1 . Once upon a time a little leaf was heard to sigh and cry, as leaves often do when a gentle wind is about.
And the twig (细枝) said, “What is the matter, little leaf?”
And the leaf said, “The wind just told me that one day it would pull me off and throw me down to lie on the ground!”
The twig told it to the branch on which it grew, and the branch told it to the tree. And when the tree heard it, it rustled all over, and sent back word to the leaf, “Do not be afraid; hold on tightly, and you shall not go till you want to.”
And so the leaf stopped sighing, but went on nestling and singing. Every time the tree shook itself and stirred up all its leaves, the branches shook themselves, and the little twig shook itself, and the little leaf danced up and down merrily, as if nothing could ever pull it off.
And so it grew all summer long until October.
And when the bright days of autumn came, the little leaf saw all the leaves around becoming very beautiful. Some were yellow, and some scarlet, and some mixed with both colors.
Then it asked the tree what it meant. And the tree said, “All these leaves are getting ready to fly away, and they have put on these beautiful colors because of joy.”
Then the little leaf began to want to go, and grew very beautiful in thinking of it, and when it was very bright, it saw that the branches of the tree had no color in them, and so the leaf said, “Oh branches, why are you lead color and we golden?”
“We must keep on our work clothes, for our life is not done; but your clothes are for holiday...”
Just then a little puff of wind came, and the leaf let go without thinking of it, and the wind took it up, and turned it over and over, and whirled it like a spark of fire in the air, and then it fell gently down under the fence among hundreds of other leaves, and began to dream — a dream so beautiful that perhaps it will last forever.
1. Why was the little leaf anxious?| A．It would lose the twig soon. | B．It would be blown off by the wind. |
| C．It couldn’t nestle on the tree. | D．It would fly away from the tree. |
| A．The tree taught the leaf to be merry. | B．The branches are the nest of the leaf. |
| C．The tree was strong to fight against the wind. | D．The little leaf conquered its fear and anxiety. |
| A．The leaf was changing its color for holiday. | B．The branches were of tired of the leaf. |
| C．The leaf was on the way to falling off. | D．The branches were jealous of the leaf. |
| A．Every dark cloud has a silver lining. | B．Everything on earth goes with the law of nature. |
| C．The grass is always greener on the other side. | D．Life is of high value but freedom is more precious. |
Nuts was quite an adventurous and smart squirrel kitten. One day, without the notice of his parents, he slipped out of home and set off to Mr. Elk’s Candy Company to buy toffees. On the way, he met Robert the little deer, his best friend. He said, “Hello, Robert. Would you like to come with me to Mr. Elk’s Candy Company?”
Robert replied, “Sure. But it’s a long way from here. We may come across some fierce beasts (野兽) along the way and get ourselves in danger. I’ve got to ask my mother.”
To which Nuts replied, “Oh, don’t be such a coward (胆小鬼)! You’ll be back home in no time at all. I have been to the Candy Company alone several times and I have never met any beast at all.”
“Okay,” Robert replied nervously.
Soon they were both marching joyfully through the forest, although Robert did feel a bit uncertain about the idea. After half an hour, they stopped by at Mr. Cooper’s house. Mr. Cooper was the wise squirrel fond of inventing various mousetraps or fox traps to defeat predatory(捕食性的) opponents. Nuts and Robert had a brief chat with Mr. Cooper before they continued their journey to the Mr. Elk’s Candy Company.、
Several minutes later, as they were travelling on, a frightening beast appeared from behind the bushes. It was Mr. Gordon, the bad fox!
They both screamed at the very sight. Robert rushed away in panic but then he realised that he had left Nuts behind. When he went back, he found that Nuts was frozen still in front of the fox (a common squirrel instinct).
Mr. Gordon licked his lips and said, “I haven’t had squirrel for dinner for a long time.” He was about to grab Nuts when Robert screamed from behind the bushes. “Well, well. What do we have here, a live and healthy little deer. He would make an even better dinner,” said Gordon. He forgot all about Nuts and began chasing Robert.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Nuts was alarmed by the scream and rushed to get help for Robert.
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Both the two headed home and told their parents the risky adventure.
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3 . Long, long ago, rain stopped falling in China. The people prayed(祈祷)for rain to the Jade Emperor, who controlled everything in heaven(天庭), on the land and in the sea, but no matter how much they prayed, rain did not fall.
Four dragons in the East China Sea saw what was happening, and saw people eating grass from the ground, for the people had nothing else left to eat.
They thought of a way to help. They started swimming this way and that, scooping up water with their bodies. Then all four flew into the sky. Black Dragon flew to the north, Long Dragon to the west, Pearl Dragon to the south of China, and Yellow Dragon to the center of the country. All at once, they let the water fall from their mouths, arms, legs, and even their tails.The people could not see the dragons, _ .“Rain!” they cried happily, and all the people and animals ran out into the rain and started to dance.
When the Jade Emperor saw the rain, he was very angry. Then he saw the four dragons flying around in the sky. He ordered Mountain God to kill the dragons.
When the four mountains landed on top of them and tried to crush(压扁) the four dragons, a strange thing happened. Suddenly four rivers formed, spreading across the whole country.
This is how the four great rivers (the Yangtze, the Yellow, the Pearl and the Heilongjiang) of China were created.
1. Why did the people pray Jade Emperor for rain?| A．Because he controlled the rain. | B．Because he had lots of rain. |
| C．Because he didn’t allow rain to fall. | D．Because there was much rain on earth. |
| A．The people. | B．The rivers. |
| C．The mountains. | D．The dragons. |
| A．but they could see the clouds from the sky |
| B．but they could see the rain falling from the sky |
| C．but they know the Jade Emperor helped them |
| D．but they think the Jade Emperor helped them |
| A．Birth of four Chinese rivers | B．Punishment from Jade Emperor |
| C．Four Dragons and the Rain | D．Jade Emperor and Four Dragons |
4 . Once there was a very old lion. As he grew older, he became weak and slow. He could no longer hunt animals. So he was not able to eat any food.
The lion was sure he would soon die. He was very sad. As he slowly walked home, the lion told a bird about his sad situation.
The other animals felt sorry for the lion. “That’s awful,” they said. “We should visit the lion and see how he is doing.” So one by one, they went to visit the lion in his cave.
The lion was old and weak, but he was also very smart. When each animal came into his cave, they were easy to catch and eat. Soon the lion became fat.
Still he kept pretending to be sick. And the animals kept going into the lion’s cave. After a while, many of the animals of the forest had disappeared.
One day, early in the morning, the fox went to the lion’s cave. The fox was very smart, too. He slowly walked close to the cave. Standing outside the cave, the fox called out, “Hello. How are you feeling now?”
The lion answered, “I am not doing well. Why don’t you come in? I can’t see you. Come closer and tell me some kind words. I am old and will die soon.”
While the lion was talking, the fox was looking closely at the ground. The fox suddenly realized what the lion was doing.
Finally, the fox looked up and answered, “No, thank you. I can see many footprints (脚印) entering your cave. But I cannot see any footprints leaving your cave.”
1. The other animals felt _________for the lion when hearing about his situation.| A．surprised | B．happy |
| C．interested | D．sorry |
| A．they were caught and eaten by the lion |
| B．they moved to live in another forest |
| C．the bird asked them to leave the forest |
| D．there wasn’t enough food for them |
| A．The lion was too busy to hunt the animals. |
| B．Though the lion was stupid, he was strong. |
| C．The fox knew the truth through the footprints. |
| D．The fox thought the lion was very honest. |
| A．Work hard today to prepare for tomorrow. |
| B．Slow and steady(稳) wins the race. |
| C．A wise person learns from the bad luck of others. |
| D．No one believes liars even when they tell the truth. |
In old Paris, a cobbler used to live and make and mend shoes and sing songs. He was a very happy cobbler, singing all day long and keeping time with his hammer or his needle. Up one stair, there lived a very rich man, so rich that he could not sleep at night for trying to count his money, and keep it safe.
So this rich man lay awake all night and always fell asleep in the morning. But no sooner had he fallen asleep than he was awakened again. It was not his money that wakened him this time; it was the cobbler, who was sitting at his door sewing away, and singing as happily as a bird.
The rich man went to a friend and said, "I can't sleep at night for thinking of my money, and I can't sleep in the morning for listening to that cobbler's singing. What am I to do?” This friend was a wise man, and gave him a plan. The next evening, while the cobbler was singing away as usual, the rich man came down with a bag filled with something that jingled （叮当作 响）.
“Here, cobbler," said the rich man, “I have brought you a present of a hundred crowns（克朗，旧时货币名称）,because you're always so happy.”
The cobbler was surprised though, he took the money and thanked the rich man. He had never seen so much money in his life before, but somehow he felt worried if the crowns might be stolen by someone. So he went into the darkest part of his house to count the crowns, and hid the bag in the bottom of the bed. Two or three times every hour he went in to see whether the bag was all right, for he was afraid of somebody taking his money. When his wife asked him what was the matter with him, he became angry and shouted at her, a thing he had never done before.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
A change had come over the cobbler.
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The cobbler missed the old happy days. So he made up mind what to do.
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A water bearer had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years, this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master's house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you". The bearer asked, "Why? What are you ashamed of? " The pot replied, "For these past two years I am able to deliver only half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master's house. Because of my flaws, you don't get full value for your efforts".
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion, he said, "As we return to the master's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path." As they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it somewhat. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
Paragraph 1:
“Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot's side? ” The bearer said to the pot.
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Paragraph 2:
We're all cracked pots and each of us has our own unique flaws.
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