暑假过后，新初三生们迎来了初中最重要的一年——初三。为方便2013年中考考生及家长查询相关信息，出国留学网中考频道特别搜集汇总了中考英语阅读素材以供参考：
-
The Bird,, the Mouse, and the Loaf
I
Once there was a Bird, a Mouse, and a Loaf. They lived in a little house. The house was near a forest. There was a garden at the front of the house full of pretty flowers. There were flowers in the window, and a little tree on each side of the door.
The Bird, the Mouse, and the Loaf did all the work of the house. Each day the bird went to the forest and brought wood. The mouse brought water from the river and made the house clean. The loaf was the cook; she cooked the food and made bread.
They were all very happy.
One day the bird was going to the forest to get wood. He saw a friend in the lane: it was another bird; the name of the other bird was Mr. Magpie.
Mr. Magpie said, "I am very glad to see you. I have not seen you for many days. Are you happy?"
The bird said, "I am very happy. I live in a pretty house. I am now going to get the wood from the forest. "
"I did not know that you had become a servant", said Mr. Magpie.
"I am not a servant," said the bird; "I live with friends. Mr. Mouse and Mrs. Loaf live with me in the house. "
"And do you do all the work of the house?" asked Mr. Magpie.
"No," said the bird, "Mrs. Loaf is the cook; she cooks the food and makes bread. I bring the wood from the forest; and Mr. Mouse does all the other things."
You do more work than the others," said Mr. Magpie. " It is not just that you should do more than the others do."
"The house is not far from the forest," said the bird.
"But on some days you have to go twice," said Mr. Magpie.
"That is so," said the bird; and he was angry that he should have to do more work than the others.
When Mr. Bird was bringing the wood from the forest, Mr. Mouse brought water from the river, put the water in the pot, put water on all the flowers, set the table ready for food, cleaned the rooms, cleaned the windows, cleaned all the pots and tins, and cleaned everything.
Mrs. Loaf got the food, made it ready, put the pot on the fire, made the water hot, and cooked the food.
Mr. Bird came into the house. He threw down the wood and sat down at the table. He did not speak to Mr. Mouse or Mrs. Loaf.
Mrs. Loaf said, "Poor Mr. Bird is ill--or he is angry. What has made you angry, Mr. Bird?"
Mr. Bird said nothing .
Mrs. Loaf brought the food and set it on the table.
"This is very good bread," said Mr. Mouse; 'Mrs. Loaf makes very good bread."
Mr. Bird did not speak.
"There is much work to do in the garden," said Mr. Mouse. "Will you help me in the garden, Mr. Bird?" 'I will not help you in the garden," said Mr. Bird, "or do any other work. I do too much work. I work all day. I do all the work in the house." Mrs. Loaf said, " Mr. Mouse cleans the house, and I cook the food; you do not do more work than we do."
Mr. Bird said, "That is not work. You sit in the house and do little things, but I go far away to the forest and get all these big bits of wood, and bring them here."
Mrs. Loaf said, "After this I will go to the forest and get the wood, and Mr. Mouse shall cook the food. You shall clean the house. Then you will not do too much work. I shall be glad to go to the forest: I have never been there."
Ⅱ
So, on the day after that, Mrs. Loaf went out to bring wood from the forest; Mr. Mouse went to cook the food; and Mr. Bird went to get water from the river.
Mr. Bird took the pot with his foot, and went out to get the water. He came to the river, and put the pot in the water. When the pot was full of water, he took it with one foot; but the pot was too big. Then he took it with the other foot, but the pot fell. Then he got another pot, and brought the water.
Mr. Mouse went to cook the food. He put the pot on the fire, but he put his foot in the fire. The fire burned his foot, and he cried. But he made the food ready. Mr. Bird came back from the river. Mr. Mouse was angry because he had burned his foot; Mr. Bird was angry because the pot had fallen. And Mrs. Loat had not come back from the forest.
Mr. Mouse said, "Shall we wait for Mrs. Loaf? Or shall we eat our food now?"
"We will wait a little," said Mr. Bird.
They waited for an hour; Mrs. Loaf did not come. Then Mr. Bird said, "I will go to the forest and get the wood, and tell Mrs. Loaf to come home."
So Mr. Bird went down the lane to the forest. He saw some bits of wood in the lane, but he could not see Mrs. Loaf. She was not in the forest; she was not in the lane. Then he saw a wolf sitting near the bits of wood.
Mr. Bird asked, "Mr. Wolf, have you seen Mrs. Loaf today?"
Mr. Wolf said, "That is Mrs. Loaf's wood."
"But where is Mrs. Loaf?" asked Mr. Bird.
"She was here," said Mr. Wolf.
"Where is she now?" asked Mr. Bird.
"She is here now " said Mr. Wolf.
"I do not see her," said Mr. Bird.
"She is inside me," said Mr. Wolf, "I have eaten her up."
"Then you are a bad wolf" said Mr. Bird. "Mrs. Loaf was a very good cook--and now you have eaten her!"
"Mrs. Loaf should not go to the forest," said the wolf. "Loaves should stay in the house. Go away, or I shall eat you too."
Mr. Bird took the wood and went home: he was crying. Mr. Mouse cried too when he heard that Mrs. Loaf was dead.
Then Mr. Mouse said, "I cannot eat today. But will you have your food now? I will go and get it ready."
The pot was a big pot; Mr. Mouse was a little mouse. He could not take the pot down from the fire: he fell into the pot and was killed.
Mr. Bird went to get ready the table. He set all ready, and then he waited. He waited, and waited. Then he called, "Mr. Mouse, Mr. Mouse; do come and have something to eat."
"Mr. Mouse," he called, " if the food is not ready, we will eat bread." But he heard nothing.
Then he went into the other room. He could not see Mr. Mouse. He went to the pot on the fire, and there he saw that poor Mr. Mouse was dead.
A bit of burning wood fell out of the fire. "The house is on fire!" said Mr. Bird. " It will all be burned!" He ran to the river to bring water to put out the fire. But he fell into the river, and was killed too.
And the house was burned.
That is what comes if you do not do your own work, but want to do the work for others.
We should each do our own work, and then we shall all be happy.
【译文】
鸟、老鼠和面包
(一)
从前有一只鸟，一只老鼠和一块面包，他们住在一座小房子里。这座房子在一片树林附近，房前有座花园，花园长满了美丽的鲜花。窗户上有鲜花，门口的每一侧也都有一棵小树。
鸟、老鼠和面包自己干所有家务活。每天，鸟到那片树林背柴荷，老鼠从河里背水，还打扫房子的卫生，面包是厨师，她烧饭做菜烤面包。
他们都生活得很愉快。
一天，鸟先生正要去树林背柴荷，他在小路上遇见一位朋友，它也是一只鸟，名字叫喜鹊。
喜鹊先生说：“见到你真高兴，好些天不见你了，你过得好吗?”
这只鸟说：“我很好，我住在一幢漂亮的房子里，现在我正准备从树林里取些柴荷。”
“我还不知道你已经当了仆人了?”喜鹊先生说。
“我不是仆人。”鸟先生说，“我和朋友们生活在一起，老鼠先生和面包夫人同我住在一所房子里。”
“屋子里的活计都是你干吗?”喜鹊先生问。
“不，”鸟先生说，“面包夫人是厨师，她烧饭做菜烤面包，我从树林背柴荷，老鼠先生干所有其它的事情。”
“你干的活比其他人多，”喜鹊先生说：“你得比别人多干活，这是很不公平的。”
“这座房子离树林不远，”鸟先生说。
“然而有些天你不得不每天跑两趟，”喜鹊先生说。
“是这样，”鸟先生说。他很生气，自己要干的活比别人多。
当鸟先生从树林背回柴火时，老鼠先生也从河里背来了水，他把水倒进罐里，给花浇水，摆好餐桌准备吃饭，然后打扫房间，擦窗户，清洗所有盆盆罐罐，把每样东西都弄得很干净。
面包夫人搞到食物，准备做饭。她把锅放到火上，把水烧开，并做好了饭菜。
鸟先生走进屋里，他扔下柴火，在餐桌旁坐下，他没有和老鼠先生或面包夫人说话。
面包夫人说：“可怜的鸟先生生病了，要不他是生气了。什么事惹你生气了，鸟先生?”
鸟先生闭口不答。
面包夫人端来饭茶摆在餐桌上。
“这是很好吃的面包，”老鼠先生说，“面包夫人烤的面包都很好吃。”
鸟先生没开口。
“花园里要干的活儿很多，”老鼠先生说，“鸟先生，你能帮我干点花园里的活儿吗?”
鸟先生说，“花园里的活儿我不帮，也不帮你干其它的活儿，我干的活儿太多了，我整天干活，我干了屋子里所有的活儿。”
面包夫人说：“老鼠先生打扫房子，我烧饭做菜，你没有比我们做更多的事儿。”
鸟先生说：“那不算活儿，你坐在家里，干一点事情，而我要跑到很远的树林里去弄大劈柴，还要把它们背到这儿。”
面包夫人说：“从今以后，我去树林里搞柴荷，老鼠先生烧饭做菜，你打扫房子，这样你就不会干太多的活儿，我也很高兴能去树林，我还从来没有去过那里。”
(二)
就这样，第二天，面包夫人出去到树林里背柴荷，老鼠先生烧饭做菜，鸟先生到河边挑水。
鸟先生用脚提着罐，出去打水。他来到河边，把罐子装上水。水装满后，他用一只脚提着，然而罐太大了，于是他又用另一只脚去提，可是罐子还是掉下来了。于是他只好拿了一个罐提水。
老鼠先生去烧饭做茶，他把锅往火上放，可是他的脚却踩在了火上，火烧伤了他的脚，他哭了。但是，他还是准备好饭菜。鸟先生从河边回来了。老鼠先生很生气，因为他把脚烧伤了。鸟先生也很生气，因为罐子摔了。而面包夫人还没有从树林里回来。
老鼠先生说：“我们还等面包夫人吗?还是现在我们就吃饭?”
“我们等一会儿，”鸟先生说。
他们等了一个小时，面包夫人没回来，他们等了二个小时，面包夫人还没回来。这时，鸟先生说：“我到树林去拿柴荷，再告诉面包夫人回家。”
于是，鸟先生沿着小路到树林去，在小路上他看见一些小木片，但他没有见到面包夫人。她不在树林，也不在小路上。这时，他看到木片旁边蹲着一只狼。
鸟先生问：“狼先生，你今天见到面包夫人了吗?”
狼先生说：“那是面包夫人的柴荷。”
“但是面包夫人在哪儿?”鸟先生问。
“她在这里，”狼先生说。
“她现在在哪儿?”鸟先生问。
“她现在在这里，”狼先生说。
“我看不见她，”鸟先生说。
“她在我肚子里，”狼先生说，“我把她吃掉了。”
“你是一只大坏狼!”鸟先生说，“面包夫人是一位了不起的厨师，现在你把她吃掉了!”
“面包夫人不应当去树林，”狼说，“面包本该呆在屋里。走开，不然我把你也吃掉。”
鸟先生拿着柴火回了家，他哭了起来。老鼠先生一听说面包夫人死了，他也哭了。
然后，老鼠先生说：“我今天吃不下饭。你现在要吃饭吗?我去弄。”
这锅是一口大锅，而老鼠先生是一只小老鼠，他不能把锅从火上拿下来，他掉进了锅里，给烫死了。
鸟先生去准备餐桌，他把餐具都摆好了，然后等着，……他等了又等，然后就喊：“老鼠先生，老鼠先生，你得来吃点东西啊。”
“老鼠先生，”他喊着，“如果饭菜没有准备好，我们就吃面包好了。”但是他听不到任何动静。
于是，他就到另一间屋子，没有见到老鼠先生，他走到在火上的锅跟前，他发现可怜的老鼠先生死在那儿了。
一块烧着了的劈柴从火里掉出来，“房子着火啦!”鸟先生说，“房子会全部烧光的!”他跑到河边去打水想要扑灭火灾，但是，他掉进河里，也淹死了。
房子烧光了。
这就是你不去做你力所能及的工作，偏要干合适别人的工作所招致的后果。
我们每个人应该做自己力所能及的工作，这样，我们大家都愉快。
中考相关信息请关注出国留学网中考频道......
| 中考政策 | 中考状元 | 中考饮食 | 中考备考辅导 | 中考复习资料 |