Popeye the Sailor first became a popular cartoon in the 1930s.The sailor in that cartoon ate lots of spinach to make him strong. People watched him, and they began to buy and eat a lot more spinach. Popeye helped sell 33 percent more spinach than before! Spinach became a necessary part of many people’s diets. Even some children who hated the taste began to eat the vegetable.
Many people thought that the iron in spinach made Popeye strong, but this is not true. Spinach does not have any more iron than any other green vegetable.
People only thought spinach had a lot of iron because the people who studied the food made a mistake. In the 1890s, a group of people studied what was inside vegetables. This group said that spinach had ten times more iron than it did. The group wrote the number wrong, and everyone accepted it.
Today, we know that the little iron there is in spinach cannot make a difference in how strong a person is. However, spinach does have something else which the body needs—folic acid. It is interesting to point out that folic acid can help make a person strong. Maybe it was really the folic acid that made Popeye strong all along.
1.A good title for this reading passage is______.
A. Popeye the Sailor B. The Truth About Spinach
C. Mistake with Numbers D. Folic Acid Makes You Strong
2.Why did many people eat spinach after they saw Popeye the Sailor?
A. They thought spinach made them strong.
B. They thought Popeye was funny.
C. Spinach had a lot of iron.
D. People liked folic acid.
3. A research group told people that spinach______.
A. made Popeye strong
B. was a green vegetable
C. had less iron than other green vegetables
D. had more iron than other green vegetables
4. The reading passage says that perhaps Popeye got his strength from______.
A. iron B. folic acid
C. spinach D. exercise
5.Folic acid is ______.
A. something in food B. a vegetable
C. dangerous D. a certain kind of spinach
I remember as a small child people would often ask me, "What are you going to be when you grow up?"
Well, it being a cowboy or some super hero. Later it was a fireman, a policeman, a lawyer... As I grew older my dreams for the future . When, at last, I was in college, I had my set on becoming a preacher (牧师) like my father. I studied and prepared for that life. I reached the in the end and I was preaching full-time for much of my adult life.
However, for many, there is a “thief” that goes around stealing our . Sometimes, the thief will come as a parent, a relative, or a friend, but the thief is usually ourselves.
We find just about reaching the top, and a "small" inside says, “You’ll never make .""You can’t possibly do this." On and on the "small" voice our failure. Failure, though, is exactly how dreams are . It is one of the most important tools we have, because it teaches us invaluable (极宝贵的) . When we learn these lessons well, we are ready success.
The message I always gave my children was that you do anything that your heart desires. Remember the saying, “Nothing is to a willing heart." There are “overnight" successes, but with determination, they will come. Imagine yourself in the life you dream of . Then in your heart, believe it will happen to you. Then work, work, work. You’ll get the picture.
So, be true to your dream, and don’t let anyone it from you —especially yourself.
1.A. insisted on B. felt like C. started out D. kept on
2.A. failed B. changed C. planned D. left
3.A. eyes B. brain C. heart D. experience
4.A. But B. Or C. So D. Yet
5.A. agreement B. decision C. position D. aim
6.A. hardly B. slightly C. nearly D. extremely
7.A. money B. plan C. friends D. dreams
8.A. tallest B. greatest C. poorest D. oldest
9.A. ourselves B. yourselves C. themselves D. itself
10.A. sound B. voice C. noise D. speech
11.A. it B. him C. her D. me
12.A. expects B. predicts C. answers D. suffers
13.A. met B. defended C. understood D. realized
14.A. stages B. suggestions C. lessons D. choices
15.A. to B. for C. at D. with
16.A. used to B. are able to C. have to D. ought to
17.A. interesting B. impossible C. necessary D. important
18.A. many B. a few C. no D. some
19.A. living B. spending C. planning D. changing
20.A. buy B. fool C. borrow D. steal
— Would you care for a drink?
— No, thanks. I ___________.
A. would like to B. wouldn’t like to
C. would rather not D. prefer to have one
The cold smile on her face just kept us _______.
A. at a distance B. in the distance
C. in a distance D. at distance
When we were young, my brother and I stay at home waiting for our mother every evening.
A. would B. might C. should D. Could
Do you think that bridge ______ 2,000 meters long? It doesn’t appear ______ long.
A. measures; so B. is measured; so
C. is measured; such D. measures; much
