1 . 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 |
2 . 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. |
