Once upon a time, two brothers who lived on neighboring farms fell into conflict(冲突) . It was the first serious one between them in 40 years of farming peacefully side by side. In the end, they fell apart.

One morning, a man with a carpenter’s toolbox came for some work. The elder brother said, “I have a job for you. Look at the farm across the creek（河沟）. My younger brother lives there. It was he who used his bulldozer（推土机）to dig the creek last week to spite(刁难) me. So I want you to build me a fence, an 8 – foot – high fence,  in order not to see his place any more.” The carpenter smiled and said, “I see. I’ll try to do a job that satisfies you.” Then the elder brother went downtown.

At sunset when the farmer returned, the carpenter had just finished his job. The farmer’s eyes opened wide! To his surprise, there was no fence there at all! Instead, there was a bridge stretching from one side of the creek to the other! A fine piece of work! He saw his younger brother coming to him with the hands outstretching. The brothers stood at each end of the bridge, and then they met in the middle, taking each other’s hands. They turned to see the carpenter lift his toolbox on his shoulder.

“No, wait! Stay a few days. I’ve a lot of other work for you,” said the elder brother.

“I’d love to stay on,” the carpenter said, “but I have so many more bridges to build.”

1.What was the life like for the two brothers before the conflict?

 A．They lived a poor life.                    B．They lived in peace.

     C．They never spoke to each other.             D．They lived on the same farm.

2.It can be learned that the carpenter was ________.

     A．unwilling to obey the farmer                B．fond of building bridges

     C．unable to build a fence                    D．willing to help others

3.The best title for this passage is ________.

      A．A Fine Piece of Work                B．A Carpenter  

C．A Conflict between Two Brothers       D. Two Brothers

4.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The elder brother used his bulldozer to dig a creek.

B．The elder brother helped the carpenter build the bridge.

C．The brothers were both satisfied with the carpenter’s work.

D．The carpenter planned to build an 8-foot - high fence as asked to.

A young man applied for a job as a farmhand. When the farmer asked for his qualifications(资历), he said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

       This puzzled the farmer. But he liked the young man, and hired him.

       A few days later, the farmer and his wife were awakened in the night by a violent storm. They quickly began to check things out to see if all was safe from damage. They found that the doors of the farmhouse had been safely fastened, and a lot of wood had been set next to the fireplace.

       The young man slept soundly.

       The farmer and his wife then looked at their property (财产) carefully. They found that the farm tools had been placed in the storage room, safe from the bad weather. The tractor had been moved into the garage. The barn was properly locked. Even the animals were calm. All was well.

       The farmer then understood the meaning of the young man’s words, “I can sleep when the wind blows.”

      The farmhand did his work loyally. When the sky was clear, he had prepared for the storm in case it broke. So when the wind blew, there was no need for him to be afraid. He could sleep in peace.

1.The underlined word “fastened” in Para. 3 can be replaced by ______.

       A. closed        B. damaged           C. taken         D. moved

2.From the passage, we can learn that ______.

       A. at first the farmer understood his words well

       B. the young man was awakened in the night by a violent storm

       C. the young man had prepared for the storm before it came

       D. the young man was too sleepy to wake up in the night

3.The best title for this passage is ______.

       A. Sleeping in peace through the storm          B. A violent storm

       C. A young man and his dream                        D. A clever farmer

4. Which of the following proverbs can best explain the story?

       A. Lookers-on see more than players

       B. Two heads are better than one

       C. A stitch（针）in time saves nine

       D. No man can do two things at a time

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the sad eyes of a little boy.

“Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies." 

"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat of the back of his neck, “these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty- nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?”  

"Sure," said the farmer.

And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called.

Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller.

Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....

"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.

"How much?" asked the little boy.

"No charge," answered the farmer, "There's no charge for love."

The world is full of people who need someone who understands. It's National Friendship Week.

1.How many baby pups did the farmer have for sale?

  A. 3                                B. 4                             C. 5                             D. 6

2.Why did the farmer agree to sell the boy one of the puppies?

  A. The boy had the money to buy one.   

  B. There were few people wanting to buy a dog.

  C. The farmer felt sorry for the boy.             

  D. The farmer wanted to get rid of the dogs quickly.

3. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to the underlined word “ hobbling”?

  A. strolling.                     B. crawling.                       C. limping.                 D. running.

4.Why did the boy finally choose the “ hobbling” pup?

  A. He feared the farmer would kill it.           

  B. He thought no one else would buy that pup.

  C. He believed it was the cutest of the pups.          

D. He could identify with this pup.

5.What would be the most suitable title for this passage?

  A. Man’s Best Friend                                        B. Puppy For Sale.       

  C. Perfect Match.                                                 D. Love at First Sight.

Shu Pulong has helped at least 1000 people bitten (咬) by snakes, “ It was seeing people with snake bites (伤口) that led me to this career,” he said.

  In 1963, after his army service, Shu entered a medical school and later became a doctor of Chinese medicine. As part of his studies he had to work in the mountains. There he often heard of people who had their arms and legs cut off after a snake bite in order to save their lives.

  “I was greatly upset by the story of an old farmer I met. It was a very hot afternoon. The old man was pulling grass in his fields when he felt a pain in his left hand. He at once realized he had been bitten by a poisonous snake. In no time he wrapped a cloth tightly around his arm to stop the poison spreading to his heart. Rushing home he shouted ‘bring me the knife!’ Minutes later the man lost his arm forever.”

  “The sad story touched me so much that I decided to devote myself to helping people bitten by snakes,” Shu said.

1. The best headline (标题) for this newspaper article is      .

A. Astonishing Medicine           B. Farmer Loses Arm

C. Dangerous Bites                D. Snake Doctor

2.. The farmer lost his arm because      .

A. the cloth was wrapped too tightly

B. he cut it to save his life

C. Shu wasn’t there to help him

D. he was alone in the fields

3. Shu decided to devote himself to snake medicine because      .

A. he wanted to save people’s arms and legs

B. he had studied it at a medical school

C. he had seen snakes biting people

D. his army service had finished

4. Why did Shu go into the mountains?

A. He wanted to study snake bites.

B. He wanted to help the farmers.

C. He was being trained to be a doctor.

D. He was expected to serve in the army.

A rat looked through a crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package. What food might it contain? But he discovered that it was a rattrap (捕鼠夹）.
Going back to the farmyard, the rat started to give a warning.
The rat turned to the pig and told him:“There is a rattrap in the house, a rattrap in the house!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Rat,” said the pig, “I can only say this is something terrible to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered with it.”
The rat turned to the cow. But the cow said, “Like wow, Mr. Rat? A rattrap? I am in danger, Huh?”
The rat returned to the house, head down and dejected. So the rat had to face the farmer's rattrap alone.
That very night, a sound was heard throughout the house, like the sound of a rattrap catching its prey (猎物). The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.In the darkness, she did not notice that it was a poisonous snake whose tail had been caught by the trap. The snake bit her.The farmer rushed her to hospital. She returned home with a fever. Everyone knows that a fever could be treated with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his knife to the farmyard for the soup. However, his wife's sickness continued.
The farmer's friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer killed the pig. But she didn't get well. Finally, she died, and so many people came for the last sight that the farmer had the cow killed to provide meat for all of them.
So the next time you hear that someone is facing a problem and think that it does not concern you, remember that the whole farmyard is at risk when there is a rattrap in the house.
【小题1】From the passage we know that ______.