A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow (乌鸦) was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain (笔试).
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge (挑战). The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments (评价) about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended (假装) not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick? “
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride (自大) ! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life...”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.
【小题1】 What’s the correct order of the following events?
a. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.
b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.
c. The crow had to ask the swan for help.
d. The swan accepted a challenge of performing flying tricks.

The elephant is the biggest four-legged animal in the world. It’s also, perhaps, the gentlest ,   1 not always.
Elephants are like us in some ways. They   2  for a long time—fifty or sixty years. They can  3  things very well. They never forget great sadness or happiness. A female elephant   4 , her daughters and her granddaughters are sad for many months. They stay with the dead   5 . Then they carry a bit of it away with them. They never forget a  6 friend.
Elephants are like us, but they’re also  7 .They live in families; families or females. There will be a few young males-a few “baby boy”. But they will soon be   8 away by their mothers or sisters. An elephant family   9  only its daughters, mothers and grandmothers and its great grandmothers.
The females stay together for fifty, sixty or a hundred years.The older animals   10 the young ones. The mothers teach their daughters and set a good example.And   11  happens to male elephant? Well, the young males stay with their mothers for a time. Then they must   12 the family. The females just send them away. A bull elephant does not often have a friend ,He lives  13 ,away from the family, and away from other bulls.
Sometimes the females call a bull. He can   14 _them then, and they stay for a time. But soon his “wives” and “sisters” send him away again. The females have a very   15   
family life. What do the bulls think about it? We don’t know.

The elephant is the biggest four-legged animal in the world. It’s also, perhaps, the gentlest ,   1 not always.

Elephants are like us in some ways. They   2  for a long time—fifty or sixty years. They can  3  things very well. They never forget great sadness or happiness. A female elephant   4 , her daughters and her granddaughters are sad for many months. They stay with the dead   5 . Then they carry a bit of it away with them. They never forget a  6 friend.

Elephants are like us, but they’re also  7 .They live in families; families or females. There will be a few young males-a few “baby boy”. But they will soon be   8 away by their mothers or sisters. An elephant family   9  only its daughters, mothers and grandmothers and its great grandmothers.

The females stay together for fifty, sixty or a hundred years.The older animals   10 the young ones. The mothers teach their daughters and set a good example.And   11  happens to male elephant? Well, the young males stay with their mothers for a time. Then they must   12 the family. The females just send them away. A bull elephant does not often have a friend ,He lives  13 ,away from the family, and away from other bulls.

Sometimes the females call a bull. He can   14 _them then, and they stay for a time. But soon his “wives” and “sisters” send him away again. The females have a very   15   

family life. What do the bulls think about it? We don’t know.

1.                A．and            B．but            C．so   D．yet

2.                A．play           B．work           C．live  D．sleep

3.                A．remember      B．practice        C．talk D．change

4.                A．is hurt          B．is caught        C．loses D．dies

5.                A．head           B．legs            C．body D．feet

6.                A．terrible         B．dad            C．young    D．dear

7.                A．different        B．same           C．special   D．popular

8.                A．thrown         B．sent           C．kicked    D．posted

9.                A．hopes          B．keeps          C．Allows    D．frightens

10.               A．look at         B．carry out       C．look after  D．take away

11.               A．how           B．who           C．which D．what

12.               A．leave          B．stay           C．hear  D．walk

13.               A．sadly          B．hard           C．alone D．noisily

14.               A．visit           B．beat           C．hide  D．receive

15.               A．dangerous      B．happy          C．beautiful  D．clever

A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain.
“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”
One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.
Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.
The swan pretended not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick? “
“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life. . . ”
The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.
【小题1】The crow met the swan on a ___________

A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain.

“You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that’s beyond you. Let’s have a flying competition. I’ll show you what real flying is!”

One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge. The crow flew up and began to show his skills. He flew in circles, performed other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.

Now it was the swan’s turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments about his flying. They flew on and on till they couldn’t see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so exhausted that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to struggle to keep himself from falling into the water.

The swan pretended not to notice, and said, “Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick? “

“No,” said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. “I’m in trouble because of my pride! If you don’t help me, I’ll lose my life. . . ”

The swan took pity on him, and took him on his shoulders and flew back to the beach.

1.The crow met the swan on a ___________

A．beach            B．field              C．lake              D．ground

2.What’s the correct order of the following events?

a. The crow followed the swan and got into trouble.

b. The swan felt pity for the crow and saved it.

c. The crow had to ask the swan for help.

d. The swan accepted a challenge of performing flying tricks.

A．a, d, b, c          B．a, b, d, c           C．d, a, c, b           D．d, c, a, b

3.What does the underlined word “took pity on” in the last paragraph mean?

A．对…… 怜悯       B．对……后悔        C．对……蔑视        D．对……失望

4.The underlined sentence means ____________ .

A．The swan began to fly.

B．It is the turn for the swan to feel proud.

C．The crow began to fly.

D．It is the turn for the crow to feel proud.

5.What do we learn from the passage?

A．Practice makes perfect.

B．The early bird catches the worm.

C．No pains, no gains.

D．Pride goes before a fall.