最新沪教版英语九年级上册-U1-U8-Reading-原文(含习题)

Unit1 Archimedes and the golden crown

One day in ancient Greece, King Hiero asked a crown maker to make him a golden crown. At first, he was very happy with it.

"It's a nice crown, isn't it?" he asked his men. Later, however, he began to doubt that it was a real golden crown. "Is it made completely of gold?" he wondered. He sent it to Archimedes and asked him to find out the truth.

"This problem seems difficult to solve. What should I do?" thought Archimedes.

Archimedes was still thinking about this problem as he filled his bath with water. When he got into the bath, some water ran over.

"That's it!" shouted Archimedes. "I know how to solve the king's problem!"

Archimedes went straight to the palace to see the king. First, he weighed the crown and asked the king for some gold of the same weight.

Next, he put two pots into two big bowls and filled both pots with water. He put the gold into one pot, and some water ran into the bowl. Then he put the crown into the other pot. This time, even more water ran into the bowl.

"Look at this," said Archimedes to King Hiero. "A crown made completely of gold displaces less water than a crown made of gold and another metal. This crown displaced more water than gold of the same weight, so I'm certain that it's not completely made of gold."

"The crown maker tricked me, didn't he? What a bad man he is!" Shouted King Hiero. He then sent the crown maker to prison.

C Vocabulary

C1 Here are some sentences from the story. Do you know the meanings of the words in italics? Circle the correct answers.

1 Later, however, he began to doubt that ...

a feel sure

b not feel sure

2 This problem seems difficult to solve.

a write down

b find the correct answer

3 ... as he filled his bath with water.

a made ... full

b emptied

4 Next, he put two pots into two big bowls ...

a deep round dishes

b flat dishes

5 A crown made completely of gold displaces less water ...

a a little

b a smaller amount of

C2 Complete the story below with the words from the box. Change their forms if necessary.

Certain fill real seem solve truth

One day, two women came to King Solomon with a baby boy. Both women said the boy was their son. No one knew which woman was telling the .

King Solomon ordered a soldier to cut the boy in half, and divide the boy between the two women.

The first woman said, "Go ahead. That' fair." However,the second woman was with fear. "No!" she shouted."Don't kill him! Let the other woman have him."

King Solomon stopped the soldier. "Give the boy to the second woman," he said. "I'm