綜合類：閱讀理解A Handful of History
1. The next time you do a card trick--remember this. Youre playing with history. The playing cards we use today are much like those used for hundreds of years. The most interesting things are the suits and face cards. A "suit" of a playing card is not a thing to be worn. It means Hearts， Spades， Diamonds or Clubs. The figures are placed on each card with the number or value of the card. The face cards are the Jacks， Queens， Kings， and， of course， the Jokers.
1、當你下一次玩撲克的時候，要記住這些。你正在與歷史進行游戲。今天我們用的撲克，幾乎與數百年前的撲克相差無幾。最有意思的東西是撲克里的“套”和“臉牌”。撲克中的“套”不是什么可以穿的東西。它意味著紅心、黑桃、紅方塊、或者梅花。牌面的數標志著牌的順序或價值。帶臉的牌是杰克、皇后、國王、當然還有鬼。
2. What do you think the suits stand for? Lets take the Hearts first. When you say that an athlete has a lot of heart， what do you mean? You mean that he is brave. So， you see， the King of Hearts is a "brave king".
2、你認為“套”代表什么意思?讓我們先看紅心。當你說一個運動員有很多心，你到底想表達什么意思?你的意思是他很勇敢。因此，你看，紅心國王是勇敢之王。
3. Look at the design of the Spade on a card. The word "spade" comes from the Italian word which means “sword”. With a little imagination， you can see the handle and the blade. Of course， the blade has been made much shorter on the card.
3、看看牌面上黑桃的設計。英語“spade”這個字來自意大利語，意思是刀劍。只要有一點想象力，你就能看到柄和刀刃。當然，牌面的刀刃被做的非常短。
4. The diamonds and Club designs also have interesting stories. The Diamond design is one that you probably know already. It stands for the expensive gems that you and I have seen in jewelry stores. At first it stood for the rich traders who found and sold such gems. The Club looks a little like a three-leaf clover design. Its shape came from a French design with three leaves. It has the lowest rank of the suits.
4、紅方塊和梅花的設計同樣含著很有意思的故事。關于鉆石的圖案是一個你可能已經知道的東西。它代表你和我都曾在首飾店看見過的珍貴的珍寶。首先它代表了制作和出賣這樣的珍寶的富有的商人。梅花看上去有點像三葉草的圖案。它的形狀來自一個法國的三片樹葉的圖案。它在套牌里排序最低。
5. Now you see how some suits of playing cards have more value or power than others. The face cards are usually powerful in any card game. The King is one of the strongest. There are four different Kings， and each one stands for a real person. The King of Hearts first meant Charlemagne. He lived about 800 years after the birth of Christ. He was one of the most powerful kings in Europe after Julius Caesar of Rome. Julius Caesar， by the way， is the King of Diamonds.
5、現在你看到了為什么一套牌的價值或力量大于另外一套牌。在任何一個撲克游戲里帶臉的牌往往威力更大。國王(K)是最強的一個。這里有四個不同的國王，每一個都代表著一個真實的人。首先紅心國王代表查理曼大帝，他生活在耶穌誕生后800年后。他是羅馬朱利葉斯·愷撒之后，歐洲最強大的國王。順便說一下，朱利葉斯·愷撒是紅方塊國王。
6. We must go further back in history to find out the names of the two other kings. The young Alexander the Great of Macedonia is the King of Clubs and King David is the King of Spades. David is the person who killed the giant Goliath. When someone talks about a David and Goliath， he means that a smaller， or weaker， person is trying to fight a very large and strong enemy. David beat Goliath and became a king. He probably never thought that he would have a place in playing cards.
6、我們要想找到其它兩個國王的名字，必須退回到更久遠的歷史里去。梅花國王是大馬其頓王國年輕的亞歷山大，國王大衛是黑桃國王。大衛是殺死巨人歌利亞的人。當某個人談到大衛和歌利亞，他的意思是一個小個的人，或弱者正在打敗一個非常高大和強壯的敵人。大衛戰勝了歌利亞成為國王。他可能從來沒有想到他會在撲克牌里有一個位置。
7. We must go back to the Bible and the times of David again to find two of our queens. Rachel was a famous woman in the Bible. She is the Queen of Diamonds.
7、我們必須再次回到圣經(BIBLE)和大衛王的時代去找兩個王后。拉結是圣經中的著名女人。她是紅方塊王后。
8. Remember that the heart stands for bravery. A very brave woman is the Queen of Hearts. That was Judith， who killed an enemy general.
8、應該還記得心代表勇敢。一個非常勇敢的女人是紅心王后。紅心王后是朱迪絲，她殺死了敵人的一個將軍。
9. When Alexander the Great was a general， one of the important woman goddesses was Athena. She stood for wisdom. Athena is the Queen of Spades.
9、當偉大的亞利桑德拉還是將軍時，雅典娜是一個重要的女神。她代表智慧。雅典娜是黑桃皇后。
10. Queen Elizabeth I of England is thought to be the Queen of Clubs， She ruled England when America was mostly a wilderness.
10、英國的伊利沙白一世女王一般認為是梅花王后。在她統治英國的時代，美國幾乎還是一片荒野。