Have you ever heard anyone say“It’s raining cats and dogs”? It means“It’s raining hard!”
　　But sometimes cats and dogs do drop from the sky! Here’s how it happens.
　　Not so long ago, a country far away had many large rats. The people there said,“We need cats!”So cats were sent to them by airplane. But the country had many mountains. It was hard for an airplane to land. So the cats came down by parachute(降落伞). Did the cats like the ride? They didn’t say they didn’t! And today they are still catching rats!
　　In another country far away, there is snow the year around. People sometimes got lost in it.
　　“We need big dogs!”the people said.“The dogs could find people lost in the snow. The dogs could help bring them home. Where can we get big dogs?”
　　A man across the sea had big dogs to sell.“I will send dogs to you.”He said.“I have some very big ones. They can find people lost in the snow.”
　　He sent the dogs by airplane.
　　But the airplane didn’t land in the snow. The dogs came down by parachute—you guessed it!
　　Did the dogs like the ride? They didn’t say they didn’t! And today they are well and happy. They find anyone who gets lost in the snow. Then they help him get home. Good dogs!
　　Remember it, so you can say,“Yes, it does rain cats and dogs sometimes. They came down by parachute!”
　　1．The underlined word“it”in Paragraph 2 refers to_________.
　　A. the weather
　　B. the saying“It’s raining cats and dogs.”
　　C. the saying“It’s raining hard.”
　　D. the fact that real cats and dogs drop from the sky
　　2．Cats and dogs drop from the sky because_________.
　　A. there are many mountains in the country
　　B. it snows the year around in the country
　　C. it was hard for a plane to land in the two countries
　　D. coming down by parachute could save money
　　3．The underlined sentence“They didn’t say they didn’t!”in Paragraph 3 means“_________”.
　　A. Poor animals       B. Good animals
　　C. Have a nice trip       D. Thank you
　　4．Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
　　A. Cats and dogs can help people quite a lot.
　　B.“It rains cats and dogs.”usually means a heavy rain.
　　C. When the people saw cats drop from the plane, they were pleased.
　　D. The man across the sea didn’t want his dogs dropped by air.
　　5．The main purpose of the passage is to_________.
　　A. tell the readers a famous British saying
　　B. tell the readers of a new meaning about an old saying
　　C. show cats and dogs are our good friends
　　D. show parachutes is an important invention

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely(模糊地) 　1　 the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see things again, 　2　 a disaster can do strange things to people. It happened to me the other day that I might not have come to love 　3　 as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I believe in life now. I am not sure that I would believe in it so 　4　. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I 　5　 mean that the loss of 　6　 made me enjoy more of 　7　 I have now.

Life asks us to keep making 　8　 to reality. If a person is able to get ready for anything changeable his world will 　9　 more meaningful. I became blind, but I was 　10　. My parents and my teachers saw 　11　 in me－a potential(潜力) to live, you might call it－which I didn’t see, and they make me fight it out with blindness.

The hardest 　12　 I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was what I had to do at least. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would become a chair rocker for the 　13　 of my life. When I say I believe in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase 　14　. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: A belief that I could deal with anything alone; that somewhere in the 　15　 there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

1. A. imagine       B. find             C. remember     D. guess

2. A. but           B. though               C. so           D. because

3. A. myself        B. life             C. eyes         D. blindness

4. A. that          B. therefore            C. happily      D. deeply

5. A. seldom        B. just             C. hardly           D. always

6. A. them      B. it                   C. blindness        D. light

7. A. that          B. what             C. which            D. where

8. A. moments       B. encouragements       C. improvements D. changes

9. A. become        B. change               C. look         D. end

10. A. brave        B. lucky                C. sad          D. wise

11. A. something    B. everything           C. nothing      D. anything

12. A. problem      B. experience           C. difficulty       D. lesson

13. A. rest     B. whole                C. need         D. last

14. A. lonely       B. alone                C. self         D. person

15. A. company  B. group                C. society  (社会)   D. family

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a box and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely(模糊地) 　1　 the brightness of sunshine and what color red is. It would be wonderful to see things again, 　2　 a disaster can do strange things to people. It happened to me the other day that I might not have come to love 　3　 as I do if I hadn’t been blind. I believe in life now. I am not sure that I would believe in it so 　4　. I don’t mean that I would prefer to go without my eyes. I 　5　 mean that the loss of 　6　 made me enjoy more of 　7　 I have now.
Life asks us to keep making 　8　 to reality. If a person is able to get ready for anything changeable his world will 　9　 more meaningful. I became blind, but I was 　10　. My parents and my teachers saw 　11　 in me－a potential(潜力) to live, you might call it－which I didn’t see, and they make me fight it out with blindness.
The hardest 　12　 I had to learn was to believe in myself. That was what I had to do at least. If I hadn’t been able to do that, I would become a chair rocker for the 　13　 of my life. When I say I believe in myself I am not talking about simply the kind of self-confidence that helps me down an unfamiliar staircase 　14　. That is part of it. But I mean something bigger than that: A belief that I could deal with anything alone; that somewhere in the 　15　 there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
1. A. imagine       B. find             C. remember     D. guess
2. A. but           B. though               C. so           D. because
3. A. myself       B. life             C. eyes         D. blindness
4. A. that         B. therefore            C. happily      D. deeply
5. A. seldom        B. just             C. hardly           D. always
6. A. them      B. it                   C. blindness        D. light
7. A. that         B. what             C. which            D. where
8. A. moments      B. encouragements       C. improvements D. changes
9. A. become        B. change               C. look         D. end
10. A. brave        B. lucky                C. sad          D. wise
11. A. something    B. everything           C. nothing      D. anything
12. A. problem      B. experience           C. difficulty       D. lesson
13. A. rest     B. whole                C. need         D. last
14. A. lonely       B. alone                C. self         D. person
15. A. company  B. group                C. society  (社会)   D. family

With a hat by his feet，a blind boy sat on the steps of a building. He held up a sign which said，" I ' m blind, please help. "

Only a few people put    1   in the hat. A man was walking by. He    2   some coins into the hat. He then turned the sign    3  . wrote some words, put the sign back and left.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people   4   to give money to the blind boy.　　That afternoon the man came to see    5  things were. The boy recognized his footsteps (脚步声) and asked, "Were you the one who    6  my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a   7 way. "What he had written was," Today is a beautiful day,   8  I cannot see it. "

Both the   9  told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply 　10　people to help by throwing some money into the   11  . The second one, however, told people that they were able to enjoy the  12  of the day, but the boy couldn't    13   he was blind.

There are at least two lessons we can learn   14  this story. First, be thankful for what

you have. Someone else has less. Help them if you can.  15  , be creative. Think differently.

　There is always a better way !

1.                A．eggs           B．coins           C．toys D．pencils

2.                A．got            B．lost            C．took D．dropped

3.                A．on            B．off             C．back D．around

4.                A．asked          B．began          C．hoped    D．continued

5.                A．how           B．what           C．whose    D．which

6.                A．put            B．found          C．changed  D．cleaned

7.                A．usual          B．simple          C．different  D．dangerous

8.                A．as             B．so             C．for  D．but

9.                A．signs           B．men           C．boys D．lessons

10.               A．told           B．took           C．helped    D．ordered

11.               A．bag            B．hat            C．pocket    D．basket

12.               A．food           B．songs          C．beauty    D．pictures

13.               A．because        B．unless          C．before    D．though

14.               A．about          B．with           C．from  D．except

15.               A．First           B．Second         C．Third D．Fourth