中考真题分项汇编 第3期 专题23 阅读理解（人物或故事类）

【福建省厦门市2015年中考英语试题】阅读下面五篇文章，根据文章的内容选择最佳答案作答1-5小题。
A
Two men were going through a forest.
“I am afraid,” said one, “that we may meet with wild animals” “Fear nothing, friend Quickwit,” cried the other, whose name was Braggart. “If they come at us, we shall stand by one another like men. I have a strong arm, a strong heart, and-”
“Hark!” cried the first in fear, as a low sound was heard from somewhere nearby, Braggart, who was light and nimble, climbed up a tree like a squirrel(松鼠), leaving his friend, who was not so active, to face the danger alone! Quickwit could do nothing but throw himself on the ground and pretended(假装) to be dead; for he had heard that bears would never touch a dead body. In no time the bear camp up to him, sniffed(用鼻子吸气) at him. Quickwit did not dare to move; and the bear, thinking him dead, went off into the wood again, leaving him quite unharmed!
When Braggart saw that the danger was over, he came down from the tree and tried to pass off the matter with a joke. “Well, my friend Quickwit,” he said, “what did the bear say to you when he put his mouth close to your ear?”
“He told me,” replied Quickwit, “never again to trust a man who talks big like you!”
The correct order of the following events is____.
a. Two men were going through a forest
b. Quickwit threw himself on the ground.
c. Braggart climbed up a tree like a squirrel.
d. A low sound was heard from somewhere nearby.
A. a,b,dc B. a,d,c,b   C. d,a,c,b
The underlined word “nimble” is closest in meaning to “____”.
A. nervous     B. crazy           C. active
The bear left Quickwit because it ____.
A. was hit by Braggart
B. felt pity for him
C. thought he was dead
We can learn from the passage that ____.
A. a true friend reaches for your hand
B. a friend to all is a friend to none
C. a good friend is a good listener
The best title for the passage would be ____.
A. A Fight Between Two Travelers
B. The Travelers and the Bear
C. A Kind-hearted Bear

【福建省漳州市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解(A、B、C、E篇：每小题2分，D篇：每小题1分．计45分)
A、B、C篇：根据所提供的内容，从四个选项中选择最佳答案。
B
For ten weeks, in a great house on the island of St Thomas , John C. Lilly tried to teach a six-year-old dolphin to speak English Margaret Howe, an experiment (试验) helper, would live day and night with Peter, a dolphin. And they would eat, bathe, sleep and play together from Sunday to Friday, with only Saturdays off for Margaret. She lived her 1ife in swimming clothes -- with a coat on colder evenings --- and cut her hair short so that she could get on with Peter more easily.
After a few days, Peter was becoming more and more interested in winning her attentions. He threw a ball against her shower towel to get her to play. As time went by, he only wanted to play ball with her and not on his own.
The problem was that, just at the time Peter and Margaret began to get on well just as two best friends, the experiment ended and the lab was closed. After a few weeks, Margaret received the sad news that Peter had killed himse1f by refusing to breathe, and sinking to the bottom of his pool.
Dolphins may not speak English --- but, just like humans, they know all about broken hearts.

Peter is the name of________
A. a doctor        B. dolphin
C. a scientist      D an experiment helper
Margaret worked days_____a week during the experiment..
A. four        B five          C six            D seven
To live with the dolphin, Margaret couldn't _______.

The ending of the story was that _________ .
A. Margaret didn't leave the lab
B. the lab was closed and the dolphin died
C. the dolphin could speak English at last
D. Dr John C. Lilly was satisfied with the experiment
From this passage, we can learn that __________.

【福建省漳州市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解(A、B、C、E篇：每小题2分，D篇：每小题1分．计45分)
A、B、C篇：根据所提供的内容，从四个选项中选择最佳答案。
D
It's very common to meet different people in public places.
When I was 12, I got a job in a shop. On my first day at work, I didn't come home for lunch. _____,Dad asked' "Where did you manage your 1unch, dear? " I answered, "I made some new friends in the shop, twin brothers, their mom and dad They were my customers. ___________________. "
Dad was happy had made new friends., but he wanted to know what kind of people they might be.
Several days later, I asked my friends to come to the shop where I worked and let Dad meet them .Dad was very surprised to find out that the twin brothers were joined at the chest. _________.
When Dad asked me about this, I said "I know that, too. But do you know that their mom has to make al1 clothes because it's too difficult to find anything to fit them? _______ . That day, Joe, the one on the right, made me noodles for lunch . "
________ .But to me, what I cared about was that they had difficulty buying clothes and they were good cooks.
把A—E五个选项填人文中空缺处，使短文内容完整、正确。

【广东省茂名市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（共20小题, 每小题1分, 满分20分)
阅读下面文章，根据文章内容，从每小题所给出的A、 B、 C、 D四个选项中选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
One morning, Mr Black was driving in the country and looking for a small hotel. When he saw an old woman on the side of the road, he stopped his car and said to the old woman, “I want to go to the Sun Hotel. Do you know it?”
“Yes,” the old woman said,“I will show you the way.” She got into Mr Black’s car and they drove about twelve miles. When they came to a small house, the old woman said, “stop here!” Mr, Black stopped and looked at the house.“But this isn’t a hotel.” He said to the old woman.
“No”the old woman answered, “This is my house. And I'll show you the way to the hotel. Turn round and go back nine miles. Then you’ll see the hotel.”
Where did Mr Black want to go?

What’s the relationship between the two persons?

How far was it from the old woman's house t othe Sun Hotel?
A About nine miles.               B. About twelve miles
C.About three miles               D. About twenty-one miles
Which of the following is NOT true?

The writer wrote the story in order to       .

【广东省茂名市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（共20小题, 每小题1分, 满分20分)
阅读下面文章，根据文章内容，从每小题所给出的A、 B、 C、 D四个选项中选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
B
As a young man, Tom was a famous artist with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son was ill. Tom and his wife thought it was nothing serious. But the boy died suddenly that night..
After his son died, Tom always felt very sad. To make matters worse, his wife also left him later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son, Emie. Sadly, he turned to alcohol(酒) for help.
As time went by, Tom began to lose everything he had---his land, house, etc. A few months later, Tom passed away alone in a small bar. Hearing of Tom's death, I thought,“What a complete failure!”
But later, I began to change my earlier opinion. I knew Tom's now adult son, Emie. He is one of the kindest, most caring men. I saw the love between Emie and his children. And I thought that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.
One day, I asked him what made him become such a specia1 person. Emie said quietly, “My father came into my room every night, give me a kiss and said,“love you, son.”
Hearing his words, I understood everything. Tom didn't leave many things behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love.
How many sons did Tom have?

What did the writer think of Tom when he heard of his death?

What happened to Tom's wife later?

Where did Emie's kindness and caring come from?

Finally, the writer thought
A Tom was a good father.
B. Tom was a rich father.
C. Tom was a careless father
D. Tom was a badfather.

【广东省茂名市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（共20小题, 每小题1分, 满分20分)
阅读下面文章，根据文章内容，从每小题所给出的A、 B、 C、 D四个选项中选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
D
The crowd at the airport rushed forward. The passengers had been waiting for a couple of hours for an airport worker to open the door leading to the plane outside. No one was in a good mood. An old man got stuck in the middle of the rush, He fell down and his head hit the hard floor. B1ood came out of his head. He appeared to be
unconscious. Everyone rushed past him, except for Dana. She called for help.
A minute later, a young airport worker showed up. Hardly looking at the old man, she told Dana to get on her plane. She said the old man would be okay, and walked away.
Dana cried for help. Another airport worker appeared. He told Dana to get on the plane. Dana said that she was not moving until an ambulance(救护车) arrived. The worker said her plane would leave without her. Dana said that she didn't care.
An ambulance with a doctor and a nurse finally arrived. They put him into the ambulance and drove off.
On her way out to the plane, which was still refueling(加油), Dana saw the worker who didn't care about the old man at the very beginning. The worker said, “You're lucky the plane didn't leave without you.”
“The plane?” Dana asked.“Who cares about the plane? How could you be so cold? That was an old man; he could have been your grandfather! How would you like it if everyone just stepped over your grandfather and went on their way?”
In the first paragraph, the passengers were

The underlined word “unconscious” means             in Chinese.

According to the passage,          of the airport workers cared about the old man.

Dana finally            .

What did the writer think about the accident?

【贵州省六盘水市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解。（共4篇文章，共40分）
1）阅读短文，根据短文内容，从所给的A.B.C.D.四个选项中选出最佳选项。（3篇短文，共15小题，每小题2分，计30分）
B
Once upon a time, there were two seeds(种子）. They were good friends. They often talked with each other when they were free. One day, they had nothing to do . They lay on the ground. They looked up at the sky and had a chat with each other.
The first seed said, “I want to grow! Then I can enjoy the sun and the rain!” Later, it grew. It had a chance to enjoy the sun and the rain.
The second seed said, “I am afraid of growing up. If I grow, I have to live in the soil. Little animals may come up to me and eat me. How terrible! If I become a beautiful flower, a child will come and pick me. It is much better for me to wait. It’s a dangerous way to be alive.” It did nothing and refused to grow.
Spring came soon. A duck came up to the seeds. It eat the second seed and went away. See? We shouldn’t act like the second seed. We should face our life bravely.
There are     seeds in the passage.

What did they do one day?

The first seed wanted to grow because

In the third paragraph, the underlined word “soil” means

From the passage, we should

【河南省2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（20小题，每小题2分，共40分）
阅读下面四篇语言材料，然后按文后要求做题。
A
Once a king got two nice falcons(猎鹰)from his son. He had never seen such beautiful falcons before. He loved them so much and he ordered the best falconer to train them to fly.
After several months, the king came to see how the training was going on. He found that one falcon had already been able to fly high in the sky, while the other was staying on the branch(树枝) of a tree quietly, just keeping still.
The king called all his falcons together and ordered them to try every way they could to make the other falcon fly. But none of them succeeded. One day, while the king was taking a walk in the forest, an idea came to his mind. Maybe someone who knew the natural environment well could solve this problem. He spent for a farmer who lived in the forest into his palace to train it at once.
The next morning, the king saw the other falcon flying above in the sky freely. “ it is unbelievable !” shouted the king. How could you make it happen?”
The farmer replied,“It’s very easy. I just cut off the branch where the falcon rested.”
It is always the same to human beings. We all have “two flying wings” in our hearts as well, but we often seem not to notice them and stay where we just for safety and comfort. We won’t realize we can fly so high and freely until the “branch” we are resting on breaks.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。
What did the king do after he got the two falcons?

Why did the king call all his falconers together?

Who finally made the other falcon fly freely in the sky?

How did the king feel when he saw the other falcon fly freely in the sky?

What is the best title for the text？

【黑龙江省哈尔滨市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（本题共20分，每小题1分）
(A)
Tom was a college student. He often made excuses not to attend classes. Also, he spent much of his free time playing computer games. He never went to the library to study.
How time flew! At the end of the term, there was one important event that he was afraid of – the final exam. "What should I do?" Tom walked up and down in the room the day before the exam. He was keyed up. Suddenly, he thought of an idea.
The next morning, Tom went into the exam room very early. He found a young man who looked so confident and took a seat next to him. "Hey your" Tom greeted. "What?" The young man asked.
"Can you do me a favor?" Tom begged(恳求), "Please let me copy your paper(试卷)during the exam. I have to depend on you!" When hearing his words, the young man just smiled but said nothing.
When the bell rang, the young man stood up immediately and came to the front, saying,  "     Now I will hand out(分发)the papers to all of you and collect them in one hour." Tom sat there with his mouth wide open.
根据短文内容选择最佳答案。
The underlined word "keyed up" most probably means _     .
A. satisfied        B. nervous         C. brave
Tom walked up and down in the room the day before the exam because
A. he liked studying in the library
B. he wanted to take exercise
C. he was worried about the coming exam
When Tom was in college,          .
A. he studied very hard
B. he didn't always attend classes
C. he spent little of his free time playing computer games
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Tom was confident, so he went into the exam room late.
B. There was a final exam at the end of the term.
C. Tom wanted to copy someone else's paper during the final exam.
"       " can be the missing sentence in the passage.
A. It is time for the final exam！
B. Tom wants to copy my paper!
C. I am fond of the exam！

【江苏省淮安市2015年中考英语试题】 阅读理解（共15小题；AB两篇每小题2分，C篇每小题1分，满分25分）
A
One Sunday evening, it was quite dark when old Stanley went for his walk. He was walking along the sidewalk, Suddenly, he saw a white car coming around the corner at high speed. It was going too fast and crashed into a red car in the street where he was walking. He rushed up to the cars to see if anyone was hurt and needed help.
The two drivers were arguing.
“You came around the corner too fast,” one man said.
“No!” said the driver of the white car, “That’s not true! Your car was parked in a wrong place.”
Stanley listened to their argument and then said the white car driver was wrong to drive too fast. The driver of red car asked Stanley to prove he was right in court(法庭). Stanley gave the driver his name and telephone number.
Next Thursday morning, Stanley was asked to go to the court. The lawyer(律师) for the driver of the white car asked him a lot of questions about what he had seen. Then he asked Stanley how old he was.
“I’m eighty-two,” answered Stanley.
“Do you usually wear glasses ?” asked the lawyer.
“Yes, I do,” answered Stanley.
“Were you wearing them on the night of the accident?” the lawyer asked.
“No,” replied Stanley.
Then the lawyer said, “Why should the court believe you? You are eighty-two years old, you were not wearing your glasses, and it was dark. How far can you see in the dark?”
Stanley thought about it for a minute. “Well,” he said, “when it’s dark, I can see the moon. How far is that?”
The car accident happened ___________.

The cause of the accident is that ______.

Stanley was asked to go to the court because _________.

Maybe the red car driver contacted Stanley by ______.

We can learn from the story that ________.

【辽宁省丹东市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解
（根据短文内容，从每个题的四个选项中选择一个最佳答案，并将符合题意的选项用2B铅笔涂在答题卡的相应位置上。每小题1分，共20分）
Passage 2
Bill, Frank, Dave and Tom were brothers. Every year they sent their mother expensive gifts on her birthday. They liked to show her how rich they were.
The eldest brother, Bill, had lots of money and wanted his mother to have the most expensive gift, but he didn’t know what to buy. So he put an ad in the newspaper, “Wanted—the greatest gift for my mother”.
About a week before his mother’s birthday, a man came to his office. He brought a big bird, this bird can speak foreign languages and sing pop songs. The man made the bird talk in French and tell a joke in Japanese. Then the bird sang a beautiful song. The next day, Bill sent the bird to  his mother with a birthday card.
The day after his mother’s birthday, he called his mother, “Well, mother,” he asked, “what do you think of the bird?” “Oh, it’s very delicious, dear.” said his mother.
Bill put an ad ________ to find the greatest gift.

What could the bird do?

The next day, Bill sent the bird to his mother with ________.

We can infer (推理) ________.

The best title (标题) for this passage is ________.

【陕西省2015年中考英语试题】阅读下面B、C、D三篇短文，从各小题所给的四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的一个最佳答案。（共10小题，计15分）
C
A story happened when the telegraph（电报）was the fastest method of long-distance communication. One day, a young man went to an interview for a job as a Morse code operator（莫尔斯电码报务员）.
Answering the ad in the newspaper, he went to the office address. When he arrived, he walked into a large, busy office filled with noise, including the sound of the telegraph. An office worker asked him to wait until he was called to go into the inner office. Seven other people were already in the waiting area for the interview. The young man sat down and waited with them. After a few minutes, the young man stood up, crossed the room to the door of the inner office, and walked right in. Naturally the other people wondered what was going on. They were sure that the young man made a mistake and would be refused.
A few minutes later, however, the boss came out of the inner office with the young man and said to the other people,“Gentlemen,thank you very much for coming, but the young man has got the job.”
The other people were surprised, and one of them said, “Wait a minute. I don’t understand. He was the last to come in, and we never even got a chance to be interviewed. Yet he got the job. That’s not fair!”
The boss said, “I’m sorry, but all the time you’ve been sitting here, the telegraph has been sending out the following message in Mores code: ‘If you understand this message, then come right in. The job is yours.’ None of you heard it or understood it. This young man did. The job is this.”
The young man got the information about the job from        .

What was the office like?

How many people went fot the job interview that day?

The young man was offered the job because        .

【陕西省2015年中考英语试题】阅读下面B、C、D三篇短文，从各小题所给的四个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的一个最佳答案。（共10小题，计15分）
D
The eagle has the longest life of its group. It can reach up to 70 years. But to reach this age, the eagle must make a hard and painful decision.
When an eagle reaches near 40, its short sharp beak becomes bent（弯曲的）. Its long and once flexible（灵活的） talons can no longer catch animals or birds for food. And its old and heavy wings with thick feathers on its body make it difficult to fly.
Then, the eagle has only tow choices: to die or to go through a painful time of change which needs five months.
When the eagle feels weak and is about to die, it goes to a place far away on the top of a mountain and sits on a nest. For a new life, the eagle knocks its beak against a rock until it pulls its beak out. After pulling it out, the eagle waits for a new beak to grow. And then it pulls out its talons and old feathers. It takes the eagle five months to complete its change and get a new life. We can call it its rebirth. So it can live for 30 more years.
Like the eagle, we human beings sometimes need to make some change to get out of our difficulty. In miserable condition, we have to change our ways of life. The changing may be very painful. But sometimes we have to throw off our old habits, memories and traditions. We can’t go on with all our past burdens（重负）.

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

The underlined word“miserable” here probably means“      ”.

The best title for the passage can be“         ”.

【四川省乐山市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（共两节，满分 40 分）
第一节（共 15小题；每小题 2 分，满分 30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的几个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
B
My mother only had one eye. I never wanted her to show up at my school.
One day during primary school, I was terribly ill. My mother came.
“Your mom only has one eye!” yelled some of my classmates. I wished my mother would have just disappeared (消失).
“If you embarrass (使……尴尬) me, why don’t you just die?” I shouted at her, taking no notice of the sad look on her face. My mother just handed me some medicine and left without saying anything.
At that time, I didn’t think I had hurt her feelings very much. That night I saw my mom crying in her room. Even so, I hated her tears from one eye. I made a decision: I must study hard and leave my mother.
Years later my dream came true. I was quite successful. I never thought of going back to see my “ugly” mother until one day I got a letter.
“My son ，I’m sorry I only have one eye. When you were little, you got into an accident and lost your eye. As a mom, I couldn’t stand watching you live with only one eye. So I gave you mine.
I was never angry with you and I never regretted it because I love you.”
I cried out aloud. Only then did I realise how beautiful my mother was!
Why didn’t the writer want his mom to show up at his school?
A. Because he thought she was ugly.
B. Because his mom couldn’t see anything.
C. Because his classmates didn’t like her.
From the underlined word “shouted” in Paragraph 4, we learn that at that time the writer was very _____.
A. nervous B. angry C. excited
That night, the writer decided to _______.
A. ask his mom never to go to his school
B. take good care of his mom from that time
C. work hard and stay away from his mom
The writer’s mom lost one eye because _______.
A. she used it to save her son’s sight
B. she had a serious car accident
C. she was born with only one eye
The story is mainly about _______.
A. the difficulties on a boy’s way to success
B. a naughty boy’s experience of growing up
C. a mother’s great love for her son

【四川省南充市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读短文，从题中所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
B
Amy had three sons, Dave, Bill and Bob. Every year her sons sent her expensive gifts on her birthday.
The eldest son Dave, had a lot of money and he wanted his mother to have the most expensive gifts, but he didn’t know what to buy. So he put an ad in the newspaper. “Wanted—the greatest gift for my mother.”
About a week before his mother’s birthday, a man came to his office. He brought a big bird.
“This bird can speak six languages and sing eight songs.” the man said.
“Really?  I’d like to listen to it,” Dave said.
The man made the bird talk in French and tell a joke in Japanese. Then the bird sang a beautiful song. Dave was very happy and paid eight thousand dollars for the bird. The next day Dave sent the bird to his mother with a birthday card.
The day after his mother’s birthday he called his mother. “Well, mother” he asked, “What do you think of the bird?”
“Oh, it’s very delicious, dear.” said his mother.
         is the eldest brother?

What did Dave put in the newspaper?

How many songs could the bird sing?

How much did the bird cost Dave?

How did the mother deal with the bird?

【浙江省丽水市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下面四篇短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。B
He was an old man who fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy’s parents had told him that the old man was now salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone with another boat which caught three good fish the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man come in each day with his boat empty. The sail looked like the flag of failure forever.
The old man was thin with deep wrinkles (皱纹) in the back of his neck. His face was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars (伤疤) from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.
“Santiago,” the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea. “I could go with you again. We’ve made some money.”
The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.
“No,” the old man said. “You’re with a lucky boat. Stay with them.”
“But remember how you went eighty-seven days without fish and then we caught big ones every day for three weeks.”
“I remember,” the old man said.
“It was papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him.”
“I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.”
“He hasn’t much faith (信心).”
“No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?”
“Yes,” the boy said. “Can I offer you a beer on the Terrace?”
“Why not?” the old man said “Between fishermen.”
In the story the old man was the boy’s _____.

The word they in Paragraph 2 refers to (指的是) _____ of the old man.

The old man refused the boy to go fishing with him again because _____.

From the story we can know that _____.

【浙江省温州市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（本题有15小题，每小题2分，共30分）
阅读下面的短文，从每小题所给的A.B.C.D四个选项中选出最佳答案。
C
The village of Hengly was going to have the Bean Olympics.It was a competition to see which kind of bean would grow the fastest and tallest.Everybody was excited.They couldn’t waited to show their best plants.
Cassie knew clearly which bean she would choose for the competition,for her family had planted a special “family bean.”It was a flat bean that her greatgrandparents had brought from Sicily.Her grandmother planted the beans every year and served them at many meals.Cassie was sure they would be unbeatable beans.
However,the plan did not work out that way.Although Cassie’s bean plants looked healthy with beautiful purple flowers,they did not grow as fast or climb as high as any of her neighbors’.These people chose beans from seed(种子)stores.Their beans had wonderful names like “Rocket” or “Top Crop.”One type was even named “King’s Bean.”That was the bean Ivan planted,and his plants climbed almost to the top of the fence.Cassie’s plants were just near the middle of the fence.
On the day of the competition,Cassie was disappointed that her beans were in last place.Ivan laughed at hr beans and said she could win a prize for the slowest,shortest beans.
The organizer,Mr.Williams,handed out medals for the fastest-growing and the tallest beans plants.“Now there remains only one final test,and it is just as important:the taste test.”
Mr.Williams cooked the beans from each competitor and chose five experienced villagers as judges(裁判).
Cassie was nervous.Would her family beans lose another time?
After the judges tasted the beans,Mr.Williams counted the results.“We have a winner,” Mr.Williams announced.“The judges all agree that Cassie’s beans are the winner.”
Cassie grinned at this unexpected result.Many of her neighbors,even Ivan asked for her seeds.They were all in favor of the good-tasting beans even though they didn’t grow fast or very tall.

Cassie’s beans were from _____________.

Cassie won the prize for ____________.

What does the underlined word grinned probably mean in the passage?

What is the topic of the passage?