More than 700 years ago, Scotland (苏格兰) was fighting with England. The King of England wanted to1Scotland. He had a strong army so it was2for the Scots to fight. They lost many times. King Robert of Scotland had to run from the English army.
One rainy day, King Robert lay in an old house. He thought that he was not good enough to be the king. He was so3that he didn't even see a spider (蜘蛛) near him. He4when he saw the spider climbing. It was trying to climb up to its web at the top of the house, but it fell down.
"How sad!" thought King Robert. "The spider is like me. It's not5enough." He watched while the spider climbed up again, It fell down a second time.
"Be careful, little spider, or you might die," he said. "Life is so hard. You'll never get back to your web. But the spider6again and again. King Robert watched while it7climbed back to its web. After an hour, the spider got to the web.
"You' re such a great8," he said. "If you can keep trying, I can too. I must keep on fighting. I won't let the English win." His9grew strong and they10the English army. Scotland was free.
Nobody knows if this is a true story. Many parents tell it to their children because they want them to keep trying.
make for be made of run over go straight to when to start |
Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world's population is left-handed.
Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person's two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the left hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person's hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.
No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn't happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene (基因) for right-handedness, he / she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.
Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don't have to.
