Question

The relationship between humans and animals has always been complex. Some cultures have developed entire belief systems around favored animals. Even in cultures with less formal belief systems, connections between people and animals still lead to commonly accepted opinions about animals.

These belief systems usually develop around the animals that interact (互動) with humans most frequently. Therefore, it should not be surprising that so many stories surround the most common of animals: rats. Rats live side by side with humans all over the world and regularly interact with people. Human-rat coexistence may be common all around the world, but different cultures respond to that closeness in different ways.

In the United States and Europe, one typical attitude is that the rat is a pest. This could be due to the common belief that rats spread disease. Actually, they don’t, at least not directly, but many people don’t know that. The Pied Piper of Hamlin, a well-known children’s story, is one example of how rats have been described in Western literature: in that story, rats cause such a problem that a town has to hire a piper to call them all away.

In many Latin American countries, the rat is described in a very different way. The story of the tooth fairy (a fairy believed by children to leave money while they sleep in exchange for a tooth that has come out) is common all over the world, but in Latin America, the “fairy” is a rat! Rats do have very strong teeth, which could explain the association. Clearly, this shows another attitude toward rats that is much more positive.

Yet another attitude toward the rat can be seen in the Chinese Zodiac (生肖). The Rat is one of the animals of the Zodiac. Like the other zodiac animals, the Rat is neither entirely good nor entirely bad. It’s described as clever and friendly, but also tricky and not entirely honest. That may be the most accurate description of the rat so far. Whether you like rats or not, it’s hard to deny their reputation for cleverness.

As many people are discovering these days, rats can even make excellent pets, so long as you remember to close the cage carefully!

1.What does the passage mainly talk about?

A. A trend of keeping rats as pets.              

B. How different cultures look at rats.

C. How humans get along with animals.          

D. Favored animals in different cultures.

2.The rats in The Pied Piper of Hamlin appear______.

A. unpleasant        B. honest         C. smart        D. unusual

3.The tooth fairy in Latin America mentioned in Paragraph4 is to show______.

A. the tooth fairy is lovely                     

B. rats look very frightening

C. rats are welcome in Latin American countries

D. the story of the tooth fairy is common all over the world

4.According to the author, rats______.

A. don’t spread disease               

B. should be treated as pests

C. are fairly described in the Chinese Zodiac         

D. are kept as pets by more and more people

5.The passage is probably taken from a ______.

A. travel guide           B. news report        C. nature magazine       D. history textbook

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.C

5.C

【解析】

試題分析：什么動物和人親近？和人打得交道越多，這種動物也就越受重視。比如老鼠，在不同的文化中，老鼠的形象和代表的意義也不相同。有的認為它們是害蟲，有的視為祥瑞，有的養做寵物......你怎么看？

1.推理判斷題。文章主要講述了不同的國家和地區的人們對待老鼠的不同態度。尤其根據Therefore后面的敘述可知選B。

2.細節理解題。由“in that story, rats cause such a problem that a town has to hire a piper to call them all away.”可知，老鼠引起了大麻煩以至于人們不得不請來吹笛人驅逐老鼠。所以是 unpleasant 討厭的；honest誠實的；smart時髦的；unusual經常的。故選A。

3.細節理解題。由“ but in Latin America, the “fairy” is a rat! ”可知，老鼠是小精靈表明拉丁美洲的人們很歡迎老鼠。故選C。

4.細節理解題。根據“Like the other zodiac animals, the Rat is neither entirely good nor entirely bad. It’s described as clever and friendly, but also tricky and not entirely honest. ”可知，老鼠在十二生肖中還是得到了公平的描述：不好也不壞，聰明友好，還有點滑。故選C。

5.推理判斷題。本文介紹了老鼠在不同國家地區和文化環境中的不同對待態度，因此應該摘自自然雜志。travel guide旅游手冊； news report新聞報道； nature magazine自然雜志；history textbook歷史教科書。故選C

考點：科普類閱讀。