Have you ever had an embarrassing experience? Last week we asked readers to tell us about embarrassing experiences. We received thousands of letters! Here is a selection.
Tony:
My most embarrassing experience happened when I had just left university. I had just started teaching in a Liverpool middle school. One morning my alarm clock didn’t ring. I woke up at half past eight and school began at nine. I quickly washed, dressed, jumped into my car and rushed to school. When I arrived, the students had already gone into class. I didn’t go to the office, but went straight into class. After two or three minutes the students began laughing, and I couldn’t understand why! Suddenly I looked down and understood. I had put on one black shoe and one brown shoe!
Henry:
The most embarrassing experience I’ve ever had happened two years ago. After seeing a film, my wife and I had lunch in our favorite restaurant in town. Then we decided to take a walk along the street. The street was very busy and we started holding hands. Suddenly my wife saw a dress that she liked in a shop window, and stopped. I started looking at some watches in the next window. After a minute or two I reached for my wife’s hand. There was a loud scream, and a woman slapped my face. I hadn’t taken my wife’s hand. I’d taken the hand of a complete stranger（陌生人）!Tony arrived at school late that morning because .
| A．he couldn’t find hid shoes |
| B．his alarm clock didn’t ring |
| C．he washed and dressed slowly |
| D．his car went wrong on the way |
The students began laughing when they saw Tony .
| A．wearing a wrong shoe |
| B．his alarm clock didn’t ring |
| C．looking down suddenly |
| D．rushing into the classroom |
Henry and his wife held hands .
| A．at the cinema | B．in the shop |
| C．at the restaurant | D．along the street |
What does the underlined word “scream” mean in Chinese?
| A．尖叫声 | B．笑声 | C．哭声 | D．呼救声 |
Henry was embarrassed because he .
| A．slapped the woman in the face |
| B．took the hand of a complete stranger |
| C．heard hid wife screaming in the street |
| D．knocked over some watches in the shops |
阅读短文，根据其内容回答问题
How would you like to live in a land where the sun shines day and night? There are place in the polar regions where, for North, the sun never sets! This is known as the land of the Midnight Sun. This period of sunlight can last up to six months.
This happens because the Earth tilts(倾斜). When the North Pole is tilted towards the sun, it has constant (不断) daylight. As the same time, the South Pole is tilted away from the sun. It is in darkness.
Six months later, the South Pole tilts to the sun and has constant daylight. Then the North Pole is tilts away. It has darkness.Where can you see the Midnight Sun?
How long can the period of sunlight last?
Why can we see the Midnight Sun?
When there is Midnight Sun in the North Pole?
What happens in the South Pole?
Little Tom down the street calls our dog "The keep dog". Zip is a sheep dog. But when Tom tries to say" Sheep"， it comes out "keep". And in a way Tom is right. Zip is always bringing things home for us to keep！ I'll tell you about some of them.
Zip's first present was a shoe. It was made of green silk.
We didn't know how Zip found the shoe. But after a moment Mary， my big sister， told me the shoe had a strange smell. I nodded（点头）and held my nose. "What do you think it is？"
"It smells like something for cleaning. I think someone tried to clean a spot （污点） off the shoe. Then he put it at the door to dry."
"Along came Zip. And good-bye shoe！" I said. "We should take it back."
"We can't ".said my sister.
"Maybe little Tom is right，" Mary said. "Maybe Zip is a keep dog！"The writer and Mary didn't know______.
| A．what Zip's first present was |
| B．how Zip carried its first present home |
| C．who owned Zip's first present |
| D．what Zip's first present was made of |
Tom calls Zip "the keep dog" because ______.
| A．the dog likes keeping things |
| B．the dog likes playing with shoes |
| C．he doesn't know the dog's name |
| D．he can't pronounce the word " sheep" well |
What made the shoe strange was ______.
| A．its color | B．its smell |
| C．its size | D．that it was a silk one |
The word "keep" in the last sentence means "_____"
| A．keeping things for itself |
| B．bringing things for other to keep |
| C．not letting it run about |
| D．taking care of a small child |
We can know from the reading that the dog _____.
| A．likes to give presents to people |
| B．has been kept in at the writer's home |
| C．has brought some trouble |
| D．likes to be called "the keep dog" |
Once Uncle Li went to town to buy some medicine for his wife. In the town he heard the apples in a city were expensive. He told Uncle Wang about it as soon as he went back. They decided to carry some apples to the city. They borrowed some money from their friends and bought nearly 1,000 kilograms of apples in the villages and carried them to the city on a tractor. Bad luck! A lot of apples has already been carried there when they arrived. A few days later they had to sell them at a low price (价格)。They felt unhappy and returned to their village. "I can't understand why we sustained (蒙受) losses in business while others always profit (盈利)" Uncle Li asked one day.
"The tractor was too small " Uncle Wang said without thinking. "We'll carry more apples on a truck next time!"
"I agree!" said Uncle Li. "How foolish (傻的) we were !"Uncle Li and Uncle Wang live in the low and broken houses because __________.
| A．they hope to save money |
| B．they're both poor |
| C．their farms are at the foot of the mountain |
| D．they're not far from their farms |
The two farmers carried the apples to the city to _________.
| A．make a journey | B．visit some places of interest |
| C．meet their friends | D．make a profit |
the tow farmers had to sell their apples at a low price because ________.
| A．theirs weren't as good as the others' |
| B．theirs were much less than the others' |
| C．a lot of apples had been already carried to the city |
| D．they forgot to carry them on a truck |
Uncle Li and Uncle Wang were unhappy because _________.
| A．they had sustained losses in business |
| B．they had lost some money in the city |
| C．something was wrong with the tractor |
| D．other people profited in the city |
Which of the following is true?
| A．The two farmers found out why they were poor. |
| B．The two farmers will soon get rich. |
| C．Neither of the farmers is clever. |
| D．The two farmers decided to buy a truck. |
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 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."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 |
| D．he liked a cup of tea |
Mr Brown wrote the words down on ________.
| A．the wall | B．the door |
| C．a piece of paper | D．his son's pocket |
A man came to visit the boy's father on ________.
| A．the second day | B．the third day |
| C．the fourth day | D．the fifth day |
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 |
| D．he couldn't find that piece of paper |
What was burnt? ___________.
| A．The piece of paper | B．Mr Smith |
| C．The visitor | D．The boy |
One day, I went to see my last patient, an old woman. In the doorway, I saw she was trying to put socks on her feet. I stepped in and spoke quickly to the nurse. I was almost in the clear that she was not in serious condition.
I asked, Could I help put on your socks? How are you feeling? Your sugars and blood pressure were high but they are better today. The nurse mentioned you’re anxious to see your son. He’s visiting you today. It’s nice to have a family visit. I think you really look forward to seeing him."
“Sit down, doctor. This is my story, not yours.” She said in a serious voice.
I was surprised as I helped her with the socks. She told me that her only son lived around the comer from here, but she had not seen him in five years. She believed that was the main cause of her health problems. After hearing her story and putting on her socks, I asked if there was anything else I could do for her. She shook her head and smiled. All she wanted me to do was to listen.
Each story is different. Some are detailed; others are simple. Some have a beginning, middle and end; others don’t have clear ends. Some are true; others not. Yet all those things do not really matter. What matter to the story teller is that the story is heard—without interruption(打断) or judgment(评价).
It was that woman who taught me the importance of stopping, sitting down and truly listening. And, not long after, in an unexpected accident, I became a patient. 20 years later, I sit all the time—in a wheelchair.
For as long as I could. I continued to see patients from my chair. I believe in the power of listening. How did the doctor know that the old woman’s son was visiting her?
| A．The doctor got it from her chart noting. |
| B．The old woman told him. |
| C．The woman’s son told him. |
| D．The nurse told him. |
What did the old woman think caused her health problems?
| A．Her son’s not seeing her. |
| B．No one listening to her story. |
| C．The medical care of the hospital. |
| D．The distance between her house and her son’s. |
When the patient told the doctor her stories, what she needed might be ___________.
| A．keeping smiling |
| B．interruption or judgment |
| C．being listened without interruption |
| D．communicating with each other |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．We should live far from our parents. |
| B．The doctors should take care of the patients. |
| C．We should try to be a good listener. |
| D．We should be brave and patient when facing difficulties. |