Right is right. Right? Of course. But is left wrong? Well, the Romans used to think so. They thought left-handed people were mistakes of nature. Latin, the language of the Romans, had many words that expressed this view. Some words we use today still have this meaning. The Latin word “dexter” means “right”. The English word “dexterous” comes from this word. It means “handy” (clever with hands). So, right is handy. But the Latin word for left is “sinister”. The English word “sinister” comes from this word. Sinister means “evil” (very bad). Is it fair to call right-handed people handy and left-handed people evil? Well, fair or not, many languages have words that express such beliefs. In old English, the word for left means “weak”. That isn’t much of an improvement over “evil”.
Not very long ago, children were often forced to write with their right hands. Doctors have since found that this can be very harmful. You should use the hand you were born to use.
People who use their left hands are just starting to get better treatment. But why they get all these bad names in the first place? One reason may be that there are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people. There is one left-handed person for every five right-handed ones. People who are different are often thought to be wrong. But attitudes do seem to be changing. Fair-minded right-handed people are finally starting to give left-handed people a hand.
1. What does the passage lead us to believe when one writes?
A. He can only use his right hand.
B. He can only use his left hand.
C. He can use either his left hand or his right hand.
D. He can use both his left hand and his right hand.
2. The last sentence of this article means ________.
A. Fair-minded right-handed people want to change the habit of the left-handed people
B. Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to help the left-handed people
C. Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to use left hand to write and so on
D. Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to give up using their left hands
3. After we read the article we can certainly know that _______.
A. left-handed people have been treated poorly
B. the number of the left-handed people is larger than that of right-handed people
C. right-handed people are much cleverer than left-handed people
D. left-handed people are less smart but hardworking
4. Which of the following is NOT right, according to the article?
A. At one time, left-handed people were forced to use their right hands.
B. Left-handed people today are being treated better than those in the past.
C. There are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people today.
D. “Dexterous” comes from Latin, means “evil” and English “sinister” means “handy”.

科目 英语   题型 阅读理解   难度 较易