Christmas was coming．Mr. Smith had no money to buy any presents for his children．His wife was ill and he spent a lot of money on her medicine．And the harvest was bad and all his family were going to be hungry the next spring．He was quite worried about it．

“We had only a cock,” said Mrs. Smith one day．“You’d better take it to the town．Sell it there and buy some cakes and sweets for our children．”

“It’s a good idea!” the man said and caught the cock the next morning and put it into a box．It was difficult to walk on the road covered with thick snow．Two hours later he was very tied and wanted to have a rest．He put the box to the ground and sat down．

“The air in the box must be close,” the man said to himself．“I’d better let the cock walk outside for a while, or it’ll die．”

So he put the cock to the ground．When he started again, he couldn’t catch it any longer．

“How foolish you are!” Mr. Smith called out angrily．“You can herald（预示…来临） the break of day at night but you can’t find the way to the town in the daytime!”

1． The story happened in          ．

    A． November             B． December         C． January           D． February

2．          , so Mr. Smith was worried．

    A． They would have noting to eat on Christmas  

    B． His children would be sad on Christmas

    C． His children were naughty（顽皮）

    D． They would die in the cold weather

3． Mr. Smith couldn’t buy any presents for his children because         ．

    A． his wife was ill                                   B． the harvest was bad

    C． they had a big family                           D． he was very poor

4． Mr. Smith was quite tired on his way to town because         ．

    A． there was much snow on the road        B． something was wrong with him

    C． the box was very heavy                       D． He lost his way 

5． In fact,          was foolish．

    A． the cook        B． Mrs. Smith            C． Mr. Smith             D． none