阅读理解。
Although it's foolish to smoke, fifty million people in the United States still do that. Most of them
want to give up smoking, but smoking is a habit that is not easy to break. Luckily, thirty-five million
Americans have stopped it.
Frank used to (过去常常) smoke a lot. He started to smoke when he was 16. Many of his friends
were doing it, and it made him feel like a grown-up. His parents told him that he was making a mistake,
but he didn't listen to them. When he joined the football team in the United States, he stopped smoking,
but then he started again.
A month ago, he had a pain in his chest and stomach. "The pain isn't too bad. I'm sure it will go away
and I'll be fine. I probably eat too much," he told his wife, Helen. But it didn't go away and they both
began to worry. Frank called the doctor. The doctor told him that Helen should drive him to the hospital
right away. They examined his heart, took a chest X-ray, and kept him in the hospital overnight (一整夜).
The next day his doctor read the X-ray report. He told Frank that he was okay, and that he could
be back to work after a few days' rest. But he advised him to stop smoking. Frank and Helen were very
happy. They were afraid that they were going to get bad news.
Since Frank stopped smoking, he has been feeling better. He doesn't cough in the morning the way
he used to. His house and car don't have smell of smoke, and his wife and children are breathing cleaner
air.
l. Today, the number of smokers in the United States is _____ it used to be.
A. larger than
B. smaller than
C. as large as
D. the same as
2. Frank started to smoke when he was _____.
A. a football player
B. fifteen years old
C. with many of his friends
D. sixteen years old
3. What was wrong with Frank a month ago?
A. He ate too much.
B. He had a pain in his chest and stomach.
C. He stayed in the hospital overnight.
D. He took a chest X-ray.
4. —In the hospital, why did they think they might get bad news?
—Because _____.
A. Frank smoked a lot for a long time
B. he was kept in the hospital overnight
C. the pain didn't go away quickly
D. all of the above
