Question

In the past 500 years，nothing about people—their clothes，ideas，or languages has changed as much as what they eat.The original (最初的) chocolate drink was made from the seeds of cocoa tree by South American Indians.The Spanish introduced it to the rest of the world during the 1500’s.And although it was very expensive，it quickly became fashionable (時(shí)髦的)．In London shops where chocolate drinks were served became important meeting places.Some still exist today.

The potato is also from the New World.Around 1,600，the Spanish brought it from Peru to Europe，where it soon was widely grown.The potato was the main food at Irish table.Thousands of Irish people starved (餓死) when the crop failed during the “Potato Famine” (馬鈴薯饑荒) of 1845～1846，and thousands more were forced to move to America.

There are many other foods that have traveled from South America to the Old World.But some others went in the opposite (相反的) direction.Brazil is now the world’s largest grower of coffee，and coffee is important crop in Colombia and other South American countries.But it is native to Ethiopia (埃塞俄比亞)．It was first made into a drink by Arabs during the 1400’s.

According to an Arabic story，coffee was discovered when a man named Kaldi noticed that his goats were attracted to the red fruits on a coffee bush.He tried one and experienced the “wide­awake” feeling that one­third of the world’s population now starts the day with.

46．According to the passage，which of the following has changed the most in the last 500 years?

A．Food.　　　　　　　　　　　B．Chocolate drinks.

C．Potato.  D．Coffee.

47．“Some” in the sentence “Some still exist today” refers to______.

A．cocoa trees                                         B．chocolate

C．shops                                                 D．meeting places

48．Thousands of Irish people starved because________.

A．they depended on the potato

B．they were forced to move to America

C．the weather conditions in Ireland were not fit for growing the potato

D．the potato harvest was bad

49．Coffee originally came from________.

A．Brazil                                                 B．Colombia

C．Ethiopia                                              D．Arabia

50．The writer used an Arabic story to prove that________.

A．coffee was first discovered by Kaldi

B．coffee was first discovered by Kaldi’s goats

C．coffee was first discovered in south American countries

D．coffee drinks were first made by Arabs

Answer 1

【解析】　這是一道細(xì)節(jié)理解題。作者在文章開(kāi)頭就提出了論點(diǎn)：“In the last 500 years，nothing about people—their clothes，ideas，or languages has changed as much as what they eat.”在過(guò)去500年里，沒(méi)有什么能有人類所吃的食物變化這樣大，換句話說(shuō)，食物變化是最大的。接著作者在下文以chocolate drinks，potato和coffee為例論證了這一觀點(diǎn)。

【答案】　A

【解析】　這是一道細(xì)節(jié)理解題。應(yīng)結(jié)合上句理解本句中some的含義：“In London shops where chocolate drinks were served became important meeting places.Some still exist today.”在倫敦經(jīng)營(yíng)巧克力飲料的店子往往成為重要集會(huì)場(chǎng)所。今天在倫敦仍然存在著這樣一些(賣(mài)巧克力飲料，被當(dāng)做集會(huì)場(chǎng)所的)店子。

【答案】　C

【解析】　這是一道細(xì)節(jié)理解題。文章第二段告訴我們，馬鈴薯是從秘魯傳到歐洲的，并很快成為愛(ài)爾蘭人的主食。然而在1845～1846年的“Potato Famine”(土豆饑荒)期間，“the crop failed”，馬鈴薯的收成不好(crop指一年或一季的收獲，crops指農(nóng)作物)，導(dǎo)致成千上萬(wàn)愛(ài)爾蘭人餓死。

【答案】　D

【解析】　這是一道細(xì)節(jié)理解題。文中第三段介紹了由the Old World傳到the New World的食物之一——coffee。咖啡現(xiàn)在在歐洲的產(chǎn)量最大，“But it is native to Ethiopia”，但它原產(chǎn)于埃塞俄比亞(be native to“原產(chǎn)于”)，由阿拉伯人首次制成飲料。

【答案】　C

【解析】　這是一道推理判斷題。作者在最后一段之所以講到阿拉伯故事，無(wú)非是為了向我們證實(shí)上一段所提出的一個(gè)觀點(diǎn)：“It was first made into a drink by Arabs during the 1400’s.”

【答案】　D