阅读理解。 How Americans Began to Eat Tomat
题型：江西省月考题难度：来源：
People have strange ideas about food. For example, the tomato is a kind of very delicious
vegetable. It is one of useful plants that can be prepared in many ways. It has rich nutrition
and vitamin in it. But in the 18th century, Americans never ate tomatoes. They grew them in
their gardens because tomato plants are so pretty. But they thought the vegetable was
poisonous (有毒的). They called tomatoes "poison apples."
President Thomas Jefferson, however, knew that tomatoes were good to eat. He was a learned
man. He had been to Paris, where he learned to love the taste of tomatoes. He grew many kinds
of tomatoes in his garden. The President taught his cook a way for a cream of tomato soup. This
beautiful pink soup was served at the President"s party. The guests thought the soup tasted really
good. They never thought their president would serve his honored guests poison apples. Jefferson
never spoke to his honored (忠实的) guests about the fact.
B. Americans didn"t eat tomatoes before 19th century.
C. Even now Americans don"t eat tomatoes.
D. In the 18th century Americans ate a lot of tomatoes.
B. when he was a little boy
C. because his parents told him so
D. from books
B. a French cook
C. the President"s cook
D. the President"s wife
B. from France
C. people of his own country
D. men only
B. All of the guests thought the soup which was prepared by the President"s cook was nice.
C. All of the guests thought the taste of the beautiful pink soup was nice.
D. None of the guests knew that their president would serve his honored guests poison apples.
答案
举一反三
Benjamin Hall, who was in charge of the works when the bell was installed in 1856.
The clock has become a symbol of the United Kingdom and London. When a television or film-maker
wishes to quickly show a non-UK audience a certain location in Britain, a popular way to do so is to
show an image of the Clock Tower. The Clock Tower is also often voted as the Most Iconic London
Film Location.
The Clock Tower is a focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV
stations tuning to its chimes (报时钟声) to welcome the start of the year.
Londoners who live an appropriate (适当的) distance from the Clock Tower and Big Ben can, by
means of listening to the chimes both live and on the radio or television, hear the bell strike thirteen times
on New Year’s Eve. This is possible due to what amounts to an offset between live and electronically
transmitted chimes since the speed of sound is much slower than the speed of radio waves. Guests are
invited to count the chimes aloud as the radio is gradually turned down.
The Clock Tower has appeared in many films, most notably in the 1978 version of The Thirty-Nine
Steps, in which the hero attempted to halt the clock’s progress (to prevent a linked bomb blowing up)
by hanging from the minute hand of its western face. It was also used in the film, Shanghai Knights,
starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, and was depicted (描述) as being destroyed in Aliens of
London. In the Walt Disney film The Great Mouse Detective, it is even shown being destroyed by a
UFO!
A. a landmark of the UK and London
B. a most popular scene for film makers
C. a must-see sight for tourists to London
D. a popular place where to have pictures taken
B. There is something wrong with Big Ben.
C. There"s some technical problems in the radio broadcasting.
D. They hear the striking live and by radio waves at the same time.
B. get something to stop
C. make something work again
D. draw people"s attention to something
B. Shanghai Knights and Aliens of London.
C. Aliens of London and The Thirty-Nine Steps.
D. The Great Mouse Detective and Aliens of London.
B. Sir Benjamin Hall - the founder of Big Ben
C. Big Ben - significance in popular culture
D. Big Ben and New Year’s celebrations
became fully developed and recognized by the mid-19th century. The form was extremely popular in
the Qing Dynasty court and has come to be regarded as one of the cultural treasures of China. Major
performance troupes (剧团,戏班子) are based in Beijing and Tianjin in the north,and Shanghai in the
south. The art form is also enjoyed in Taiwan,and has spread to other countries such as the United
States and Japan.
Beijing opera features four main types of performers. Performing troupes often have several of
each variety,as well as numerous secondary and tertiary performers. With their elaborate (认真的,
精心的) and colorful costumes,performers are the only focal points on Beijing opera"s characteristically
small stage. They make use of the skills of speech,song,dance,and combat in movements that are
symbolic and suggestive,rather than realistic. Above all else,the skill of performers is evaluated
according to the beauty of their movements. Performers also hold a variety of stylistic conventions that
help audiences navigate the plot of the production. The layers of meaning within each movement must
be expressed in time with music. The music of Beijing opera can be divided into the Xipi and Erhuang
styles. Melodies include arias (唱腔),fixed-tune melodies,and percussion patterns. The repertoire of
Beijing opera includes over 1,400 works,which are based on Chinese history,folklore,and,increasingly,
contemporary life.
In recent years,Beijing opera has attempted numerous reforms in response to sagging audience
numbers. These reforms,which include improving performance quality,adapting new performance
elements,and performing new and original plays,have met with mixed success. Some Western works
have been adopted as new plays,but a lack of funding and an adverse political climate have left Beijing
opera"s fate uncertain as the form enters the 21st century.
B. More than two centuries.
C. More than one century.
D. About half a century.
B. Two including Beijing and Tianjin in the north.
C. Three including Beijing and Tianjin,and Shanghai in the south and Taiwan.
D. Five including Beijing and Tianjin,and Shanghai in the south,Taiwan,US and Japan.
B. Colourful.
C. Realistic.
D. Representative.
B. The standard to estimate a performer is the amount of his/her movements.
C. It"s necessary to keep movements along the music in time.
D. The content of Beijing Opera is plentiful but much fixed.
B. Certainly good.
C. Much uncertain.
D. More popular.
the United States. Yale, Princeton , Columbia and Dartmouth were opened soon after Harvard.
In the early years , these schools were much alike. Only young men went to college. All the
students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Little was
known about science then , and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about
the world . when the students graduated ,most of them become ministers or teachers.
In 1782,Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors.
Later lawyers could receive their training in Harvard"s law school. In 1825, besides Latin and
Greek ,Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German ,Soon it began
teaching American history.
As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects .
Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interests them.
Today. There are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are made
up of smaller schools that deal with special fields of learning. There"s so much to learn that one
kind of school can"t offer it all.
B. Harvard
C. Princeton
D. Columbia
B. people, young or old might study in the colleges
C. students studied only some languages and science
D. when the students finished their school, they became lawyers or teachers
B. Latin and Greek, French and German
C. American history and German
D. French and German
B. law and something about medicine
C. many new subjects
D. the subjects that interested students
B. the world-famous colleges in America
C. how colleges have changed
D. what kind of lessons each college teaches
Roman Holiday.If you are planning to visit Rome,here are some cultural dos and don"ts you
should know.
Coffee Etiquette:Italian breakfast consists of pastry and a cup of Cappuccino or shot of
espresso.If eaten outside of home,breakfast is always consumed standing up at the local bar.
An espresso is not sipped;it is downed in one gulp.Cappuccino is generally a morning drink
and is not drunk after noon by real Italians.A post dinner espresso,however,is common practice.
Dinner Rules:It is expected for guests to arrive for dinner reservations at least fifteen minutes
late.In many restaurants,printed menus are for tourists.Regular patrons know to ask for the daily
specials,which typically feature the freshest ingredients.Bread,when served,is rarely accompanied
by butter or olive oil.
Drink the Water:Rome has plenty of public water fountains,and real Romans (and their dogs)
always drink directly from them.Many people also refill their water bottle from these fountains.
Mind the Traffic:Unless there"s a traffic light,or you are in a crosswalk,don"t expect cars to
stop for you.Though crosswalks go first,in a car?crazy city,still you"d better keep cautious
and walk cautiously.
Money:Always have some euros with you.Most major hotels,restaurants,and shops take
credit cards,but many smaller operations either will be unwilling to accept them for smaller
purchases or do not accept credit cards at all.ATMs are available around the city and at the
airports.
About Soccer:Most Italian men are passionate about their soccer.Arm yourself with some
knowledge of Italy"s soccer scene,and you will find ready conversation partners almost
everywhere.
The Romans:The people here love to share their thoughts,opinions and emotions.They are
creative,passionate,playful,occasionally rude or vain but always entertaining,and almost always
good humoured.
完型填空。
Are you good at understanding body language? You are probably 1 than you think,
according to the experts.
What is body language exactly? 2 , it is signals made by body movement, gesture and
eye movement.
Body language can actually 3 a lot of information, and it can help us 4 a person"s attitude
and state of mind. In fact, studies have suggested that only 7% of communication involves actual
5 ,while 55% is body language and 38% is intonation(语调).
Many examples of body language are 6 to identify. In most cultures, smiling shows happiness
and a /an 7 attitude. So, when someone smiles at you, they"re telling you that they are open,
interested and happy to 8 . But if someone puts their arms across their chest, they don"t want
to communicate with you. And if this is combined with a serious facial expression, you should
9 because this can mean anger.
It"s very difficult to 10 with your body language. For example, when people pretend to 11 ,
they only use the muscles around the mouth-and the top half of their face remains 12 .
However, a true smile involves the 13 face, including the cheeks and eyes. Research shows that
most people can see whether a smile is true by looking at the top half of the 14 .
One of the great advantages with body language is that you don"t have to 15 it -you already
know it, even if you don"t know you do.