Britain’s oldest man made his first visit to London yesterday at the age of 101. Mr John Evans had never found the time or money to make the trip from his home in Forest – fach, near Swansea. But, when British Rail offered him an all – expense – paid birthday treat to the capital he just could not refuse.
He arrived at Paddington Station and smartly turned out in his best suit, favorite Panama hat and a red rose in his buttonhole. “It’s very exciting. There’s no doubt about it,” he said.
Until yesterday he had never been far from home, except for one trip to Aberdeen. “But I’ve been on the seas to that faraway land called Ilfracombe 21 miles from home,” he joked.
Mr Evans, who spent 60 years working as a miner in South Wales, almost made the journey to London once before, at the turn of the century. “There was a trip to the White City but it was ten shillings return from Swansea – too much I thought. All my money went to the family then,” he said.
During the next two days Mr Evans will be taken on a short tour of London to see the sights. Top of his list is a visit to the House of Parliament organized by his MP, Mr Gareth Wardell.
The only arrangement he does not care for is the wheelchair provided for him if he gets tired. “I don’t like the chair – people will think I am getting old,” he said. His secret for a long and healthy life has been well publicized – no wine, no tobacco and no anger.
Before setting off from Swansea with his 76 – year – old son, Amwell, he said jokingly, “I’m glad to see they’ve given me a return ticket.”
【小題1】The very reason that Mr. Evans didn’t go to see the world is that                .

It was the training ______ he had as a young man _____ made him such an excellent speaker.

35．Notice for the moment was ____________of the arguments about Korea’s launching their man-made satellite. Two weeks saw no agreements       in UN.

The child complained that the old man made no answer when         where he lived．

In 1986, when Monty Reed was a member of the Army Rangers (黑鷹突擊 隊(duì)), he had an accident. "It was a night jump, and we were jumping low," he recalls. "We were training. Somebody got too close to my parachute (降落傘)."The parachute below blocked Reed’s air and his parachute failed to open. Reed crashed a hundred feet to the ground, breaking his back in five places.

The next morning, Reed could not move. "Doctors said it was likely that I would never walk again." Reed stared out of his hospital window, wondering what the future would be like. It was the saddest moment of his life. "The experts are telling me my body doesn’t work! What am I supposed to do?" he thought.

To distract (轉(zhuǎn)移注意力) himself, he picked up a book: Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. The science-fiction describes a set of man-made muscles that would allow people to carry 2,000 pounds. He thought that if he could build something like that, it might be able to lift him out of his wheelchair. So he began his project and finally succeeded in building a set of robot legs. Several years later, he made an amazing recovery and was able to get up and walk away from his wheelchair. He even jumped out of an airplane again to celebrate.

Reed wanted to do something for others with the second chance that life had given him. He has now perfected the robot legs that can get the injured, the elderly and the paralyzed (癱瘓的) out of their wheelchairs. Now he has started his own company to make the legs. "I’ve seen them compete in marathons and go swimming and mountain climbing," he said. "So never give up!"

1.Monty had an accident in 1986 because_______.

A．his feet hit the ground too hard

B．his parachute was under another person’s

C．a(chǎn)nother person’s parachute stopped his from opening

D．he was training to jump at night

2.Monty started to read Starship Troopers to ______.

A．create a new kind of wheelchair for himself

B．discover how to make man-made muscles

C．learn how to jump out of an airplane

D．stop himself from thinking about his pain

3.Which of the following is TRUE about Monty?

A．He didn’t lose heart in the face of difficulty.

B．He is fond of reading science fiction.

C．He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

D．He didn’t believe what the doctors said.

4.We can learn from the passage that Monty’s goal is to ______.

A．become a famous writer like Robert Heinlein

B．return to the Army Rangers and continue with his jumps

C．compete in games and marathons and go swimming

D．help more patients in wheelchairs to recover