Question

Barbara Klein ： Our VGA listener's question this week comes from Bangladesh. Murnna asks if Hawaii is an American state.

Experts believe that Polynesian people discovered the Hawaiian Islands about two thousand years ago. A king ruled the islands when British sea captain James Cook arrived in 1775.

In 1818， the Hawaiian King Kamehamcha said the group should be called the "Islands of the Kingdom of Hawaii".Britaingave the islands their independence in 1843. The king was ousted fifty years later by a group of American businessmen. Hawaii became the fiftieth state of theUnited Statesin 1959.

The state of Hawaii includes eight major islands in the middle of the North  Pacific Ocean. The main islands are Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai and Hawaii, also called the Big Island. The island of Niihau is privately owned. Kahoolaw has no people.

Hawaii is far from other populated areas. It is more than three thousand kilometres from the state of Califor?nia. It is more than six thousand kilometres fromJapan.

Hot liquid rock called lava formed the Hawaiian Islands millions of years ago. The lava flowed up from the sea through openings in the sea floor. Visitors today can watch this process continue on the Big  Island where the world's most active volcano still produces lava.

Each of the Hawaiian  Islands has a wet side and a dry side. It rains much more on the north-east sides of the islands and much more in winter than in summer. This gives each island two separate climate areas. One area is dry and desert-like. The other area has green plants, rivers and waterfalls.

More than six million people visit Hawaii each year. They enjoy the beautiful land and the warm weath?er. They swim, watch the whales and other marine life and visit beautiful gardens. Hawaii has some of the most beautiful, interesting and unusual places on the earth.

1.    Who discovered Hawaii first according to the pas?sage?

A.    Murnna fromBangladesh.

B.    The Polynesian.

C.    James Cook.

D.    Some American businessmen.

2.    What is mainly talked about in the passage?

A.    The historical backgrounds of Hawaii.

B.    How Hawaii became a state ofAmerica.

C.    The history and geography of Hawaii.

D.    Hawaii was once part of theUK.

3.    Which of the following is TRUE about Hawaii?

A.    The climate of Hawaii is always rainy.

B.    Tourism brings in a lot of money for Hawaii.

C.    People live happily on the eight islands of Hawaii.

D.    Visitors enjoy watching lava flowing up on Hawaii.

4.    The underlined word "ousted" in Paragraph 3 is sim?ilar in meaning to " .

A.  visited     B. supported

C.   removed       D. welcomed

Answer 1

【文章大意】本文以回答听众问题的形式介绍了夏威夷的历史和地域特色。

B细节理解题。根据第二段第一句中的"…Polynesian peo-pie discovered the Hawaiian Islands about two thousand years ago."可知，波利尼西亚人首先发现了夏威夷群岛。

C主旨大意题。本文的第二、三段介绍了夏威夷的历史，后面几段介绍了夏威夷群岛的构成、位置、气候及旅游业的发展，因此C项最具概括性。

B 细节理解题。根据最后一段的第一句"More 

than six mU-lion people visit Hawaii each year."可知,夏威夷旅游业发达， 给夏威夷带来很多收人。

C 词义猜测题。根据画线词后面的"Hawaii became the fif?tieth state of the United States in 1959."可推知，国王被一群美国商人逼迫退位后，夏威夷变成了美国的一个州。因此画线词与remove"免除，解除（职务等）"意义相近。