Question

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 cloud 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.

During 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 kinds of frogs covering four streets.

There are other reports of strange “rains” falling from the sky including worms (蠕虫), 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 15th, 1890, in Italy, there was a rain of blood — birds’ blood. Scientists said that flying birds must have been torn 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!

1.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.

2.Which of the following has not been reported as strange things falling from the sky?

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

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

3.What does the underlined word “torn” mean in Chinese?

A. 破裂 B. 撕破 C. 切碎 D. 割破

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

A. the tornado picked up the birds’ blood

B. flying birds were torn into pieces by strong winds

C. there were no strong winds that day

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

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

A. Strange “Winds” B. Strange “Clouds” C. Strange “Rains” D. Strange “Animals”

Answer 1