坚强的蜗牛

◎供稿：彭冲

One day, a baby snail went up to his mother and asked, “Why was I born with a shell that grew so hard and heavy?” His mother said, “Because we don’t have bones to hold us up. We can only move slowly, so we need a shell to protect us.”

The baby snail asked again,“The caterpillar［毛毛虫］has no1)bones, either, and she can’t move quickly. Why can she live without a shell?” The mother snail answered, “That’s because a caterpillar will become abutter fly［蝴蝶］. She can fly high into the sky. The sky can protect her.”

The baby snail had one more question, “But the earthworm［蚯蚓］moves like us. He has no bones and he won’t turn into a butter fly. Why doesn’t he carry a hard and heavy shell?” His mother said, “He can dig a hole and hide in the ground, and then the earth can protect him.”

The baby snail then cried, “We are so poor! We have no protection from the sky or from the ground!” His mother smiled at him, “That’s why we have a shell. My dear, imagine that if we don’t have the shells, what will happen to us? Hot sun willdry out［干透，变干］our bodies and we’ll have2)nowhereto sleep. What’s worse, we’ll die in the heavy rain. How terrible it is!We don’t depend on the sky or the ground for protection. We should depend on ourselves.”

据根短文内容 ,回答下列问题

1. Whom did the baby snail ask for help, his mother or father?

2. What will the caterpillar in the story become when she grows up?

3. Where can an earthworm hide?

4. How many questions did the baby snail ask?

5. Who should the snails depend on according to the story?

根据短文内容，选出最佳选项

6.The baby snail wanted to know ( ).

A. why he moved so slowly

B. why the earthworm dug a hole in the ground

C. why he had a hard and heavy shell

D. why the caterpillar didn't have bones

7. What was the baby snail similar to the caterpillar and the earthworm? ( )

a.They didn't have bones b.They didn't move so quickly c.They lived in the earth.

A. a-b B. b-c C. a-c D. a-b-c

8. The word "earthworm" refers to ( ).

9. From the story, ( ) can protect the caterpillar.

A.the ground B.the shell C.the butter fly D.the sky.

10.We can know ( ) from the story.

A. the baby snail was very poor B. the shell can protect the snail

C. the earthworm carried a hard shell D. the caterpillar was the snail'sfriend

重难点词语

1) bone [bəʊn] n. 骨；骨骼 vt. 剔去……的骨；施骨肥于

语法：直接引语与间接引语

直接引语的定义

直接引语(Direct Speech)包括某人所说的确切的话，放在引号之间。

直接引语能准确地叙述当时发生的事情和所说过的话，不需要改变任何可能会用到的时态或代词，只是别忘了“say”之前或之后的逗号和引号。

The waiter said, “The food will be ready soon.”

服务员说：“菜很快就好了。”

间接引语

间接引语(Indirect Speech)并不像直接引语那么简单，但是一旦理解了句子结构和间接引语的规则，它的表达也很容易，并且它也是展示英语能力的好方法。

在间接引语中不使用引号，取而代之的是，我们在复述已经说过的话前加入连接词“that”。

The waiter said that the food would be ready soon.

服务员说菜很快就好了。

此外，在使用间接引语时，有些情况下必须要改变时态。

一般现在时转换为一般过去时。

She said that she played football.她说她踢足球。