Question

Thomas Edison was an American inventor. When he was 7 years old, his mother had anappendectomy(闌尾切除手術(shù)). But it was too dark. So Edison put mirrors(鏡子)near oil lamps (油燈) to light up the room

The story is in a Chinese textbook for primary school students by People’s Education Press(人民教育出版社). Perhaps many of you have read it before. But the publisher (出版社) recently said itwill cut out this story. That’s because many people think it’s not true. Many believe that the world’s first appendectomy was in 1886. But when Edison was 7, it was 1854.

The publisher also said it will not use some other stories. For example, there’s a story about the first US President George Washington. The story says young Washington cut down a cherry (櫻桃) tree in the yard of his house. But in fact, there was no cherry tree in the area at that time

So what’s the problem? Experts (專家) say that some editors (編輯) care too much about the educational meaning of stories, without checking if the story is true first.

The publisher says, in the future, they will pay greater attention to the truth of the stories in the textbook. “We will invite experts to check our stories,” it said in a statement.

1.The textbook said Thomas Edison________.

A.was the inventor ofmirrors

B.did an appendectomy for his mother at the ageof 7

C.helped light up the room during her mother’sappendectomy

2.When was Thomas Edison born?

A.In 1847. B.In 1854. C.In1879.

3.Why will the publisher cut out George Washington’s story?

A.Because nobody should make stories about a president

B.Because it’s wrong for a president to cut down trees.

C.Because the story is not true.

4..What is the problem of some editors?

A.They will pay greater attention to the truth of the stories in the textbook

B.They care too much about the educational meaning of stories

C.They don’t like checking if the stories are true.

5.What will the publisher do in the future?

A.They will ask experts to check if stories are true.

B.They will pay more attention to the educational meaning of stories.

C.They will invite experts to write stories for textbooks.

Answer 1