It was a hot day, and my brother Walt and I had decided that the only way to survive it would be to go swimming in a deep swimming hole across Mr. Blickez’s Pasture(牧场)and through some woods.
The only problem with our plan was that this pasture was guarded by a huge, mean Hereford bull(公牛). Mr. Blickez had told us that Elsie was the meanest bull in the town, maybe even in the county, and we believed him. But the hotter it got, the more we thought there was something fishy about his words. For one thing, we remembered Mr. Blickez liked telling tall tales; for anther, Elsie seemed like a strange name for a bull.
Finally, I talked Mom into asking permission for us to walk through the pasture, but then another problem surfaced. Mom said she would talk to Mr. Blickez if we would take our cousin Joanie along with us. Joanie was almost two years older than me and a head taller. If her teasing ever got around my grade school, it would be all over for me. In fact, I still had a headache from a quarrel with her that morning. “I’m not going swimming with that silly girl cousin,” I told my mom.
“Either Joanie goes with, or you stay home alone,” Mom said in her serious tone(语气). I gave in and we set out. On your way across the pasture, Walt yelled suddenly. Elsie had approached him quietly and was licking(舔)his back. Joanie and I dove under the wire fence, but while I was on the ground I looked up and saw that Elsie wasn’t a big mean bull after all. She was going to keep licking my brother’s back as long as he stood still.
We had many good days growing up and visiting our secret swimming hole guarded by the so-called “big mean bull”. And as it turned out, for a girl cousin, Joanie hasn’t been too bad. She’s been one of my best friends over the years.
4. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “fishy” in Paragraph 2?
A.Funny. | B.Interesting. |
C.Doubtful. | D.Believable. |
5. What’s the second problem the author had to face?
A.His mother failed to ask permission for him. |
B.His mother insisted on his cousin going with him. |
C.He quarreled with his cousin and had a headache. |
D.His cousin made jokes on him in his grade school. |
6. We can learn from the passage that Elsie
.
A.was his owner’s favorite bull |
B.was aggressive because of her nature |
C.disliked to play with little children |
D.was actually friendly to people |
7. What’s the passage mainly about?
A.The bull guarding Mr. Blickez’s farm. |
B.The story of visiting the swimming hole. |
C.How friendly the so-called “big mean bull” was. |
D.How the author changed his attitude to Joanie. |