(完整版)初中英语阅读材料

1、the old cat an old woman had a cat. the cat was very old; she could not run quickly, and she could not bite, because she was so old. one day the old cat saw a mouse; she jumped and caught the mouse. but she could not bite it; so the mouse got out of her mouth and ran away, because the cat could not

2、bite it. then the old woman became very angry because the cat had not killed the mouse. she began to hit the cat. the cat said, do not hit your old servant. i have worked for you for many years, and i would work for you still, but i am too old. do not be unkind to the old, but remember what good wor

3、k the old did when they were young. a man was going to the house of some rich person. as he went along the road, he saw a box of good apples at the side of the road. he said, i do not want to eat those apples; for the rich man will give me much food; he will give me very nice food to eat. then he to

4、ok the apples and threw them away into the dust. he went on and came to a river. the river had become very big; so he could not go over it. he waited for some time; then he said, i cannot go to the rich mans house today, for i cannot get over the river. he began to go home. he had eaten no food that

5、 day. he began to want food. he came to the apples, and he was glad to take them out of the dust and eat them. do not throw good things away; you may be glad to have them at some other time the city mouse and the country mouse once there were two mice. they were friends. one mouse lived in the count

6、ry; the other mouse lived in the city. after many years the country mouse saw the city mouse; he said, do come and see me at my house in the country. so the city mouse went. the city mouse said, this food is not good, and your house is not good. why do you live in a hole in the field? you should com

7、e and live in the city. you would live in a nice house made of stone. you would have nice food to eat. you must come and see me at my house in the city. the country mouse went to the house of the city mouse. it was a very good house. nice food was set ready for them to eat. but just as they began to

8、 eat they heard a great noise. the city mouse cried, run! run! the cat is coming! they ran away quickly and hid. after some time they came out. when they came out, the country mouse said, i do not like living in the city. i like living in my hole in the field. for it is nicer to be poor and happy, t

9、han to be rich and afraid. a good boy little robert asked his mother for two cents. what did you do with the money i gave you yesterday? i gave it to a poor old woman, he answered. youre a good boy, said the mother proudly. here are two cents more. but why are you so interested in the old woman? she

10、 is the one who sells the candy. drunk one day, a father and his little son were going home. at this age, the boy was interested in all kinds of things and was always asking questions. now, he asked, whats the meaning of the word drunk, dad? well, my son, his father replied, look, there are standing

11、 two policemen. if i regard the two policemen as four then i am drunk. but, dad, the boy said, theres only one policeman! a monkey and a tiger today i am very happy to stand here, telling you a story:a monkey and a tiger .every one thinks the monkey is very small, but the tiger is strong.in this sto

12、ry little monkey uses his wisdow to bit the tiger. just remenber those who are weak can beat those who are strong. lets share the story. an old tiger lives in the forest. he does not want to look for food . he often tells other animals to bring him something to eat. one day he sees a monkey and says

13、, im hungry, monkey. go to the village and bring me a fat pig. oh, tiger, says the monkey. i cant do that now. there is another tiger over there. he also wants a fat pig. he will not let me get anything for you to eat. i am afraid of him. what? cries the tiger. show me that tiger. i will teach him a

14、 lesson . come with me, says the monkey. the monkey and the tiger get to a bridge over the river. now look down at the water, says the monkey. do you see the head, the white teeth and the big green eyes of a tiger? yes, i do, says the old tiger, i will eat him up! “grr ! so you told monkey not to br

15、ing me anything?!grrr i ll kill you!”with these words the tiger jumped into the river. he did not come out again. “ha,ha, ha! goodbye, mr tiger,” said the monkey and he went away .1 jeremy hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. everybody admires him for his great sense

16、 of humour - everybody, that is, except his six-year-old daughter, jenny. recently, one of jeremys closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. this is the sort of thing that jeremy loves. he prepared the speech carefully and went to the wedding with jenny. he had included a la

17、rge number of funny stories in the speech and, of course, it was a great success . as soon as he had finished, jenny told him she wanted to go home. jeremy was a little disappointed by this but he did as his daughter asked. on the way home, he asked jenny if she had enjoyed the speech. to his surpri

18、se, she said she hadnt. jeremy asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him! 【生词汇总】circle n. 圈子admire v. 赞美，钦佩close adj. 亲密的wedding n. 婚礼reception n. 招待会sort n. 种类【短语汇总】admire somebody for sth因某些事而崇拜某人laugh at嘲笑2 last christmas， the circus ow

19、ner， jimmy gates， decided to take some presents to a childrens hospital. dressed up as father christmas and accompanied by a guard of honour of six pretty girls， he set off down the main street of the city riding a baby elephant called jumbo. he should have known that the police would never allow th

20、is sort of thing. a policeman approached jimmy and told him he ought to have gone along a side street as jumbo was holding up the traffic. though jimmy agreed to go at once， jumbo refused to move. fifteen policemen had to push very hard to get him off the main street. the police had a difficult time

21、， but they were most amused. jumbo must weigh a few tons， said a policeman afterwards， so it was fortunate that we didnt have to carry him. of course， we should arrest him， but as he has a good record ， we shall let him off this time. versus prep. 对 (对抗的概念 ) christmas n. 圣诞节circus n. 马戏团present n. 礼

22、物accompany v. 陪伴 , 随行approach v. 走近ought modal verb. 应该weigh v. 重fortunate adj. 幸运的【短语汇总】set off出发3 in 1858, a french engineer, aime thome de gamond, arrived in england with a plan for a twenty-one-mile tunnel under the english channel. he said that it would be possible to build a platform in the ce

23、ntre of the channel. this platform would serve as a port and a railway station. the tunnel would be well-ventilated if tall chimneys were built above sea level. in 1860, a better plan was put forward by an englishman, william low. he suggested that a double railway-tunnel should be built. this would

24、 solve the problem of ventilation, for if a train entered this tunnel, it would draw in fresh air behind it. forty-two years later a tunnel was actually begun. if, at the time, the british had not feared invasion, it would have been completed. the world had to wait almost another 100 years for the c

25、hannel tunnel. it was officially opened on march 7,1994, finally connecting britain to the european continent. 【生词汇总】tunnel n. 隧道port n. 港口ventilate v. 通风chimney n. 烟囱sea level 海平面double adj. 双的ventilation n. 通风fear v. 害怕invasion n. 入侵，侵略officially adv. 正式地connect v. 连接european adj. 欧洲的continent n.

26、大陆【短语汇总】无4the internetwe are all busy talking about and using the internet, but how many of us know the history of the internet? many people are surprised when they find that the internet was set up (建立 ) in the 1960s. at that time, computers were large and expensive. computer networks didn t work w

27、ell. if one computer in the network broke down, then the whole network stopped. so a new network system ( 系统 ) had to be set up. it should be good enough to be used by many different computers. if part of the network was not working, information could be sent through another part. in this way comput

28、er network system would keep on working all the time. at first, the internet was only used by the government, but in the early 1970s, universities, hospitals and banks were allowed to use it, too. however, computers were still very expensive and the internet was difficult to use. by the start of 199

29、0s, computers became cheaper and easier to use. scientists had also developed software that made “ surfing” the internet easier.today it is easy to get online and it is said that millions of people use the internet every day. sending e-mails is more and more popular among young people. the internet

30、now has become one of the most important parts in people s life.5 a generous gifta woman was collecting money for a church charity. the money she collected was going to be given to poor children who had no parents to take care of them. she went from apartment to apartment and from house to house. sh

31、e knocked on doors and asked for money. she always said the same words. “ good morning, i m collecting for a church charity. please give generously. we need $5,000.” then she held out a collecting box. most people put a few coins in the box. an artist lived in one of the apartments. he opened the do

32、or for her. “ good morning,” she said. “ i m collecting for a church charity. please give generously. we need $5,000.”the artist thought for a moment, then he said, “ i m sorry, but i don t have any money. however, i ll give you a painting.a week later she called on him again. “ i m sorry to trouble

33、 you again,” she said, “ but we still need more money. i need another $100. can you help?”“ of course,” the artist said. “ i ll increase the value of my painting to $500.”6body languagesometimes people add to what they say even when they don t talk. gestures are the “ silent language” of every cultu

34、re. we point a finger or move another part of the body to show what we want to say. it is important to know the body language of every country or we may be misunderstood. in the united states, people greet each other with a handshake in a formal introduction. the handshake must be firm. if the hands

35、hake is weak, it is a sign of weakness or unfriendliness. friends may place a hand on the other s arm or shoulder. some people, usually women, greet a friend with a hug. private space is important to americans. when two people talk to each other, they stand two and a half feet away at an angle ( 角),

36、 so they are not facing each other directly. americans will get uncomfortable if a person stands too close. they will move back to have their own space. if americans touch another person by accident, they will say, “ pardon me,” or “ excuse me.”americans like to look the other person in the eyes whe

37、n they are talking. if you don t do so, it means you are bored, hiding something, or are not interested. but when you stare at someone, it is not polite. for americans, thumbs up means yes, very good, or well done. thumbs down means the opposite ( 反义词 ). to call a waiter, raise one hand to head leve

38、l or above. to show you want the check, make a movement with your hands as if you are signing a piece of paper. it is all right to point at things but not at people with the hand and index finger ( 食指 ). americans shake their index finger at children when they scold ( 责骂 ) them and pat (轻拍 ) them on

39、 the head when they admire them. learning a culture s body language is sometimes confusing ( 难以理解的 ). if you don t know what to do, the safest thing to do is to smile. 7the farmer, the son, and the donkeyone day a farmer and his son were on their way to a nearby market town to sell their donkey. as

40、they walked along beside the donkey, they met some young girls on the road. the girls began to laugh at them. “ don t you two look silly?” they said. “ both of you are walking, and one of you could be riding.” when the farmer heard this, he agreed. he helped his son get onto the donkey, and they con

41、tinued on their way. soon they passed two men standing by the roadside. “ just look at that!” said one of the two men. that poor old man is walking while his son is riding. the boy ought to be ashamed.” so the son got off the donkey, and his father climbed on and rode. they had not gone very far whe

42、n they came to some old women at a crossroad. one woman scolded (责备 ) the father. “ how dare you ride that donkey while that poor child has to walk. he must be exhausted.” so the farmer lifted the boy up beside him, and they both rode the rest of the way to town. when they finally arrived in town, t

43、hey passed a man who wanted to know if the donkey belonged to them. the farmer replied that it was their donkey. “ that poor animal is overworked,” said the man. “ the two of you could carry it far better than it can carry you!”so the farmer and his son got down. but they couldnt figure out how to c

44、arry the donkey. finally, the father had an idea. from a tree, he cut a thick branch to make a kind of carrying pole (杆). he tied the donkey s feet to the pole with rope. then, he and his son each carried one end of the pole with the frightened donkey hanging between them. by the time they reached t

45、he bridge, a noisy crowd stood around watching them. the crowd pointed and laughed loudly. all the noise and laughter frightened the donkey. it began to kick and pull at ( 用力拉 ) the ropes. soon it got loose and fell into the river below. since it couldn t swim, the donkey drowned. the farmer and his

46、 son felt very foolish. slowly they turned and started back home with no donkey and no money. moral ( 寓意 ): if you try to please everyone, you may end up pleasing no one. 8how can a rocket fly?rockets can fly far out into space. rockets made by the usa and russia with man inside them have already re

47、ached the moon. several rockets without man have been sent to other worlds much farther away. on nov. 7, 2007, china s first lunarprobe ( 月球探测器 ), chang e i, successfullycompleted its 1,580,000km flying journey to the moon. i am sure that you are asking: how does a rocket fly? if you want to know, g

48、et a balloon and then blow it up, until it is quite big. do not tie up the neck of the balloon, let it go. the balloon will fly off through the air very quickly. the air inside the balloon tries to get out. it rushes out through the neck of the balloon and this pushes the balloon through the air. th

49、is is how a rocket works. of course, the rocket is made of metal. the metal must not be heavy but it must be very strong. there is gas inside the rocket, which is made very hot. when it rushes out of the rocket, the rocket is pushed up into the air. the jet velocity ( 喷射速度 ) is always faster than th

50、e flying speed. we re sure that one day rockets with man may be able to go anywhere in space. 9 helping handsjane warner s husband, jack, was sent to prison for two years for stealing. while he was in prison, jane had a very difficult time. she had two children, but no job. her husband, of course, d

51、id not make any money either. the only money she had was a small amount from the government. “ i don t know how we will manage,” she wrote to her husband in prison. “ i get only enough money to pay the rent ( 租金 ). there isn t enough money for food. i think i ll have to plant vegetables in the garde

52、n. they ll grow quickly. we can live on vegetables.”the garden was quite large, and much of it was covered with grass. when jack warner received his wife s letter, he replied to her immediately. “ don t dig up the garden,” he wrote. “ that s where the money i stole is hidden.”all letters written by

53、the prisoners were read by one of the guards before they were mailed. when the guard read jack s letter, he took it to the head guard. when the head guard read it, he telephoned the police. he told them what jack had written to his wife. the police immediately went to jack s house. they took forks a

54、nd shovels ( 铲) with them. they dug up the garden, looking for the money, but they did not find anything. when they had gone, mrs. warner wrote to her husband. “ the police came today,” she wrote.“ they dug up all the grass. what should i do? ”her husband wrote back immediately, “ plant the vegetabl

55、es.”10 the golden touchthere once lived a king named midas who was very rich. he loved two things above all else: his little daughter and gold. the king had many rooms full of gold, but he wasn t satisfied. he wanted to possess even more gold.one day when the king was in his garden, an unknown visit

56、or came to him. he told the king that he could wish for anything he wanted. at first the king did not believe the stranger, but finally he was convinced (使信服 ). “ i wish to have more gold,” the king said. “ very well,” answered the stranger. “ you shall have your wish. from tomorrow, everything you

57、touch will turn to gold.”the next morning the king got out of bed early. he wanted to see if his wish had been granted. first, he touched a chair, then a flower, then a table. everything he touched turned to gold! the king was very happy. then, he sat down to eat breakfast. but as soon as he touched

58、 his food, it turned to gold. the king began to worry. what would happen if he couldn t eat anything?just then the little princess came into the dining room. she ran to her father. but as he touched her, she turned to gold. the king was sad and worried. he went out to the garden. as he was walking,

59、he saw the stranger again. the king begged him to take back the wish. “ i don t want any more gold,” he cried. the stranger warned the king to be sure this time. then, he agreed to take back the wish. from that day on, the king was a wiser and happier man, even though he had less gold. the king was

60、sad and worried. he went out to the garden. as he was walking, he saw the stranger again. the king begged him to take back the wish. “ i don t want any more gold,” he cried. the stranger warned the king to be sure this time. then, he agreed to take back the wish. from that day on, the king was a wis