Have you ever heard anyone say“It’s raining cats and dogs”? It means“It’s raining hard!”
　　But sometimes cats and dogs do drop from the sky! Here’s how it happens.
　　Not so long ago, a country far away had many large rats. The people there said,“We need cats!”So cats were sent to them by airplane. But the country had many mountains. It was hard for an airplane to land. So the cats came down by parachute(降落伞). Did the cats like the ride? They didn’t say they didn’t! And today they are still catching rats!
　　In another country far away, there is snow the year around. People sometimes got lost in it.
　　“We need big dogs!”the people said.“The dogs could find people lost in the snow. The dogs could help bring them home. Where can we get big dogs?”
　　A man across the sea had big dogs to sell.“I will send dogs to you.”He said.“I have some very big ones. They can find people lost in the snow.”
　　He sent the dogs by airplane.
　　But the airplane didn’t land in the snow. The dogs came down by parachute—you guessed it!
　　Did the dogs like the ride? They didn’t say they didn’t! And today they are well and happy. They find anyone who gets lost in the snow. Then they help him get home. Good dogs!
　　Remember it, so you can say,“Yes, it does rain cats and dogs sometimes. They came down by parachute!”
　　1．The underlined word“it”in Paragraph 2 refers to_________.
　　A. the weather
　　B. the saying“It’s raining cats and dogs.”
　　C. the saying“It’s raining hard.”
　　D. the fact that real cats and dogs drop from the sky
　　2．Cats and dogs drop from the sky because_________.
　　A. there are many mountains in the country
　　B. it snows the year around in the country
　　C. it was hard for a plane to land in the two countries
　　D. coming down by parachute could save money
　　3．The underlined sentence“They didn’t say they didn’t!”in Paragraph 3 means“_________”.
　　A. Poor animals       B. Good animals
　　C. Have a nice trip       D. Thank you
　　4．Which of the following is not true according to the passage?
　　A. Cats and dogs can help people quite a lot.
　　B.“It rains cats and dogs.”usually means a heavy rain.
　　C. When the people saw cats drop from the plane, they were pleased.
　　D. The man across the sea didn’t want his dogs dropped by air.
　　5．The main purpose of the passage is to_________.
　　A. tell the readers a famous British saying
　　B. tell the readers of a new meaning about an old saying
　　C. show cats and dogs are our good friends
　　D. show parachutes is an important invention

Are you an only-child in your family? Are you feeling alone at home? How are you dealing with it?
Zhang Luwen, 12, feels lucky to have a 4-year-old “brother”. “With him, I never feel lonely at home. He goes with me wherever I go,” said the girl of Sichuan Province. But it is not easy to be a sister. Zhang has to help her parents bath her “brother” every week. This is because he is hairy — he is a dog.
As the number of pet owners in China grows more and more, Chinese students have animal friends at home. Experts say that these small animals give these only-children lessons in love, care, teamwork and generosity.
This month, the first study on the influence of pets on the children came out. It is a survey of 402 Beijing primary school students. It shows that animal friends are good for children.
China had more than 90 million only-children by 2006, according to the government. “In families of three, most children feel lonely. They don’t have many chances to learn how to love and be responsible for others,” said Zhou Xia in the study group. “So having a pet can help with the problem.”
However, some students complain that their parents don’t allow them to have pets. “They are afraid a pet would stop me studying,” said Chen Qi, of Chongqing.
Perhaps he could learn from Qin Yixing, 13, of Beijing. “I don’t play with my dog until I have finished my homework. I made the promise to my mom and I must keep it,” said the girl.
【小题1】According to the passage, experts think _______.

Did you know that a new weblog is being created each second? Many of these bloggers are teenagers. While their parents wrote in a diary to express their emotions, or shared their interests by spending time with friends, teens are now using blogs instead. In fact, in the US, one in every five school-aged teens has a blog. Most of these are just chatter, some are funny or clever, but a few have become Internet success.

For example, Chloe Spencer’s blog ‘Neopets Fanatic’ gets around 300,000 hits per month. When Chloe was 15, she started the blog out of her strong liking for Neopets, a kind of pet website. One reason her blog has so many visitors is because she gives instructions and tips for the popular pet site.

Then there is Tavi Gevinson’s blog ‘Style Rookie’. It is said to get 1.5 million hits per month. Tavi, who started her blog when she was just 12, puts up her photos of her own clothes online as well as designers’ collections. Tavi’s blog has caught on because she knows a lot about style for someone so young, and she is not afraid to try out unusual clothes or see things in a different way.

Blogs like these are interesting, but they only become really popular after better-known websites link to them or they get noticed by the media(传媒). For example, Tavi’s blog became an overnight(一夜之间) success after being written about in The New York Times. Popular blogs can even earn money, usually from advertisements that companies pay to put up on the bloggers’ sites.

So for some, blogging is just a recreation(消遣), but for others, it can become a source of income and even a full-time job!

1. Teens nowadays ________ than their parents did.

A. have more ways of communication?????????????

B. share their feelings more

C. write in diaries more often ?????????????

D. make more friends

2. In line 4, the underlined word ‘chatter’ means talk about ________ topics.

A. funny????????????? B. clever????????????? C. serious????????????? D. unimportant

3.Chloe Spencer and Tavi Gevinson are both ________.

A. pet lovers????????????? ????????????? B. teenage bloggers

C. interested in fashion????????????? ????????????? D. keen on taking photos

4. From the passage we know that Chloe Spencer is a person who ________.

A. visits many websites????????????? ????????????? B. loves pets

C. is easy to get angry????????????? ????????????? D. rarely gives opinions

5. According to paragraph 4, Tavi Gevinson’s blog ________.

A. is not well-known yet????????????? ?????????????

B. is written every night

C. became popular very quickly?????????????

D. got a lot of money from advertising?

6.The best title for the passage might be ________.

A. How to be good teen bloggers?????????????

B. How teen bloggers attract the media

C. Keeping diaries or writing blogs?????????????

D. Teen bloggers mean business

Are you an only-child in your family? Are you feeling alone at home? How are you dealing with it?

Zhang Luwen, 12, feels lucky to have a 4-year-old “brother”. “With him, I never feel lonely at home. He goes with me wherever I go,” said the girl of Sichuan Province. But it is not easy to be a sister. Zhang has to help her parents bath her “brother” every week. This is because he is hairy — he is a dog.

As the number of pet owners in China grows more and more, Chinese students have animal friends at home. Experts say that these small animals give these only-children lessons in love, care, teamwork and generosity.

This month, the first study on the influence of pets on the children came out. It is a survey of 402 Beijing primary school students. It shows that animal friends are good for children.

China had more than 90 million only-children by 2006, according to the government. “In families of three, most children feel lonely. They don’t have many chances to learn how to love and be responsible for others,” said Zhou Xia in the study group. “So having a pet can help with the problem.”

However, some students complain that their parents don’t allow them to have pets. “They are afraid a pet would stop me studying,” said Chen Qi, of Chongqing.

Perhaps he could learn from Qin Yixing, 13, of Beijing. “I don’t play with my dog until I have finished my homework. I made the promise to my mom and I must keep it,” said the girl.

1.According to the passage, experts think _______.

A．it is good for students to have animal friends at home

B．only-children families in China will be fewer and fewer

C．small animals at home are bad for students

D．parents should buy more pet animals for their children

2.What can we learn from the passage?

A．Zhang Luwen’s parents bath every week.

B．Zhou Xia thinks a pet animal can solve the problem that children feel lonely.

C．Chen Qi of Chongqing has got a pet animal.

D．Qin Yixing’s parents don’t want her to have a pet.

Did you know that a new weblog is being created each second? Many of these bloggers are teenagers. While their parents wrote in a diary to express their emotions, or shared their interests by spending time with friends, teens are now using blogs instead. In fact, in the US, one in every five school-aged teens has a blog. Most of these are just chatter, some are funny or clever, but a few have become Internet success.
For example, Chloe Spencer’s blog ‘Neopets Fanatic’ gets around 300,000 hits per month. When Chloe was 15, she started the blog out of her strong liking for Neopets, a kind of pet website. One reason her blog has so many visitors is because she gives instructions and tips for the popular pet site.

Then there is Tavi Gevinson’s blog ‘Style Rookie’. It is said to get 1.5 million hits per month. Tavi, who started her blog when she was just 12, puts up her photos of her own clothes online as well as designers’ collections. Tavi’s blog has caught on because she knows a lot about style for someone so young, and she is not afraid to try out unusual clothes or see things in a different way.
Blogs like these are interesting, but they only become really popular after better-known websites link to them or they get noticed by the media(传媒). For example, Tavi’s blog became an overnight(一夜之间) success after being written about in The New York Times. Popular blogs can even earn money, usually from advertisements that companies pay to put up on the bloggers’ sites.
So for some, blogging is just a recreation(消遣), but for others, it can become a source of income and even a full-time job!
【小题1】 Teens nowadays ________ than their parents did.