How did it come to be?

How Bear Lost His Tail

Bear had a long tail. One day, Fox told Bear to place his tail in a hole in the ice to catch a fish. Bear waited for a fish to grab (抓住) his tail. Then he fell asleep. The next morning, Bear was covered in snow. Bear’s tail had frozen in the ice during the night. When Bear stood up, his tail broke off. Bears still have short tails today.

Why Sea Water Is Salty

A grandmother gave her grandson a mill (石磨). It would grind anything he asked for. He said special words to use the mill.

A ship’s captain stole (偷) the mill. He asked it to grind salt, but he did not know the words to make it stop. The captain threw the mill into the sea. It still grinds salt at the bottom of the sea today.

The Story of Lightning and Thunder

Thunder and Lightning were sheep. They lived on Earth. Sometimes Lightning got angry and burned everything around him. Then Thunder, his mother, would call out in a loud voice to stop him.

Soon, people complained to the king. The king sent Thunder and Lightning to live in the sky. Lightning still gets angry, and Thunder calls out to stop him.

【小题1】What happened after Bear put his tail in a hole in the ice?

A．He caught a fish.	B．He was frozen after he fell asleep.
C．His tail broke off the next morning.	D．A fish bit his tail off.

【小题2】According to the stories, which of the following is “True”?

A．The sea water is salty because the mill keeps grinding salt.

B．The captain threw the mill into the sea because he didn’t want salt.

C．Thunder can stop Lightning from getting angry and burning things.

D．The fox was very kind to tell the Bear how to catch a fish.

【小题3】What is probably the purpose of the three stories?

A．People wrote them to explain the truth.

B．People made up these stories for fun.

C．People used them to play a trick on others.

D．People wanted readers to believe the stories.