Outside her shabby cottage, old Mrs. Tailor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children lay hidden in the leaves of a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.
They watched as she took a broomstick to clean the dirt from her stone steps. But, much to their disappointment, she did not mount the broomstick and take flight. Suddenly, the old lady’s work was interrupted by the cackling of her hen—a signal that an egg had been laid in the warm nest on top of the haystack.
The old broomstick was put aside as she hobbled off towards the haystack followed by Sooty, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap some time back. With only three legs, it was hard for Sooty to keep up with the old lady. The cat provided proof—the children were sure that only a witch could own a black cat with three legs.
There, standing on a wooden box, was Mrs. Tailor, stretching out to gather her precious egg. Taking the egg in one of her hands, she began to climb down when, without warning, the box broke and the old lady fell.
“We have to got and help her,” whispered Amy.
“What if it is a trick?” replied Ben.
“Don’t be silly, Ben. If she were a witch, she would have turned us into frogs already,” reasoned Meg. “Come on Amy, let’s go.” The girls climbed down the tree and ran all the way to the haystack.
Approaching carefully, they could see a wound on the old lady’s face. She had knocked her head on a stone and her ankle was definitely broken. “Go and get Dad,” Amy yelled to her brother. “Tell him about the accident.”
The boys did not need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as they could for help, hoping that Mrs. Tailor would not wake and turn the girls into frogs.
小题1:. Why were the children hiding in the tree? A．They wanted to watch Mrs. Tailor do her housework closely. B．They were playing a hide-and-seek C．They wanted to find out if the rumors about Mrs. Tailor were true D．They were pretending to be spies小题2:. Mrs. Tailor stopped sweeping when____ A．her front steps were cleanB．she noticed the children in the tree C．she was ready to take a flightD．she heard the hen cackling小题3:. Ben did not rush in help Mrs. Tailor because_____ A．he thought that she could be tricking them B．he knew that they could not have been in the tree C．he did not see the old lady fall down D．he was afraid of the three-legged cat小题4:. Which of these old sayings best suits the story’s lesson for us? A．Make hay while the sun shines. B．Never judge a book by its cover. C．People in glasshouses should not throw stones. D．A bird in the hands worth two in the bush.