Once upon a time, a little horse lived in a small village with his mother. One day, his mother asked him to take a bag of grains (谷物) to the village on the other side of the ____1____ .

The little horse happily started with the grains on his back and soon came to the river. Looking at the rapid ____2____ , he felt afraid. He didn't know how deep the river was and whether he could go across ____3____ . Just at that time, he saw an ox (公牛). The little horse ran over and asked, “Uncle Ox, is the river ____4____ ? Can I cross it?” The ox said, “Not deep. The water is below my knees. You can cross it.”

When the little horse was about to enter the river, a little squirrel (松鼠) ____5____ him, saying worriedly, “Don’t enter the river! It’s very deep. Yesterday, one of my friends fell into it and was washed away.” After hearing that, the little horse didn’t know who he should ____6____ , the ox or the squirrel. He decided to go back home to ask his mother. As soon as he saw his ____7____ , the little horse told her what had happened. She smiled and said, “Child, Uncle Ox is big and tall, so he thinks the river is shallow (浅的); the squirrel is ____8____ , so he thinks the river is deep. It’s no good just ____9____ others. You should try it yourself.”

The little horse carried the grains to the river again. This time, he was no longer ____10____ . He walked into the river carefully and found the river was neither shallow nor deep. He crossed the river and took the grains to the village successfully.

1.1.

A street

B bridge

C lake

D river

解析：选D。后文出现 came to the river，说明要去河对岸。street 街道；bridge 桥；lake 湖泊。

2.2.

A bird

B ant

C water

D cloud

解析：选C。来到河边，看到湍急的河水。bird 鸟；ant 蚂蚁；cloud 云。

3.3.

A politely

B safely

C quietly

D actively

解析：选B。小马担心河水深浅，担心能否安全过河。politely 礼貌地；quietly 安静地；actively 积极地。

4.4.

A deep

B wide

C long

D huge

解析：选A。小马问公牛河水深不深，后文反复讨论河水深浅。wide 宽；long 长；huge 巨大的。

5.5.

A remembered

B needed

C thanked

D stopped

解析：选D。小马正要下水，松鼠拦住他，警告河水危险。remembered 记得；needed 需要；thanked 感谢。

6.6.

A help

B protect

C believe

D change

解析：选C。公牛和松鼠说法完全相反，小马不知道该相信谁。help 帮助；protect 保护；change 改变。

7.7.

A mother

B brother

C sister

D friend

解析：选A。前文决定回家问妈妈，所以见到妈妈讲述经过。brother 兄弟；sister 姐妹；friend 朋友。

8.8.

A kind

B small

C shy

D brown

解析：选B。公牛高大，对比松鼠体型小。kind 善良；shy 害羞；brown 棕色。

9.9.

A looking after

B worrying about

C laughing at

D listening to

解析：选D。妈妈告诉小马，只听别人的话没用，要亲自尝试。looking after 照顾；worrying about 担心；laughing at 嘲笑。

10.10.

A bored

B afraid

C tired

D busy

解析：选B。第一次到河边小马很害怕；听完妈妈的话再来河边，不再害怕。bored 无聊的；tired 疲惫的；busy 忙碌的。