Reading Comprehension

Read the following passages, and choose the best answer that can answer the question.

　　One Sunday, Mark decided to go sailing in his boat with his friend Dan, but Dan happened to be away. Dan's brother John offered to go instead though he did not know anything about sailing. Mark agreed and they set out to sea.

　　Soon they found themselves in a thick fog. Mark was sure they would be hit by a big ship. Fortunately he saw a large buoy(浮標) through the fog and decided to tie the boat to it for safety. As he was getting onto the buoy, however, he dropped the wet rope. The boat moved away in the fog carrying John, who did not know how to use the radio. He drifted(漂流) about and was not seen until twelve hours later.

　　Mark spent the night on the buoy. In the early morning he fell asleep. He was having a bad dream when a shout woke him up. A ship, the Good Hope, came up and he climbed onto it and thanked the captain. The captain told him that John had been picked up by another ship and the ship's captain had sent out a message. “Without the message I would not have found you on the buoy,” he said.

1．Why didn't Mark and Dan go sailing together ________.

[　　]

A．Dan asked his brother to go instead.

B．Dan was in some other place.

C．Mark was in some other place.

D．Mark would like to go with John.

2．Mark tried to tie the boat to the buoy so that ________.

[　　]

A．he could spend the night on it while John was looking for help

B．he and John could go sailing again when the fog cleared

C．it wouldn't be hit by other ships

D．he might be picked up by a passing ship

3．John and Mark became separated because ________.

[　　]

A．there wasn't room for both John and Mark on the buoy

B．John couldn't control the boat and drifted away

C．Mark thought it safe to stay on the buoy but John didn't

D．John had to stay in the boat to radio for help

4．What made it possible for Mark to be found on the buoy?

[　　]

A．John told people where to look for him.

B．John radioed to the Good Hope to get him.

C．He shouted when he caught sight of the Good Hope.

D．The captain saw him as the fog cleared.

5．The word “he” in the last sentence refers to ________.

[　　]

A．the captain that got the message

B．the captain that sent the message

C．John

D．Mark

I receive many letters from children and can’t answer them all – there wouldn’t be enough time in a day. I’ll try to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked.

Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte’s Web? Well, many years ago, I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That’s how the story of Stuart Little got started.

As for Charlotte’s Web, I like animals and my farm is very pleasant place to be – at all hours. One day, when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was going to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save his life. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.)

Sometimes I’m asked when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early – as soon as I could spell. Children often find pleasure through trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was not good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing could be a way of earning a living.

Well, here is the answer to the last question. No, they are imaginary (虛構的) tales. In real life, a family doesn’t have a child who looks like a mouse and a spider doesn’t write words in her web. Although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too – truth about the way people and animals feel, think and act.

1.E.B. White wrote this passage to ______.

A. introduce his new books

B. introduce two funny stories

C. explain why he enjoys writing

D. answer some readers’ questions

2.We can know from the passage that E.B. White is a writer who ______.

A. writes very fast

B. works on a friends’ farm

C. mainly writes stories for adults

D. writes imaginary tales for children

3.What inspired E.B. White to write Charlotte’s Web?

A. That he wanted children to love animals.

B. That he was deeply impressed by a clever pig.

C. That he wanted to use his own way to save a pig.

D. That he wanted to save the animals on a farm.

4. E.B. White started to write because he wanted to ______.

A. improve his spelling

B. express his thoughts

C. show his sadness

D. make a good living

5.What is probably the last question?

John had to go to work. So he set off half an hour 36 than usual and arrived at the library before anybody else. The 37 to come was Mr. Steele, who thought, “This must be a wonder. John is 38 the first here. If he came as 39 as this every morning, he would get a lot more 40 done.” John began to get on with his work and by half past nine he had 41 all the postcards he had to write. It was a quarter to ten, and Mary had not arrived 42. He wondered 43 she was ill or if she had taken the day 44. But Mr. Steele came and 45 him if he knew where Mary was. If she were ill, she would 46, he said. It’s not like her. She’s usually 47. John said that he had no 48 where Mary was. But 49 the door opened and there was Mary. She was looking very 50 and tired. She apologized to Mr. Steele and explained that she had been 51 most of the night. She hadn’t 52 to sleep until five in the morning and had overslept. Mr. Steele was very 53 and suggested that she take the day off. She 54 him and said she would stay, but she 55 said a word for the rest of the morning. John, on the other hand, was feeling happy so at one o’clock he suggested to Mary that they go and have lunch together, and she agreed.

1...A. later            B. faster       C. slower           D. earlier

2...A. next             B. last             C. third    D. first

3...A. almost       B. about        C. actually     D. finally

4..A. soon          B. early        C. late                 D. quick

5..A. job           B. book         C. work             D. thing

6...A. taken            B. sold     C. finished             D. ended

7..A. too           B. yet          C. still        D. already

8...A. whether      B. why          C. when             D. either

9..A. on            B. over             C. off              D. up

10...A. told            B. warned       C. answered         D. asked

11...A. telephone       B. drive        C. ride         D. stay

12...A. later for work B. absent       C. ill D. the first to come

13...A. question        B. idea             C. thought          D. mind

14..A. at that moment B. for a moment C. long before    D. after work

15..A. happy        B. pale             C. red              D. excited

16...A. asleep      B. away         C. alone            D. awake

17..A. got          B. wanted       C. hoped            D. begun

18..A. cruel            B. kind             C. angry            D. glad

19...A. taught         B. told          C. laughed at   D. thanked

20...A. hardly          B. nearly       C. mostly   D. immediately

If I raised the question, “What would be the last thing you would expect to happen while watching your son’s flag football game?” you probably still couldn’t come up with what happened to me and my family.
As we were sitting on the sidelines enjoying the game, a low-flying bird came swooping in attempting to land on my daughter’s head! It honestly came out of nowhere. We were seated by ourselves on the tree lined side of the field. I was able to calm my daughter’s shock and fear once I showed her that the bird was not some wild animal, it was in fact, somebody’s pet!
Now, we’re sitting at the outdoor fields of the Pontiac Silverdome, far from any populated area, wondering where this very social cockatiel, an Australian parrot (澳洲鸚鵡) could have come from. I walked up to the bird and put out my hand. Immediately, it hopped on and chirped in a friendly way. We looked around us and knew that we could not just leave and suppose that the bird would return to where it came from. This was a very domesticated bird that needed help or it would not survive.
The flag football game had ended so we walked the bird over to other groups of adults and asked if they knew of anyone who had lost a bird. All the kids were excited about the bird and fed it with some post game snacks. The bird’s nails were getting long and he was looking pretty dirty, so we knew it had been out here for a long time and was hungry. Since its wings were clipped, it could fly a little but probably not more than 100 yards or so at a try. We all just scratched our heads as a group wondering what to do with the lost bird.
We explained to the kids that this bird needed our help since it was someone’s pet and would not know how to get its own food, and it could not fly well since its wings were clipped. The kids understood, and all of them wanted to take the bird home! The parents however, knew this was not a good choice as one had a large dog, another two cats, etc. We explained to the kids that one of us could take the bird home for the night and then bring it to the Humane Society in the morning in hopes to connect it to its owners. We couldn’t keep the bird. It wasn’t ours. This was tough for the kids to understand at first. We couldn’t just leave the bird either. There was no way it could attend itself. The group of us sat around the Silverdome practice fields for quite a while trying to determine the best course of choice for the lost bird. It was getting dark out but no one was willing to leave that parking lot until we had a game plan for how to help the bird.
The owner of the football league, Chris Novak, offered to take the bird. It was extremely nice of him and he really stepped in to help while all the rest of us who had kids tugging on our shirts and begging to take it home. We took a box and put a bunch of holes in it and he brought it home for the night. Another mom went online and found a family that had lost a bird that looked just like the one we’d found. She emailed the info to Chris who got in touch with the family and the next day, reunited the bird with the family that lost it almost 3 weeks earlier! When Chris emailed us to let us know, we could not believe that this bird had traveled from The Rochester Tienken area all the way to the Silverdome!
We were so happy to be able to save this bird and get it back to its family. I showed my kids the email about how the other family got their pet back. The family has 3 kids who were so happy to see their bird. My kids realized what a nice ending this story had. Not only had we been able to save this bird’s life, but we were able to bring it back to the family that loves and misses him.
The life lesson in the missing bird story seemed to miss its mark with my kids at first. They were a little bummed out that they couldn’t keep the lost bird. I explained to them that when an animal or someone needs help, you just can’t turn a blind eye and hope everything works out OK. The “lost bird incident” was also a reminder to them that teamwork and the kindness of strangers can make a world of difference and that a group of well-meaning strangers can work together to help someone. It wasn’t a heroic act, but one that I knew had sunk in with my kids when they realized that trying to help was the best and only real course of action. 　

1. 1.

   What happened when the author watched his son’s football games?

   1. A.
      A parrot tried to eat their food
   2. B.
      His daughter was hurt by a parrot
   3. C.
      A parrot flew towards his daughter
   4. D.
      A parrot landed on his daughter’s head
2. 2.

   The underlined word “domesticated” in the second paragraph probably means_______

   1. A.
      having been abandoned
   2. B.
      having been used to home life
   3. C.
      having been used to life in the wild
   4. D.
      having been week and hungry
3. 3.

   Who was the first one to find the bird’s owner?

   1. A.
      The author
   2. B.
      Chris Novak
   3. C.
      The Humane Society
   4. D.
      A participant’s mother
4. 4.

   What can be learned from the “lost bird incident”?

   1. A.
      Strangers can also work well together
   2. B.
      Humane Society helps children in teamwork
   3. C.
      Children can keep lost injured pet birds home
   4. D.
      Helping others is always regarded as a heroic act
5. 5.

   What did the author want to tell in the text?

   1. A.
      How to help a lost parrot to find home
   2. B.
      The experience of watching a football games
   3. C.
      The importance of teamwork and helping others
   4. D.
      How a parrot can fly a long distance from home
6. 6.

   The best title of the text should be________

   1. A.
      What Animals Can Teach Us
   2. B.
      Complete Care for a Lost Bird
   3. C.
      Life Lessons When You Least Expect It
   4. D.
      Love First, Teamwork and Kindness Second

I receive many letters from children and can’t answer them all – there wouldn’t be enough time in a day. I’ll try to answer some of the questions that are commonly asked.
Where did I get the idea for Stuart Little and for Charlotte’s Web? Well, many years ago, I went to bed one night in a railway sleeping car, and during the night I dreamed about a tiny boy who acted rather like a mouse. That’s how the story of Stuart Little got started.
As for Charlotte’s Web, I like animals and my farm is very pleasant place to be – at all hours. One day, when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was going to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save his life. Three years after I started writing it, it was published. (I am not a fast worker, as you can see.)
Sometimes I’m asked when I started to write, and what made me want to write. I started early – as soon as I could spell. Children often find pleasure through trying to set their thoughts down on paper, either in words or in pictures. I was not good at drawing, so I used words instead. As I grew older, I found that writing could be a way of earning a living.
Well, here is the answer to the last question. No, they are imaginary (虛構的) tales. In real life, a family doesn’t have a child who looks like a mouse and a spider doesn’t write words in her web. Although my stories are imaginary, I like to think that there is some truth in them, too – truth about the way people and animals feel, think and act.
【小題1】E.B. White wrote this passage to ______.
A. introduce his new books
B. introduce two funny stories
C. explain why he enjoys writing
D. answer some readers’ questions
【小題2】We can know from the passage that E.B. White is a writer who ______.
A. writes very fast
B. works on a friends’ farm
C. mainly writes stories for adults
D. writes imaginary tales for children
【小題3】What inspired E.B. White to write Charlotte’s Web?
A. That he wanted children to love animals.
B. That he was deeply impressed by a clever pig.
C. That he wanted to use his own way to save a pig.
D. That he wanted to save the animals on a farm.
【小題4】 E.B. White started to write because he wanted to ______.
A. improve his spelling
B. express his thoughts
C. show his sadness
D. make a good living
【小題5】What is probably the last question?