“Where’s Papa going with the ax(斧子)?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast.
“Out to the pig house,” replied Mrs. Arable. “Some pigs were born last night.”
“I don’t see why he needs an ax,” continued Fern, who was only eight.
“Well,” said her mother, “one of the pigs is a runt. It’s very small and weak, and it will never grow up to anything. So your father has decided to do away with it.”
“Do away with it?” screamed Fern. “You mean kill it? Just because it’s smaller than the others?” Mrs. Arable put some cream on the table. “Don’t cry, Fern!” she said. “Your father is right. The pig would probably die anyway.”
Fern pushed a chair out of the way and ran outdoors. The grass was wet and the earth smelled of springtime. Fern's sneakers(运动鞋)were all wet by the time she caught up with her father.
“Please don't kill it!” she cried. “It’s unfair.” Mr. Arable stopped walking.
“Fern,” he said gently, “you will have to learn to control yourself.”
“Control myself?”cried Fern. “This is a matter of life and death, and you talk about controlling myself.” Tears ran down her face and she took hold of the ax and tried to pull it out of her father’s hand.
“Fern,” said Mr. Arable, “I know more about raising a litter of pigs than you do. A weakling makes trouble. Now run along!”
“But it’s unfair(不公平),” cried Fern. “The pig couldn’t help being born small, could it? If I had been very small at birth, would you have killed me?”
Mr. Arable smiled. “Of course not,” he said, looking down at his daughter with love. “But this is different. A little girl is one thing, a little runty pig is another.”
“I see no difference,” replied Fern, still hanging on to the ax. “This is the most terrible case of injustice(不公正) I ever heard of.”
A queer look came over John Arable’s face. He seemed almost ready to cry himself.
“All right,” he said. You go back to the house and I will bring the runt when I come in. I’ll let you start it on a bottle, like a baby. Then you’ll see what trouble a pig can be.”
1.We can infer from the text that Mr Arable ______________.
A.does not like raising little pigs B.has had little experience raising pigs
C.makes a living by doing with little pigs D.has probably raised many pigs in his lifetime
2.Mr Arable seemed almost ready to cry because he ______________.
A.is angry about what his daughter has done
B.does not like to lose an argument with his daughter
C.gets worried about how difficult it would be to raise the pig
D.is touched by his daughter’s willingness to stand up for the little pig
3.We can tell that Mr Arable agrees to let the little pig go because ______________.
A.he finally agrees with his daughter
B.he believes that the pig will die soon
C.he believes that raising a pig will teach Fern some lessons
D.he realizes that taking care of a little pig is not that difficult
Summer is a great time to improve your child's reading! Reading over the summer can help your child keep up his reading gains during the past school year and also help prepare him for the next year!
How to sign up：
We are inviting you to sign up for free to help your child be an active reader this summer!
*Go to www.Readfun.org
*Select "Parent"（NOT "Teacher"）
*Click on the blue "Sign Up"
What we provide：
We provide you with thousands of free, high-quality articles with questions and activities. To make summer reading easy, we have selected interesting and knowledge-filled articles of different levels. You can go to www.Readfun.org/summer-reading to download and print the articles for free.
How to use：
TIP 1：Articles for summer reading should be accessible, so be sure to choose articles at your child's reading level. Don't be afraid to star with articles of lower grade levels. The important thing is that he reads, reads, reads!
TIP 2：It's also important to help your kid develop good reading habits Help him keep a good record of his summer reading. Besides, encourage him to discuss what he has read with family members. That way, you will all have a good time.
We wish you and your family a great summer!
1.What does www.readfun.org provide?
A.Online teachers B.Pen friends' information
C.Interesting videos D.Articles of different levels
2.The underlined word "accessible" in the text means "easy to ".
A.write B.discuss C.understand D.compare
3.The text above is written to .
A.introduce a reading program B.sell books to school kids
C.encourage parents to read more D.share reading experience
What do you do if you're stranded（处于困境的）on a lonely island? Surely you need to find a way to get in touch with the outside world. Your best chance of doing this is to draw the attention of a passing plane.
Body signals（信号）
Pilots from different countries understand body signals if they have the correct training. When you wave your arms up and down in a straight line, it means "yes". When you point downwards and swing your arm from side to side, it means "no". If you want the pilot to know that it's safe to land, push your hands out in front of you and bend（弯曲）your knees. If you want to say that it's not safe to land, put your arms in the air and move them to one side.
Smoke signals
The smoke from a fire can be seen from far away, so it's a good way to draw attention. If the weather is dry, it isn't hard to start a fire. Remember, however, that fires can be very dangerous if they get out of control. Never light a fire unless you're sure that it can't spread. If the ground is dark, light smoke can be seen more easily. Green grass and leaves produce light smoke.
Ground-to-air signals
It's a good idea to build some signals, too. Use large pieces of wood to make the symbols(标记). If you can't find any wood, use earth. Some useful symbols are:
F "I need food and water."
II "I need medicine."
I "I am badly hurt."
X" I am unable to move from here."
Pilots' replies
If the pilot lowers the plane's wings from side to side, this means "message received and understood". (At night, the pilot flashes the plane's green lights.) If the pilots flies the plane in a clockwise circle, this means "message received but not understood".(At night, the pilot flashes the plane's red lights.)
However, there is no signal which means "message not received". Why not?
1.Which picture means "it's not safe land"?
A. B. C. D.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Swinging your arm from side to side means "yes".
B.If the ground is dark, light smoke can't be seen.
C.If you need some medicine, make a symbol "II".
D.The pilots make replies with a blue light at night.
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A.The explanation of building signals on an island.
B.The importance of making signals on an island.
C.Ways of sending out signals on a lonely island.
D.Ways of receiving signals from a lonely island
It was yearbook day and we were given an hour to sign each other’s yearbooks in the cafeteria(餐厅). I was president of the class and I played sports. When I sat down at a table, people started to come over to get their yearbooks signed and to sign ___________.
Among them, a _______ boy with ugly teeth and thick glasses kept shaking. I had seen him around, and I knew he was always laughed at. He seemed unsure of himself, and was so pale that it _______ us to look at him.
He came up and asked me nervously, “Can you sign this?” I took his yearbook but I didn’t know what to write. I saw that there was the name “Ricky Sanders” written on the front of it. So I wrote:
I put down the yearbook and turned around to get some signatures from some of my friends when I_______ my yearbook was gone. I saw that Ricky had sat down with my yearbook. “What are you doing?” I asked him. He looked up calmly and _______said “Sign!”
My friends broke into a loud laugh, and I saw that he was carefully trying to put a signature in my yearbook. He hadn’t even finished the “R” yet. I thought for a while and decided to let him sign.
It took him nearly five minutes to sign and when I got my yearbook back, there was a very shaky “RICKY”. He hugged(紧抱) his yearbook and _______. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.
In that moment, my attitude(态度) changed completely.
I gave him a high five and suddenly everyone at my table wanted his signature. He was asked _______ to write in their yearbooks and the signature _______ of his yearbook were filled up. He was smiling so big that it lit up the whole room.
I changed school the next year, and I never saw Ricky again. However, I will never forget the day that he became the most _______ guy in school. When I’m __________, I still look back at that yearbook.
1.A.mine B.his C.ours D.theirs
2.A.silly B.weak C.proud D.sick
3.A.worried B.surprised C.taught D.hurt
4.A.saw B.noticed C.thought D.believed
5.A.still B.ever C.even D.just
6.A.smiled B.waited C.left D.rose
7.A.rudely B.loudly C.politely D.patiently
8.A.lists B.pages C.boxes D.tables
9.A.different B.patient C.popular D.important
10.A.away B.out C.behind D.down
—Thanks for everything you’ve done for me, Jack.
—I know you would do the same for me, so _________.
A.don’t mention it B.don’t worry about it C.don’t say it again D.that’s all for it
—Hurry up, we must be the first to interview the pop star.
—Sure.____________.
A.East or west, home is the best B.The early bird catches the worm
C.Many hands make light work D.Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
