三、阅读理解(共四篇短文，每小题2分，满分40分)

A

One day, a raven(渡鸦)happened to fly past a lake. Looking at the lake, he saw the most beautiful animal he had ever seen. It was a swan(天鹅)and its feathers(羽毛)were as white as snow. The swan was playing with other birds happily, talking and dancing. And it seemed that the other birds all liked to stay with it. When he looked at his own feathers, they were as black as coal. The raven was very angry with the swan. “How can the swan have such wonderful feathers?” said the raven. What should he do with his feathers? He thought it over and over.

Then, the raven decided that he also wanted to have white feathers like the swan’s. From that day on, the raven began to live like the swan. He moved his home from the woods to the lake. He also started to eat water plants like the swan. He tried his best to  talk and dance with the other birds. The most important was that each day, the raven would wash his feathers, hoping that they would turn white. Even he went to the nearby rivers and ponds to wash his feathers because he thought the water in the lakes was not enough for him to wash them. But no matter how hard he washed his feathers, they remained black.

As he ate only water plants, he soon grew thinner and thinner. Not many days later, the raven died.

56. The underlined word “ it” in Paragraph 1 refers to ___.

A. the raven   B. the swan     C. the feather    D. the water

57. Why was the raven angry with the swan?

A. His own feathers were as white as snow.

B. The swan did not have black feathers like him

C. The swan had beautiful white feathers

D. The swan lived in the lake with other birds

58. Where was the raven’s natural home?

A. The lakes     B. The ponds      C. The woods      D. The rivers

59.Why did the raven want to live like the swan?

A. He wanted to make friends with the swan

B. He wanted to see the swan’s white feathers

C. He wanted to eat water plant

D. He wanted to become a swan

60. Why did the raven wash his feathers every day?

A. He thought his feathers would turn white.

B. He wanted to drive the other birds away

C. He thought his feathers were dirty.

D. He wanted to keep his weathers white

B

61. What should you put in your diary?

A. Some frogs.           B. The date of World Wetlands Day.

C. 1971                D. Any special day.

62. Where do people celebrate World Wetlands Day?

A. All over the world.                  B. In ships

C. At home.                          D. In their own way.

63. Which of the following sentences is NOT true?

A. People celebrate World Wetlands Day by taking part in competitions.

B. People celebrate World Wetlands Day by taking ships to local wetlands.

C. People celebrate World Wetlands Day by listening to talks about the wetlands.

D. People celebrate World Wetlands Da y by talking about the weather.

64. Why are small animals important?

A. They are part of the balance of nature and the food chain.

B. They are beautiful.

C. Bigger animals are eaten by them

D. Without them, there may be no water.

65. Which of the following might be the best title of the article?

A. Wetlands Are Important

B. Small Animals Are Also Important

C. World Wetlands Day

D. Food Chain

C

People sometimes say, “It’s raining cats and dogs!” when there is a heavy rain. Nobody has ever really seen cats and dogs falling from the sky, but there have been many reports of other strange things “raining” down. In 1956, the people of a town in the USA saw a small black clo ud in the sky. It started to rain from the cloud normally, but only in a small area. The cloud then turned white, and fish started to fall to the ground. Most of them were still alive.

Duri ng a storm in July 1901, in Minneapolis, people heard something falling from the sky that did not sound like rain. When they went outside, they found all types of frogs covering four streets.

There are other reports of strange “rains” failing from the sky includ ing worms, insects and snakes. Can these strange “rains” be explained by science? Scientists usually say that a tornado (龙卷风) has picked up the animals from a river or ocean, carried them for miles, and then dropped them somewhere else. But this does not completely explain all of them. On May 15, 1890, in Italy, there was a rain of bloodbirds’ blood. Scientists said that flying birds must have been torn(撕碎) to pieces by strong winds. But if so, why did only their blood fall from the sky, and not other parts of their bodies? And anyway, there were no strong winds that day!

66. What does it mean when people say, “It’s raining cats and dogs”?

A. Cats and dogs are falling from the sky.

B. It’s raining heavily.

C. Animals started to fall to the ground.

D. There is a black cloud.

67. Which of the following has not been reported as strange things failing from the sky?

A. Cats and dogs.                         B. Worms and insects.

C. Fish and blood.                        D. Snakes and frogs.

68. According to scientists, what can move things from the ground to the sky?

A. Storms.          B. Rains.           C. Clouds.           D. Tornadoes.

69. Scientists’ explanation for rain of blood is that ________.

A. the tornado picked up the birds’ blood

B. there were no strong winds that day

C. flying bir ds were torn into pieces by strong winds

D. other parts of birds’ bodies did not fall with the blood

70. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. Strange “Winds” .

B. Strange “Clouds” .

C. Strange “Rains” .

D. Strange “Animals”.