Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be enough rain. Other times there is too much. Maybe thereisn’t a lot we can do to control the rain, but there is a lot we can do to reduce problems caused bydifferent rainfall patterns.

A new development at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes solves the problems of managingwater with a “Rain Garden”. We are likely to be hearing about it a lot more often over the next fewyears. The idea is that the garden owner can store rainwater and use it in dry periods. They canreduce the problems caused by extra rain this way.

One of the key problems that the rain garden tries to deal with is the problem caused by toomuch water in the street. In a natural environment, a lot of rainwater is sent back into the air byplants. Much is also absorbed deep into the ground, and flows into streams and rivers. What happensin city environments can be completely different —— a large amount of rainwater flows straight offthe hard surfaces of roofs and roads. The harder the rain, the less likely it will be absorbed into theground —— floods are the result. Rainwater running off roads is often polluted.

The rain garden deals with living plants rather than hard surfaces. Plants are designed to holdwater and release it slowly, either into the ground, to be absorbed by plant roots (and so eventuallyback up into the atmosphere) or to go down into the water table. Not only does the rain gardenreduce the amount of water that flows onto the street, but it helps to clean it because plants are very goodat breaking down pollutants(污染物).

1.What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A．Explaining why there is a lack of rain at times.

B．Introducing several different patterns of rainfall.

C．Telling us how to avoid problems caused by rain.

D．Giving the idea that there are ways to manage rain water.

2.According to the second paragraph, “Rain Gardens" are likely to _____.

A．harm the environment in the short run

B．become popular over the next few years

C．be turned down by most new developments

D．be too expensive for common people to accept

3.We can learn from the third paragraph that _____.

A．floods are often the results of small rains

B．a heavy rain is less difficult for plants to absorb

C．the rain garden helps send rainwater back into the air

D．larger amounts of rainwater flow straight off in city environments

4.According to the last paragraph, what does the rain garden help to clean?

A．The plants         B．The ground.        C．The water.         D．The street.

     the red switch on the left and the flying machine will swiftly go up into the air and      its journey.

1. A.
   Press, begins
2. B.
   Press, begin
3. C.
   Pressed, begins
4. D.
   To press, to begin

     the red switch on the left and the flying machine will swiftly go up into the air and      its journey.

A．Press, begins       B．Press, begin        C．Pressed, begins     D．To press, to begin

I had a interesting dream last night. I dreamedthat I took part in a race. At first, I could not to run very fast and fell behind. So I didn’t lose heart and keptrunning. All the students on the playground cheer me on, “ Come on!” I was so encouraging that I ran faster and fast till I caught up all the other runners. I felt as if flying like a superman. In the end, I got to the finishing line first.I won the race. I felt very proudly of myself. Many of my classmate threw me up into the air. Just at that timeI woke up and found me still in bed!

A traveler lost his way and got off the highway to see where he was. As he drove by, he saw rows and rows of pigpens and pigs running in fields. Suddenly, his eyes caught something really strange. It looked like a pig with a wooden leg.

   He drove up into the arm, where he met the farmer. “ Excuse me, ” the traveler said. “ I was just driving by and looking at all your pigs, and I just had to stop and ask about it. Tell me, is there really a pig out there with a wooden leg?” The farmer smiled. “ Oh, that would be old Caesar you saw. He’s the finest pig I’ve ever had ---and smart! Well, let me tell you a little about that pig.”

   “ One night a couple of years ago I got to drinking and I guess I had more than I should have. I fell down and knocked over a lamp. That started a fire in the house and old Caesar smelled the smoke. He came in the back door, got the wife and kid out, roused me up and got me out. There is no question about it ---- that night old Caesar saved all our lives. You know that I’m not going to forget it too easily.”

   “ Why,” the traveler said, “ this is amazing! I have never heard of a pig like this before! This is fantastic! But tell me, how did he get that wooden leg?”

   The farmer laughed and said, “ Well, when you have a pig so smart, you don’t want to eat him all at one time!”

1.The farmer thought the pig _______.

A. very fat    B. very clever    C. very kind    D. very strange

2.The passage indicates that _______.

A. the pig lost a leg in the fire

B. the farmer deeply thanked the pig

C. the pig had a very good keeper

D. the real leg had been eaten by the farmer

3.The author wants to _______.

A. report a piece of news

B. tell us a moving story

C. tell us a humorous story

D. have a joke with us