1 Long ago, when the world was very new, Elder Brother walked around Earth to enjoy the beauty of it. He watched the children playing. Everywhere on Earth, they were playing.
2 "How happy the children are!" thought Elder Brother. "They love the soft rain, the songs of birds, the colors of flowers, the green of the grass. They love the bright leaves that fall from the trees and fly through the breeze."
3 But as he watched, Elder Brother began to worry. "Someday these children may be sad," he
thought. "They may get sick or be hungry. They may get cold in the snow, or be blown about by
harsh winds."
4 Then Elder Brother had an idea that made him smile again. He got a big bag and filled it with flowers and red and yellow leaves. He put in some blue feathers of the jaybird, some blades of green grass, some golden corn. He added a bit of sunshine. At the very last minute, he added some bird songs. Then he closed the bag and shook it and shook it.
5 "Now come here and open this bag," called Elder Brother to the children. The children did so, and out flew thousands of tiny, wonderful, colorful creatures with wings. They were of the colors of all the things in the world, and each creature sang a song.
6 "What are they? What are they?" cried the children. They laughed and clapped with joy as the creatures flew about their heads.
7 "These are new creatures called butterflies," said Elder Brother. "I made them for you. If times come when you are sad, the sight of butterflies may cheer you up. On stormy days when cold winds blow, the memory of butterflies will warm your heart."
8 But the birds were not so happy as the children were.
9 "Elder Brother," complained the birds, "at the very beginning of the world, colors were given to all living things. But songs were given only to us birds. We don’t think it’s fair for these new things, the butterflies, to have our songs!"
10 Elder Brother thought about that for a while. Then he said, "Birds, you are right. From now on, the songs belong just to you."
11 So that is how it is to this very day. The butterflies dance and fly and make children happy. But they are silent.
"How Butterflies Came to Be" from Keepers of the Animals: Native American Animal Stories andWildlife Activities for Children by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac, Fulcrum Publishing, Inc. Copyright © 1991 by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac. Adapted and reprinted by permission of the publisher.
A. He made the butterflies prettier than the birds.
B. He made the children clap with joy.
C. He gave the butterflies the ability to sing.
D. He made butterflies for the children.
A. tired.
B. sick.
C. hungry.
D. unhappy.
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and out flew thousands of tiny, wonderful, colorful creatures with wings. |
In the phrase above, the commas are used to separate a series of
A. nouns.
B. verbs.
C. adverbs.
D. adjectives.
A. a poem.
B. a fable.
C. a myth.
D. an essay.