Bend over, take a deep breath and drink some water！This is just one of hundreds of pieces of advice you might get if you have the hiccups（打嗝）.Hiccups are so mysterious(神秘的)．We really don’t know why they start and why they stop．

Everyone has a favorite cure for a case of the hiccups．Some people think that a good scare is necessary to get well．Others eat a little sugar．Still others drink a glass of water with a knife in it．

An American man named Jack O’Leary said that he had hiccupped 160 million times over a period of eight years．He tried 60，000 cures，but none of them worked．Finally he prayed（向…祈祷） to Saint Jude, the saint of Hopeless cases, and his hiccupping stopped immediately．

A British worker didn’t stop his hiccups until eight months later. People from all over the world wrote him letters with suggestions for getting well．He tried them all，but the hiccups continued．Finally，he drank a “secret” mixture(混合物) someone had sent him. By that evening his hiccups were gone．

Why did these cures work for these two men? No one really knows. But people who have studied many cases of hiccups have an idea. Hiccups usually go away if you believe in the cure．

1.        might be the best cure for hiccups.

A．Special pills

B．A spoonful of salt

C．Cold water

D．What you believe in

2.The British worker spent __________ in stopping his hiccups．

A．4 hours

B．2 days

C．8 months

D．8 years

3.What is the main idea of this passage?

A．Different ways to stop hiccups

B．What makes hiccups happen

C．How to get hiccups

D．Jack O‘Leary’s hiccups

February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day, it is a custom for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals! This is what you see on Valentine’s Day, a day named after Valentine who was a priest in the third century Rome. When the emperor (皇帝) decided that single men could become better soldiers than those with wives, he didn’t allow marriage.
But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, the emperor sentenced him to death. While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine”, an expression that is still in use today. Valentine died for what he believed in and so he was made a Saint (圣徒), as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic characters.
Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is also popular among Chinese young people. Some students are planning to make Valentine’s cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others want to hold parties at which they will exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine.
【小题1】Why did the emperor in Rome not allow marriage in his country?
A. Because there were few women in his country at that time.
B. Because there wasn’t enough food for so many people.
C. Because he thought a single man was better than a married man as a solider..
【小题2】 Valentine was put into prison because ______.
A. he killed one of the soldiers
B. he didn’t obey the emperor’s order
C. he didn’t want to be a soldier
【小题3】The last paragraph mainly tells us ______.
A. Valentine’s Day is also popular in China now
B. it is a good idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China
C. it is interesting to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China
【小题4】 The best title for this passage should be ______.
A. Valentine’s Day in China  
B. A Brave Priest   
C. Valentine’s Day

A saint (圣人) found a group of family members shouting angrily at each other on a river bank. He asked his disciples(信徒), “  1  do people shout when they are angry with each other?” The disciples 2  for a while and one of them said, “Because they lose their calm.”
“But why should they shout when the other persons are just 3  them? They can tell them what they have to say in a  4  manner.” Asked the saint.
The disciples gave some other answers but  5 made the saint pleased. Finally the saint  6  , “When two people are angry with each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout in order to  7 each other. The angrier they are, the 8 they will have to shout to cover that great distance. What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, because their hearts are very close. The distance 9 them is very small or doesn’t exist(存在).”
The saint looked at his disciples and continued, “So when you argue with other people, do not say words that distance each other, or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the  10  to return.

Bend over, take a deep breath and drink some water！This is just one of hundreds of pieces of advice you might get if you have the hiccups（打嗝）.Hiccups are so mysterious(神秘的)．We really don’t know why they start and why they stop．
Everyone has a favorite cure for a case of the hiccups．Some people think that a good scare is necessary to get well．Others eat a little sugar．Still others drink a glass of water with a knife in it．
An American man named Jack O’Leary said that he had hiccupped 160 million times over a period of eight years．He tried 60，000 cures，but none of them worked．Finally he prayed（向…祈祷） to Saint Jude, the saint of Hopeless cases, and his hiccupping stopped immediately．
A British worker didn’t stop his hiccups until eight months later. People from all over the world wrote him letters with suggestions for getting well．He tried them all，but the hiccups continued．Finally，he drank a “secret” mixture(混合物) someone had sent him. By that evening his hiccups were gone．
Why did these cures work for these two men? No one really knows. But people who have studied many cases of hiccups have an idea. Hiccups usually go away if you believe in the cure．
【小题1】        might be the best cure for hiccups.