Each spring brings a new blossom of wildflowers in the ditches along the highway I travel daily to work.

There are some particular blue flowers that have always caught my eye. I’ve noticed that they bloom only in the morning hours and the afternoon sun is too warm for them. Every day for about two weeks, I see those beautiful flowers.

This spring, I started a wildflower garden in our yard. I can look out of the kitchen window while doing the dishes and see the flowers. I’ve often thought that those lovely blue flowers from the ditch would look great in that bed alongside other wildflowers. Every day I drove past the flowers thinking, “I’ll stop on my way home and dig them.” “Gee, I don’t want to get my good clothes dirty…” Whatever the reason, I never stopped to dig them. My husband even gave me a folding shovel（铲子）one year in my car to be used for that expressed purpose.

One day on my way home from work, I was shocked to see that the highway department had destroyed the ditches and the pretty blue flowers were gone. I thought to myself, “Way to go, you waited too long. You should have done it when you first saw them blooming this spring.” A week ago we were shocked and saddened to learn that my oldest sister has a terminal brain tumor（肿瘤）. She is 20 years older than me and unfortunately, because of age and distance, we haven’t been as close as we all would have liked. I couldn’t help but see the connection between the pretty blue flowers and the relationship between my sister and us. I do believe that God has given us some time left to plant some wonderful memories that will bloom every year for us. 

And yes, if I see the blue flowers again, you can bet I’ll stop and transplant them to my wildflower garden.

1. Why did those flowers the writer saw only bloom in the morning?

   A. Because it was hot in the afternoon.

   B. Because someone picked them away. 

   C. Because someone took them into houses.

   D. Because the writer passed them in the morning.

2. Which of the following statements is right according to the passage?

   A. The writer’s sister died of lung tumor.

   B. The writer was regretful when she heard her sister’s death.

   C. The writer planned to dig the flowers to give them to her husband.

   D. The writer’s husband planned to plant some flowers in the garden. 

3. The writer wrote the passage to tell us ________.

   A. to enjoy what we have now

B. to value now and not to lose chances

C. to protect the beautiful flowers we see

D. to love those who are your close relatives

In Canada you can find dogs, horses, etc., in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and think they are their good friends. Before they keep them at their houses, they take them to animal hospital to give them injection (注射) so that they won’t catch disease(疾病). They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every store. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. When you visit people’s homes, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody can kill any animals in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished（惩罚）.

Old people in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them might be: their family tie is not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own career (事业), then the old will feel lonely. And pets can make them happy. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.

1. The passage mainly tells us people in Canada _________.

      A. like to keep pets at home             B. spend a lot of money on pets

      C. think killing pets is against the law     D. enjoy showing pets to their friends

2.People give pets injection to make them not __________.

      A. run away                           B. hurt people

      C. get ill                            D. eat much

3.The underlined word “feeder” refers to ________.

      A.捕鸟器         B.捕虫器        C. 投食器          D. 置水器

4.Old people like to keep pets because __________.

      A. pets spend less money               B. pets are quiet and clean

      C. pets are easy to take care of           D. pets can make good companies

阅读短文并选择方框内的适当形式填空，每空仅填一个词，每个词仅用一次。

In Canada you can find dogs, horses, etc., in almost every family. These are their pets. People love these pets and think they are their good friends. Before they keep them at their houses, they take them to animal hospital to give them injection (注射) so that they won’t catch disease(疾病). They have special animal food stores, though they can get animal food in almost every store. Some people spend around two hundred Canadian dollars a month on animal food. When you visit people’s homes, they would be very glad to show you their pets and they are very proud of them. You will also find almost every family has a bird feeder in their garden. All kinds of birds are welcomed to come and have a good meal. They are free to come and go and nobody can kill any animals in Canada. They have a law against killing wild animals. If you killed an animal, you would be punished（惩罚）.
Old people in Canada have many reasons to like animals. One of them might be: their family tie is not as close as ours. When children grow up, they leave their parents and start their own career (事业), then the old will feel lonely. And pets can make them happy. They can be good friends and never leave them alone.
【小题1】 The passage mainly tells us people in Canada _________.