A group of swans flew down to a beach where a crow(乌鸦)was jumping around. The crow watched them with disdain(鄙视).

    "You have no flying skills at all!” he said to the swans. “All you can do is to move your wings. Can you turn over in the air? No, that's what you can't do. Let's have a flying competition. I'll show you what real flying is ! "

    One of the swans, a strong young male, took up the challenge(挑战). The crow flew up and began to show off his skills. He flew in circles, did other flying tricks, and then came down and looked proudly at the swan.

    Now it was the swan's turn. He flew up, and began flying over the sea. The crow flew after him, making all kinds of comments(评价)about his flying. They flew on and on until they couldn't see the land and there was nothing but water on all sides. The crow was making fewer and fewer comments. He was now so tired that he found it hard to stay in the air, and had to try to stop himself from falling into the water.

    The swan pretended(假装) not to notice and said, "Why do you keep touching the water, brother? Is that another trick?"

    "No," said the crow. He knew he had lost the competition. "I'm in trouble because of my pride! If you don't help me, I'll lose my life... "

    The swan took pity on him, and took him on his back and flew back to the beach.

    An ancient bus stopped by a dry river bed and a lot of famous actors and actress got off. Dressed in dark glasses and old clothes, they had taken special things done to avoid possible fans gathering so that no one shod know them. But they soon discovered that the action making themselves unknown can sometimes be too perfect.

    “This is a wonderful place for a picnic,” said Gloria Gleam.

    “It couldn't be better, Gloria,” Brinksley Meers agreed. “No newspaper men, no film fans! Why don't we come more often?”

    Meanwhile, two other actors, Rockwall Slinger and Merlin Greeves, had carried two large food baskets to a right place under some trees. When they had all made themselves comfortable, a stranger appeared. He seemed to see red. “Now you get out of here, all of you!” he shouted. “I'm sheriff(司法长官) here. Do you see that notice? It says 'No Camping' -- in case you can't read!”

    “Look, sheriff,” said Rockwall. “Don't be too hard on us. I'm Rockwall Slinger and this is Merlin Greeves.”

    “Oh, is it?” said the sheriff with a smile as if we were fools. “Well,   (5)   , and my other name is Gloria Gleam. Now you get out of here fast!”

根据短文内容选择最佳答案。

    Roy is a school boy. He often goes out to play after school. But he never gets home late for supper. It was his eleventh birthday last Friday. But his parents didn't see him at supper time. They waited and waited, but Roy didn't come. At about seven o'clock, they felt very worried. They had to go out to look for their son here and there, but they couldn't find him. At last they went to the police station for help. To their great surprise, when they came back home, they saw Roy sitting at the supper table and enjoying the birthday cake, "Why didn't you come upstairs（上楼）to watch TV with me, Dad? "said Roy when he saw his father.

    It was a Christmas night. I was an unlucky nurse who had to work on such a beautiful festival. When I was complaining(抱怨)about it, three people appeared at my desk — a tired woman and two children.

     "Are you all sick?" I asked doubtfully because they seemed all right.

    "Yes," the woman answered weakly and lowered her head.

    But when they started to present their problems, things became unclear. One child had a fever, but his temperature was OK. The other child had an earache, but she could not tell me which ear hurt. It seemed that the mother was pretending(假装)to cough.

    Something was wrong. But I only explained that it might take a while before a doctor could meet them. "Take your time, please," said the mother. I checked their charts — no address. Suddenly I knew, they were homeless while the hospital was warm.

    The family huddled(蜷缩)together under the Christmas tree, smiling and talking with each other sweetly. Quietly, I went back to the nurses' station and told them what happened in the waiting room. It was just like God sending us a gift on Christmas Day. The nurses' station suddenly came back to life. All the nurses went into action for "a Christmas emergency(急诊)".

    We took out our meals for our Christmas "patients". We also put together oranges and apples as presents. We tried to exceed the needs of a family who only wanted a warm place on Christmas night. Later, the little girl kissed me and said, "Thanks for being our angel(天使)."

    In the mid 1990s, people started doing business on the Internet. At that time, there were two kinds of companies. First, there were traditional companies which sold things in shops. Then, there were Internet companies which didn't have shops; they sold things only over the net.

    Traditional companies didn't want to lose any business. Quickly, they created their own website and began selling things over the net. These are the so-called "brick and click" companies. Many shops are made of brick, and you click on your mouse to buy things with your computer. That's where the name "brick and click" comes from.

    By the late 1990s, e-businesses like Amazon.com and Buy.com were in trouble. Their profits were not very high, and there was a lot of competition. Many of these businesses lost a lot of money, and in 2000, many e-businesses went out of business.

    Why are "brick and click" companies, like Barnes & Noble, Toys "R" Us, and Walmart so successful? First, many customers know and trust their names. Their websites, like walmart.com, are easy to remember. These companies also have a lot of experience. They know how to run a successful business.

    In the world of e-commerce, companies are fighting for every dollar and every customer. Will "brick and click" companies win the war? Only time will tell.