Question

A bag is useful and the word “bag” is useful, too. Here is an interesting phrase（短语）, “to let the cat out of the bag”. In meaning it is the same as “to tell the secret（秘密）”. And there is an old interesting story about it.
　　Long ago, when farmers wanted to sell chickens at the market, they would usually just throw the chickens in cloth (布) bags. But cats were cheaper than chickens at that time, so many farmers would put cats into the cloth bags but not chickens. One day, a woman asked a man for a chicken. The man gave her a cloth bag in which there was a cat.      When the man opened the cloth bag, a big black cat ran out. Not a chicken! The man’s secret was out and everyone knew it.
　　Now when we say someone gives away a secret, we say “he lets the cat out of the bag”. And that is the story where the interesting phrase came from.
小题1:The underlined word “it” in the passage refers to (指的是)     .

A．the useful bag

B．the phrase

C．the cat

D．the chicken

小题2:The farmers put cats but not chickens in the bags to      when they sold chickens.

A．tell the secret	B．sell the cats
C．get more money	D．keep the cats quiet

小题3:Which is the best for the blank (空白处) in the passage?

A．The woman was angry to see a cat.	B．The man put a cat in the bag.
C．The man asked her to see the chicken.	D．The woman wanted to see the chicken.

小题4:The writer wrote the story to tell us     .

A．the woman was smart	B．how farmers sold their cats
C．the phrase is useful	D．where the phrase came from

Answer 1

小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:D
小题4:D

试题分析：这篇短文重点介绍了英语中一个短语的由来.
小题1:联系前文Here is an interesting phrase（短语）, “to let the cat out of the bag”.描述，可知it指的是这个短语，故选B。
小题2:根据第二段But cats were cheaper than chickens at that time, so many farmers would put cats into the cloth bags but not chickens. 描述,人们把猫当做鸡是为了多卖钱,故选C.
小题3:联系上下文,可知此处指的是,这个女人想看看这些鸡.故选D.
小题4:这篇短文重点介绍了英语中一个短语的由来,故选D.
点评：本文浅显易懂，层次分明，学生很容易把握文章中心内容。答题中注意带着问题阅读短文，一般就能顺利找出答题依据。对于不能直接找到根据的问题注意联系上下文，根据短文中心总结出正确答案。