The engineer
I’m afraid the task
—Andy
7 . It was the cleaning day for the family. John and his mom were busy cleaning the house. They cleaned upstairs, downstairs, inside and outside until everything was clean. Then, John’s mom noticed an old chair. That worn chair was for John’s grandpa.
“John, come and help me.” John’s mom said. “We’ll take the chair to the curb (路边). The garbage truck is picking up on our block tomorrow.”
As they tried to move the chair, John’s grandpa saw what was happening. “No!” He cried. “You can’t take my chair.” “But it’s so old…” John’s mom argued. “We’ll buy you a new one.”
“No,” he insisted, trying to push his chair back into place.
John’s mom finally let go of the chair and left the room. Slowly, the old man sat into his chair and closed his eyes.
“Grandpa, why won’t you let us throw away the chair?” John asked.
“You don’t understand, John.” His grandpa shook his head and said, “I sat in this chair with your grandma right here when I asked her to marry me. And I sat in this chair the night your father was born. Many years later,” stopped for a while, Grandpa continued, “I sat in this chair when the doctor called and told me that your grandma was ill. I was lost without her, but the chair gave me comfort and warmth.” The old man’s voice changed as he recalled that fateful day.
“I understand now.” John looked at his grandpa and said, “this is not just an old chair. It is more like a friend.”
“Yes,” he nodded. “We’ve gone through a lot together.”
However, that night, when John and his grandpa were asleep, John’s parents carried the chair outside. It was a starless night. Snow fell silently from the black sky and covered grandpa’s chair in a blanket of white.
The next morning, John was woken by the garbage truck pulling up to the house. He run downstairs and found the snow-covered chair stood helplessly at the curb, about to be pulled away. “Wait! Stop!” John yelled and rushed outside. The large noises were suddenly stopped. He then ran back inside and cried, “Mom, you can’t throw out grandpa’s chair. It is like a loyal friend that has witnessed the most important moments in his life!”
Hearing this, John’s mom looked at grandpa and slowly walked towards him, “I’m sorry…I just didn’t realize how much it meant to you.” Together they carefully moved away the snow on the chair, heaved it back inside and placed it next to the fireplace to dry. John’s mom stepped back, as if seeing the chair for the very first time. “Mm…I guess it does give the room a certain touch of character,” she murmured. Everybody laughed. Love does have magic, as they put it.
1. The underlined part “that fateful day” refers to the day when ________.| A．father was born | B．the couple fell in love with each other |
| C．grandma was terribly ill | D．grandpa asked Grandma to marry him |
| A．ashamed | B．crazy | C．surprised | D．nervous |
| A．Throw or Keep? | B．Grandpa’s Old Chair |
| C．Forget or Recall? | D．Grandpa’s Loyal Friend |
8 . Have you ever had trouble sleeping in a new place?
Lots of people do. And now researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island think they know why. They found that one-half of the brain “remains more awake” than the other half when people are trying to sleep in a new place.
The findings were reported in Current Biology by Brown University. In their report, the researchers said many people report they have a harder time sleeping the first night at a hotel or other places outside their home. They call it “first-night influence”. In Japan they say, “If you change your bed, you can’t sleep,” said Yuka Sasaki, one of the report’s writers. “You don’t sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it.”
The researchers measured brain waves (测量脑波) for 35 volunteers over two nights in a laboratory. The two nights were a week apart (间隔).They found during the first night the left half of the brain was more active than the right half. This was during the first deep-sleep period, the researchers said.
Sasaki said a lot of questions remain.
Researchers did not keep measuring brain waves all night long. So, they don’t know if the left half keeps “watch” all night, or whether it “works in shifts (轮换) with the right half later in the night”. They also do not know why the brain activity, at least during the first period of deep sleep, is always on the left half.
For some, this research may be calming. It is good to know that our brain is “looking out for us” in a new place. But it may not help with sleep. That brain activity, at least according to this new research, makes it harder to get the people to have a good rest when they need to wake up in the morning.
1. How many times did the researchers measure brain waves for 35 volunteers?| A．Once. | B．Twice. | C．Three times. | D．Four times. |
| A．the brain waves remained the same | B．the brain activity helped with sleep |
| C．the right half of the brain kept “watch” | D．the left half of the brain was more active |
| A．What we will have to do to sleep well. | B．How researchers measure brain waves. |
| C．Why it’s harder to sleep in a new place. | D．Who doesn’t sleep well in a new place. |
—That’s true! A series of new policies (政策) have ________ the use of new-energy cars.
| A．pushed in | B．pushed for | C．put out | D．put through |
— It’s getting late. I really ________ go now. I have promised to be home by 8 o’clock.
| A．mustn’t | B．can | C．must | D．can’t |
