Some myths are stories told since ancient times to explain the causes for natural happenings. The Greek myth that explains why there are changes of ___36___ is about Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. She had a daughter, Persephone, whom she loved very much. Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone, and he asked Zeus, the ___37___ of the gods, to give Persephone to him as his ___38___. Zeus did not want either to disappoint Hades or to upset Demeter, so he said he would not agree to the marriage, but neither would he ___39___ it. Hades, therefore, decided to take the girl without ___40___. When Persephone was picking flowers in the garden, he seized her and took her to the underworld. When Demeter ___41___ what happened to Persephone, she became so ___42___ that she caused all plants to ___43___ People were in ___44___ of starving. But Demeter was determined not to let crops grow ___45___ her daughter, Persephone, was returned to her. ___46___, still not wanting to disappoint Hades, decided upon a condition for Persephone’s ___47___. She could go back to her mother if she had not ___48___ anything while she was in the underworld. Demeter ___49___ it because she did not know that Persephone had eaten several pomegranate(石榴) seeds in the underworld. When Zeus ___50___ this, he agreed that Persephone could spend part of the year with her ___51___, but he added that since she had eaten the seeds, she must spend part of the year in the underworld. And so it ___52___ that when Persephone is in the underworld, Demeter is sad and therefore ___53___ not let the crops grow. That is ___54___ we have winter when plants do not grow. When Persephone returns, Demeter is ___55___, it is spring, and plants begin to grow again.
36. A. periods B. seasons       C. time    D. age
37. A. winner B. ruler   C. advisor       D. fighter
38. A. wife     B. lover   C. partner       D. daughter
39. A. forbid  B. forgive       C. admit  D. accept
40. A. arrangement B. warning     C. reason D. permission
41. A. let out  B. worked out C. thought out D. found out
42. A. excited B. tired   C. angry  D. serious
43. A. grow fast     B. start growing     C. stop growing     D. grow slowly
44. A. danger  B. hope   C. turn    D. case
45. A. since    B. until   C. after   D. when
46. A. Persephone  B. Zeus   C. Demeter     D. Hades
47. A. return   B. change       C. marriage    D. journey
48. A. stolen   B. found  C. eaten   D. heard
49. A. understood   B. refused       C. doubted      D. accepted
50. A. discovered   B. studied       C. forgot D. prepared
51. A. daughter      B. mother       C. god     D. ruler
52. A. works   B. remains      C. happens      D. starts
53. A. should  B. can     C. dare    D. will
54. A. where   B. because      C. why    D. how
55. A. nice     B. friendly      C. fresh   D. happy