Question

“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet（衣櫥）?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”

“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t your great-great-grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry I asked. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.

After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank in a faint（暈倒）, waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.

“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.

1.According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the close” means ______.

 A. a family honor     B. a family story     C. a family secret       D. a family treasure

2.What can we learn about some Australians’ ancestors form Paragraph 2?

 A. They were brought to Australia as prisoners.

 B. They were the earliest people living in Australia.

 C. They were involved in some crimes in Australia.

 D. They were not regarded as criminals in their days.

3.Jessica’s mother fell down into a faint because she was ______.

 A. frightened          B. knocked          C. injured            D. surprised

4.Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?

 A. She planned to keep it for fun.          

B. She needed it for her school task.

 C. She was curious about it.

D. She intended to scare her parents.

5.Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.

   A. they were crazy                      

B. they were over excited

   C. they realized their misunderstanding    

D. they both thought they had won the quarrel

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.A

3.A

4.B

5.C

【解析】

試題分析：

1.語義猜測 根據第一段母親所說的話“it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else to know about”“它是一件你不希望其他人所知道的事情”，選擇C。  

2.細節推斷由第二段”Yes，but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners”，“如今的人們說如果你的祖先不是以囚犯的身份到達澳大利亞的話，那么你就不是一個真正的澳大利亞人。”選A

3.細節理解 由第三段“Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor.”“正當她打開門伸進手去掛短裙的時候，一只骨頭胳膊從暗處伸出來然后一堆骨頭摔倒了地板上。”得出媽媽因該是被嚇暈的。選A

4.細節理解 由最后一段“I brought it home to help me with my health project.”“我把它帶回家是為了幫我搞定我的健康課題”，project此處有“學校的科研習作項目, 課題”之意判斷出B選項。

5.推斷題 答案：C 結合全文理解，開頭講述了Jessica的一個提問“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet（衣櫥）?”引出了父母之間的爭論，之后媽媽被孩子藏在衣櫥中的用來完成學校課題的骷髏嚇暈過去，最后Jessica解釋時說，“I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.”即本想告訴媽媽衣櫥里的骷髏的情況，可是每當提到骷髏和衣櫥的問題后卻總會讓父母之間有摩擦，然而最后真相大白，Jessica的父母都意識到了這是一個誤會，故而狂笑。故而選擇C 

考點：考查故事類短文

點評：文章是讀者介紹了英語習語have a skeleton（骨骼）in the closet的含義和由此引發的一個笑話，考查較為全面合理，各種題型都有涉及。要求考生在閱讀時，把握大意，合理的推測想象。