Ever since farmers began to grow grain, they have had to protect their crops from birds. In the 1300's, English farmers hired children to protect their crops. They were called “bird scares”. The children chased birds and threw stones at them.
Bird scares were replaced in the 1800's by scarecrows. A scarecrow is anything that is set in a field to scare birds away. Often it is a pole dressed like a person. Some farms with small fields still use scarecrows today.
Farming became big business in the twentieth century. Scarecrows could no longer protect the huge fields of grain, so farmers used poisonous chemicals on the fields. The poison made the grain bitter. The birds usually would not eat the bitter grain.
Although they can prevent crops from being destroyed by insects and birds, some chemicals can be harmful to humans. Therefore, farmers are using fewer chemicals now than they did twenty years ago. Perhaps scarecrows may be seen more often in the fields in the future.
【小题1】English farmers began to hire children to get away birds since_____.
| A.the twelfth century | B.the fifteenth century |
| C.the sixteenth century | D.the fourteenth century |
| A.feeding them bitter grain | B.pretending to be scarecrows |
| C.spreading chemicals in the fields | D.chasing them and throwing stones |
| A.Scarecrows could no longer protect fields. | B.They were called “bird scares”. |
| C.English farmers hired children. | D.Farmers are using fewer chemicals. |
| A.give information about children who worked as bird scares |
| B.tell how crops have been protected from birds |
| C.make the readers feel sorry for birds that eat poisoned grain |
| D.entertain the readers with a funny story |
A young man was going to join the army and had to take a medical examination. The doctor was sitting at a desk when he went in. He said to the man. “Take your coat and shirt off, and sit on the chair.” The young man did so. The doctor looked at him for a moment without getting up from his chair and then said, “All right. Put on your clothes again.” “But you haven’t examined me at all!” the young man said in surprise. “There is no need to do so,” the doctor said with a smile. “When I told you to take your coat and shirt off, you heard me all right, so there is nothing wrong with your ears. You saw the chair, so your eyes are good. You could take your clothes off and sit on the chair, so you must be in good health. And you understand what I told you to do and did it without a mistake, so you must be clever enough for the army.”
【小题1】The young man went to the doctor because __________.
| A.he wanted to consult about his illness. |
| B.he had to have a medical check-up. |
| C.he did not want to join the army. |
| D.he did not feel well. |
| A.test his listening ability. |
| B.see whether his eyes were wrong with him. |
| C.see what was wrong with him. |
| D.examine him with no clothes. |
| A.the young man would not be a good soldier. |
| B.the young man must not join the army. |
| C.The young man would not do something wrong in the army. |
| D.the young man could join the army. |
| A.did not understand what the doctor mean |
| B.did not do as he was told to do |
| C.realized why the doctor told him to do something |
| D.understood what the doctor meant |
One bitterly cold day, a snowstorm blew into our area. Needing firewood, I quickly set out with my best friend, Bruce, to look for a tree to cut down. I was glad to have Bruce along. Cutting down a tree in a snowstorm can be dangerous. So it was important to have a friend who could warn me of dangers.
When I chose a big 23-meter-tall tree and prepared to cut it down, my best friend suddenly warned me, “Don’t cut down that tree! It’s too close to the power line!” I wasn’t sure about it. So I decided to disregard his warning. I wanted to finish the job quickly and go home. So I began cutting down the tree. When the tree fell, there was no longer any doubt that my friend was right.
The tree caught the power line, bringing it to the ground. I considered cutting the tree off the line. After all, electricity can’t travel through wood, so I could safely remove the tree. As I reached out my finger to touch the tree, pain ran up my arm and through my head. I had been shocked!
After I returned home and told my mother what had happened, she quickly called the power company. Workers from the power company soon arrived on the scene. One of them asked if I had touched the tree, and when I told him I had, his face turned pale.
“You should have been killed,” he said.
So why am I still alive? It was my boots that saved my life.
Within two hours, the workers removed the tree. Soon the snowstorm calmed down—but not my mother.
Even though she was glad I wasn’t hurt, my mother was well serious with me. After all, I shouldn’t have brushed off my friend’s warning.
Through this experience, I learned that it’s important to listen to people who offer a different perspective(观点). Taking the time to listen might actually save a lot of time and trouble. It certainly would have kept me from getting the “shock of my life”.
【小题1】The underlined word “disregard ” in the second paragraph means “________”.
| A.pay no attention to | B.take notice of | C.consider | D.follow |
| A.he was sure there would be nothing to happen |
| B.he wasn’t sure whether Bruce was right and was anxious to go home |
| C.he didn’t hear his friend’s warning at all because of the blowing wind |
| D.he was angry with his friend and didn’t want to listen to him |
| A.give an account of one of his terrible experiences |
| B.make us know it’s important to listen to people who offer a different perspective (观点) through his experience |
| C.tell us not to cut trees down any more |
| D.remind us to be careful while working |
| A.But for his boots, the writer would have died. |
| B.The writer regretted having brushed off his friend’s warning. |
| C.The writer knew nothing about electricity. |
| D.When the tree was cut down, the writer realized his friend was right |
Mr. Black and Mr. White were two very famous artists in the city. Their drawings were also very popular in the city. But they tried to see who could draw the best picture.
One day they asked an old man to be the judge. Mr. Black drew an apple tree. He put his picture in the field. Soon the birds came and tried to eat the apples. The old man saw it and said, “You have certainly won. Mr. White cannot draw so good a picture as yours. But we will go to see his picture.”
They went to Mr. White’s house. There were nothing but red beautiful curtains on the wall. The old man asked, “Where is your picture, Mr. White?” He said, “Lift the curtains, and you will find my picture.” The old man tried to lift the curtains but found that they were drawn there. They were Mr. White’s picture. The old man said, “Birds thought the apples were real. Men thought the curtains were real. So Mr. White won. His picture is the best one.”
【小题1】Mr. Black drew .
| A.an apple tree | B.the best picture | C.curtains | D.birds |
| A.it was in the field | B.it was an apple tree |
| C.the birds liked it | D.the birds thought it was real |
| A.an apple tree | B.curtains | C.nothing | D.an old man |
| A.The birds came and ate the apples up. |
| B.The old man said Mr. White’s picture was the best one at last. |
| C.The two pictures were not so good. |
| D.The curtains on the wall were real. |