The word, “photography”, was first used in 1839. It comes from the Greek words that mean “to write with light”. But photography could only give people static pictures. So scientists were trying hard to find ways to make pictures that can move. They made lots of experiments, but failed again and again. It was Eadweard Muybridge who finally succeeded. He was the first photographer to try this successfully. But how did he make it? It was an interesting story.

Back in 1872, people didn’t know exactly (确切地) whether all four of a horse’s hooves (蹄) left the ground at the same time when it was running. A gentleman called Leland Stanford made a bet with his friend about it. Most people believed that a horse always had one hoof on the ground, or it would fall over. But Stanford didn’t think so.

At that time, it was hard to know who could win the bet, because a horse’s legs move so fast that it is impossible to tell just by looking. So they needed a way to record the movement of a running horse. Then Stanford offered $25,000 to the famous photographer, Muybridge, to help find the answer. In the beginning, Muybridge failed to get clear images, but he didn’t give up. He continued to improve his cameras. In 1878, after many experiments, he managed to get a sequence (连续) of 12 photos. One of them clearly showed that all four of the horse’s hooves were off the ground at the same time. And when the photos moved fast, people could see a horse running.

Though is usually considered as the person who created the first movie in 1889, it was the work of Eadweard Muybridge and the bet that led to Edison’s invention.

53. The underlined word “static” in Paragraph 1 most probably means _______.

A. pretty　　　　　　　　　　　 B. dark　　　　　　　　　　　　 C. moving　　　　　　　　　 D. still

54. What did Leland Stanford make a bet with his friend about?

　 A. Whose horse ran faster.

　 B. whether a horse would fall over while running.

　 C. whether it was possible for scientists to make moving pictures.

　 D.Whether a horse’s hooves all left the ground at the same time while running.

55. Muybridge finally found the exact answer to the bet in _______.

　 A. 1839　　 　　　　　　　　 B. 1872 　　　　　　　　　　 C. 1878　　 　　　　　　 D. 1889

56. The passage mainly tells us _______.

　 A. that Thomas Edison created the first movie .

　 B. that Eadweard Muybridge created the first static pictures

　 C. how photography helped people know more about animals

　 D. how Eadweard Muybridge got pictures of motion (移动) successfully

  One day, I happened to talk to a stranger (陌生人) on the bus. When he found out that I was from Chicago, he told me that one of his good friends lived there and he wondered if I happened to know him. At first I wanted to say that it was foolish (愚蠢的) to think like that, for out of all the millions of people in Chicago, I could not possibly know his friend. But, instead, I just smiled and said that Chicago was a very big city. He was quiet for a few minutes, and then he began to tell me all about his friend.

  He told me that his friend was an excellent tennis player and that he even had his own tennis court. He added that he knew a lot of people with swimming pools, but that he only knew two people in the country who had their own tennis courts. And his friend in Chicago was one of them. I told him that I knew several people like that, for example, my brother and my next-door neighbour. I told him that my brother was a doctor and he lived in California. Then he asked where my brother lived in California. When I said Sacramento, he said that last year his friend spent the summer in Sacramento and lived next door to a doctor. The doctor had a tennis court. I said that my next-door went to Sacramento last summer and lived in the house next to my brother’s. For a moment, we looked at each other, but we did not say anything.

  “Would your friend’s name happen to be Roland Kirkwood?” I asked finally. He laughed and said, “Would your brother’s name happen to be Dr. Ray Hunter?” It was my turn to laugh.

1. How many persons does the story involve (涉及)?

   A. Four.        B. Five.         C. Six.          D. Seven.

2. Which of the following is true?

   A. The story happened in Chicago.

   B. The writer’s brother lived in Sacramento.

   C. Both the writer and the stranger lived in Chicago.

   D. Both the writer and his brother lived in California.

3. The writer said that Chicago was a very big city. That means _____________.

   A. it was possible for him to happen to know the stranger’s friend

   B. he didn’t want to look for the stranger’s friend

   C. it was impossible to find the stranger’s friend

   D. he didn’t know the stranger’s friend

4. When the stranger told the writer that only two people in the country had their own tennis courts, he meant that ____________.

    A. his friend was a famous person

    B. his friend was an excellent player

    C. the writer could find his friend

    D. the writer would happen to know his friend

5. Which is the best title of the story?

   A. On a bus                           B. Two tennis players

   C. One in a million                 D. Chicago is a large city

I don’t often lose things and I’m always careful with money, so I was quite surprised when I reached for my wallet and it wasn’t there. At first, I thought it was possible that I could have left it at home. Then I remembered taking it out to pay the taxi, so I knew I had it with me just before I walked into the restaurant. I wondered if it was possible that it could have dropped out of my pocket while I was eating dinner. I turned and walked back to the table where I had been sitting. Unluckily, there were several people sitting at the table at that time, so I had the waiter go over to the table to see if my wallet was on the floor. While the waiter was looking for it, the head of the restaurant came up to me and asked me if anything was wrong. I told him what had happened. He asked me to report the missing wallet to the police. I told him I didn’t want to do so; I was in a hurry because I had to reach my waiting room before two o’clock, where some people were waiting to see me. I also told him that my biggest worry at the moment was how I was going to pay for the meal. He told me not to worry about that. He asked me to write down my name and address, and he said he would send me a bill (账单).

1. When the writer couldn’t find his wallet, his first thought was that________

A. it had been given to the taxi-driver                   B. he had dropped it in the taxi

C. it might be left at home                         D. he had lost his wallet again

2. The writer thought he must have the wallet with him because___________.

A. he had paid the taxi-driver                          B. he had paid the bill of the meal

C. the waiter had seen it on the table                    D. the waiter was looking for it on the floor

3. Why do you think the writer turned and walked back to the table?

A. He would phone the police about the missing of his wallet.

B. Several people were sitting at the table at that time.

C. He wondered if he had dropped his wallet while eating.

D. The head of the restaurant wanted to know what was wrong.

4. The writer of the story is probably a _________.

A. cook                                                             B. doctor   

C. school teacher                                                    D. newspaper reporter

5. Which of the following words can best describe the head of the restaurant?

   A. Modest.                 B. Careful.                 C. Kind.                D. Clever.