Be careful! Some people may use the truth to deceive. When someone tells you something that is true, but misses important information that should be included, he can create a false impression(印象).
For example, someone might say, "I just won 100 dollars on the lottery(彩票). It was great. I took that ticket back to the store and they gave me 100 dollars!"
This man is a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he paid 200 dollars for 200 tickets, and only one ticket won. He's really a big loser.
He didn't say anything that was false, but he didn't give the other important information. That's called a half-truth. Half-truths are not lies, but in fact they are dishonest.
Advertisements sometimes use half-truths. It's against the law to lie in advertisements, so they try to deceive with the truth. An advertisement might say, "Nine-tenths of doctors believe that Fancy Pills will be good to cancer. " It doesn't tell you that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Fancy Company.
This kind of thing happens too often. It's a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.
【小题1】What does the underlined word "deceive" mean in Chinese?

I used to have little passion (激情) in my life. But what happened the other day changed my min. It was then that 1 learned how 　26 it is to have a passion in life.

That day 1 went home in Mom's ear. When Morn 27 at a red light, someone on the side of the road caught my eye. It was a man dressed 　 28 rags (破旧衣服). He was homeless. That didn't interest me, because I had seen 　29 like him before. Those people usually looked unhappy and hopeless.

　　 But this man was 30 in some way. He was not sitting down with a 31 expression. Instead, he had a　 32　 in his hand and was dancing happily to the music. The radio seemed to be the most precious (珍贵的) thing he had.

　 "Morn, why does that man have a radio 　33 he’s homeless?” I asked.

　 "He　 34　 it," she replied.

　 "But why doesn't he use the money to buy food or clothes? He　 35　 something that he didn't need."

　 "Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren't the most important.”

　 That man must care so much about　 36　 that he bought a radio instead of food or clothes. I soon realized that　 37　 is the key to life.

　 Since then I am always thinking of 　38　 is truly important in life. A home, a meal, clothes—these things are 39 part of the life. What we often forget is that we all need a joy, a light in a 　40 . day. We all need a passion which gives a person the happiness they need ~o keep going.

26. A. strange　　　　 B. important　　　 C. dangerous　　　 D. difficult

27. A. stopped　　 　　B. walked　　　　 C. stood　　　　　 D. exercised

28. A. in　　　　　 　B. on　　　 　　　C. at　　　　　 　D. of

29. A. none　　　　　 B. few　　 　　 C. all　　　　 　　D. many

30. A. common　　　 B. different　 　　C. polite　　　 　 D. rude

31. A. sad　　　　 　 B. nervous　 　　 C. mad　　 　　　D. happy

32. A. hat　　　　 　B. phone　 　　　 C. scarf　 　　　 D. radio

33. A. though　　　 　B. because　 　　　C. until 　　　　 D. unless

34. A. borrowed　 　 B. made　　　　　 C. fixed　　 　　 D. bought

36. A. asked for　 　 B. waited for　　 　 C. paid for　 　 D. looked for

36. A. stories　　　 　B. music　　　　　 C. news　　 　　D. languages

37. A. knowledge 　　B. health　　　　 　 C. happiness　 　 D. friendship

38. A. who　　　　 　B. what　　　　　　 C. where　　　 　D. when

39. A. only　　　　　　 B. all　　　　 　　C. also　　　 　 D. never

40. A. warm　　　　　 B. hot　　　　 　　C. dark　　　 　　D. relaxing

A

It is very important to be able to control yourself. Losing control may bring things that would never want to see. We can learn something from the following story.

Once a boy often made trouble. His mother gave him many nails （钉子）. She told him to hammer （锤，钉） one in the garden fence （栅栏）, every time he lost his patience （耐心） and fought with someone. The first day he hammered 27 nails. In the following weeks he learned how to control himself better and the number of the nails he hammered became smaller and smaller. He learned it was easier to control himself than to hammer nails.

The day finally came when he didn’t hammer any nails. He went to tell his mother about it. Then his mother told him to pull off a nail from the fence each time he didn’t lose his patience. After some days he told his mother that all the nails had been pulled off. Thus, she took him to the fence and said to him, “You’ve behaved（表现） well, but look at all the holes in the fence. The fence will never be again like it was before. When you fight with someone, you leave wounds（伤口） in him like these. The trouble may be over, but the wounds will always be there.”

So, learn to control yourself before you hammer the nails in the fence. Try not to leave any holes in your past.

（   ） 1. Losing control may bring you ________.

A. good luck         B. trouble             C. nails                   D. a hammer

（   ） 2. The boy used to _______.

A. be polite           B. do wrong         C. be careless          D. be friendly to others

（   ） 3. Why did the mother give her son nails?

A. To put the garden fence right.        B. To put them away.

C. To help him understand something. D. To make him lose patience.

（   ） 4. In what condition （条件） could the boy pull off a nail?

A. He could control himself.              B. He fought with others.

C. He wanted to do so.                      D. His mother asked him to do so.

（   ） 5. The writer wants us to ______.

A. praise the clever mother                B. correct our mistakes

C. learn to control ourselves              D. know hammering nails is useful

B

    A man once had a dream about the Black Forest In Germany. In his dream he was walking in the forest when two men ran out and tried to throw him to the ground. He ran off as fast as he could, but they followed him. He reached a place where he saw two roads in front of him, one to the right and the other to the left. Which road should he take? He heard the two men behind him, getting nearer, and at the same time he heard a voice in his ear. It told him to go to the right, and he did so. He ran on and soon came to a small hotel. He was received there kindly and given a room, and he was saved from the two men. That was the dream.

    Twenty years later he was really in the Black Forest and, as happened in the dream long ago, two men ran out and tried to throw him down. He ran off, and came to a place with two roads, like in the dream. He remembered the dream and took the road to the right. He soon reached a small hotel, was taken in, and so was safe. His dream of twenty years before had saved him.

（    ） 6. The Black Forest is ______.

         A. a place in Germany                          B. not a real place

         C. invented by the writer                       D. a place in Britain

（    ） 7. When he was walking in the forest, _______ ran after him.

         A. two dogs           B. two tigers           C. two men             D. two women

（    ） 8. At last he came to _______.

         A. a forest              B. another road        C. another dream      D. a small hotel

（    ） 9. It was ______ that saved the man’s life 20 years later.

         A. a voice     B the dream     C. someone else    D. God

（    ） 10. The story tells us that ______.

A. a dream may come true some time later

B. a dream is always a dream

C. people should not believe their dreams

D. people should always believe their dreams

Leonardo da Vinci began painting the Mona Lisa in 1503. He was working on an important painting for a church at the time, but the church painting was not going well. An Italian businessman asked da Vinci to paint a picture of the businessman’s second wife. This is the woman who can be seen in the Mona Lisa.
All in all, the Mona Lisa is a very good example of da Vinci’s work. Da Vinci uses darkness and light in a clever way in the painting.
Da Vinci loved science and math. Right away a person can see that there is a lot of geometry (几何) in the Mona Lisa. The face of Mona Lisa is made of many circles and round shapes like balls. Even her smile can be seen as a small part of a large circle.
The woman in the painting is sitting on a balcony, and mountains can be seen behind her. Da Vinci loved to study rocks and mountains, so these can be seen over and over again in his other paintings.
The woman is sitting with her knees to the side. Her head is turned to look out of the painting. Her hands are held together in front of her. This way of sitting is now used by many artists when they are painting a picture of a man or woman today.
【小题1】Who painted the Mona Lisa?