re.
then, when he had a big crowd, the man held up a very small
bottle.
"and now, ladies and gentlemen, " he shouted. "here is the
medicine you have been waiting for. the cure for old age. drink
just one bottle of this and you will live forever."
"and, ladies and gentlemen," the man continued, "i'm not going
to charge you a hundred dollars a bottle for this wonderful medicine.
i'm not going to charge you fifty dollars a bottle. i'm not going
to charge you twenty4ive dollars a bottle. no, ladies and gentlemen,
i'm going to charge you just ten dollars a bottle. think, my friends,
for ten dollars you can live forever."
most of the people in the crowd did not believe this.
one person shouted, "if it will make you live forever, why don't
you drink it?"
then another person cried , "yes, you look as if you're at least
sixty years old. "
"thank you, sir, thank you," the man replied, "i'm so glad you
said that. my real age is three hundred and twenty nine. "
the crowd laughed at this but there were still a few people
who wanted to believe the man. one of them spoke to the man's
assistant as she passed by. "is that true," he asked, "that he's
three hundred and twenty-nine?"
“don't ask me," the assistant said, "i've only worked for him
for a hundred and fifty years."
notes:
(1) fair n.集市
(2) charge v.收钱；要价
(3) look as if 看上去
exercises:
根据短文选择正确答案：
1 what did the man sell at first?
a. a cure for colds
b. empty bottles
c. a cure for old age
d. a medicine that made people live forever.
2 why didn't the people believe the man was selling medicine
that could cure old age?
a. the medicine was too cheap.
b. the medicine was too expensive.
c. he looked quite old himself.
d. he didn't look honest.
3 how old did the man selling medicine say he was?
a. at least sixty
b. over three hundred
c. a hundred and fifty
d. he didn't say
4 how much did the man charge for the cure for old age?
a. one dollar a bottle
b. twenty-five dollars a bottle
c. ten dollars a bottle
d. fifty dollars a bottle
5 we can infer from the passage that_____ .
a. the man was very honest
b. the assistant was also very honest
c. the man was very stupid
d. neither the man nor the assistant was honest, for they were
cheating people
67.长生不老
一人在集市卖药。起先他卖一美元一瓶的治感冒的药。
很多人想买药，那人的年轻助手迅速穿行于人群中，一边收钱，一
边递药。
然后当围观的人多起来时，那人举起一个小瓶子。
“听着，女士们，先生们，”那人喊道，“这就是你们一直想要的
药。
消除衰老的药。只吃一瓶，就会长生不老。”
“女士们，先生们，”那人接着说道，“对这种神奇的药，我不打
算卖一瓶100 美元。我不打算卖一瓶50 美元，我也不打算卖一瓶25 美
元。我只打算卖一瓶10 美元。想想吧，朋友们，只花10 美元，你们就
能长生不老。”
人群中大多数人不相信他的话。
一人喊道：“如果这药能使人长生不老，你为什么不吃？”
接着另一人叫道：“是哇，你看上去至少60 岁。”
“谢谢，先生，谢谢，”那人回答，“我很高兴你这么说。我的实
际年龄是329 岁。”
听到他的话，人群中发出一阵笑声，但仍有几个人愿意相信他的话。
其中一人当那个助手经过时问她，“他已329 岁了，这是真的吗？”他
问。
“别问我，”助手说，“我只为他工作了150 年。”
68. diet tribe
mom was very proud that she'd lost ten pounds. on the way to
the store with my husband and me she talked of little else. we
dropped her off in the lingerie department, but when we returned,
we couldn't find her. thinking she might be in the fitting room,
i asked the saleswoman if she had seen my mother. "what does she
look like?" the clerk asked.
my husband said simply, "she just lost ten pounds.
"third door on the left." the woman replied with a smile.
notes:
(1) drop sb off 将某人送到（某处）
(2) lingerie n.女内衣
(3) fitting room 试衣室
exercises:
根据短文选择正确答案：
1 why was the mother very proud?
a. because her daughter was on a diet.
b. because she had lost ten pounds.
c. because her daughter had lost ten pounds.
d. because her son-in-law had lost ten pounds.
2 "she talked of little else" means_____ .
a. she almost kept silent
b. she talked about shopping all the time
c. she talked about her daughter for most of the time
d. she talked about her losing weight for most of the time
3 "we dropped her off" probably means_____ .
a. we pushed her out of the car
b. we ordered her to stay there
c. we left her by herself
d. we lost her because there were too many people
4 where did the daughter think her mother might be?
a. in the fitting room.
b. in the washing room.
c. in the dinning room.
d. in the next shop.
5 from this passage we can infer that_____ .
a. the mother talked to everybody she met about the success
of her diet
b. the mother was suffering from a mental problem
c. the mother should be taken good care of
d. the daughter and her husband did not treat her mother well
enough
68.节食族
妈妈为她减肥十磅而非常自豪。在和我们小两口一起去商场的路
上，她别无所谈。我们把她送到女内衣部，在那儿分手，但当我们回来
找她时，却找不见她。我想她也许会在试衣室，就问售货员是否见过我
母亲。“她长得什么样？”这位职员问。
我丈夫直截了当地说：“她刚减了十磅。”
“左边第三个门，”女售货员笑眯眯地回答。
69. stunning reply
my five-year-old son was not picking up his toys while i was
preparing dinner as i had asked him. when i inquired why he wasn't
doing his chores, he said that he did't feel like it. exasperated,
i said, "where would you be right now if i didn't feel like making
dinner?"
he thought for a moment and then