阅读短文或图表，从每题所给的A、B、C三个选项中，选出最佳选项，回答问题或完成句子。

　　One day a red rose blossomed(开花)in a forest．A pine tree not far away said："What a beautiful flower．I wish I could he that lovely．

　　The rose said："I am the most beautiful plant in this forest．"

　　Then the rose looked at a cactus(仙人掌)and said_：" Look at that ugly plant．It is full of thorns(刺)"

　　The pine tree said："Red rose, you have thorns, too．" Sometimes, the rose would look at the cactus and say："This plant is useless．How sorry I am to be his neighbor．"

　　Summer came and the plants and animals needed water, but no rain fell．One day the rose saw birds stick(刺)their beaks(鸟嘴)into the cactus and then fly away．The rose asked what the birds were doing．The pine tree explained that the birds got water from the cactus．The pine tree told the rose_："You can also drink from it．The birds can bring water to you if you ask the cactus for help．"

　　The rose fell ashamed(羞愧的), but asked the cactus for help．The cactus kindly

　　agreed and the birds filled their beaks with water for the rose’s roots(根)．

　　So the rose learned：never judge(判断)anyone by appearance(外表)．

阅读理解

　　There are differences between western culture and Chinese culture．We can see differences when we pay attention to the way words are used．Let's look at the words about animals and plants．Most expressions in Chinese is about the dog, for example,“a homeless dog”,“a mad dog”,“a running dog”and“a dog catching a mouse”, have negative(消极)meanings．But in western countries, dogs are thought to be honest and good friends of humans．In English, people use the dog to describe positive(积极的)actions．For example,“you are a lucky dog”means you are a lucky person．And“every dog has its day”means each person has good luck sometimes．To describe a person's serious illness, they say“sick as a dog”．The word“dog－tired”means very tired．However, Chinese love cats very much．But in western culture,“cat”is often used to describe a woman who is cruel(冷酷的)．There are many other examples of how“cat”is used differently as well．

　　The rose is regarded as a symbol of love in both China and some western countries．People think the rose stands for love, peace, courage and friendship．And the rose is the national flower of England, America and many other countries．

　　The words about plants and animals are used in positive or negative ways in different cultures．We can learn about many differences in cultures by comparing how some words are used．

　　It was over two months before Christmas when 9-year-old Almie Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bike．Her old Barbi bike was just too old and it often needed repairs．As Christmas came nearer, her dream for a bike seemed to disappear, for she didn't mention it again．

　　Then much to our surprise, on December 24, she said that she really wanted a bike as the Christmas present more than anything else．Now we didn't know what to do．It was too late．We were busy with Christmas dinner and packing presents for our children, and also friends till midnight．So there was no time to buy the right bike for our girl．Thinking that we might in this way make our child unhappy at Christmas, we felt guilty and sad．

　　Suddenly my husband came up with an idea．“What if I make a little bike out of the clay and write a note that she could trade in the model bike for a real one after Christmas?”So he spent the next 5 hours working on a smallclay bike．On Christmas morning, we were very excited For Almie Rose to open the little box with the beautiful red and white bike and the note．She opened the box and read the note loudly．She looked at me and said,“Yes．”

　　Almie Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied,“I would never trade in this beautiful bike that Daddy made me．I prefer to keep it rather than get a real one．”At that moment, we thought we would have moved the God to buy her every bike on earth．