趣味英語閱讀:考你的推理能力大綱

Four friends live in a small town. Their names are John, Miller, Smith and Carte. They all have different jobs. One is a policeman, one is a cook, one is a farmer, and one is a doctor.

It's Tuesday afternoon. John's son breaks his leg and John takes him to the doctor. The doctor's sister is Smith's wife. The farmer isn't married. He has a lot of hens.

Miller often buys eggs from the farmer. The policeman sees Smith and Miller every day for they are neighbours.

Now who is the policeman? Who is the cook? Who is the farmer? Who is the doctor?

1. John is a _______.

A. doctor B. farmer C. policeman D. cook

2. Miller is a _______.

A. doctor B. policeman C. cook D. farmer

3. Smith is a _______.

A. farmer B. policeman C. cook D. doctor

4. Carter is a _______.

A. doctor B. policeman C. cook D. farmer

【答案與解析】這是一篇推理性文章，要求根據所給出提示，猜出各自的職業。

以上4題答案分別爲C、A、C、D。有一定難度，且需要一定的推理，現分析如下：

1. 因爲John 的兒子腿摔斷了要去看醫生，故可推知John不是doctor。

2. 因爲醫生的妹妹是Smith的妻子，故Smith不是doctor（否則兄妹結婚，不合情理）。

3. 由於 farmer 沒有結婚，所以 Smith 和 John 都不是farmer （因爲Smith 有妻子，John 有兒子）。

4. 因爲警察每天看到Smith，所以 Smith不是policeman。

5. 由以上分析可知，Smith 不是 doctor，也不是 farmer，也不是 policeman，所以只能是 cook。

6. 由於 Miller常從farmer 處買雞蛋，所以 Miller 不是 farmer。

7. 由以上分析可知，John, Miller 和 Smith 都不是 farmer，所以 Carter 一定是farmer。

8. 由於警察每天除看到 Smith 外，還看到 Miller，所以 Miller 不是警察。既然他不是警察，而且前面已分析出 Smith 是 cook，Carter 是 farmer，所以 Miller 一定是 doctor。

9. 最後剩下的 John 便是policeman。