Question

People sometimes say, “It’s raining cats and dogs!” when there is a heavy rain. Nobody has ever really seen cats and dogs falling from the sky, but there have been many reports of other strange things “raining” down. In 1956, the people of a town in the USA saw a small black cloud in the sky. It started to rain from the cloud normally, but only in a small area. The cloud then turned white, and fish started to fall to the ground. Most of them were still alive.

During a storm in July 1901, in Minneapolis, people heard something falling from the sky that did not sound like rain. When they went outside, they found all types of frogs covering four streets.

There are other reports of strange “rains” failing from the sky including worms, insects and snakes.

Can these strange “rains” be explained by science? Scientists usually say that a tornado (龙卷风) has picked up the animals from a river or ocean, carried them for miles, and then dropped them somewhere else. But this does not completely explain all of them. On May 15, 1890, in Italy, there was a rain of birds’ blood. Scientists said that flying birds must have been torn (撕碎) to pieces by strong winds. But if so, why did only their blood fall from the sky , and not other parts of their bodies? And anyway, there were no strong winds that day!

1. What does it mean when people say, “It’s raining cats and dogs”?

A. Cats and dogs are falling from the sky.

B. It’s raining heavily.

C. Animals started to fall to the ground.

D. There is a black cloud.

2.Which of the following has not been reported as strange things failing from the sky?

A. Cats and dogs.       B. Worms and insects.

C. Fish and blood.      D. Snakes and frogs.

3.According to scientists, what can move things from the ground to the sky?

A. Storms.              B. Rains.

C. Clouds.              D. Tornadoes.

4.Scientists’ explanation for rain of blood is that ________.

A. the tornado picked up the birds’ blood

B. there were no strong winds that day

C. flying birds were torn into pieces by strong winds

D. those birds were bleeding while flying

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文主要讲述了人们常用下猫下狗来形容雨大。但有报道下过鱼，青蛙等生物。并且科学家也给予了解释。

1.B细节理解题。根据文中People sometimes say, “It’s raining cats and dogs!” when there is a heavy rain. 可知人们有时说下雨如同下猫下狗，意思是形容雨下的大。故选B

2.A细节理解题。根据文中The cloud then turned white, and fish started to fall to the ground. When they went outside, they found all types of frogs covering four streets. There are other reports of strange “rains” failing from the sky including worms, insects and snakes. On May 15, 1890, in Italy, there was a rain of birds’ blood.可知 文中提到有报道天空下fish, frogs ,worms ,insects, snakes and blood.未报道下cats and dogs.故选A

3.D细节理解题。根据文中Scientists usually say that a tornado (龙卷风) has picked up the animals from a river or ocean可知，科学家通常会说是龙卷风把动物从河流或海洋里卷起来。故选D

4.C细节理解题。根据文中. Scientists said that flying birds must have been torn (撕碎) to pieces by strong winds.可知，科学家说正在飞的鸟一定是被强风撕碎。故选C。

考点：日常生活类短文阅读。