短文三則

姜經志

A

These days many people start their day by going into the bathroom to wash. They turn on a faucet and hot water runs into the sink. They pick up a bar of soap and wash their hands and face. They take a towel to dry themselves. Then they put toothpaste on their toothbrush in order to brush their teeth. Not so long ago， however， many homes did not have bathrooms at all. Soap was something that only rich families could afford， and people did not think it was necessary to brush their teeth.

Today we think it is important to be clean， but there was a long period of history when almost no one took a bath or shower. Queen Isabella of Spain （1451—1504） took only two baths in her life， one on the day she was born and the other on the day she was married. Queen Elizabeth I of England （1533 — 1603）is said to have taken only one bath in her whole life. There was no bath cub in the White House until 1831 and no bathroom in Buckingham Palace until after 1837. There were even some religious groups who thought that taking a bath was a crime against God.

However， wearing perfume to smell nice has always been popular， ever since the time of the ancient Egyptian five thousand years ago. Of course， if you think about how often people washed， you will realize why perfume was so necessary.

1. In usual bathroom today， youll find a lot of things for cleaning except ____.

A. a bar of soap B. toothpaste

C. a towel D. perfume

2.Which of the statements is NOT the reason for no bathing in the old times？

A. It was a crime against God.

B. People did not think it was necessary.

C. Many homes did not have bathrooms at all.

D. Queens almost never had a bath.

3. What does the word “perfume” mean in the last paragraph？

A. 香水 B. 香皂

C. 驅蚊劑 D. 防曬霜

4. According to the passage， why was perfume popular a long time ago？

A. Because it smelled nice.

B. Because soap was really expensive.

C. Because people seldom washed.

D. Because it made people feel relaxed.

5. What does the writer mainly want to tell us in this passage？

A. Queen Isabella of Spain took only two baths in her life.

B. It is very common for us to be clean nowadays， but that was totally different for people in the old times.

C. Perfume has always been popular.

D. There was no bath cub in history.

B

Al was a potter（制陶工）. He had a wife and two fine sons. One night， his elder son got a stomachache. At first， Al and his wife thought the boy just got a bad cold， so they didnt take it seriously. But it was not a cold. It was terrible appendicitis（闌尾炎）， and the boy died suddenly that night. Knowing the death could not happen if he had taken the illness seriously， Al was very sad and was full of guilt. Then his wife couldnt stand the thing so she left him alone with his six-year-old younger son.

Al lost his two favorite people. He felt no hope in the world and turned toalcohol. Then Al became an alcoholic. As he drank more， Al began to lose everything he had — his home， his land and his work. Finally Al died alone in a San Francisco room.

When I heard of Als death， I thought he was a loser and he wasted his life. As time went by， I began to know what I once thought was wrong.

I knew Als little son， Ernie. He is one of the kindest， most caring， most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere. I never heard Ernie talk much about his father.

One day I asked him， “Im really puzzled by something. I know your father was the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do to make you become such a special person？” Ernie sat quietly and smiled for a few moments. Then he said， “When I was a child， Al came into my room every night， gave me a kiss and said， ‘I love you， Son.”

Tears came to my eyes. Al had not left his money behind， but he had been a kind loving father， and he left behind a legacy of love.

1. Which statement below is true？

A. Als elder son died because of a serious cold.

B. The writer didnt now why Ernie could get on well with his son at first.

C. At last the writer thought Al was a loser.

D. The writer was very surprised after hearing what Ernie said.

2. From the passage， we know the best legacy is ____.

A. peoples love B. a lot of money

C. nothing D. health

3. Whats the meaning of the underlined word “alcohol”？

A. 煙 B. 毒品 C. 大麻 D. 酒

4. Why was the writer puzzled？

A. Because the writer thought Ernie had a good father.

B. Because the writer thought Ernie was a bad father.

C. Because the writer thought Ernie had a bad father.

D. Because the writer thought Ernie loved his son.

5.What makes Ernie become such a special person？

A. His mother. B. His son.

C. His father. D. His wife.

C

The world is not only hungry， but it is also thirsty for water. This may seem strange to you， since nearly 70% of the earths surface is covered with water. But about 97% of that is sea water， or salt water. Man can only use the other 3% — the fresh water from rivers， lakes， and other sources. And we cant even use all of that， because some of it is in the form of icebergs and glaciers. Even worse， some of it has been dirty.

However， as things stand today， the fresh water is still enough for us. But our need for water is becoming larger and larger quickly —almost day by day. We should take steps to do with this problem now and in this way we can get away from a serious world-wide water shortage later on.

We all have to learn how to stop wasting our valuable water. One of the first steps is to develop ways of reusing it. Today in most large cities， water is used only once and then sent out into a sewer system （下水道）. From there it returns to sea or runs into underground places.

But even if every large city reused its water， we still would not have enough. All wed have to do to make use of sea water in the world is to remove the salt.

1. The world is thirsty for water because ____.

A. man has not got enough food to eat

B. we havent got enough fresh water

C. only 70% of the earths surface is covered with water

D. more water is sent into the sewer system

2. The underlined word “valuable” means ____.

A. much and salty B. fresh and enough

C. dear and useful D. clean and helpful

3. What can we do if we want to have enough fresh water？

（a） Make full use of the sea water.

（b） Carry salt water into lakes or rivers.

（c） Try to save the fresh water as much as possible.

（d） Do our best to use the water again.

（e）Drink and use all the water on the earths surface.

A. （c） and （e）

B. （a） and（b）

C. （a）， （c ） and （d）

D. （b）， （d） and（e）

4. The best but the most difficult way to solve the water problem of the world is to ____.

A. remove the salt from the sea water

B. make the water in cities clean

C. take the water from underground

D. make the need for water smaller

5. What is the best title for this passage？

A. The Importance of Water

B. The Worlds Water Problem

C. The Thirsty World

D. Fresh Water and Sea Water

參考答案：

A：1—5 DDACB B：1—5 BADCC

C：1—5 BCCAB