阅读理解。
Have you heard about the woman who put her wet dog in the microwave (微波炉) to dry it, and ended up
cooking her dog by mistake? Or did you hear about the man who died at his desk at work, and nobody in the
office noticed he was dead for five days? These stories have two things in common. They both are not true,
and they both are urban legends (传闻).
Usually, legends are stories of events from long ago. Urban legends, on the other hand, are stories in the
recent past, perhaps even last week! Urban legends are that there are many different versions (版本) of the
same story, with local information changed to make the story seem more real. Today, the Internet has become
a common way for urban legends to spread very quickly.
A good example of an urban legend is the story of the girl who was killed by her jeans. In the 1980s, it was
popular to wear very tight jeans. At that time, Levi's sold special jeans that shrank (缩水) when you washed
them. According to the story, a girl wanted to make her jean as tight as possible, so she wore them in the water.
Unluckily, they shrank so much that the girl died. In fact, this legend came from a Levi's advertisement on TV.
In the TV ad, a man stepped into the water and his tight jeans became the right size.
However, some stories that sound like urban legends really come from real events. For example, there is a
story about muggers (抢劫者) using snakes to rob people. There have been real reports about this. The muggers
hold a snake in a person's face and then take the person's money. According to the legend, these muggers are
very common, so you should keep an eye out for (密切注意) strangers carrying snakes.
1. What's the main idea of the passage? [ ]
A. It tells readers some surprising stories.
B. It tells readers what urban legends are.
C. It tells readers how to make up urban legends.
D. It tells readers a TV ad.
2. The passage tells us that urban legends _____. [ ]
A. usually take place in the country, or in small towns
B. have the same version in different places
C. none of them come from real events
D. are immediately known because of the Internet
3. What happened to the girl in the jeans story? [ ]
A. She shrank.
B. She played a part in a TV ad.
C. Her jeans became too small.
D. A man stepped into the water, too.
4. Which story in the passage really happened? [ ]
A. The dog in the microwave.
B. The dead man in the office.
C. The girl killed by her jeans.
D. The muggers using snakes.
