Long ago, in days of the Roman Empire, people used to believe a god of farmings called “Saturn”. They believed that Saturn could make the weather good or bad, and that he had the power to control how much rain would fall.

Before a Roman farmer would plant his fields, he would try to get Saturn to give him good weather. He believed that if he killed an animal for Saturn, that would make Saturn happy. Then Saturn would make sure that the weather was good.

Not only did the people name a planet after Saturn but they also name a day of the week after him. They called this day “Saturni dies”, Latin words which mean “day of Saturn”. In English those words became Saturday.

6. What was Saturn believed to be in charge of?

  A. Rainfall.    B. The power of nature.   C. Farming.    D. Days in a week.

7. Why did a Roman farmer kill an animal before planting his fields?

Because      .

  A. killing an animal would bring him good luck

  B. Saturn enjoyed eating animals

  C. Saturn was happy to see animals being killed

  D. he wanted to please Saturn so that Saturn would make the weather good for his planting

8. Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

  A. Saturn is also the name of planet.

  B. The Roman people used to believe Saturn to be their god.

  C. Saturn was named for the last day of the week.

  D. Saturn had three meanings.

9. What’s the aim of the author in writing this passage?

  A. How the Romans worshipped (崇拜) Saturn.

  B. Why the Romans believed in Saturn.

  C. The different meanings of the word Saturn.

  D. How Saturday got its name.

A long time ago, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody noticed him．Thus, feeling inferior （低等的）, the seed gave no importance to his existence （存在）．
Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field under the sun．Later, he was given rain．
Years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side．“Thank God for this．I really need some rest,” he heard the traveler say．
“What are you talking about?” the seed quickly asked．He thought the man was making fun of him．No one ever spoke to him like that．
“Who just spoke?” the shocked man asked．
“It is me．A seed．”
`“A seed?” The man looked at the big tree．“Are you joking? You are not a seed．You are a big tree!”
“Really?”
“Yes! Why else do you think people come here?”
“What do they come here for?”
“To feel your shade （树荫）! Don’t tell me you didn’t know you had grown over time．”
A moment passed before the traveler’s words brought him pride．
The seed thought and smiled for the first time in his life．The years of torture （折磨） by the sun and the rain finally helped him grow up．
“Oh! That means I’m not a little seed anymore! I was actually born to make people feel comfortable．Wow! That’s great!”
【小题1】The seed didn’t realize the importance of his existence because ______．

A long time ago, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody noticed him. Thus, feeling inferior (低级的), the seed gave no importance to his existence (存在). Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field in the sun. Later, he was given rain. Years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side. "Thank you God for this. I really need some rest," he heard the traveler say. "What are you talking about?" the seed quickly asked. He thought the man was making fun of him. No one ever spoke to him like that. "Who just spoke?" the shocked man asked. "It is me. A seed." "A seed?" The man looked at the big tree. "Are you joking? You are not a seed. You are a big tree!" "Really?" "Yes! Why else do you think people come here?" "What do they come here for?" "To feel your shade (树阴)! Don’t tell me you didn’t know you had grown over time." A moment passed before the traveler’s words brought him pride. The seed thought and smiled for the first time in his life. The years of torture (折磨) by the sun and the rain finally helped him grow up. "Oh! That means I’m not a little seed anymore! I was actually born to make people feel comfortable. Wow! That’s great!"
【小题1】The seed didn’t realize the importance of his existence because __________.

A long time ago, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody noticed him. Thus, feeling inferior (低级的), the seed gave no importance to his existence (存在). Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field in the sun. Later, he was given rain. Years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side. "Thank you God for this. I really need some rest," he heard the traveler say. "What are you talking about?" the seed quickly asked. He thought the man was making fun of him. No one ever spoke to him like that. "Who just spoke?" the shocked man asked. "It is me. A seed." "A seed?" The man looked at the big tree. "Are you joking? You are not a seed. You are a big tree!" "Really?" "Yes! Why else do you think people come here?" "What do they come here for?" "To feel your shade (树阴)! Don’t tell me you didn’t know you had grown over time." A moment passed before the traveler’s words brought him pride. The seed thought and smiled for the first time in his life. The years of torture (折磨) by the sun and the rain finally helped him grow up. "Oh! That means I’m not a little seed anymore! I was actually born to make people feel comfortable. Wow! That’s great!"

1.The seed didn’t realize the importance of his existence because __________.

A．nobody looked after him

B．he was thrown into the open air

C．he can’t not grow up

D．he didn’t believe in himself

2.The traveler sat by the seed’s side to _____________.

A．escape from the rain

B．thank God for offering him a tree

C．have a rest and enjoy the shade

D．talk with the big tree

3.How did the seed feel after hearing the traveler’s words at last?

A．Sad.              B．Proud.            C．Funny.            D．Sorry.

4.The author’s purpose of writing the passage is to ________.

A．tell us a very interesting story

B．praise the seed for his strength

C．teach readers a lesson: don’t laugh at others

D．tell us that we should never lose hope

5.Where does the passage most probably come from?

A．A history book.     B．A science book.     C．A story book.       D．A guide book.

A long time ago, there was a seed and because he was only a seed, nobody noticed him．Thus, feeling inferior （低等的）, the seed gave no importance to his existence （存在）．

Then one day, a wind picked him up and threw him on an open field under the sun．Later, he was given rain．

Years later he saw a traveler sitting by his side．“Thank God for this．I really need some rest,” he heard the traveler say．

“What are you talking about?” the seed quickly asked．He thought the man was making fun of him．No one ever spoke to him like that．

“Who just spoke?” the shocked man asked．

“It is me．A seed．”

`“A seed?” The man looked at the big tree．“Are you joking? You are not a seed．You are a big tree!”

“Really?”

“Yes! Why else do you think people come here?”

“What do they come here for?”

“To feel your shade （树荫）! Don’t tell me you didn’t know you had grown over time．”

A moment passed before the traveler’s words brought him pride．

The seed thought and smiled for the first time in his life．The years of torture （折磨） by the sun and the rain finally helped him grow up．

“Oh! That means I’m not a little seed anymore! I was actually born to make people feel comfortable．Wow! That’s great!”

1.The seed didn’t realize the importance of his existence because ______．

2.The traveler sat by the seed’s side to ______．

3.The author’s purpose of writing the passage is to ______．

4.Where does the passage most probably come from?