小学英语110篇英语阅读理解短文（九）

小学英语110篇英语阅读理解短文（九）

　　Passage 78. Two thieves

　　Mike was taken to the police station and put in a room with another thief， an older man. This man looked at Mike and said， ”Why have they brought you here?” ”I stole a small radio one day after my lessons，” said Mike. The man laughed rudely at Mike. ”You should steal something which is worth a lot if you want to be a thief. You ought to steal something really valuable， which you can be proud of， so that your name is put in the newspaper. Go and steal a lot of money from a bank next time!” Mike thought for a few seconds and then said， ”I can‘t do that.” ”Why can‘t you?” said the old thief.” Are you afraid?” ”No，” said Mike. ”I am not afraid， but the banks all close at three o‘clock， and my lessons don‘t finish till four.”

　　Passage 79. A Giant Kite

　　David always liked kites. When he became eighteen， his father gave him a giant kite. It was so large that he thought it could carry him up into the air.

　　David tied a rope from the kite to a boat. He grabbed onto the kite and told the person in the boat to start pulling. Soon David was gliding through the air.

　　The boat pulled David and his kite for four hours. When the boat stopped， David splashed into the water. He said that it had been a lot of fun.

　　Passage 80. Once a year

　　Tom finished school when he was eighteen years old. He wanted to work at a bank in the city. He went to the bank and asked for work there.

　　A man took him into a small room and gave him questions on a piece of paper. Tom wrote the answer on the paper in a hurry. The man looked for a few minutes， and then said， ”Was your birthday on the 12th of December， Tom?” ”Yes， sir.” Tom said. ”What year?” the man asked. “Oh， once a year， sir. ” Tom said.

　　Passage 81. A new Diet

　　Alma and her mother were walking home when a small dog began following them. There was a note tied to the dog‘s collar. Alma read the note， it said， ”My name is Lady. My owner cannot keep me. May I be your pet?”

　　Alma showed the note to her mother. ”May I keep the dog?” she asked. The puppy looked like a nice dog. Mother said that they could keep it. Alma and Lady were happy. Alma had a new pet， and Lady had a new home.

　　Passage

　　82. The Frog That Changes color

　　Birds live in trees. Squirrels live in trees. But do you know that some frogs live in trees， too?

　　The tree frog is hard to find. This frog can change color. On green leaves， it stays green. On a brown branch， it turns brown. Some tree frogs can change from green to gold or blue.

　　Tree frogs have legs and wide feet. They have sticky pads at the ends of their toes. These sticky toe pads keep the tree frogs from falling. Tree frogs have different colors and markings on their skin. Their eyes are different， too. Some green eyes， some gray. Some frogs‘ eyes are gold， and some are bright red.

　　The sounds they make in spring and summer are different， too. One frog makes a sound like a dog barking. Another frog makes a loud noise like a snore. There is even a frog that whistles!

　　Passage 83. The City of San Francisco

　　San Francisco is a beautiful American city. It lies on the western coastline of the United States. It has lovely views and beautiful scenery. The Golden Gate Bridge， for instance， is a beautiful place to visit. Every day， thousands of people come to visit and enjoy its views.

　　San Francisco is a hilly city. The lovely hills in the middle of the city make it the most attractive place. Many people walk up and down the hills， and some of the visitors also like to drive on the paths. They can see more places then. There are also visitors who like to take cable cars. They can get a better view of the city while the cars are moving along the tracks.

　　Besides the Golden Gate Bridge and the hills， Chinatown is also a place worth seeing. Every day many people come to visit Chinatown. Some of them are coming to taste Chinese food， Others are coming for Chinese articles. You can buy wonderful Chinese objects in Chinatown.

　　Passage 84. Benjamin Franklin

　　Benjamin Franklin liked to study and learn about new things. One day he heard a friend say that something black in color absorbs the heat better than something white in color. Franklin wanted to see if this was true.

　　There was snow on the ground at that time. So he put two large pieces of cloth on the snow. One piece of cloth was black in color， while the other was white. Then he waited.

　　The sun began to shine. After several hours， he looked under the pieces of cloth. He saw that the snow under the black cloth melted much faster than the snow under the white cloth.

　　Franklin made many other experiments and made some discoveries. He also took an active part in politics， and he was a very famous American statesman. He was one of the earliest important writers in America. His autobiography was successfully and interestingly written.

　　Passage 85. Stop writing

　　It‘s true that the English people are a nation of animal lovers. Charles Dickens， a famous writer， had a cat. The cat was very fond of his master. He didn‘t like to see Dickens working too hard. At night， when the cat wanted to say ”stop writing” to his master， he often put out Dickens‘ candle with his paw.

　　Passage 86. The Robots

　　Robots are becoming a big part of our lives. There may be half a million robots in the U.S 20 years from now. These machines are changing the way of work that is being done. Thousands of robots are used in factories. These robots are not like the robots in movies. They don‘t walk or talk. Instead， a robot may be just metal arm. The robot arm can do a certain job in a factory over and over again. it can do jobs that people may not want to do. A robot never gets tired of doing the same thing. Sometimes a robot gets to do more exciting work. In Canada， police are using a robot on wheels. This robot‘s job is to take apart bombs that may go off.

　　Passage 87. A Broken Mirror and Bad Luck.

　　Will you have bad luck if you break a mirror? Many people believe this. There is an old story about breaking mirrors.

　　Long ago， people happened to see their faces in ponds and lakes. Some people were frightened. ”That must be my soul，” a person would say.

　　The mirrors were made of shiny metal. Later， people used glass mirrors. They were careful not to break them. Breaking a mirror would harm the soul. That is how a broken mirror came to mean bad luck.

　　The bad luck is supposed to last for seven years. You may not believe this story. You may have no bad luck with mirrors. But you should handle mirrors carefully. A broken mirror could cut you.

　　Passage 88. Hair and Beard.

　　Lucy always wanted to become a teacher， because she liked children. When she was twenty-one years old， she began teaching in a small school. She was a good teacher， and she laughed a lot with the children in her class. They enjoyed her teaching.

　　One day， one of the girls in her class asked her， “Why does a man’s hair become grey before his heard does?” Mary laughed and answered，

　　“I don’t know， Helen.” Then one of the boys said， “I know! Man’s hair becomes grey first because it’s sixteen years older than his beard.”