A long time ago, people in China knew a strange, amazing animal called “elephant”. Elephants lived far away, so no one in China had ever seen one. One day, a person came to China. He brought a gift for the emperor(皇帝). That gift was a real, live elephant!

Never in China had anyone seen anything like it. All talked about the elephant! “This elephant is bigger than a water buffalo(水牛)!” said one person. “Are you kidding?” said a second. “It’s bigger than a rhino(犀牛)!” “You must be joking,” said a third. “This elephant is bigger than TWO rhinos!”

The Emperor said, “I want to know how much this amazing elephant weighs. Who can tell me how to weigh it?”

“I can!” said the first person. “We will just put it on a scale(秤).” “Not likely,” said the Emperor. “There is no scale that could hold the weight of an elephant without breaking.” “I can tell you!” said the second man. He said, “We will measure(测量) the elephant.” “No,” said the Emperor. “Even if you measured all the different parts of an elephant, you would still not know how much it weighs.” “I can tell you!” said the third man. “We will cut up the elephant and cook it.  Then we will know.” “We will surely NOT do that!” shouted the Emperor. “Is there NO ONE who can tell me how to weigh the elephant?”

Then a small voice said, “I can.” All eyes turned to the voice. It was the Emperor’s son! 

“Son!” said the Emperor. “You should be in bed.” “But I know how,” said the boy. “And we won’t need to cook it first.”

“Very well,” said the Emperor with a smile. “Tell me how to weigh the elephant.”

1.Why did people in China never see an elephant before?

A The animal was very strange.

B People did not like elephants.

C Elephants did not exist long time ago.

D There was no elephant in China before.

解析：选D。D细节理解题。根据第一段第二句“Elephants lived far away, so no one in China had ever seen one.”可知，以前人们在中国没有看到过大象，是因为大象住的很远，中国没有大象。故选D。

2.Which of the following animal may be the smallest?

A A rhino.

B A water buffalo.

C An elephant.

D An adult rhino.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据第二段他们三个人所说的话，可知犀牛比水牛大，大象比两头犀牛还大，即水牛最小。故选B。

3.What may be the third man?

A A teacher.

B A businessman.

C A cook.

D A boss.

解析：选C。C推理判断题。根据第四段中第三个人说的话“We will cut up the elephant and cook it.”可知，他很可能是一名厨师。故选C。

4.What will the next paragraph talk about if the passage goes on?

A The boy described what to do.

B The elephant was sent back.

C The small voice disappeared.

D The emperor put his son to sleep.

解析：选A。A推理判断题。根据最后一段皇帝说的话“Tell me how to weigh the elephant.”可知，接下来可能会谈到皇帝的儿子对称大象的方法进行描述。故选A。

5.What’s the best title of the passage?

A The Mice and the Elephants

B The Emperor and His Son

C Three Smart People

D Weighing the Elephant

解析：选D。D主旨大意题。根据全文内容可知，全文围绕如何对大象进行称重展开。故选D。