新牛津英语模块八第四单元课外趣味阅读及练习题
课外趣味阅读
幽默故事
Dickens and His Cat狄更斯與他的貓
Charles Dickens, the famous English novelist, wrote a great many books. He had a cat of which he was very fond. She was a fine Persian cat with pure white fur. One evening, as he was absorbed in reading one of his favorite books by a candle-light, the candle suddenly went out. He was surprised, but took a match, struck it, and lighted the and lighted the candle again, and once more sat down to read. You can imagine his astonishment when he again found himself in complete darkness. He looked around the room, lighted the candle again, and began to read once more. After a while he stopped and looked up. He saw that his cat was trying to put out the light with her paw. The cat’s intentions were quite clear to him-she wanted him to sto
p reading and play with her a while. Of course he did this, and besides he gave her some milk. The cat was quite contented. She went over and curled herself into a ball on the sofa to take a nap. Then Dickens continued to read, and this time pussy did not interrupt him again.
查尔斯·狄更斯,著名的英国小说家,写了很多书。他有一只猫,他非常喜欢。她是一位很好的波斯的猫与纯白的皮毛。一天晚上,当他全神贯注地读他最喜欢的书之一由一个烛光,蜡烛突然熄灭了。他很惊奇,但又一根火柴,击打它,点亮了蜡烛,点燃,又一次坐下来阅读。你可以想象他吃惊的是当他再次发现自己在漆黑。他四处打量着房间,点燃蜡烛,又开始读一次。过了一会儿,他停了下来,抬起头来。他看见他的猫正试图扑灭了光与她的爪子。猫的本意是想让他很清楚him-she停止阅读陪她玩一会儿。当然他这样做,而且他给了她一些牛奶。那只猫很满足。她走过去卷曲成一个球在沙发上小睡片刻。然后继续读狄更斯,这回小并没有打断他了。
Talking to a Fish與魚交談
One day a negro went to a fish shop to buy some fish for his dinner. He picked up a
fresh fish, and after examining it carefully, he held it up to his nose and smelled it. “Hey! What’s this?” cried the master of the shop. “Why do you smell that fish, do you think it,” answered the negro. “Then what were you doing with your face so close to the fish?” asked the master. “I wasn’t smelling the fish; I was only talking to it,” answered the negro. “Talking to it!” said the shopkeeper, why, what on earth did you say to it?” “I asked him if there was any negro. “Well, and what did the fish say to that?” asked the shopkeeper. “He said he didn’t know the latest news, because he had been away from the sea or more than three weeks.”
 一天,一个黑人去一条鱼商店去买些鱼吃饭。他捡起一个新鲜的鱼,而且经过仔细观察,他住他的鼻子并闻到了它。“嘿!这是什么?“哭了师父的商店。“你为什么闻那条鱼,你认为它答道:“黑人。“那么,你正在做什么,用你的脸很近的鱼?“问孔子。“我没有闻到鱼,我只是说,“回答了黑人。“跟它!”店老板说,为什么,你究竟为什么说呢?“我问他是否有任何黑人。“嗯,什么鱼说?“问店主。“他说他不知道最新消息,因为他已经离海边或超过三个礼拜。”
英语短文欣赏
寻自己Find Yourself
Who are we? That is the first question. It’s a question that’s almost impossible to answer.
我们到底是谁？这是我们要解答的第一个问题，是一个几乎回答不了的问题
But we all agree that one’s busy or daily self is not quite one’s real self. We’re quite sure that we’ve lost something in the course of just making our living.。
但是我们都同意这一点，那个每天在日常生活中奔忙的自己，并不是我们真实的自己。我们都很清楚，我们在为生计奔波的过程中失去了某些东西。
A crowd is watching a person running about looking for something in a field, and a wise man asks, “What has that person lost?” Someone may guess a watch, another a diamond ring. When everyone has guessed, the wise man who like everyone else there has no idea, says, “I’ll tell you one thing for sure. He’s lost some breath.”
当一人看着一个人在田野中奔跑着寻某个东西时，智者向他们出了一个谜题：“那个人到底丢失了什么？”有个人认为是一块手表，另一个人认为是一枚钻石戒指。其他人也有不
同的答案，智者也不知道那个人丢失了什么，但他却说：“我可以明确地告诉你们一件事，他丢失了一些生命力。”
And no one can deny that he’s right. The point is that we often forget our true selves in pursuit of things that are external1 to us, like a bird forgetting its own danger in pursuit of a mantis, which in turn forgets its own danger in pursuit of some other prey.
没有人认为智者所言是错的。其实我们经常在为生计奔波时忘记了我们自己，就像一只鸟在捕捉螳螂时忘记了自己的安危，相应地，螳螂在捕捉它的猎物时也忘记了自己的安危。
同义词趣味巧辨析
socks, stocking
这两个名词均表示“袜”之意。
socks : 指长不到膝的短统袜子。
stocking : 指长到膝或过膝的长袜，常用复数形式。

solve, resolve
这两个动词均含“解决”之意。
solve : 普通用词，含义广，指为有一定难度的问题到满意的解法或答复。
resolve : 主要指对问题或情况进行细微的分析或思索，以得出结论或解决途径。

soul, ghost, spirit
这些名词均含“灵魂，心灵”之意。
soul : 指超越身体之外，永远存在的无形的东西，即所谓灵魂，亦可作人解。
ghost : 普通用词，主要指死者的灵魂。
spirit : 当指与body相对而言的所谓灵魂时，可与soul互换使用，但强调人的精神素质，也指神仙、精灵等。
中学重难知识点回顾
Over短语1
all over
[中考]到处
run over
[中考]略读,略述,辗过,浏览,匆匆复习
come over
[中考]过来,顺便拜访
get over
[中考]克服, (从病中) 恢复过来
go over
[中考peer]复习,仔细地再读一遍
hand over
[中考]交出,移交,让与
knock over
[中考]撞倒,撞翻
over and over
[中考]再三,一遍又一遍
take over
[中考]接管,接办
think over
[中考]仔细考虑
turn over
[中考]翻车,翻阅,翻身
all over the world
[中考]全世界
gain/have an advantage over
[中考]胜过,优于
look over
[中考]检查,查看,调查
over there
[中考]在那边
all over the world/the country
[中考]全世界/全国 
over and over(again)
[中考]一再地,再三地 
move over to the table
[中考]到桌前就餐 
be all over
[中考]全场结束 
be over
[中考]结束 
over
[中考]克服；恢复；原谅 
across China = all over China
[中考]全中国 
push over
[中考]推倒,刮倒 
leave over
[中考]遗留,剩下,延期 
fall over one's feet
[中考]跌跤 
all over the world = the whole world
[中考] 整个 世界 
come over to
[中考] 过来 
on the phone = over the phone
[中考] 用电话交谈 
over and over again
[中考] 一遍又一遍的 
go over the lesson
[中考] 复习功课 
练习题
（一）
As you grow older, you’ll be faced with some challenging decisions—like whether to cut class or try cigarettes. Making decisions on your own is hard enough, but when other people get involved and try to pressure you one way or another it can be even harder. People who are your age, like your classmates, are called peers. When they try to influence how you act, to get you to do something, it’s called peer pressure.
  Peers can have a positive influence on each other. Maybe another student in your science class taught you an easy way to remember the planets in the solar system. Maybe you got others excited about your new favorite book, and now everyone’s reading it. These are examples of how peers positively influence each other.
  Sometimes peers influence each other in negative ways. For example, a few kids in school might try to get you to cut class with them; your soccer friend might try to convince you to be mean to another player and never pass him the ball.
  It is tough to be the only one who says “no” to peer pressure, but you can do it. P
aying attention to your own feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong can help you know the right thing to do.
  You’ve probably had a parent or teacher advising you to “choose your friends wisely.” Peer pressure is a big reason why they say this. If you choose friends who don’t cut class, smoke cigarettes, or lie to their parents, then you probably won’t do these things either, even if other kids do.
  If you continue to face peer pressure and you’re finding it difficult to handle, talk to someone you trust. Don’t feel guilty if you’ve made a mistake or two.
41. For whom is the passage most probably written?
  A. Students.      B. Parents.     C. Teachers.      D. Doctors.
42. In the last three paragraphs, the author mainly_____.
  A. explains why friendship is so important
  B. gives advice on how to deal with peer pressure
  C. discusses how peers influence us
  D. shows how to make more good friends
43. Which of following may help handle peer pressure?
  A. Spending more time with classmates.
  B. Taking up more relaxing hobbies.
  C. Choosing friends with no bad habits.
  D. Helping others who are in trouble.
44. What is the topic of the passage?
  A. Friendship.    B. Making decisions    C. Self-confidence    D. Peer pressure