(
A
) 3. What does it mean when people see magpies?
A. Something good will happen.
B. Something bad will happen.
C. The rain will come soon.
D. They will eat more insects.
(
C
) 4. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. People love magpies.
B. People can know the weather from a frog's voice.
C. Some animals can forecast weather.
D. They will eat more insects.
B
Take time to grow roots
There was a man who was going through hard times. His wife divorced（離婚）him. He went bankrupt（破產）after only a year in business. Despite all of his hard work, failure was all that he had seen. Struggling with this, he left everything behind and went into the forest. There, he met an old man who had lived there for a long time. He shared his story with the old man. "Can you give me one good reason not to give up?" he asked the old man.
"Look," the old man said, pointing to two plants. "Do you see that fern（蕨類植物）and bamboo there?"
"Yes," the man answered.
"When I planted the fern and bamboo seeds（種子）, I took very good care of them. Within a short period of time, the fern quickly grew from the earth," the old man went on.
"Although I watered and took care of the bamboo seed for years, it did not sprout（發芽）. There was no sign of growth. But I did not give up on the bamboo seed and went on looking after it. In the fifth year, a small sprout came out of the earth. And within six months, the tree grew a hundred feet tall."
"The little bamboo tree had been growing underground for the past four years, developing a root system（根系）strong enough for its ground growth in the fifth year and beyond. If it hadn't done this, it would not be as strong as it is now. So you know, all the time you were struggling, you were actually growing strong roots," the old man said.
(
C
) 5. Why did the man go into the forest?
A. To look for his missing wife.
B. To learn how to run a business.
C. To get away from his troubles.
D. To ask the old man for help.
(
C
) 6. What happened to the bamboo seed?
A. It quickly sprouted after being planted.
B. It hadn't been watered enough.
C. It grew underground for the first four years.
D. It wasn't as strong as the fern.
