Question

【题目】 What is your zodiac (生肖)animal? According to the Chinese lunar calendar, 12 animals mark 12 different years. It is the basis of the Chinese zodiac. Nowadays, Chinese zodiac animals have worldwide fame and are increasingly popular among western people.

The zodiac is an important part of Chinese culture. People believe that the characteristics (特点) of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. For example, people born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful and brave.

Zodiac animals also have some social functions. When people think it is not proper to ask: “How old are you”, they may change their question to “What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out (计算出) roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.

Zodiac animals are not special to China. Many countries share a similar zodiac culture with China. For example, in the Japanese zodiac, a wild boar (野猪) takes the place of a pig and the Vietnamese (越南的) zodiac has a cat instead of a rabbit.

But have you ever wondered how these 12 animals were chosen to represent (代表)each year? According to legend, the Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) invited all the animals to join him for Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals went to see him. As a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.

【1】The characteristics of a zodiac animal may influence the _____of every person born in that year.

A.appearanceB.personalityC.hobbyD.education

【2】The Japanese zodiac does not include the _____ as a zodiac animal.

A.wild boarB.rabbitC.dragonD.pig

【3】According to the last paragraph, we know that _____ was the first animal to arrive.

A.the oxB.the ratC.the pigD.the cat

【4】The best title for this passage is _____.

A.The story of Chinese New YearB.The story of zodiac animals

C.The story of the Jade EmperorD.The story of people’s birthdays

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】D

【3】B

【4】B

【解析】

本文讲述的是12生肖的故事，根据中国农历12个动物代表着12个不同的年份，12生肖已经世界闻名而且在西方流行开来，十二生肖是中华文化的重要组成部分，也有其社会功能，不仅中国有生肖，其他国家也有，最后还讲述了生肖的由来。

【1】细节理解题。A. appearance“外貌”；B. personality“个性”；C. hobby“爱好”；D. education“教育”，由文章内容“People believe that the characteristics (特点) of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year.”可知，生肖的特点影响那年出生的每个人的性格，故选B。

【2】细节理解题。由文章内容“in the Japanese zodiac, a wild boar (野猪) takes the place of a pig.”可知，在日本wild boar取代了pig，因此在日本生肖中没有pig，故选D。

【3】细节理解题。由文章内容“he ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.”可知，公牛本来第一到达的，可是老鼠坐在它背上，在它到达之前先跳了下来，故选B。

【4】主旨大意题。文章内容主要是围绕十二生肖展开，文章开头“What is your zodiac (生肖)animal?”提出疑问引出下文，并具体展开，故选B。