deep in the ground. First a stalk pushes up into the air. Then leaves appear. In the beginning the banana plant grows very fast—sometimes as much as the length of your feet in one night. Soon, sweet-smelling flowers appear, and when their flowers drop off, bananas begin to grow.As they get bigger, bananas start turning up. It looks as if they’re grow ing upside down!Bananas are ready to eat when they turn soft and yellow. But they’re picked long before this —when they’re hard and bright green. This is because bananas have to travel many miles before they arrive at a store. On trucks and boats and trains bananas travel all over the world. There are special boats just for bananas and special trains that keep them just cool enough so that they will get ripe while traveling. If bananas are picked when they are ripe, they will spoil(变坏) on the way.Complete the following sentences according to the passage.1. Bananas grow ________ instead of ________.2. You’d better ________ the bananas until they grow for ________.3. Some bananas can ________ a kind of vegetable and some can ________.4. We might visit a banana plantation in a place ________.5. Bananas are usually picked long before they _________.DAre you bored with learning about insects in books? Why not find a few and take a close look by yourself? It’s easy. Insects are everywhere: not just at home or around lights at night, but also in flowers and vegetable gardens, near lakes, parks and in forests.To have fun watching insects, you need:Start by reading books about the insects you’re after. Where can you 1 them? Do they live beside a lake or in trees? When you go out to watch insects, bring along an insect guide 2 pictures with you. A good choice would be “Souvenirs Entomologiques(《昆虫记》)”by Jean Henri Fabre.Dress properly because some insects bite! Don’t 3 trousers and shirts with long sleeves(袖子). Bring a first-aid box.Once you’re ready, an early morning and a nearby park would be a good 4 to start.Insects like to hide in 5 and humid places. Try moving stones and checking flowers, leaves and the soil. Collect insects 6 using a piece of card to pick them up. You may use a magnifier(放大镜) to 7 what insects do. Or, you can put them on a piece of clean paper to look 8 at them. How many legs do they have? What color are they?You also can swing(晃动) your net across the top of the grass. You’ll 9 small bugs (insects) at the end of your net. To catch a bigger bug, 10 the net over the insects and down to the ground. Then raise the end of it 11 the insect can fly to the closed top. Put your bug into a clear bottle, then you can 12 watching it with the magnifier.If you can’t find bugs, try to lure(引诱) them! Place a small jar into the ground so the mouth is even(平的) with the ground. Put a small piece of meat into the jar at the end of the day and check your jar 13 —many insects are active at night. Put new things into the jar every few days and empty it if it 14 .After watching, remember to put insects back 15 you found them.Watch bees only from a distance. They are good insects, but you must be careful not to get stung(螫).Choose the best word or phrase to complete the passage.( )1. A. find B. inventC. discoverD. search( )2. A. for B. by C. of D. with( )3. A. take B. forget C. wear D. bring( )4. A. time or place B. place or timeC. time and placeD. place and time( )5. A. hot B. cool C. warm D. cold( )6. A. at B. for C. though D. by( )7. A. watch B. look forC. readD. see( )8. A. easily B. happilyC. closelyD. comfortably( )9. A. notice B. hurt C. catch D. feel( )10. A. bring B. take off C. make D. sign( )11. A. that B. so that C. so as to D. when ( )12. A. practice B. finish C. keep on D. enjoy ( )13. A. during the day B. at nightC. in the morningD. in the afternoon ( )14. A. rains B. will rainC. rainedD. has rained ( )15. A. when B. where C. how D. thatKey:C 1. on thick stalks, growing on trees2. not pick, about a year3. be cooked as, be eaten as fruit4. where it’s hot and rains a lot all the year5. turn soft and yellow / are ripeD 1-5 ADBCB 6-10 DACCA 11-15 BDCAB。

初中英语趣味短文阅读Before the final examination, Tom told his mother, "Mom, I had a dreamlast night that I'd passed today's exam.""Don't trust dreams, dear. It is said what you experience in dreams usually turns out to be the opposite." Mother replied."Then I do hope I'll fail the other subjects in my dream tonight," Tom said.在期末考试之前，汤姆告诉他的母亲：“妈妈，我昨天晚上做了一个梦，梦见我通过了今天的考试。

”“不要相信梦，亲爱的。

据说梦中的经历通常与现实相反。

”妈妈答道。

“那么，我真希望在今晚的梦中，我的其他功课都不及格。

”汤姆说。

A Sunday school teacher was telling her pupils the importance of making others glad. Now, children, said she, has anyone of you ever made someone else glad?Please, teacher, said a small boy, I've made someone glad yesterday.Well done. Who was that?My granny.Good boy. Now tell us how you made your grand mother glad.Please, teacher, I went to see her yesterday, and stayed with her three hours. Then I said to her, ‘Granny, I'm going home,’ and she said, ‘Well,I'm glad’!一个主日学校的老师正在对学生讲使别人高兴的重要性。

英语趣味阅读100篇1Ali, who was working a long way from home, wanted to send a letter to his wife, but he could neither read nor write, and he had to workall day, so he could only look for somebody to write his letter lateat night. At last he found the house of a letter-writer whose name was Nasreddin.Nasreddin was already in bed. "It is late," he said. "What do you want?" "I want you to write a letter to my wife," said Ali. Nasreddinwas not pleased. He thought for a few seconds and then said, "Has the letter got to go far?""What does that matter?" answered Ali."Well, my writing is so strange that only I can read it, and if Ihave to travel a long way to read your letter to your wife, it willcost you a lot of money."Ali went away quickly.2An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course, when that happened, all his friends lefthim. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Nasreddin, who was a kind, clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles."My money has finished and my friends have gone," said the young man. "What will happen to me now?""Don't worry, young man," answered Nasreddin. "Everything will soon be all right again. Wait, and you will soon feel much happier."The young man was very glad. "Am I going to get rich again then?" he asked Nasreddin."No, I didn't mean that," said the old man. "I meant that youwould soon get used to being poor and to having no friends."3When Mr Jones went to restaurant one day, he left his coat nearthe door. There was nothing in the pockets of the coat when he left it,so he was very surprised when he took his coat after his meal and found the pockets full of jewelry!There was a waiter near the door, so Mr. Jones said to him, "Somebody has made a mistake. He has put some jewelry in my coat. Take it, and when he comes back, give it to him." The waiter took itand went away. Suddenly another man came in with a coat just like Mr. Jones's. "I am sorry," said this man. "I make a mistake. I took yourcoat and you have got mine. Please give me my coat and jewelry." Mr.Jones answered, "I gave the jewelry to the waiter. He will give it to you."Mr. Jones called the manager of the restaurant; but the manager said, "We have no waiters here. We only have waitresses." "You gave the jewelry to a thief!" shouted the other man. "I shall call thepolice!" Mr. Jones was frightened and paid the man a lot of money for the jewelry.4A man was travelling abroad in a small red car. One day he leftthe car and went shopping. When he came back, its roof was badly damaged.Some boys told him that an elephant had damaged it. The man did not believe them, but they took him to circus which was near there. The owner of the elephant said, "I am very sorry! My elephant has a big,round, red chair. He thought that your car was his chair, and hesat on it!" Then he gave the man a letter, in which he said that hewas sorry and that he would pay for all the damage.When the man got back to his own country, the customs officers would not believe his story. They said, "You sold your new car while you were abroad and bought this old one!"It was only when man showed them the letter from the circus man that they believed him.5Nasreddin was cutting a branch off a tree in his garden. While he was sawing, another man passed in the street. He stopped and said, "Excuse me, but if you continue to saw that branch like that, you willfall down with it." He said this because Nasreddin was sitting on the branch and cutting it at a place between himself and the trunk of the tree.Nasreddin said nothing. He thought, "This is some foolish person who has no work to do and goes about telling other people what to do and what not to do."The man continued on his way.Of course, after a few minutes, the branch fell and Nasreddinfell with it."My God!" he cried. "That man knows the future!" and he ran after him to ask how long he was going to live. But the man had gone.6It was half-past eight in the morning. The telephone bell rang and Mary went to answer it."Hullo, who's that?" she asked."It's me, Peter."Peter was a friend of Mary's eight-year-old brother, Johnny."Oh, hullo, Peter. What do you want?" said Mary."Can I speak to Johnny?""No," said Mary, "you can't speak to him now. He is busy. He is getting ready for school. He is eating his breakfast. Grandmother is combing his hair. Sister is under the table, putting his shoes on.Mother is getting his books and putting them in his school bag. Goodbye,I've got to go now. I have to hold the door open. The school bus is coming."7Two rich ladies were sharing a taxi and talking about the high costof going anywhere by taxi.One of the ladies said, "Taxis are terribly expensive these days.The owners get a lot of money for nothing.""Yes," said the other lady, "and the drivers get such big tips thatthey soon become rich. They ought to be ashamed of themselves."One of the ladies was smoking a cigarette. After a minute or twoshe said to the other lady, "Can you see an ashtray in this taxi? Thereisn't one on my side."The driver, who had heard everything the ladies had said, answered, "Oh, just drop the ashes on the carpet─I have a servant who comes inand cleans three days in the week!"8Nasreddin put two big baskets of grapes on his donkey and went to market. At midday it was very hot, so he stopped in the shade of a big tree. There were several other men there, and all of them had donkeysand baskets of grapes too. After their lunch they went to sleep. Aftersome time, Nasreddin began to take grapes out of the other men'sbaskets and to put them in his.Suddenly one of the men woke up and saw him. "What are you doing?" he said angrily."Oh," said Nasreddin, "don't worry about me. I am half mad, and Ido a lot of strange things.""Oh, really?" said the other man. "Then why don't you sometimes take grapes out of your baskets and put them in somebody else's baskets?""You did not understand me," said Nasreddin. "I said that I was half mad, not quite mad."9There was a big garden near Nasreddin's house, and it had a lot offruit trees in it. One day Nasreddin saw some beautiful apples on one of them. He went home and got a ladder, put it against the high wall of thegarden and climbed up. Then he pulled the ladder up, put it down on the other side, and climbed down into the garden. Just then a gardener came round a corner and saw him."What are you doing here?" he shouted.Nasreddin thought quickly and then said, "I am selling my ladder.""Selling your ladder? In somebody else's garden? Do you think I believe such a stupid story?" said the gardener and came towards Nasreddin with a stick."It is my ladder," said Nasreddin, "and I can sell it where I like.You needn't buy it if you don't want to." And he took his ladder and climbed over the wall again.10Nasreddin woke up in the middle of the night and saw something white in his garden. It seemed to be moving towards the house."That is a thief!" he thought, and he took his gun and shot at him. Then he went back to bed, because he was too frightened to go out of the house in the dark.The next morning Nasreddin went out and saw one of his white shirts hanging on the clothes-line in the garden. His wife had washed it theday before and hung it out to dry. Now it had a bullet-hole rightthrough the middle of it."My God," said Nasreddin, "I was lucky last night. If I had been wearing that shirt, the bullet would have killed me!" And he calledhis neighbours together and asked them to thank God for saving him.11A judge was working in his room one day when a neighbour ran in and said, "If one man's cow kills another's, is the owner of the first cow responsible?""It depends," answered the judge."Well," said the man. "your cow has killed mine.""Oh," answered the judge. "Everyone knows that a cow cannot think like a man, so a cow is not responsible, and that means that its owneris not responsible either.""I am sorry, Judge," said the man. "I made a mistake. I meant thatmy cow killed yours."The judge thought for a few seconds and then said, "When I think about it more carefully, this case is not as easy as I thought atfirst." And then he turned to his clerk and said, "Please bring me thatbig black book from the shelf behind you."12When Nasreddin was a boy, he never did what he was told, so hisfather always told him to do the opposite of what he wanted him to do.One day, when the two were bringing sacks of flour home on their donkeys, they had to cross a shallow river. When they were in the middle of it, one of the sacks on Nasreddin's donkey began to slip, so hisfather said, "That sack is nearly in the water! Press down hard on it!"His father of course expected that he would do the opposite, butthis time Nasreddin did what his father had told him to do. He pressed down on the sack and it went under the water. Of course, the flour was lost."What have you done, Nasreddin?" his father shouted angrily."Well, Father", said Nasreddin, "this time I thought that I woulddo just what you told me, to show you how stupid your orders always are."13Nasreddin had lost his donkey. He was going about looking for it everywhere, and while he was looking, he was singing gaily.One of his neighbours saw him and said, "Hullo, Nasreddin. What are you dong?"I am looking for my donkey," answered Nasreddin."Don't you know where it is?" asked the neighbour."No, I don't.""Then why are you singing so gaily? Usually when somebody loses something, he is sad.""Yes, that is quite true," answered Nasreddin. "But you see, I amnot yet sure that my donkey is lost. My last hope is that it is behindthat hill over there. If you wait a little, you will hear how I willcry and complain if it is not there!"14One winter Nasreddin had very little money. His crops had been very bad that year, and he had to live very cheaply. He gave his donkey less food, and when after two days the donkey looked just the same, he saidto himself, "The donkey was used to eating a lot. Now he is quickly getting used to eating less; and soon he will get used to living onalmost nothing."Each day Nasreddin gave the donkey a little less food, until itwas hardly eating anything.Then one day, when the donkey was going to market with a load of wood on its back, it suddenly died. "How unlucky I am," said Nasreddin. "Just when my donkey had got used to eating hardly anything, it came to the end of its days in this world."15Nasreddin's wife was very ill, and at last she died. After a few months, Nasreddin married again. His new wife was a widow.Exactly seven days after he married her, she had a baby.Nasreddin at once hurried away to the market and bought some paper, some pencils, some pens and some children's books. Then he hurried back home again with these things and put them beside the baby. His new wife was surprised. "What are you doing?" she said. "The baby won't be ableto use those things for a long time. Why are you in such a hurry?"Nasreddin answered, "You are quite wrong, my dear. Our baby is not an ordinary baby. It came in seven days instead of nine months, so itwill certainly be ready to learn to read and write in a few weeks from now".16One of Nasreddin's neighbours had been abroad for many years, and during that time he had travelled in many strange places. When he came back home after many years, his old friends and neighbours listened tothe old man's stories about foreign countries and strange people, and found them very interesting."Do you know," the old man said, "in one country which I visited where the climate is very hot all the year, nobody wears any clothesat all!"Nasreddin loved a joke, so he said at once, "Oh, is that so? Thenhow do you know whether somebody is a man or a woman in the country?"17Some of Nasreddin's old friends were talking about the young people in their town. They all agreed that old people were wiser than young people. Then one of the old men said, "But young men are stronger than old men."All of them agreed that this was true, except Nasreddin. He said, "No. I am as strong now as when I was a young man.""What do you mean?" said his friends. "How is that possible? Explain yourself!""Well," said Nasreddin, "in one corner of my field there is a rock. When I was a young man I used to try to move it, but I couldn't becauseI was not strong enough. I am an old man now, and when I try to move it, I still cannot."18One day a beautiful young lady went to a famous artist and said,"I want you to paint a picture of me. How much will it cost?""Five hundred pounds," said the artist."Oh?" said the lady. "That is a lot of money." Then she thoughtthat, as she had a very beautiful body, the artist might be happy topaint her picture more cheaply if she wore no clothes while he was painting it. So she said, "And how much will it cost if you paint me without any clothes on?"The artist thought for a moment. "One thousand pounds," he then said. "But I shall have to keep my socks on, because my feet get cold;and I shall have to wear something to put my brushes in."19Henry and Mary had just got married, and everybody was enjoying their wedding party. There was plenty to eat and plenty to drink, and everybody was getting very merry, when a very thin, very young man came into the room. He looked at Mary sadly and accusingly, walked slowly towards her, kissed her lovingly and said, "Why did you do it?"Then he walked to the door and disappeared.Nobody had ever seen the young man before-not even Mary.20The Second World War had begun, and John wanted to join the army, but he was only 16 years old, and boys were allowed to join only if they were over 18. So when the army doctor examined him, he said that hewas 18.But John's brother had joined the army a few days before, and the same doctor had examined him too. This doctor remembered the older boy's family name, so when he saw John's papers he was surprised."How old are you?" he said."Eighteen, sir," said John."But your brother was eighteen, too," said the doctor. "Are you twins?""Oh, no, sir," said John, and his face went red. "My brother is five months older than I am."21One day a big ship hit a smaller ship while they were both goingfrom England to America. The smaller ship was badly damaged, and hadto be taken back to England, where a judge had to decide who was to blame for the accident.Several of the people who had seen the big ship hit the smallerone said that, a few seconds before the accident, the big ship hadsent a signal to the smaller one. The judge was puzzled b y this, sohe said, "Who sent this signal?"A young signalman came forward and said, I did, sir.""Oh?" said the judge. "And what signal did you send to the other ship?"The young signalman's face went red as he answered, "Good luck on your voyage."22Mr. Jones was very fond of climbing mountains, so one year he went to Switzerland for his holidays. After he had climbed some easy mountains, he decided one day to climb a more difficult one; but he did not want to go up it alone, so he found a good Swiss guide, who hadoften climbed that mountain.At first it was not a difficult climb, but then they came to a place which was not so easy. The guide stopped, turned round and warned Mr. Jones. "Be careful here," he said. "This is a dangerous place. You can easily fall, and if you do, you will fall straight down a very longway. But," he continued calmly, "if you do fall here, don't forget tolook to the right while you are going down. There is a quite extraordinarily beautiful view there─much more beautiful than theone you can see from here."23A young father was visiting an older neighbour. They were standing in the older man's garden and talking about children. The young man said, "How strict should parents be with their children?"The older man pointed to a string between a big strong tree anda thin, young one."Please untie that string," he said. The young man untied it, andthe young tree bent over to one side."Now tie it again, please," said the older man. "But first pull the string tight so that the young tree is straight again."The young man did this. Then the older man said, "There. It is the same with children. You must be strict with them, but sometimes you must untie the string to see how they are getting on. If they are notyet able to stand alone, you must tie the string tight again. But whenyou find that they are ready to stand alone, you can take the string away."24Mrs Smith was looking out of her window, when she saw a truck and a big car hit each other. She ran out to help. There was only one manin the truck and one woman in the car, and neither of them was hurt,but the car was damaged.The lady looked very white and her hands were shaking, so Mrs Smith invited her into her house and gave her some tea. She was a pleasant woman of about 50 years old. She drank the tea and soon looked much better. Then she said to Mrs Smith, "Have you got a telephone, please?I would like to telephone my husband. We have a kind of custom─whenever I have an accident with the car, I telephone him."25The zoo had big baskets for rubbish, where people who bought ice- creams and other things could throw the papers from them. One Saturday afternoon Mr Brown was walking near the cages where the lions andtigers were kept. Usually there were a lot of people round these cageson a Saturday afternoon, but that day there was nobody there. Mr Brown was surprised. But he was even more surprised when he saw a crowd around the rubbish basket near the lions' cage.He went towards the crowd. Most of them were children. He looked over their heads and saw─a little mouse, which was running aboutamong the pieces of paper in the basket and looking for bits of food.It was only a few centimetres from the children, but it was notafraid─and the children were more interested in this small, common mouse than in the lions and tigers.26One day a lady saw a mouse running across her kitchen floor. Shewas very afraid of mice, so she ran out of the house, got in a bus andwent down to the shops. There she bought a mouse-trap. The shopkeeper said to her, "Put some cheese in it, and you will soon catch that mouse."The lady went home with her mouse-trap, but when she looked in her cupboard, she could not find any cheese in it. She did not want to goback to the shops, because it was very late, so she cut a picture ofsome cheese out of a magazine and put that in the trap.Surprisingly, the picture of the cheese was quite successful! Whenthe lady came down to the kitchen the next morning, there was a pictureof a mouse in the trap beside the picture of the cheese!27When Nasreddin's first wife died, he married again. His second wife was much younger than he was and they often quarrelled. One evening when Nasreddin came home very late, his wife said to him, "I cooked your dinner two house ago. It is quite spoiled now." She was so angry thatshe gave him a push, and as she was strong, and he was old and weak, he fell down the stairs.One of Nasreddin's neighbours, who was always eager to know what was happening in everybody else's house, was listening, and when she heard the noise that Nasreddin made when he fell down the stairs, she came to his front door and knocked."What has happened?" she said."My coat fell down the stairs," he answered."But a coat would not make so much noise!" the neighbour said."Of course it would," answered Nasreddin, "if I was inside it!"28One of Nasreddin's rich neighbours gave a big party one evening,but he forgot to invite him. Nasreddin waited and waited, but no invitation came, so at last, when the party had already begun, he tooka piece of paper, folded it, put it in an envelope and took it to his neighbour's house."I have a very important letter for the host," he said to theservants at the door. The servants took him into the big room where everybody was eating, Nasreddin gave the letter to his rich neighbourand at once sat down and began to fill his mouth with food.The host looked at the envelope, but there was nothing on it, sohe said, "Are you sure that this letter is for me? There is no addresson it.""Oh, yes," said Nasreddin, "and there is no writing inside iteither─because it was prepared in a hurry."29One evening there was a big dance at the hotel in our town. One of the guests at the dance was a man of about forty who thought he was so handsome that every girl who saw him would fall in love with him. Atthe beginning of one of the dances, he saw a pretty young woman who was standing beside an older lady at the edge of the dance-floor. He wentup to the girl and asked her to dance. She had seen him dancing before,so she knew that he was a good dancer, and as she too liked dancing,she accepted.After they had danced several dances together, the man led her into the garden and said, "Do you tell your mother everything that you do?""Of course not," she answered sweetly. "She does not mind what Ido now. But my husband always wants to know!"30John liked to wear his hair very long. Some of his friends thought thatit looked like a girl's hair, but they never made jokes about it,because John was a big, strong young man and he did not think jokes about his hair funny.John always went to the barber's twice a month to have his haircut and washed, and one day the barber said to him, "Now why don't you let me cut most of this hair off and make your head tidy? Nobody would recognize you if I did that, I am sure."John said nothing for a few seconds, and then he said, "Perhaps you are right─but I am sure that nobody would recognize you either if you did that to my hair."31On Saturday mornings our cinema shows films for children. One such morning an old man took his grandchildren to the cinema. At the door there was a list of the prices of tickets, but he could not see anyprice for tickets for adults for Saturday mornings. The only pricewhich was shown for that time was for children's tickets, so he asked the lady who was selling the tickets how much it was for adults."Adults!" she said. "No, we don't have prices for tickets for adultsfor our Saturday morning films. Any adult who is brave enough to go in there to see films like that─and with all those children─can go infree!"32A small talking dog was a big success when it came to our theatre.It told jokes, sang songs and did a lot of other funny things on the stage.But while it was singing one of its songs, a bigger dog came intothe theatre, stopped, listened for a few moments and then ran up and jumped on to the stage. The small talking dog tried to get away, butthe bigger dog caught it by the skin of its neck and carried it offthe stage. Just as the two animals were disappearing behind the curtainsat the side of the stage, the small talking dog said, "I am sorry about this, everybody! This is my mother. She doesn't want me to be an actor. She wants me to become a doctor."33Mrs Robinson always seemed to be ill and unhappy. She often had painful headaches, and medicines did not seem to make her any better,so at last her husband took her to a good doctor.The doctor examined her carefully and asked her a lot of questions. Then he suddenly put his arms around her and gave her a big kiss. Mrs Robinson at once looked better and happier."You see?" said the doctor to her husband. "That is all she needs.I suggest that she has the same thing every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday," and he smiled."Well," said Mr Robinson, "I can bring her on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but not on Saturdays, because I always go sailing on that day."34A pretty, well-dressed young lady stopped a taxi in a big square,and said to the driver, "Do you see that young man at the other side ofthis square?""Yes," said the taxi-driver. The young man was standing outside a restaurant and looking impatiently at his watch every few seconds."Take me over there," said the young lady.There were a lot of cars and buses and trucks in the square, sothe taxi-driver asked, "Are you afraid to cross the street?""Oh, no!" said the young lady. "But I am three-quarters of an hour late. I said that I would meet that young man for lunch at one o'clock,and it is now a quarter to two. If I arrive in a taxi, it will at leastseem as if I have tried not to be too late."35Mr Robinson worked in an office. Every morning he had breakfast with his wife at half-past seven, read his newspaper, drank a cup ofcoffee and then left his house at 8 o'clock to go to catch his trainto town.One morning he was still sitting comfortably at the breakfast tableand reading his newspaper at five minutes past eight. He did not seemto be in a hurry and asked his wife for another cup of coffee."Another cup?" she asked. "But aren't you going to the office today? Have you got a holiday?""The office?" he said and looked up from his newspaper very surprised. "I thought that I was at the office!"36Mr Black gave his wife money every Friday evening, but she always spent it before the next Wednesday, so that for the next three days shehad none.Every Tuesday evening Mr Black asked her, "But what did you spend all that money on?" and she always answered, "I don't know."One Friday Mr Black brought home an exercise book and a pencil and gave them to his wife with her money. "Now look!" he said to her. "When you get money from me, write it down on this page, and on the opposite page write down what happens to the money."When Mr Black came home the next Tuesday, his wife came to him and showed him the book. "I have done what you told me," she said happily.On one page she had written "Friday, 28th June. I got ￡18 from John"; and on the opposite page, "Tuesday, 2nd July. I have spent it all."37A letter to a magazine:"Dear Sirs,。