Once there was an old farmer, with a horse which was almost as old as himself. He set out one morning with his son to sell the horse before it died. Father and son walked, because the farmer did not want the horse to be too tired. They met two men on the road who said, "Why are you walking, farmer? You have a horse, It's a long way to market(市场). " The farmer know that this was true, so he rode on the horse, while his son walked. Then they met two old women, "What are you doing up there, farmer? Can't you see how tired the boy is?" So the farmer got down, and his son rode instead.

Next, three old men stopped them, one said, "Why are you walking, farmer? Get up, It's too hot for an old man like you to walk today," So the farmer got up behind his son, and they rode on. Some time later, a young woman passed them, "Why aren't you walking?" she asked, "It isn't far to the market. Give your poor horse a rest." So the farmer, and his son, got down once again. It is a fact that you cannot please all the people all the time.

1. The farmer wanted to sell the horse ____.

A. before it was dead

B. before it become too tired

C. before it market was over

D. before it was as old as he was

2. The two men on the road ____.

A. asked how far it was to the market

B. said they thought the horse looked very tired

C. asked why the farmer was not riding on his horse

D. told the farmer's son to get off the horse and walk

3. The two old women said it was wrong for ____.

A. the farmer to ride such a tired horse

B. the farmer to ride while his young son walked

C. the boy to ride instead of his father

D. only one person to ride such a long way

4. The farmer got up behind his son because ____.

A. the old man said it was too hot for him to walk

B. the three old men stopped them on the road

C. he did not know why he was walking

D. his son could not ride the horse by himself

5. The young woman was most sorry ____.

A. for the old man

B. for the farmer's young son

C. that it was not far to the market

D. for the horse

Sally was a student. It was going to be her mother’s birthday. She wanted to buy her a present that would be nice and useful but not expensive.

A week before her mother’s birthday, she went shopping after a quick and simple lunch. When she had been looking for half an hour, she found a shop that was selling cheep umbrellas（伞）, and decided to take a black one, since her mother had lost hers the month before.

She thought, “You could carry that when you are wearing clothes of any color.” So she decided to buy a lovely black umbrella and took it back to school with her until her classes had finished.

On her way back home in the train that evening, she felt hungry because she had such a small lunch that she went along to the buffet car（餐车） for another sandwich and cup of coffee. She had left the black umbrella above her seat in the compartment（车厢）, but when she got back, it had gone! When she had left the compartment, there had been no other passengers（乘客） in it, but now there were three.

Sally began to cry when she saw that the umbrella was no longer there. The other passengers felt very sorry for her and asked what the matter was. She told them that the black umbrella she had bought for her mother was gone, and that she had to get out at the next station. After the three other passengers heard it, they asked her for her mother’s address so that they could sent the umbrella to her if someone had taken it by mistake and brought it back after Sally had got out of the train.

The next week, Sally heard from her mother. It said, “Thank you very much for your lovely presents, but why did you send me three black umbrellas?”

1.Which of the following is the best for the sentence “You could carry that when you are wearing clothes of any color?”

2.What does the story infer（推断）?

3.How many umbrellas did Sally’s mother get at last?

4.The best name of the story is ________.

5.What does the writer want to tell us?