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Fast Reading
The
New World
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In the eighteenth century young
ladies in Italy were taught reading, writing, music and arithmetic.
But their knowledge of history and geography was very poor.
(1)Once the French ambassador
in Rome was giving a ball
to which many important people were invited. The Italian
Minister of Foreign Affairs came very late. A young lady, who
was well acquainted
with him, saw him enter the ball-room and asked why he
was so late.
"You see, "said the Minister, "there has been a little accident
at the King's palace."
The curious young lady asked the Minister to tell her what
had happened at the King's palace.
"Oh, nothing important," answered the Minister. "The ambassador
of Brazil, who was to be
presented
to the King, forgot to take his credentials
with him and was obliged to go back to his hotel to bring them.
(2)If he had left them in Brazil we should
have had to wait at least six months for them."
"Is Brazil so far from Rome?" asked the lady, who knew very
little geography.
"It is in the New World, " said the Minister.
"In the New World?" repeated the lady in great astonishment.
"Yes, in the New World," answered the Minister in a sarcastic
tone, "which was discovered by Christopher
Columbus."
When the young lady heard this, she rushed into the middle
of the ball-room and shouted as loud as she could:
"Ladies and gentlemen, have you heard the latest news? A new
world has just been discovered by a
certain Christopher Columbus."
Chinese translation
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Comprehension
Exercise 
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Key
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| 1. b 2. d 3. b 4. a 5. a 6.a
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1. The Italian foreign minister
came to the hall very late because ____
a. he had had something to do at home
b. he was delayed by a little accident
c. someone was hurt in the King's palace
d. he was reluctant to come to the ball |
2. What happened at the
King's palace?
a. The King was late; the Brazilian ambassador had to wait
for him.
b. The ambassador left his credentials in Brazil.
c. For some reason the ambassador had to go back to Brazil.
d. The Brazilian ambassador forgot to take his credentials
with him. |
3. In this passage, the
word "credentials" means ________.
a. a letter of introduction
b. papers showing one has a right to exercise official power
c. an official invitation
d. secret documents |
4. Where did the ambassador
leave his credentials?
a. In the hotel.
b. In his office.
c. In Brazil.
d. In Rome. |
5.The reason why the young
lady shouted her announcement was that _
a. she wanted to broadcast the surprising news
b. she was the hostess of the ball
c. she was well acquainted with the Minister
d. she had never heard about Columbus |
6. Her announcement showed
she was ________.
a. ignorant
b. clever
c. thoughtless
d. knowledgeable |
Sentences:
1. Once the French ambassador in Rome was
giving a ball to which many important people were invited. This
is a complex sentence in which there is an attributive clause
---to which many people were invited（这是一个复合句，从句to which many
important people were invited是定语从句）. "Which" as the
prepositional object of attributive clause restricts the meaning
of the word ball.(which作为定语从句的介词宾语限制ball这个词).
2. If he had left them in Brazil we should
have had to wait at least six months for them. This is a subjunctive
mood sentence (这是一个虚拟语气句，表示与过去的事实相反).
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