Where we live，on the eastern shore of Maryland，the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips.

The Canada geese know this place，as do the white swans and the ducks. In autumn，they come home for the winter. Once or twice each year，snow and frozen rain move into the area. When this happens，if the river is at its narrowest，there is a freeze which hardens the water to ice.

One morning，a friend of mine set the breakfast table beside the huge window，which overlooked the Tred Avon River. Suddenly she leaned forward and cried out，“There is a goose out there.”

We saw the figure of a large Canada goose，very still，its wings folded tight to its sides，its feet frozen into the ice.

Then from the dark skies，she saw a line of swans. They floated from the top of the sky downward and at last landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now，with one hand against her mouth，unbelieving. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose，she feared that life it still had might be pecked(啄) out by those great swan bills.

Instead，those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down，again and again. It went on for a long time. At last，the goose’s head was lifted. Its body was pulled. Then the goose was free and stood on the ice. And the swans stood in the air watching. Then，as if it had cried，“I cannot fly.” Four of the swans came down around it. Their powerful beaks chipped off the ice held in the feathers. Slowly，the goose spread its wings as far as they would go，and moved slowly into the sky.

This is a true story. I just think of it in the bad moment，and from it comes only one hopeful question：If so for birds，why not for man？

1.Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Why Not for Man?    B．Graceful Swans

C．Swans’ Brave Act     D．I Just Couldn’t Believe It!

2.What happened to the Canada goose?

A．It was deserted by other geese.

B．It was stuck in the ice.

C．It was wounded and couldn’t fly.

D．It was lost in the water.

3.At first the author’s friend was worried that________.

A．the swans would not help the Canada goose

B．she didn’t care about this matter any more

C．the swans wouldn’t identify with the Canada goose

D．the swans would peck the Canada goose to death

4.What did the swans do when they saw the Canada goose couldn’t fly?

A．They chipped off the ice held in its feathers.

B．They waited patiently for the ice held in its feathers to melt.

C．They came down and lifted it up to the sky together.

D．They stayed with it and protected it.

 

阅读下面短文，根据小题的具体要求，简要回答问题。

UFO is short for Unidentified Flying Object. It’s also called Flying Saucer. It is one of the most popular topics in the 20^th century. With films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and ET in the 1970s came a rapid increase in reports of flying saucers and men from Mars. More than 20 countries said their people once saw the UFO and there were over 1,200 reports about the UFO. Some even said they saw aliens.

In July, 1916, Gaynor was a nine-year-old girl and lived in North Wales. One day, on her way home from school, she saw a silver object in a field not far from her home. The object looked like a saucer. Gaynor was very scared. She stayed in the tall grass and watched the door of the strange object open. She saw two aliens wearing silver suits get ou. Then they use something to examine the ground. They were short and had pink eyes. After about half an hour, the two aliens went back into the object. Then it took off. When Gaynor got home, she told her mother about her unusual experience, but her family decided to keep quiet about it. They didn’t want others to laugh at their daughter. However, 18 months later, Gaynor told her story to UFO scientists. They found out that Gaynor told the truth.

1.What does UFO stand for? (No more than 3 words)

2.How did Gaynor feel when she saw the silver object like a saucer? (No more than 4 words)

3.Why did Gaynor’s parents keep quiet about her experience ? (No more than 10 words)

 

One day in Israel government officials were rebuilding a barn(谷仓). While working, they found a (n)  1   hole in a corner, so they used smoke to force the mice inside the hole to    2  . A while later they indeed saw mice running out, one after another.

Then, everyone thought that all the mice had  3  . But just as they were just about to start to clean up, they saw two mice squeezing out at the _4 of the hole. After some endeavor, the mice finally got out. But _5  , they did not run away immediately. Instead, one chased after the other near the exit of the hole. It seemed that one was trying to bite the _6 of the other. Everyone was puzzled, so they stepped_7_to take a look. They realized that one of the mice was 8 and could not see anything, and the other one was trying to allow the blind mouse to  9 _on his tail so he could pull the blind one with him to escape.

After witnessing what happened, everyone was  10 and lost in thought. During meal time, the group of people sat down and started to chat about what had happened to the two mice. One serious Rome official said, “I think the relationship between those two mice was that of emperor and   11 .” The others thought for a while and said, “That was why !”A smart Israeli said, “I think their relationship was husband and wife.” The others felt it made sense, so they   12  . A Korean, who was accustomed to the firm tradition of loyalty to _13_ , said, “I think the relationship between them was that of mother and son.” Once again the others felt this was more reasonable,     

At that moment, one Samaritan who sat behind them resting his chin in his palms,  14  looked at other people, and asked, “Why did those two mice have to have a certain relationship?” Suddenly, the atmosphere froze. The group   15  at the Samaritan and remained silent. In fact, the true love is not established on benefit, friendship and loyalty or blood relationship. Instead, it is based on no relationship.

1.                A．cat            B．mouse          C．dog  D．ant

 

2.                A．come in        B．come down      C．come out D．come over

 

3.                A．died           B．saved          C．stayed    D．escaped

 

4.                A．exit            B．wall            C．floor D．door

 

5.                A．strangely       B．happily         C．luckily    D．sadly

 

6.                A．tail            B．head           C．foot D．hand

 

7.                A．longer         B．higher          C．closer    D．farther

 

8.                A．clear           B．blind           C．deaf D．mute

 

9.                A．eat            B．bite            C．suck D．drink

 

10.               A．joyless         B．hopeless        C．careless   D．speechless

 

11.               A．doctor         B．servant         C．empress   D．minister

 

12.               A．stopped        B．argued         C．agreed    D．talked

 

13.               A．couples        B．parents         C．teachers   D．elders

 

14.               A．puzzledly       B．repeatedly      C．pleasedly  D．expectedly

 

15.               A．looked in       B．looked up       C．looked back    D．looked down

 

 

They showed great interest in everything they saw        they visited the farm．

A. for the first time             B. at the first time               C. at first            D. the first time

 

When they saw the police car, the attackers turned and ________ .

A．flee              B．fleed             C．fled              D．slipped