Right is right. Right? Of course. But is left wrong? Well, the Romans used to think so. They thought left-handed people were mistakes of nature. Latin, the language of the Romans, had many words that expressed this view. Some words we use today still have this meaning. The Latin word “dexter” means “right”. The English word “dexterous” es from this word. It means “handy” (clever with hands). So, right is handy. But the Latin word for left is “sinister”. The English word “sinister” es from this word. Sinister means “evil” (very bad). Is it fair to call right-handed people handy and left-handed people evil? Well, fair or not, many languages have words that express such beliefs. In old English, the word for left means “weak”. That isn’t much of an improvement over “evil”.
Not very long ago, children were often forced to write with their right hands. Doctors have since found that this can be very harmful. You should use the hand you were born to use.
People who use their left hands are just starting to get better treatment. But why they get all these bad names in the first place? One reason may be that there are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people. There is one left-handed person for every five right-handed ones. People who are different are often thought to be wrong. But attitudes do seem to be changing. Fair-minded right-handed people are finally starting to give left-handed people a hand.
【小题1】What does the passage lead us to believe when one writes?A．He can only use his right hand.B．He can only use his left hand.C．He can use either his left hand or his right hand.D．He can use both his left hand and his right hand.【小题2】The last sentence of this article means .A．Fair-minded right-handed people want to change the habit of the left-handed peopleB．Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to help the left-handed peopleC．Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to use left hand to write and so onD．Fair-minded right-handed people are starting to give up using their left hands【小题3】 After we read the article we can certainly know that .A．left-handed people have been treated poorlyB．the number of the left-handed people is larger than that of right-handed peopleC．right-handed people are much cleverer than left-handed peopleD．left-handed people are less smart but hardworking【小题4】Which of the following is NOT right, according to the article?A．At one time, left-handed people were forced to use their right hands.B．Left-handed people today are being treated better than those in the past.C．There are not as many left-handed people as there are right-handed people today.D．“Dexterous” es from Latin, means “evil” and English “sinister” means “handy”.C
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(答案→)C
解析：
本文介绍人们对left-handed与right-handed不同的看法和态度。
【小题1】推断题。根据文章第2段最后一句医生的建议You should use the hand you were born to use可推知此题的答案为C。
【小题2】根据短语give sb a hand 的意思是“帮某人的忙”，可推知此题的答案为B。
【小题3】推断题。根据文章第1段对left的解释及第2段第1句讲强迫小孩用右手，可推知此题答案为A。
【小题4】细节题。根据文章第1段中的 The Latin word “dexter” means “right”. The English word “dexterous” es from this word. It means “handy” (clever with hands). So, right is handy. But the Latin word for left is “sinister”. The English word “sinister” es from this word. Sinister means “evil” (very bad) 可推知此题答案为D。