Once upon a time an old man and woman lived in the mountains in Japan. Every day the old man went to the mountain and collected firewood, while the old woman went to the river and did the washing.
One day, she was doing the washing when a big peach (桃子) came floating (漂浮) down the river towards her. As it was a big and juicy-looking fruit, she thought that her husband would be glad to eat it, so she took it home. When the old man came back for lunch and saw the nice peach, he was really happy. The old woman cut the big peach open with a knife! What a surprise! A lovely little boy was in the peach. The old man and woman had no children, so they were really grateful the gods (上帝) sent them a boy in this peach. Since he was born in a peach they decided to call him Momotaro which means “peach-boy”. The old woman cooked a meal for the little boy who ate as much as he could. The more he ate, the more he grew. Soon he became a tall and strong boy.
Day after day, all Momotaro did was sleep and eat. In the village the other boys went to the mountain and picked firewood while Monotaro was the only one doing nothing. This worried the old man and the old woman. The boys then invited him, “Momotaro, would you come with us? We’re going to collect fire wood.” But he answered, “I don’t have a basket, so I can’t go with you”, and went back to sleep. On hearing this, the old woman got angry with Momotaro for being so lazy, so the next day he went to collect firewood with the other boys.
1. What did the old woman do every day?
A. She went to the mountains.
B. She collected firewood.
C. She went fishing in the river.
D. She did the washing.
2.The old woman took the peach home because ________.
A. she knew there was a little boy in it
B. she was grateful the god sent them a peach
C. she wanted her husband to eat the juicy-looking fruit
D. she wanted to give her husband a surprise
3.Paragraph (段落) 2 mainly tells us ________.
A. a big peach came floating down the river
B. the old man and woman had no children before they had the peach
C. what the old woman did for the little boy
D. how Momotaro was born and got his name
4. What do we know about Momotaro in the passage?
A. Momotaro has a peach as his bed.
B. Momotaro was very small and he couldn’t eat much.
C. Momotaro liked to play with the boys in the village.
D. Monotaro was really a lazy boy.
5. If there is Paragraph 4, what do you think is going to be talked about?
A. Momotaro collected firewood so easily.
B. Momotaro fought with a bad man.
C. Momotaro became a hero in Japan.
D. Momotaro’s friends were proud of him.