Ellen Parker was worried about her health. She could not walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stairs. “I suppose I had better go to the doctor，” she thought.

She went to the doctor and told him her problem. “I’m not surprised at all，” he said. “It’s obvious (明顯的) what your problem is.” Then he gave her some advice. “If you don’t do what I say，” he said， “you will have a heart attack. It could kill you.”

Ellen Parker was very worried as she left the doctor’s. She knew that she had to take his advice， but it would not be easy.

The next day she went shopping. The first shop she went into was a butcher’s shop (肉鋪). “I’d like ten pounds of steak (牛排)， please，” she said. “Certainly， madam，” the butcher found a large piece of steak and put it on the scale (秤).

“That’s just under ten pounds，” he said. “That is big enough，” Mrs. Parker said. The butcher worked out the price. “At $ 4.99 a pound， that will be $49.50， please. Would you like me to cut it up into smaller pieces for you?”“Oh， I don’t want to buy the meat，” Mrs. Parker said.

“If you don’t want to buy it，” the butcher replied angrily， “Why did you ask me to get it for you?” “My doctor told me that I am overweight and I have to lose ten pounds. I want to see what ten pounds of meat looks like.”

1. Why did Ellen Parker visit the doctor?

_____________________________________

2. What did the doctor advise her to do?

_____________________________________

3. Why did she ask for ten ponuds of steak?

_____________________________________

Mr Brown was going away for a week. Before he left， he said to his son， “If anyone asks for me， you can tell him that your father has been out for doing something， and will be back in a week， then be sure to ask him to sit down for a cup of tea.”

“OK， Dad，” said his son. But he was afraid that his son couldn’t remember this， he wrote these words down on a piece of paper and gave it to him. His son put it into his small pocket， took it out and looked at it every now and then.

Four days passed， but no one came to see his father. The boy thought that there was no man to come and that the piece of paper was of no more use for him， so he burnt it that evening.

The next afternoon， someone knocked at the door. The boy opened it. A man was standing at the door and said， “Where is your father?” The boy put his hand into his pocket at once and looked for the piece of paper. He could not find it. He suddenly remembered he had burnt it， so he shouted， “No more.”

The man was very surprised. He asked， “No more? I met your father last week. When did it happen?”

“Burnt yesterday evening.”

( )4. Mr Brown told his son that _____.

A. he would be away from home for four days

B. he would be back in seven days

C. he would be back in a month

( )5. A man came to visit the boy’s father on _____.

A. the third day

B. the fourth day

C. the fifth day

( )6. The man was very surprised because _____.

A. he thought the child’s father was dead

B. the child didn’t ask him to sit down

C. the child gave him a cup of tea

( )7. What was burnt?

A. The piece of paper.

B. Mr Smith.

C. The boy.

Jim has a large amount of money from his father. He doesn’t know how to use it. Then one day he sees a post for a brain in a newspaper. The post says， “Get a clever brain and have a happy life.” So he goes to have a look.

“Please tell me about you post，” he says.

“Very well， we have several brains here. You can have a farmer’s brain for 5，000 dollars.” Jim shakes his head.

“What do you want then? What about a university professor’s brain?” the doctor says.

“How much is this?” Jim asks.

“It’s 20，000 dollars.” the doctor says.

This is interesting， Jim thinks. But he wants to have more information.

“Is this the most expensive brain?” he asks.

The doctor shakes his head. “Oh， no， ” he says， “The most expensive brain is a politician’s (政治家的）. That will cost you 100，000 dollars.”

Jim is surprised. “Why is a politician’s brain so expensive?” he asks.

“Because the politician never uses his brain. It’s as good as new.”

( )8. One day， Jim sees a post for a brain on

TV.

( )9. The farmer’s brain is 15，000 dollars

cheaper than a university professor’s

brain.

( )10. A politician’s brain is so expensive

because he always uses it.

Keys:

1. Because she was worried about her health.

2. To lose weight.

3. Because she wanted to see what ten

pounds of meat looked like.

4~7 BCAA

8~10 FTF