There once was a woman. She had a faithful(忠实的)dog. The dog was so faithful that she could leave her baby with the dog when she went out. (A) And after she returned ， she would always find her baby safe.

One day， the woman left the baby with the dog and went shopping. When she returned， she found something had taken place in the house. There were bloodstains(血迹)all over the bedroom. The woman then thought of her baby. She cried and started looking for him. Then she saw the faithful dog. It was licking（舔）its mouth. It seemed that it had just finished a delicious meal. The woman was angry and thought that the dog had killed her baby. Without thinking too much， (B) ________________.

But as she continued looking for her child， she saw something else. Close to the bed， there was her baby and he was sleeping. And under the bed， there was a dead jackal(豺狼). The woman now understood what had happened. The dog tired to protect her baby from the jackal， but just now she killed the dog. How regretful she was!

Do you live in a city? Do you know how cities began? Long long ago, the world had only a few thousand people. These people moved from one place to another. They moved over the land, hunting animals for food. No one knows how or when these people learned about growing food. But when they did, their lives changed. They did not have to move houses any more. They could stay in one place and grow it. People began to live near each other, so the first village grew. Many people came to work in the villages, and these villages became larger and larger. Then people had machines, life in the villages changed again. People built factories. More and more people lived near the factories. So the villages grew into cities. Some of them grew very big. Today, it's strange that some people are moving back to small villages. Can you tell me why ?

    Do you know an old city called “Pingyao” in Shanxi? The old city is not far from Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi Province (省). It's a town with a long history of more than two thousand years.

    The old city is not very large. It is only 2.25 square kilometers in size. And there are no tall buildings here. Most of the buildings have only two floors. And most of them are made of stones (石头). There are many Chinese-style shops on each side of the street.

    Pingyao is a square city. The city has a wall around it. It's about 6 km long and 12 m high. The wall has six gates. And you mustn't miss the nice food in Pingyao. Try Pingyao beef and you are sure to fall in love with it.

    Pingyao is a place worth (值得) a visit. You can take buses or trains here. It's less than 2 hours' bus ride from Taiyuan. It costs you only 20 yuan. If you take a train, it will take you less time, only one and a half hours. And if you want to go to Pingyao from Beijing, the train ride takes only about 6 hours.

The City of Pingyao

    The Dragon Boat Festival is an interesting Chinese festival. Usually, it's in May or June. People all like it very much.

    They usually have dragon boat races. Dragon boats are very long. They look like dragons. In every boat, there are many people rowing boats. Dragon boat races are very interesting for Chinese people.

    At the Dragon Boat Festival, people also eat zongzi. People usually use rice, meat(肉), vegetables and other things to make zongzi. There are many kinds of zongzi. They are all nice, and people usually give them to their friends.

    The Dragon Boat Festival is a great time for people.

根据短文内容，回答下列问题。

    Many people seem to know well about the rain forests. Some people even go to the rain forests to spend some of their time trying to make friends with the plants and animals there. The scientists are actually hard at work studying the plants that grow in the very top level of a rain forest. Rain forests are one of the richest environments on Earth. They are home to millions of species of plants and animals. The red research raft provides scientists with a platform from which to study life in the treetops. Scientists can even sleep on the raft, so they can stay up in the treetops for days at a time.

    Rain forests cover only about 6 percent of Earth's land surface. However, they contain more than half of the plant species on Earth. Many of these plants provide useful medicines to use against human diseases. In fact, about 25 percent of prescription medicines in the United States are based on chemicals from rain forest plants. Scientists think that many new medicines might be developed from plants that are yet to be discovered.

    Unluckily, rain forests are disappearing. Rain forest trees are being cut down for wood. Huge chunks of the forests are cleared to provide land for farm animals and crops. Scientists haven't identified all the plants in these forests yet. Some scientists think thousands of kinds of plants that we'll never even know about are being destroyed each year.

When was the last time you gave or received a hug（拥抱）？ Do your parents hug you before you go to school？ In Western countries, it is quite common to greet close friends or relatives with a hug.

You might hug your teammates after winning a basketball game. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Friends who haven't seen each other for a long time will usually hug each other when meeting.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} After coming to China, I've noticed that the Chinese seem unwilling（不愿意）to hug.

My Chinese friends tell me that hugging is considered to be very intimate （亲密的） in their culture. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Chinese people don't usually hug in public. But people's attitudes towards hugging can also change.

I remember watching a video story about a "hugging party" that was held in shanghai.. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} The Chinese who took part in the party looked uncomfortable. However, after the party, several of them changed their minds. They found that hugging didn't have to be embarrassing and could actually be quite nice.So next time you see your parents, give them a hug and see how it makes you feel.