I once knew an old man whose bad memory made him famous. John Smith was so forgetful that he sometimes forgot what he was talking about in the middle of a sentence. His wife had to constantly remind him about his meetings, his classes — even his meals. Once he forgot he ate breakfast twice, at home and at school. His wife liked to remind her neighbors, “If John didn’t have his head tied on, he would forget that too!” Since Smith was a professor at a well-known university, his forgetfulness was often an embarrassment. It wasn’t that he was not clever, as some critical people tended to say, just very, very absent minded. One hot summer day, Professor Smith decided to take his children to a seaside town about a three-hour train ride away. To make the trip more interesting for his young children, he kept the name of the town a secret. However, by the time they arrived at the station, Smith forgot the name of the town he was planning to visit. Luckily, a friend of his happened to be in the station. He offered to take care of the children while Smith hurried back home to find out where he was going.

The professor’s wife was surprised to see him again so soon. “Oh, my dear, I forgot the name of the town.” “What? You forgot the name? May be one day you will forget my name! Now I’ll write the name of that town on a piece of paper, and you put it in your pocket and please, please don’t forget where you put it.”

Satisfied that she had solved the problem, she sent her husband off again. Ten minutes later she was astonished to see him outside the house for the third time.

“What is the matter now?”

“As you told me, I didn’t forget where I put the name of that town, but I forgot where I left our children!”

1. In the opinion of the writer of this passage, the professor is ________.

A. forgetful                 B. critical                      C. foolish            D. careless 

2. The underlined word “embarrassment” in the first paragraph may mean ________.

A. amusement           B. satisfaction          C. fun           D. discomfort

3. From the end of the story, we know Mrs Smith would probably be very_______.

A. satisfied                   B. angry                       C.    sorry              D. funny

4. He kept the name of the town a secret because _______.

A. he wanted to give the children a surprise.

B. he forgot it.

C. he didn’t know where to go.

D. his wife didn’t put the address in his pocket.

阅读理解

　　Once, a wise man was taken to prison for something he had not done. He was kept in a stone tower for many months, and there seemed to be no hope of escape.

　　Then one night, as he was looking out of the window, he saw his wife standing at the foot of the tower. She was crying sadly.

　　“Don't cry!”the man called to his wife in a low voice.“Listen to what I'm going to say. Go and bring back a scarab(金龟子), a little butter, some silk thread, a strong cord and a rope. If you do that, you can save me.”

　　The woman left at once and returned quickly with everything her husband had asked for.

　　Then the man said,“Put a little butter on the head of the scarab, tie the silk thread around its body, and place it on the wall with its head pointing to my window.”

　　The woman did what her husband said. The scarab, thinking the butter was somewhere in front of him，began to climb up the wall.

　　It was a quiet night. The moon was slowly piercing(刺透，穿过)through the clouds across the sky. Every now and again the prison tower stood in the shadow of clouds. Somewhere a bird was hooting(讨厌的叫喊)low. The man waited eagerly at his window in silence. When at last the scarab got close, to his window，he picked it up and took off the silk thread from its body. Meanwhile his wife tied the cord to the other end of the silk thread. When the man pulled the cord up, his wife had already tied the thick rope to the other end.

　　The man now had only to tie one end of the rope securely to something within the tower and slide down the rope to the ground. There his wife was watching and waiting to see him. She was happy and surprised that such a small thing as scarab had made his escape possible.

1．The man was sent to prison because _____.

[　　]

A．he killed a man

B．he stole something from others

C．he set fire to a house

D．there is no reason at all

2．Who saved the man?

[　　]

A．A scarab.　　　　B．A thread.

C．A night bird.　　 D．A cat.

2．How did the man leave the prison?

[　　]

A．The man left the prison because no man saw him.

B．The man thought of a good method to save himself.

C．The man who is in charge of the prison set the man free.

D．The man left the prison under the help of a cat.

4．According to the text, which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．The man climbed down the stone tower by the silk thread.

B．The man climbed down the stone tower by cord.

C．His wife is cleverer than his husband.

D．The scarab likes eating butter very much.

阅读理解

　　Once, a wise man was taken to prison for something he had not done. He was kept in a stone tower for many months, and there seemed to be no hope of escape.

　　Then one night, as he was looking out of the window, he saw his wife standing at the foot of the tower. She was crying sadly.

　　“Don't cry!”the man called to his wife in a low voice.“Listen to what I'm going to say. Go and bring back a scarab(金龟子), a little butter, some silk thread, a strong cord and a rope. If you do that, you can save me.”

　　The woman left at once and returned quickly with everything her husband had asked for.

　　Then the man said,“Put a little butter on the head of the scarab, tie the silk thread around its body, and place it on the wall with its head pointing to my window.”

　　The woman did what her husband said. The scarab, thinking the butter was somewhere in front of him，began to climb up the wall.

　　It was a quiet night. The moon was slowly piercing(刺透，穿过)through the clouds across the sky. Every now and again the prison tower stood in the shadow of clouds. Somewhere a bird was hooting(讨厌的叫喊)low. The man waited eagerly at his window in silence. When at last the scarab got close, to his window，he picked it up and took off the silk thread from its body. Meanwhile his wife tied the cord to the other end of the silk thread. When the man pulled the cord up, his wife had already tied the thick rope to the other end.

　　The man now had only to tie one end of the rope securely to something within the tower and slide down the rope to the ground. There his wife was watching and waiting to see him. She was happy and surprised that such a small thing as scarab had made his escape possible.

1．The man was sent to prison because _____.

[　　]

A．he killed a man

B．he stole something from others

C．he set fire to a house

D．there is no reason at all

2．Who saved the man?

[　　]

A．A scarab.　　　　B．A thread.

C．A night bird.　　 D．A cat.

2．How did the man leave the prison?

[　　]

A．The man left the prison because no man saw him.

B．The man thought of a good method to save himself.

C．The man who is in charge of the prison set the man free.

D．The man left the prison under the help of a cat.

4．According to the text, which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．The man climbed down the stone tower by the silk thread.

B．The man climbed down the stone tower by cord.

C．His wife is cleverer than his husband.

D．The scarab likes eating butter very much.