Chinese people call the Spring Festival“Nian”. But do you know that Nian
was once the name of a monster(妖怪)?
　　A long time ago, the monster Nian lived in the mountains. It ate
animals. But in winter, it could not find food. So it came to villages and
ate a lot of people. People were so afraid of Nian that they locked their
doors before evening came during the winter. One day, an old man came to a
village. He told people there that Nian was afraid of three things——the
color red, fire and noise. He told people to play drums and gongs, make
big fires and set off fireworks(放鞭炮)to make Nian go away.
　　On a moonless, cold night, Nian went to the village again. As soon as it
opened its big mouth, people made loud noises and made fires. Nian was
really afraid and ran away. wherever it went, there was noise and fire.
When Nian was tired and could not run anymore, people killed the monster.
　　After that, on the coldest day of winter, people beat drums and gongs,
and set off fireworks to celebrate the death of the monster of Nian. They
put up red lanterns and have a big dinner without sleeping during the
night.
　　In the morning people greet each other happily. So now we have the
Spring Festival.
【小题1】 From the story, Nian seemed to be       long, long ago.
A exciting    B  interesting    C boring   D terrible
【小题2】 The monster Nian ate people in winter because it          .
A  wanted to make people afraid    B  had no food to eat
C  celebrated the Spring Festival    D liked to eat people in a village
【小题3】Nian was afraid of          .
A red    B fire   C noise    D  A, B and C
【小题4】 The monster Nian wasn’t killed until          .
A it had eaten all the animals  B  the old man came to a village
C it was too tired to run away  D people knew what it was afraid of
【小题5】 What is the best title for the passage?
A How the Spring Festival Came  B What People did During Nian
C How People Celebrated Nian  D What the Spring Festival was 

 After her husband had gone to work, Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too _26_ to do any housework that morning, _27_ in the evening she was going to an interesting fancy dress party with her husband. What she __28_ was a terrible genie（妖怪）and as she had made that special dress of hers the night before, she was anxious to try it on. __29__ the dress was just a big piece of old cloth which was red, green, black and white, it would be very effective to make her like a red genie. After putting it on, Mrs. Richards went downstairs happily. She wanted to find out __30__ it would be comfortable to wear.

　　Just as Mrs. Richards was entering the dining-room there was a __31_ at the door. She thought that it __32 be the baker. She had told him to come straight in if she _33__ to open the door and leave the bread on the kitchen table. Now not wanting to _34__ the poor man, Mrs. Richards quickly __35_ in the small storeroom under the stairs. She heard the front door open and a man came in. When Mrs. Richards  _36_ that it was the man from the electricity board（供电局）who had come to read the meter, she walked out of the hiding-place on a sudden and tried to explain the matter, saying with a smile, “It's only __37_! It is not __38_ for you to be __39_ !” But it was too late. The man let out a sharp cry and jumped back several paces. Then he ran away, __40__ the door behind him with great force and noise.

1.A. angry   B. ready    C. frightened     D. excited  

2. A. for      B. but       C. so              D. and  

3.A. wanted to see       B. wanted to play 

       C. was afraid to see   D. was afraid to play  

4. A. Though     B. But       C. And             D. If  

5.A. that         B. how       C. whether       D. when  

6. A. knock      B. voice      C. man            D. baker 

7. A. may        B. must       C. wouldn't       D. couldn't  

8. A. not         B. had        C. tried            D. failed  

9. A. see         B. frighten    C. help            D. scold  

10.A. went        B. lay         C. appeared       D. hid  

11. A. thought     B. wondered  C. imagined      D. realized  

12. A. me          B. you         C. game           D. play 

13. A. good        B. necessary   C. late           D. early  

14. A. off          B. here        C. afraid         D. sorry  

15.A. pushed      B. locking     C. knocking     D. shutting