For many people the subject of hiccups (嗝) is a joke, but for Harry Mendes, a fifteen-year-old schoolboy from Birmingham, it was something quite different.

His hiccups began one Sunday lunch time and continued day and night for two weeks. After the first week, Harry's parents took him to hospital, but it took another week for the doctors to cure his attack.

Harry, who is now back at school, described what happened to him.

“When I began to hiccup, I drank a glass of water but that didn't do any good. That evening I had hiccups every four seconds. We tried everything to stop them. I held my breath and drank cold drinks. My father even tried to give me a shock but that didn't work either.”

After a week of sleepless nights, he went to hospital. The doctors took an X-ray of his chest but they couldn't find anything wrong.

“They gave me some medicine and my hiccups slowed down, but it was another week before the medicine worked completely and my hiccups stopped.”

Harry was very lucky. The world record holder is the American farmer Charles Osborne, who hiccupped for sixty-eight years. He stopped in 1990 at last, but nobody knows why.

1.Harry's hiccups lasted ____.

  A. a week              B. fourteen days          C. twenty-eight days           D. one month

2.His hiccups started after he ____.

  A. drank a glass of water                              B. went to hospital

C. ate an Indian meal                                 D. finished his homework

3.His parents decided to take him to hospital when he ____.

  A. hiccupped for four seconds                    B. held his breath

  C. hiccupped at night                           D. couldn't stop hiccupping

4.His hiccups completely stopped one week after the doctor ____.

   A. gave him some medicine                      B. took an X-ray of his chest

   C.gave him a shock                            D. let him drink cold drinks

5.What does “shock” in this passage mean？

A.震惊            B.休克            C.喷嚏             D.哈欠

 

For many people the subject of hiccups (嗝) is a joke, but for Harry Mendes, a fifteen-year-old schoolboy from Birmingham, it was something quite different.
His hiccups began one Sunday lunch time and continued day and night for two weeks. After the first week, Harry’s parents took him to hospital, but it took another week for the doctors to cure his attack.
Harry, who is now back at school, described what happened to him.
“When I began to hiccup, I drank a glass of water but that didn’t do any good. That evening I had hiccups every four seconds. We tried everything to stop them. I held my breath and drank cold drinks. My father even tried to give me a shock but that didn’t work either.”
After a week of sleepless nights, he went to hospital. The doctors took an X-ray of his chest but they couldn’t find anything wrong.
“They gave me some medicine and my hiccups slowed down, but it was another week before the medicine worked completely and my hiccups stopped.”
Harry was very lucky. The world record holder is the American farmer Charles Osborne, who hiccupped for sixty-eight years. He stopped in 1990 at last, but nobody knows why.
【小题1】Harry’s hiccups lasted ____.

A．a week

B．fourteen days

C．twenty-eight days

D．one month

【小题2】His hiccups started after he ____.

A．drank a glass of water	B．went to hospital
C．ate an Indian meal	D．finished his homework

【小题3】His parents decided to take him to hospital when he ____.

A．hiccupped for four seconds	B．held his breath
C．hiccupped at night	D．couldn’t stop hiccupping

【小题4】His hiccups completely stopped one week after the doctor ____.

A．gave him some medicine	B．took an X-ray of his chest
C．gave him a shock	D．let him drink cold drinks

【小题5】What does “shock” in this passage mean？

A．震惊

B．休克

C．喷嚏

D．哈欠

The Highland Apple

　　Young, an orchard (果园) owner on the highland (山地) in New Mexico, once said, “Do you want to be a useful man to society? If you do so, try to think hard. It' s very important.” Every year Young would box apples and deliver (递送) them to buyers. Different from others was his advertisement (广告), which said, “Unsatisfied after receiving the apples, let us know by letters. Apples don't need sending back, and we'll pay for a loss. ” The advertisement did attract (吸引) lots of buyers. They were satisfied for the apples on the highland tasted delicious.

　　One year a heavy hailstone (冰雹) attacked (侵袭) the orchard, and after that, the big red apples hanging heavy on the trees were covered all over with scars (疤痕) . Looking at the apples with scars, Young sighed (叹息). “It' s all up now, I have got to pay for a loss. ”Young thought long and hard and could find no way out. He happened to take up an apple and began to eat it. The apple, juicy (汁浓) and refreshing (爽口), tasted good. Only it was not good looking.

　　One night, a wonderful idea flashed across his mind, out of bed he jumped excitedly. He made up his mind to deliver the apples to the buyers.

The buyers received the apples. The moment they opened the box, they found a piece of paper in each box. It said, “Every apple has a scar hit by hailstone. But have a good look, please. The scar is the special mark of the apples produced on the highland. The apple has a wonderful taste. ”

　　The buyers tried the apples half believing, half doubting. Almost at once, they let out of a cry, “Aha, delicious! The special highland taste! ”

Young succeeded. After that some buyers specially (特殊地) asked Young to sell them apples with scars.

1．To be a useful man to society, one must ________ .

[　　]

2．The buyers were satisfied with Young's apples, ________ .

[　　]

A．for the advertisement was attracting

B．for Young would pay for a loss

C．for Young would not pay for a loss

D．for the apples tasted good

3．“It's all up now” means ________ .

[　　]

4．Which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．Young was very lucky.

B．Young worked very happily.

C．Young was a person who thought hard.

D．Young was successful in everything.