Early one morning,more than a hundred years ago,an American inventor called Elia

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Early one morning,more than a hundred years ago,an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep.He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.
Though he was tired,Howe slept badly.He turned and turned.Then he had a dream.He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine.When he tried to do so,Howe ran into the same problem as before.The thread kept getting caught around the needle.The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe.They came up towards him with their spears raised.But suddenly the inventor noticed something.There was a hole in the tip of each spear.The inventor awoke from the dream,realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem.Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle,he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle.This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practical sewing machine.
Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.Thomas Edison,the inventor of the electric light,said his best ideas came into him in dreams.So did the great physicist Albert Einstein.Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.
To know the value of dreams,you have to understand what happens when you are asleep.Even then,a part of your mind is still working.This unconscious(无意识的),but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day.It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed.It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake.However,the unconscious part acts in a special way.It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first.This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves ”.
小题1:According to the passage,Elias Howe was_________.

A．the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleep

B．much more hard-working than other inventors

C．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked

D．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams

小题2:The problem Howe was trying to solve was_________.

A．what kind of thread to use

B．how to design a needle which would not break

C．where to put the needle

D．how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle

小题3:Thomas Edison is spoken of because_________.

A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine

B．he got some of his ideas from dreams

C．he was one of Howe"s best friends

D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep

小题4:Dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves” because _________.

A．strange images are used to communicate ideas

B．images which have no meaning are used

C．we can never understand the real meaning

D．only specially trained people can understand them

答案

小题1:C
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:A

解析

小题1:从第二段最后一句话可得知正确答案为C。A、D与原文不符，B项没提及。
小题2:细节题。从第一段最后一句可知D为正确答案。
小题3:A、C、D三项与原文不符，故可用排除法排除。用爱迪生的例子来说明Howe不是惟一一个做梦突发灵感的人。
小题4:B、C两项本身不正确，D与原文不符，故都可排除，选A项。

举一反三

It was four o"clock when we left Micatlan,and we traveled quickly until it became almost completely dark.It was our intention to return to our general quarters in Atlacomulco that night.We had a long journey ahead of us,especially because it had been decided there was no way we would try to cross the ravines again at night,since they were considered far too dangerous.Futhermore,an eclipse of the moon was expected,and,in fact,while we were crossing an open field,the moon appeared on the horizon,half in shadow,a rare and beautiful sight.
After a few hours of riding,we suddenly realized that we had lost our way,and worse still,had no way of finding it again.Night had fallen and there was not a single hut in sight,only great plains and mountains and the lowing of distant bulls all around us.We continued on ahead,trusting in luck,though it was difficult to say where she had brought us.By good fortune,our advance riders ran into two Indians,a man and a boy,who agreed to guide us their village and no further.
After an interminable and exhausting road,which we traveled at a brisk trot,the barking of several dogs announced an Indian village.In the dying light,we could just make out cane huts,firmly situated between the banana trees,with fenced gardens in front of each one.Our convoy stopped in front of one particular hut,a kind of inn or shop for alcohol,where a naked goblin-like figure,the ideal husband for a witch,was serving cheap brandy to the Indians,most of whom were already drunk.
We dismounted and threw ourselves to the ground,too tired to even think.Someone found us,God knows how,a cup of dreadful hot chocolate.We began to realize that we were completely lost,and so it was agreed to give up our attempt to reach Atlacomulco that night.Instead,we should head for the village of “E1 Puente”,where our guides know a Spanish family,made up of several unmarried brothers,who,without any doubt,would be delighted to offer us a safe refuge for the rest of the night.We remounted and began our journey,a little restored after the pause in our journey and the dreadful hot chocolate.
小题1:Where did we travel to?

A．El Puente.

B．The cane huts.

C．Atlacomulco.

D．An Indian Village.

小题2:When we traveled at night_________.

A．there was a good guide leading us

B．there was a full moon in the sky

C．we could hardly see anything

D．we could see everything around clearly

小题3:When we lost our way we believed that_________.

A．we should stay where we were for rescue

B．we should go on to seek after our fortune

C．we should go back where we started

D．we should ask the Indians for help

小题4:When we reached the inn-like hut_________.

A．someone served alcohol and hot chocolate at once

B．we had a good sleep

C．we had a good drink

D．we were too exhausted to ask for anything

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Bill Clinton was born on Aug.19,1946.Three months before his birth,his father had died when driving home to his pregnant wife,Virginia,he went off a high way,was thrown from the car and drowned in a river.
When Bill was 4,his mother remarried Roger Clinton.And there were always troubles:a sometimes voilent,alcoholic stepfather and a half-brother.Only one year after the marriage,the drunken stepfather fired a shotgun at the ceiling to keep his bride and stepson from leaving the house.Virginia was very much frightened.So Roger Clinton beat Virginia from time to time.But teenager Clinton played a role of protector of his mother bravely.The stepfater never laid another band on Virginia.
In high school,he was very good at Latin and maths.He also played saxophone in the hand.At age 16,as a member of a youth group,Clinton met President John F.Kennedy at the White House,it led him to the life of public service.Once he set his mind to do something,he did not give up.He was elected governor of Arkansas at the age of 32.
Clinton has said he ran for president to make the country a better place for people like Chelsea,his daughter.He did win.At the age of 46,he became the third youngest president in the nation"s history.
小题1:When this passage was published,Clinton was_________.
A.governor of Arkansas B.a famous professor
C.President of U.S.A. D.President of a university
小题2:Clinton"s own father died_________.

A．before Clinton was born

B．after Clinton was born

C．from drinking too much brandy

D．when Clinton"s mother was giving birth

小题3:Clinton protected his mother by_________.

A．fighting against his stepfather

B．beating his stepfather

C．having long talks with his stepfather

D．the means we don"t know

小题4:The word “it” in “It led him to the life of public service”refers to_________.

A．Clinton"s high school education

B．becoming a member of a youth group

C．Clinton"s visiting President Kennedy

D．doing public service

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My grandmother was an iron-willed woman, the feared head of the family. When I was five years old, she invited some friends to her apartment for a party. 26the guests was a neighborhood big shot(大亨). They had a little girl about my age who was27 and very much used to getting her own way.
Grandmother spent a lot of time with the big shot and his family. She 28 them the most important members of her social circle and tried hard to please them. At one point during the party, I 29my way to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. A minute or two later, the little girl 30the bathroom door and simply walked in. I was still sitting down. “Don’t you know that little girls aren"t31to come into the bathroom when a little boy is using it!?” I shouted. The32I had piled upon her shocked the little girl. Then she started to cry. She tearfully33to her parents and my grandmother. Grandmother was waiting for me when I left the bathroom. I received the longest, sharpest34. After her scolding was over and I had been dismissed, the party 35.
Twenty minutes later, all that changed. Grandmother walked by the bathroom and noticed a flood of water36out from under the door. She37the bathroom door and saw that the sink and tub were plugged(塞)up and that the taps 38at full blast (拧到最大). Everyone knew who did it. The guests quickly formed a39wall around me, but Grandmother was40 angry that she almost got to me anyway.
My grandfather took me41to the window. He was a kind and gentle man, full of wisdom and patience.42did he raise his voice to anyone, and never did he43 his wife. He looked at me with much curiosity, 44 angry or upset.
“Tell me,” he asked, “why did you do it?”
“Well, she shouted at me 45,” I said earnestly. “Now she"s got something to shout about.”
Grandfather didn’t speak right away. He just sat there, looking at me and smiling. “Eric,” he said at last, “you are my revenge(复仇).”
26. A. Between             B. Among             C. Around             D. Beside
27. A. spoiled               B. harmed             C. liked                D. concerned
28. A. imagined            B. told                  C. evaluated           D. considered
29. A. made                 B. found             C. pushed            D. wound
30. A. closed                B. opened             C. beat                 D. tapped
31. A. expected            B. asked                      C. supposed          D. told
32. A. happiness           B. depression               C. embarrassmentD. anger
33. A. complained               B. apologized     C. replied             D. referred
34. A. cry                    B. blame               C. comment        D. demand
35. A. picked up            B. broke down              C. carried on          D. took off
36. A. moving              B. stirring           C. floating            D. streaming
37. A. pushed open       B. pulled down    C. shut up             D. knocked at
38. A. had gone             B. were going        C. went               D. had been going
39. A. productive          B. hard                 C. protective         D. rough
40. A. so                      B. too                   C. as                    D. very
41. A. by his hand               B. by the hand       C. by surprise        D. with anxiety
42. A. Often                 B. Sometimes        C. Always             D. Rarely
43 A. argue with           B. talk with           C. put up with       D. come to terms with
44. A. other than           B. instead of          C. rather than         D. more than
45. A. for something   B. for nothing       C. without doubt D. with sympathy

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I was born and raised in the shadow of the Capitol(美国国会大厦), in Washington, D.C., as were my parents and my mother’s parents.
Our row house was on a tree-lined street just blocks from the building that was the heart of the federal legislative branch. When I was a child, in the 1940s, friends and I would pack a lunch or ride a streetcar to the Capitol. If we roller-skated, we hid the skates in the bushes in the park across the street before entering the building.
I knew every corner of the Capitol. We’d play hide-and-seek and pretend we saw ghosts in the halls and stairways. I don’t know how we got away with it. I remember the beautiful ladies’ rooms, with their marble floors and sinks. I pretended that I was a fine lady in them.
In those days, you could walk around the Capitol dome(圆顶屋), which was a little scary for me. I loved the wonderful paintings and statues and the subway rides to the Senate Office Building. It was like an amusement ride. I even used to sit in the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives—until I became bored with all the talk and went on another adventure.
Whenever I ran up the steps to the huge bronze doors of the Rotunda, I would look back to the world below like a hero. As soon as the doors were opened, the sense of history surrounded me, and I knew it was someplace special.
Those were lucky days, when an American citizen could wander in the Capitol and be a part of history.
Once war was declared, some things changed in the nation’s capital. Because of concerns thatWashington might be attacked, as London had been, everyone prepared. Kids at my elementary school wore dog tags, and each of us was fingerprinted.
My father, a pipe worker, became a civil defense warden(民防队员). During an air-raid(空袭), his job was to turn off any leaking gas. Since he always had a cigarette in his mouth, maybe that was not a good choice, but he had a gas mask and flashlight hanging in the rafters of our basement. The mask looked like a monster in the ceiling. My 15-year-old brother was a junior civil defense warden. During air-raid drills, he knocked on doors and asked people to put out their lights. I remember huge searchlights that crisscrossed the skies during the drills, looking for enemy planes.
小题1:What can we infer from the passage?
A. The writer attended the meeting in House of Representative.
B. The writer’s family lived in Washington D.C. for generations.
C. American citizen, except children, could never enter the Capitol.
D. The writer’s father had a gas mask to prevent him from smoking.
小题2:When the writer said “I was born and raised in the shadow of the Capitol” (1st paragraph), she most probably meant that ________.

A．she spent her childhood in an area near the Capitol

B．she grew up under the pressure of the Capitol

C．the Capitol had some bad influence on my childhood

D．she was born and brought up secretly in the Capitol

小题3:By telling the childhood experience, the passage suggests that ________.

A．London was attacked during the war, as well as Washington

B．the writer is a daughter of a member of Representatives

C．the writer’s father and brother joined the army during the war

D．the Capitol used to be open to the public in history

小题4: What is the writer’s attitude towards the things that changed in the nation’s capital?

A．neutral

B．positive

C．negative

D．ironic

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The old idea that child prodigies (神童) “burn themselves” or “overtax their brains” in the early years, therefore, suffer from failure and (at worst) mental illness is just a myth. As a matter of fact, the outstanding thing that happens to bright children is that they are very likely to grow into bright adults.
To find this out, 1,500 gifted persons were followed up to their thirty-fifth years with these results:
On adult intelligence tests, they scored as high as they did as children. They were, as a group, in good health, physically and mentally. Eighty-four percent of their group were married and seemed content with their life.
About 70 percent had graduated from colleges, though only 30 percent had graduated with honors. A few had even flunked out (退学), but nearly half of these had returned to graduate.
Of the men, 80 percent were in one of the professions or in business, managerial or semiprofessional jobs. The women who had remained single had offices, business, or professional occupations.
The group had published 90 books and 1,500 articles in scientific, scholarly, and literary magazines and had collected more than 100 patents.
In a material way they didn’t do badly either. Average income was considerably higher among the gifted people, especially the men, than for the country as a whole, despite their comparative youth when last surveyed.
In fact, far from being strange, maladjusted (难以适应) people locked in an ivory tower, most of the gifted were turning their early promises into practical reality.
小题1:The main idea of the passage is __________.

A．that gifted adults can be as intelligent as when they were young

B．that bright children are unlikely to be physically and mentally healthy

C．that gifted children are most likely to become bright grown-ups

D．that when the bright children grow up, they become ordinary

小题2:From the passage, we can conclude that ____________.

A．most of the gifted children became white-collar workers

B．half of the gifted followed up graduated from colleges

C．each of the talented published at least one article

D．successful men got higher income than successful women

小题3: Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?

A．The gifted could not be fit for their social positions.

B．Most of the bright and successful women remained single.

C．The gifted men got full marks on intelligence tests.

D．Most of the gifted appeared satisfied with their life.

小题4:The explanation of the underlined part “turning their early promises into practical reality” is _____________.

A．earning their living and keeping promises

B．doing practical jobs and facing reality

C．doing what they have promised

D．realizing what they were expected

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