Hundreds of years ago, a Roman army came north from England to declare war on Scotland. The Scots, a brave people, love their country. They fought hard to drive the enemy out of Scotland. But there were too many Romans. It looked as if the Romans would win.
One night, the leader of the Scots marched his soldiers to the top of a hill. "We will rest here tonight, my men," he said. "Tomorrow we will fight one more battle. We must win, or we will die."
They were all very tired so they ate their supper quickly and fell asleep. There were four guards on duty, but they were very tired, too, and one by one, they fell asleep.
The Romans were not asleep. Quickly they gathered at the foot of the hill. Slowly they went up the hill. Closer they came to the sleeping Scots. They were almost at the top. A few minutes more the war would be over. Suddenly, one of them put his foot on a thistle (蓟). He cried out and his sudden cry woke the Scots up. In a minute they were on their feet and ready for a battle. The fighting was hard, but it did not last long. The Scots wiped out the Romans and saved Scotland.
The thistle is not a beautiful plant. It has sharp needles all over it. Few people like it. But the people of Scotland like it so much that they made it their national flower.
1. At the shout of a Roman soldier, all the Scots who were asleep at the hill ________.
A. began to fight the Romans hard
B. stood up without putting on their shoes and began to fight
C. woke and rose immediately, ready to fight
D. put their feet into their shoes at once and were ready to fight
2. The result of the war is that __________.
A. the Romans killed all the Scots
B. the Scots were defeated
C. the Scots were driven out of Scotland
D. the Scots defeated the Romans
3. The Scots made thistle their national flower because thistle __________.
A. is lovely, though not beautiful
B. gives them happiness
C. is a kind of useful plant
D. helped the Scots in wiping out the Roma