The Chinese new year begins on 22 January 2023 and ends on 9 February 2024. While most of Asia celebrates the year of the rabbit, Vietnam celebrates the year of the cat. In the Chinese zodiac*, there are 12 animals, and the 4th animal is the rabbit; while in the Vietnamese zodiac, the 4th animal is the cat. Why did the cat substitute for the rabbit in Vietnam?
Ancient storytellers said the Jade Emperor organized a race across a river for all the animals in the world. The first 12 to reach the other side would appear in the zodiac. In the Chinese story, the cat and the rat were riding across a river on an ox when the rat pushed the cat into the water. The rat won the race and that is why cats have been hunting rats ever since. But in the Vietnamese zodiac story, there isn’t a rabbit. The cat could swim and ended up arriving. The two countries have different origins* of zodiac.
Quyen Di, a lecturer at UCLA, said the custom has to do with the landscape of Vietnam. “In the past, the Chinese lived in the savanna* area, while the Vietnamese lived in the lowland area. The people of the savanna like to live near the wilderness, and they chose the rabbit as an animal that lived in the wild fields. But the lowland people of Vietnam consider rabbits as animals that are used for food and chose the cat because they believe cats are friends living in their house.”
【小题1】The underlined words “substitute for” in paragraph 1 can be replaced by ________.| A．take off | B．take care of | C．take the place of | D．take up |
| A．The Jade Emperor liked the cat. |
| B．The rabbit fell into the river in the zodiac race. |
| C．The rat and the rabbit were friends in ancient times. |
| D．The cat finished fourth by swimming across the river. |
| A．Their living environment. | B．Their language pronunciation. |
| C．Their way of life. | D．Their favorite animal. |
| A．To explain the history of the Chinese zodiac. |
| B．To show ways of celebrating the year of the rabbit. |
| C．To tell the traditions of Chinese culture. |
| D．To introduce the origin of the year of the cat in Vietnam. |
An emperor(皇帝）of China also loved paintings, especially roosters(公鸡）. So he asked the famous painter to paint a rooster for him. He wanted the rooster to be the best among all his collections.
The painter promised to do so. The emperor waited and waited for one year., but he didn’t get the picture. He couldn’t waited to see the painter. He became angry and wanted to kill him. So the painter hurried into the palace with paper, paint and a brush. In five minutes, a perfect rooster was on the paper.
After seeing this, the emperor became much angrier. “Since you can paint a rooster in five minutes, why did you keep me waiting for over a year?” he asked.
“Your Majesty(陛下），”said the artist. “I will let you know why. But you’ll have to come with me. “ he invited the emperor to his house. There, there were piles and piles of paper. On every piece of paper was a painting of a rooster.
“Your Majesty(陛下），”said the painter. “It took me more than one year to improve my painting skill in order to paint a perfect rooster for you.
【小题1】According to the writer, the emperor_____.
| A．loved beautiful paintings |
| B．did very well in painting |
| C．was good at painting roosters |
| D．Was very kind to the painter. |
| A．only a few months |
| B．only five minutes |
| C．more than a year |
| D．five minutes every day |
| A．the painter refused to draw rooster |
| B．the painter couldn’t draw rooster well |
| C．he couldn’t find the painter anywhere |
| D．he couldn’t wait to see his painting |
| A．escaped from the emperor to live quietly |
| B．worked hard at practice drawing roosters |
| C．was invited to other places to draw roosters |
| D．drew piles and piles of paper to make a living |
| A．it’s hard for painter to success |
| B．it’s easy to paint in a short time. |
| C．hard work causes perfect result |
| D．emperor was hard to deal with |
“Oh， that’s easy to answer，” the student said. “Peter was a student here last year. Now he is in a different school. You look like Peter. Some students thought that you were Peter.”
Bob wanted to meet Peter. He got Peter’s address from a student and went to Peter’s house. Peter opened the door. Bob couldn’t believe his eyes. He looked really like Peter! Bob and Peter had the same colour eyes and the same smile. They had the same black hair. They also had the same birthday. And they both were adopted(领养) by two different families.
Bob and Peter found out that they were twin brothers. Soon after the boys were born， one family adopted Bob， and another family adopted Peter. Bob’s family never knew about Peter， and Peter’s family never knew about Bob.
Soon Bob and Peter’s story appeared in the newspaper. There was a photo of Bob and Peter next to the story. A young man named John saw the photo in the newspaper. John couldn’t believe his eyes. He looked exactly like Bob and Peter! He had the same black hair. He had the same birthday. And he， too， was adopted by another family.
Later John met Bob and Peter. When Bob and Peter saw John， they couldn’t believe their eyes. John looked really like them! Why did John look really like Bob and Peter? You can guess. Bob and Peter are not twins. Bob， Peter and John are triplets.
【小题1】Some students in Bob’s new school thought ________.
| A．John was Peter | B．Bob was John |
| C．Peter was John | D．Bob was Peter |
| A．at Peter’s house | B．at school |
| C．at John’s house | D．at Bob’s house |
| A．a newspaper | B．the Internet | C．his classmates | D．TV |
| A．挚友 | B．双胞胎 | C．三胞胎 | D．兄弟 |
A poor farmer had a friend who was famous for the wonderful apples he grew.
One day, his friend gave the farmer a young apple tree and told him to take it home and plant it. The farmer was pleased with the gift, but when he got home, he did not know where to plant it.
He was afraid that if he planted the tree near the road, strangers would steal the fruit. If he planted the tree in one of his fields, his neighbors would come at night and steal some of the apples. If he planted the tree near his house, his children would take the fruit. Finally, he planted the tree in his woods where no one could see it. But without sunlight and good soil, the tree soon died.
Later the friend asked the farmer why he had planted the tree in such a poor place. “What’s the difference?” the farmer said angrily. “If I had planted the tree near the road, strangers would have stolen the fruit. If I had planted the tree in one of my fields, my neighbors would have come at night and stolen some of the apples. If I had planted it near my house, my own children would have taken the fruit.”
“Yes,” said the friend, “but at least someone could have enjoyed the fruit. Now you not only have robbed (抢夺) everyone of the fruit, but also you have destroyed (摧毁) a good apple tree!”
【小题1】Why didn’t the farmer want to plant the tree in his field?| A．He thought strangers would steal the fruit. |
| B．He thought the tree would die. |
| C．He thought his children would take the fruit. |
| D．He thought his neighbors would steal the fruit. |
| A．Strangers pulled out the tree. |
| B．His neighbors cut down the tree. |
| C．His children broke the tree. |
| D．There was no sunlight and the soil was poor. |
| A．We should care about others’ feelings. |
| B．We should learn to share beautiful things. |
| C．The young tree can grow up one day. |
| D．The young tree can provide apples for us when it grows up. |
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