Question

When you are about to do something brave, a cheerful wish of “Good luck!” from a friend can be helpful. But if you think you need lots of luck, what else might you do?

In the UK and US there are some strange traditions for bringing yourself a little more good luck. Some are hundreds of years old and some are much newer.

Have you heard the saying “When you wish upon a star”? If you are looking up at the sky on a clear night and you see a sudden flash of light, it is probably a shooting star! Seeing one doesn’t happen very often. The saying goes that if you see one you have been very lucky, and so if you make a wish, it will come true.

Maybe you have heard of the lucky rabbit’s foot. Some people believe that rabbits are lucky animals, so they carry a part of the rabbit, its foot, for good luck. There are all kinds of strange, unclear rules about which of the rabbit’s feet is the luckiest. It is said that this good luck tradition is the oldest one of all. However, as the funny saying goes, “Depend on the rabbit’s foot if you will, but remember it didn’t work for the rabbit!”

People in Britain love trees. If it is autumn and leaves are falling from the trees, some people try to catch the leaves as they fall because they think each leaf they catch will bring them a lucky month in the following year—they will need to catch 12 falling leaves to have a whole of good luck!

1.______ is mentioned in the oldest good luck tradition.

A. A rabbit’s foot                      B. A falling leaf

C. A cheerful wish from friends         D. A shooting star

2.From Paragraph 3, we know that ______.

A. shooting stars can often be seen

B. people can see a shooting star on a rainy night

C. your wish may come true if you see a shooting star

D. people believe that it’s unlucky to see a shooting star

3.British people try to catch 12 falling leaves because ______.

A. the leaves fall in autumn

B. there are so many leaves to catch

C. the leaves can bring them a lucky month

D. they want to have a whole year of good luck

4.In Paragraph 5, the underlined word “them” refers to（指）______.

A. trees            B. people               C. leaves               D. years

5.The passage is mainly about ______.

A. how to wish upon a star              B. things that bring good luck 

C. British people love leaves           D. which of the rabbit’s feet is the luckiest

Answer

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.B

5.B

【解析】【主旨大意】短文讲述了在英国、美国，人们为了谋求好运的一些做法：像流星许愿、携带兔子的脚以及抓住秋天的12片落叶。

1. 细节推理题。 根据句由短文“There are all kinds of strange, unclear rules about which of the rabbit’s feet is the luckiest. It is said that this good luck tradition is the oldest one of all.”可知答案选A。

2. 细节推理题。根据第三段句子“The saying goes that if you see one you have been very lucky, and so if you make a wish, it will come true.”我们可知“你的愿望可能会实现如果你看到流星的话。”故选C。

3. 细节理解题。根据句子 “a lucky month in the following year—they will need to catch 12 falling leaves to have a whole of good luck”可知人们想有一年的好运。故选D。

4. 推理判断题。根据文章的意思人们为了谋求好运而去抓树叶。所以，这里的them指代“抓树叶谋求好运的人”。故选B。

5. 主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本篇短文主要是讲述的是能什么给人们带来好运。故选B。