1 . Why I Hate Cats

My name is Oreo, and I’m a ten-year-old, black-and-white Portuguese Water Dog. I’m well-mannered, polite, and friendly. But there is one thing that does set me off: cats. Frankly, I can’t stand them. With their messy hair, beady little eyes, and pointy teeth, they just set my curly coat on end.

I’m particularly not fond of the cat — the gray-colored creature across the street. If she would just stay in her house or even her yard, it wouldn’t be so bad. But, unlike me, she gets to go wherever she wants. No collar, no leash, and no boundaries from what I can see.

Like any responsible pet, I generally stay within my owners’ enclosed back yard. And when I do go out, it’s on a leash held by a human and attached to a collar. Ms. Gray Puss, on the other hand, wanders collarless across the street any time she likes. She even does her business anywhere and anytime she prefers, including on my owners’ lawn.

If she would just stay off my property, I’d be okay with her superior airs and standoffish attitude. But that’s not how she rolls. Sometimes, she comes over and pollutes my owners’ front garden, knowing full well that I’m only a few yards away on the other side of the fence and powerless to stop her.

Sometimes, when my owner takes me for a walk, I’ll spot that animal and take a run at her. Unfortunately, I always forget that I’m on a leash. Before I know it, I’m being dragged backwards. What’s particularly awkward is that the gray one doesn’t even move. I guess she knows I can’t get at her, and that’s why she doesn’t even deign to get up on all fours and at least hiss at me.

Mark my words: Someday, one of my owners will forget to lock the front gate, one of the fence boards will fall off, or my male owner Dave will forget to fully secure the leash. And when that day comes, someone’s going to suffer. I’m not sure why, but Dave keeps saying he thinks it will be me.

1. What do the underlined words “set me off” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．To see me off.	B．To make me laugh.
C．To make me annoyed.	D．To set out.

2. Who is number one on my hate list?

A．Ms. Gray Puss.

B．Dave.

C．Oreo.

D．Portuguese Water Dog.

3. Why do I hate Ms. Gray Puss?

A．Because she always shows off in front of me.

B．Because I envy her freedom.

C．Because she pollutes my owner’s front garden.

D．Because she walks around without a leash.

4. What does Dave mean by keeping saying he thinks it will be me?

A．It’ll be my fault to forget to lock the front door.

B．It’ll be careless of me to forget to secure the leash.

C．It will be I who will suffer if anything mentioned above happens.

D．It will be I who will break the fence boards.

2 . To a regular person, Spitfire may look like just an ordinary dog, but to fans of the dock diving circuit, he is an incredible athlete in the same league as sport stars like Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant

Before COVH-19, eight-year-old Spitfire and his 16-year-old owner, Sydney, dominated the dock diving circuit like never before in the history of the sport. If you’re unfamiliar with the sport of dock diving, it’s essentially dogs running on a wooden dock and jumping as far or as high as possible before diving into a pool of water. And no dog did this better than Spitfire. Between 2016 and 2019, he broke 21 world records.

Spitfire came into the Mackey family in 2013. Back then, he was just an adorable dog with big eyes that Sydney instantly fell in love with. Sydney and her mother learned about dock diving in 2016, from a family friend who encouraged them to try it with Spitfire. In May of that year, they decided to give the sport a try and their pet proved to be a natural.

It wasn’t long after that very first jump that Sydney and Spitfire started making waves in the world of dock diving. They took the sport by storm and they dominated events across the United States like no team had ever done before. In three years^, time, they broke many world records, and became known as an unbeatable pair of players.

Before he jumps into the air, the world’s best dock diver reaches a speed of about 30 miles per hour, and when he takes to the air he can reach a distance of 31 feet before hitting the water, or 8 feet 6 inches when he’s going for height. It’s no wonder they call him the flying dog.

But while Spitfire is undoubtedly the star of the show, most dock diving experts are convinced that despite his athletic abilities, he would have never reached his true potential without his young owner’s guidance. Sydney’s “Ready? Ready? Go, Go, Go!” pep talk to get Spitfire fired up has become famous on the dock jumping circuit.

1. Why are Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．To show Spitfire owns the same number of fans.

B．To show Spitfire’s incredible talent in basketball.

C．To show Spitfire’s excellent performance in sports.

D．To show the importance of sports stars to the league,

2. At first, what inspired Sydney to try the dock diving with Spitfire?

A．His friend’s encouragement.	B．His devotion to the dock diving.
C．Spitfire’s good performance in diving.	D．The popularity of the dock diving.

3. What can we learn about the dog and bis owner from the fourth paragraph?

A．They didn’t perform well at the beginning.

B．They achieved impressive results in the events.

C．They were ever defeated by other teams.

D．They seldom participated in the events in US.

4. What do most experts think of Spitfire?

A．He can’t live up to the title of sports star.

B．He doesn’t obey his owner’s orders at times.

C．They doubt whether he has his athletic abilities.

D．Sydney’s guidance contributed to his achievements.

3 . Recep Mirzan from Turkey and a white swan are as close as a family. They haven't been ________ for nearly four decades. The story of their amazing________has melted the hearts of millions.

Mirzan was in a car when he spotted a ________ swan in an empty field in 1984. He had no idea that he was about to ________ his best friend. Mirzan ________ realized that leaving the bird there meant its ________, as predators would have most likely eaten it, so he stopped the ________, took it home and started nursing it back to health.

After the female swan ________ ,it didn't try to fly away. ________ ,it befriended the other animals on Mirzan's   farm in the Karaagac region, and decided to ________ Mirzan named her Garip. Here, she has ________ the changes of Mirzan's farm for the last 37 years!

“She seems to ________ me completely. She comes when I call her. Since 1984,she has never left me, ________ during the river floods,” Mirzan said. “She used to be ________ ,but she has grown old now, which makes me think she should be ________ more carefully from now on. Science has ________ swans can generally live for 20-25 years, but to my ________, Garip has lived much longer than the average lifespan.”

To take more ________ care of the swan, he moved Garip's   coop from the ________ to his yard. During the day, she is busy ________ her human friend around, either during his daily chores, or on his evening walks. Mirzan regards Garip as his child.

1.

A．different

B．controllable

C．separate

D．unfortunate

2.

A．honesty

B．friendship

C．struggle

D．success

3.

A．caged

B．hidden

C．deserted

D．wounded

4.

A．beat

B．meet

C．challenge

D．interview

5.

A．quickly

B．occasionally

C．frequently

D．rarely

6.

A．choice

B．profit

C．death

D．failure

7.

A．bird

B．plan

C．pedestrian

D．car

8.

A．changed

B．recovered

C．appeared

D．traveled

9.

A．Instead

B．Also

C．Otherwise

D．Therefore

10.

A．stick around

B．move on

C．hang out

D．hold up

11.

A．witnessed

B．made

C．demanded

D．accepted

12.

A．encourage

B．understand

C．remember

D．approve

13.

A．then

B．just

C．even

D．yet

14.

A．sensitive

B．intelligent

C．strong

D．considerate

15.

A．supported

B．motivated

C．examined

D．attended

16.

A．expected

B．suspected

C．meant

D．proved

17.

A．interest

B．relief

C．puzzle

D．regret

18.

A．normal

B．similar

C．convenient

D．flexible

19.

A．farm

B．tree

C．river

D．garden

20.

A．guiding

B．helping

C．comforting

D．following