A bag is useful and the word “bag” is useful, too. Here is an interesting phrase（短语）, “to let the cat out of the bag”. In meaning it is the same as “to tell the secret（秘密）”. And there is an old interesting story about it.

　　Long ago, when farmers wanted to sell chickens at the market, they would usually just throw the chickens in cloth (布) bags. But cats were cheaper than chickens at that time, so many farmers would put cats into the cloth bags but not chickens. One day, a woman asked a man for a chicken. The man gave her a cloth bag in which there was a cat.      When the man opened the cloth bag, a big black cat ran out. Not a chicken! The man’s secret was out and everyone knew it.

　　Now when we say someone gives away a secret, we say “he lets the cat out of the bag”. And that is the story where the interesting phrase came from.

1.The underlined word “it” in the passage refers to (指的是)     .

A. the useful bag                 B. the phrase              C. the cat                     D. the chicken

2.The farmers put cats but not chickens in the bags to      when they sold chickens.

A. tell the secret                                                      B. sell the cats

C. get more money                                                  D. keep the cats quiet

3.Which is the best for the blank (空白处) in the passage?

A. The woman was angry to see a cat.                 B. The man put a cat in the bag.

C. The man asked her to see the chicken.         D. The woman wanted to see the chicken.

4.The writer wrote the story to tell us     .

A. the woman was smart                                         B. how farmers sold their cats

C. the phrase is useful                                             D. where the phrase came from

Basketball is still a young game. It's over a hundred years old. In the winter of 1891, a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students. The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors. As they couldn't play outdoors, they were unhappy, and some even got into fights from time to time.

　　Some of the teachers, at the college asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game so that the students might have something to play with. It was not easy to invent such a game because it had to be played indoors , and the court (球场) was not very large.

　　Dr. Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game. It was a fast, wonderful game with much moving and passing of the ball. It was played between two teams. To make a score , the ball had to be thrown into the basket ten feet(英尺) above the floor on the wall . At each end of the court there was such a basket. At first, Dr. Naismith wanted to throw the ball into a box. As he could not find boxes of the right size, he had to use fruit baskets instead. That is how the game got its name.

1. How long is it since basketball was invented?

　　A. 1000 years                      　　　　　　　　　　B. More than 100 years

　　C. 1100 years                       　　　　　　　　　　D. Less than 100 years

2. The students felt unhappy because _______.

　　A. they had much homework to do

　　B. they often got into fights

　　C. they couldn't play outdoors 

　　D. they had little time to study

3. Who asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game?

　　A. Some students                    　　　　　　　　B. Some teachers

　　C. Some students' parents           　　　 D. Some of his friends

4. When a student ______ , he makes a score.

　　A. receives the ball.               　　　　　　

　　B. throws the ball to another student

　　C. runs quickly with the ball in his hand  

　　D. throws the ball into the basket

5. Which sentence is right?

　　A. Dr. Naismith had to use fruit to throw the ball.

　　B. It was easy to invent the game.

　　C. The students could go outdoors when the weather was bad.

　　D. The ball had to be thrown into the basket five feet above the floor.

Basketball is still a young game. It’s over a hundred years old. In the winter of 1891, a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students. The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors. As they couldn’t play outdoors, they were unhappy, and some even got into fights from time to time.
　　Some of the teachers, at the college asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game so that the students might have something to play with. It was not easy to invent such a game because it had to be played indoors , and the court (球场) was not very large.
　　Dr. Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game. It was a fast, wonderful game with much moving and passing of the ball. It was played between two teams. To make a score , the ball had to be thrown into the basket ten feet(英尺) above the floor on the wall . At each end of the court there was such a basket. At first, Dr. Naismith wanted to throw the ball into a box. As he could not find boxes of the right size, he had to use fruit baskets instead. That is how the game got its name.
1. How long is it since basketball was invented?
　　A. 1000 years                    　　　　　　　　　　B. More than 100 years
　　C. 1100 years                      　　　　　　　　　　D. Less than 100 years
2. The students felt unhappy because _______.
　　A. they had much homework to do
　　B. they often got into fights
　　C. they couldn’t play outdoors 
　　D. they had little time to study
3. Who asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game?
　　A. Some students                   　　　　　　　　B. Some teachers
　　C. Some students’ parents          　　　 D. Some of his friends
4. When a student ______ , he makes a score.
　　A. receives the ball.              　　　　　　
　　B. throws the ball to another student
　　C. runs quickly with the ball in his hand  
　　D. throws the ball into the basket
5. Which sentence is right?
　　A. Dr. Naismith had to use fruit to throw the ball.
　　B. It was easy to invent the game.
　　C. The students could go outdoors when the weather was bad.
　　D. The ball had to be thrown into the basket five feet above the floor.

Basketball is still a young game. It's over a hundred years old. In the winter of 1891, a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students. The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors. As they couldn't play outdoors, they were unhappy, and some even got into fights from time to time.

　　Some of the teachers, at the college asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game so that the students might have something to play with. It was not easy to invent such a game because it had to be played indoors , and the court (球场) was not very large.

　　Dr. Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game. It was a fast, wonderful game with much moving and passing of the ball. It was played between two teams. To make a score , the ball had to be thrown into the basket ten feet(英尺) above the floor on the wall . At each end of the court there was such a basket. At first, Dr. Naismith wanted to throw the ball into a box. As he could not find boxes of the right size, he had to use fruit baskets instead. That is how the game got its name.

1. How long is it since basketball was invented?

　　A. 1000 years                      　　　　　　　　　　B. More than 100 years

　　C. 1100 years                       　　　　　　　　　　D. Less than 100 years

2. The students felt unhappy because _______.

　　A. they had much homework to do

　　B. they often got into fights

　　C. they couldn't play outdoors 

　　D. they had little time to study

3. Who asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game?

　　A. Some students                    　　　　　　　　B. Some teachers

　　C. Some students' parents           　　　 D. Some of his friends

4. When a student ______ , he makes a score.

　　A. receives the ball.               　　　　　　

　　B. throws the ball to another student

　　C. runs quickly with the ball in his hand  

　　D. throws the ball into the basket

5. Which sentence is right?

　　A. Dr. Naismith had to use fruit to throw the ball.

　　B. It was easy to invent the game.

　　C. The students could go outdoors when the weather was bad.

　　D. The ball had to be thrown into the basket five feet above the floor.

Basketball is still a young game. It's over a hundred years old. In the winter of 1891, a certain college was having some trouble with its boy students. The weather was bad and the students had to stay indoors. As they couldn't play outdoors, they were unhappy, and some even got into fights from time to time.
　　Some of the teachers, at the college asked Dr. Naismith to invent a game so that the students might have something to play with. It was not easy to invent such a game because it had to be played indoors , and the court (球场) was not very large.
　　Dr. Naismith thought for a few days and invented a kind of ball game. It was a fast, wonderful game with much moving and passing of the ball. It was played between two teams. To make a score , the ball had to be thrown into the basket ten feet(英尺) above the floor on the wall . At each end of the court there was such a basket. At first, Dr. Naismith wanted to throw the ball into a box. As he could not find boxes of the right size, he had to use fruit baskets instead. That is how the game got its name.
【小题1】 How long is it since basketball was invented?