Born in 1949, Diana Nyad took an early interest in swimming as a sport and was a Florida State High School swimming champion（冠軍）. Like many young trainers, she had Olympic dreams, but a serious illness prevented her from competing in the Games. The disappointment didn’t stop her from going forward. Instead, she became interested in marathon swimming.
For ten years Nyad devoted herself to becoming one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers. In 1970, she swam a ten-mile marathon in Lake Ontario, setting the women’s record for the course. In 1972 she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida. Then she broke a third record when swimming around Manhattan Island in 1975.
Nyad attempted to swim the distance between Florida and Cuba in 1978. Though the span(跨度) of water is less than 100 miles wide, it is rough and dangerous. After battling(與---作戰(zhàn)) the water for two days, she had to give up for the sake of her own health and safety. Even so, she impressed the world with her courage and strong desire to succeed. It did not matter that her swim came up short; she believed she had touched the other shore.
When Nyad ended her career as a swimmer, she continued to try new things---travelling the world as a reporter, writing books and giving public speeches about her life. Diana Nyad works to inspire others, just as she did when she swam the waters of the world.
【小題1】What was Nyad’s early interest?
【小題2】When did Nyad set the record for a ten-mile marathon swimming?
【小題3】According to the passage, how many times did Nyad join the long-distance swimming?
【小題4】What did Nyad do after she finished swimming?
【小題5】What can we learn from the passage?

Long ago, Bluebird’s feathers were the colour of dust. She did not like her ugly colour. She was attracted by the colour of the lake near her home. It was as blue as the sky after a storm. Bluebird wanted to be the colour of that beautiful lake very much. Flapping her wings one morning, Bluebird flew from her tree to the blue lake. Then she bathed in the water three times. After each bath, she sang, “Blue water. Still water. I went in. I am blue.” Bluebird repeated this every morning. On the third day, she came out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers.

Now Coyote was a trickster(騙子)—and hungry too. He stayed behind Bluebird’s tree for a long time every day and watched her go to the lake. He pretended(偽裝) to be interested in everything she did. He wanted Bluebird for lunch, but he was afraid of the blue water. On the third morning, Coyote saw Bluebird come out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers. Impressed, he sat next to Bluebird’s tree and waited for her. When she returned, he asked, “How did you get blue feathers? I want to be blue like the mountains too.” Bluebird didn’t believe Coyote, but she taught him how to bathe three times each morning and how to sing her song. Coyote did what she said, and after three days of bathing in the lake, his white fur turned deep blue.

Convinced(確信的) that blue fur was even more beautiful than blue feathers, Coyote forgot all about being hungry. He ran as fast as he could to the top of the hill. Standing on his back legs, he raised his front legs off the ground and howled. But Coyote slipped(滑倒) and rolled down the hill. He couldn’t stop himself, and the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur. He rolled and rolled until he hit into Bluebird’s tree heavily. No matter how much he tried, foolish Coyote could not shake the dust from his fur. And so the fur of all coyotes had the dull colour of dust to this very day.

1.How many times did Bluebird bathe every morning before she had beautiful blue feathers?

A. Three times.        B. Four times.        C. Five times.         D. Six times.

2.Why was Coyote a trickster?

A. He wanted to fly like Bluebird near the mountains.

B. He wanted to eat Bluebird but pretended to be curious.

C. He wanted to swim in the lake but was afraid of the water.

D. He wanted to sing Bluebird’s song but didn’t know the words.

3.Where did Coyote go after his fur turned blue?

A. To the lake.         B. To the tree.         C. To the cave.       D. To the hill.

4.Why did Coyote forget all about being hungry?

A. Because his fur had the dull colour of dust.

B. Because the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur.

C. Because he thought blue fur was much more beautiful. 

D. Because he hit into Bluebird’s tree and hurt himself.

5.What words does the writer use to help you imagine the colour blue?

A. sky, lake, mountains  

B. bird, coyote, storm  

C. flapped, climbed, bathed  

D. fur, feathers, dust

One day Tom borrowed a pot（罐） from his neighbour, Ali. The next day he brought it back with another little pot inside.
“That’s not mine,” said Ali.
“Yes, it is.” said Tom, “While your pot was staying with me, it had a baby.”
Some time later, Tom asked Ali to lend him a pot again. Ali said yes, hoping that he would once again get two pots in return. However, days passed and Tom still did not give the pot back. Finally Ali was angry and went to ask for it.
“I am sorry,” said Tom, “I can’t give it back to you because it died.”
“Died!” cried Ali, “How can a pot die?”
“Well,” said Tom, “you believed me when I told you that your pot had a baby.”
【小題1】Who was the owner of the pot?

Long ago, Bluebird’s feathers were the colour of dust. She did not like her ugly colour. She was attracted by the colour of the lake near her home. It was as blue as the sky after a storm. Bluebird wanted to be the colour of that beautiful lake very much. Flapping her wings one morning, Bluebird flew from her tree to the blue lake. Then she bathed in the water three times. After each bath, she sang, “Blue water. Still water. I went in. I am blue.” Bluebird repeated this every morning. On the third day, she came out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers.
Now Coyote was a trickster(騙子)—and hungry too. He stayed behind Bluebird’s tree for a long time every day and watched her go to the lake. He pretended(偽裝) to be interested in everything she did. He wanted Bluebird for lunch, but he was afraid of the blue water. On the third morning, Coyote saw Bluebird come out of the lake with beautiful blue feathers. Impressed, he sat next to Bluebird’s tree and waited for her. When she returned, he asked, “How did you get blue feathers? I want to be blue like the mountains too.” Bluebird didn’t believe Coyote, but she taught him how to bathe three times each morning and how to sing her song. Coyote did what she said, and after three days of bathing in the lake, his white fur turned deep blue.
Convinced(確信的) that blue fur was even more beautiful than blue feathers, Coyote forgot all about being hungry. He ran as fast as he could to the top of the hill. Standing on his back legs, he raised his front legs off the ground and howled. But Coyote slipped(滑倒) and rolled down the hill. He couldn’t stop himself, and the dust and dirt covered his new blue fur. He rolled and rolled until he hit into Bluebird’s tree heavily. No matter how much he tried, foolish Coyote could not shake the dust from his fur. And so the fur of all coyotes had the dull colour of dust to this very day.
【小題1】How many times did Bluebird bathe every morning before she had beautiful blue feathers?

Once there were two crows (烏鴉)whose opinions(觀點(diǎn)) were always opposite.

One day, one of the crows said to the other, “ You should realize, of course, that I can fly much higher than you.”

“ Don’t be ridiculous (荒謬的).” the other crow said. “ Everyone knows that I can fly much higher than you.”

“No, you can’t” the first crow said.

“Yes, I can” the second crow replied, and the argument went on and on.

At last they decided to have a contest to solve the argument.

“ We will compete to find out who can fly higher while carrying a bag” the first crow said.

They argued for some time because of the size of the bag, but at last came to an agreement.

Then there was a further argument about what each bag would be filled with. Finally, they agreed that the first crow would fill his bag with cotton and the second crow would fill his with salt.

The first crow thought he was clever to agree to this, because salt is much heavier than cotton. At last they were ready for the contest. Holding their bag in their mouths, they flew into the sky.

They had not been flying for long. However, when it began to rain- as the second crow had expected it would. Can you guess who could fly higher?

1.The two crows were arguing about ____

A．who was much clever

B．who can fly higher

C．how to fly into the sky

D．how to carry the bag

2.The underlined phrase “came to an agreement” means ____ in Chinese.

A．達(dá)成一致         B．爭(zhēng)論結(jié)束          C．請(qǐng)來(lái)裁判         D．爭(zhēng)論升級(jí)

3.In the rain the bag with cotton in it would got ____.

A．lighter            B．heavier           C．bigger            D．smaller

4.The second crow filled his bag with salt because he thought ____

A．salt was lighter                         B．cotton was heavier

C．it would rain                           D．he would need some salt

5.How many times did the two crows argue?

A．Once             B．Twice             C．Three times        D．Four times