Long ago, Bluebird’s feathers were the colour of dust. She did not like her ugly colour. She was attracted by the colour of the lake near her home. It was as blue as the sky after a storm. Bluebird wanted to be the colour of that beautiful lake very much. Flapping her wings one morning, Bluebird flew from her tree to the blue lake. Then she bathed in the water three times. After each bath, she sang, “Blue water. Still water. I went in. I am blue.” Bluebird repeated this every morning. On the third day, she came out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers.

Now Coyote was a trickster(骗子)—and hungry too. He stayed behind Bluebird’s tree for a long time every day and watched her go to the lake. He pretended(伪装) to be interested in everything she did. He wanted Bluebird for lunch, but he was afraid of the blue water. On the third morning, Coyote saw Bluebird come out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers. Impressed, he sat next to Bluebird’s tree and waited for her. When she returned, he asked, “How did you get blue feathers? I want to be blue like the mountains too.” Bluebird didn’t believe Coyote, but she taught him how to bathe three times each morning and how to sing her song. Coyote did what she said, and after three days of bathing in the lake, his white fur turned deep blue.

Convinced(确信的) that blue fur was even more beautiful than blue feathers, Coyote forgot all about being hungry. He ran as fast as he could to the top of the hill. Standing on his back legs, he raised his front legs off the ground and howled. But Coyote slipped(滑倒) and rolled down the hill. He couldn’t stop himself, and the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur. He rolled and rolled until he hit into Bluebird’s tree heavily. No matter how much he tried, foolish Coyote could not shake the dust from his fur. And so the fur of all coyotes had the dull colour of dust to this very day.

1.How many times did Bluebird bathe every morning before she had beautiful blue feathers?

A. Three times.        B. Four times.        C. Five times.         D. Six times.

2.Why was Coyote a trickster?

A. He wanted to fly like Bluebird near the mountains.

B. He wanted to eat Bluebird but pretended to be curious.

C. He wanted to swim in the lake but was afraid of the water.

D. He wanted to sing Bluebird’s song but didn’t know the words.

3.Where did Coyote go after his fur turned blue?

A. To the lake.         B. To the tree.         C. To the cave.       D. To the hill.

4.Why did Coyote forget all about being hungry?

A. Because his fur had the dull colour of dust.

B. Because the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur.

C. Because he thought blue fur was much more beautiful. 

D. Because he hit into Bluebird’s tree and hurt himself.

5.What words does the writer use to help you imagine the colour blue?

A. sky, lake, mountains  

B. bird, coyote, storm  

C. flapped, climbed, bathed  

D. fur, feathers, dust

The little boy entered the house, unhappy. His mother was  31     cakes in the kitchen. She smiled as she    32     but stopped when she saw his face. “Tyler,    33      happened? Is everything okay?”

“Nothing is okay, mom.” said the boy, “Today, in our science lesson, Mrs. Green was talking about the   34        .She said that the whole world is getting dirtier and that many animals and plants are dying. She wants us to think of something we can do to help. I thought all the way, but there is  35    I can do to make a difference.”

“Let me tell you    36    .” the mother said after thinking for a while. “One morning a man was walking down a beach, there he saw thousands of dying starfish covering the beach, they were pushed up by the     37   , and it was too far up for them to make their way back by    38       . The man shook his head as he walked along, ‘What a pity! So many starfish will die on the beach.’ The man felt very sorry    39     those starfish. He went on walking and just at that time he was    40      to find a boy in front who was throwing the starfish back into the sea as    41  as he could, ‘how silly you are! My     42  ,’ the man said, ‘There are so many starfish, can you throw all of them back?’ The boy didn’t stop but kept throwing, ‘ 43         I can’t help them all .I can make a difference to this one, and this one, and this one, and this one.”

“Thinking for a moment, the man    44      to help return the starfish to their home. He smiled and said to himself, ‘Sometimes the biggest lesson in life comes from the   45     person.

9.A of               B. for                C. from            D. forward

15.A shortest          B. tallest               C. smallest         D. biggest

阅读短文，根据短文内容，从短文后的五个选项中选出能填入空白处    的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余选项。（共8分，每小题2分）

Not everyone has a chance to be a detective(侦探), but I got one when I was thirteen years old. It happened in 1988.

One afternoon, I was walking down the street when I saw my father’s new car.  1.   , but to my surprise, I saw a young woman driving instead. “She has stolen my father’s car,” I thought. So I quickly stopped a taxi and got in. I said to the driver, “Follow that new car in front,” and I told him why.

 2.  , so I asked him to call the police. Soon we heard the sound of a police car. The police told the woman to stop the car using a loudspeaker(喇叭). The taxi came to a stop, too. I got out right then and said to the woman, “This is not your car. It’s my father’s car.”

The woman smiled and said, “Oh, You’re Mr Johnson’s younger son, right? I’ve seen your photo in your father’s office.”

     Before I could say another word, the woman explained that she was my father’s new assistant(店员). My father had asked her to take his computer to the shop to have it repaired.    3.  . After hearing this, we called my father and he told us what she said was right. The police and taxi driver laughed.  4.  . It was both the first and last time I worked as a detective.