Question

As Keira climbed into bed, she thought about tomorrow’s field trip. Her class was going to a presentation by a West African traditional storyteller. Keira was excited because she was of West African descent. Her great-grandmother had come to the United States from Senegal, a country in West Africa. Until now, Keira hadn’t thought much about her roots(根源).

Early the next morning, Keira looked everywhere for something to show her West African roots. She dug through every drawer, but she couldn’t find anything that really stood out. Finally, she put on a white shirt and jeans. Although she wore ordinary clothes, she hoped that her interest in her West African roots would not go unnoticed.

At the community center, Keira was lucky enough to get a front-row seat. The first speaker talked about African writers and how they often use traditional stories with traditional characters, such as the Tortoise and the Spider. The speaker mentioned writers her mother and grandmother liked! Also, Tortoise was a favorite character in Keira’s bedtime stories. Finally, the speaker mentioned Doudou N’Diaye Rose. He was Keira’s favorite drummer. He was from Senegal. She began to realise just how much her West African roots influenced her American life.

Finally, the storyteller came up. He told a story that explained how the chameleon, a small lizard(蜥蜴), changed its colors. Then he introduced the Spider and Tortoise. It was known that they appeared to be generous but in fact they wanted to keep everything for themselves. Some of the stories made these characters seem poor as they fought for every last piece. However, they were simply naughty(调皮的). They certainly did learn their lessons!

Keira couldn’t keep her mind from thinking about all the different stories her mother had told. Her memory was pouring out again! She knew about everything the storyteller said.

After the presentation, the class talked to the storyteller. Keira told about how her great-grandmother had moved to the United States from Senegal. Her great-grandmother left her village because of a famine, a time of hunger. She had explained to Keira’s grandmother that the villagers spent days begging for food. Her great-grandmother finally came to the United States. Keira told the storyteller about those of her bedtime stories.

When Keira was finished, the storyteller pointed out that she had just done his job. She had described her family and the stories they told. Keira could hardly wait to tell her mother and grandmother the news!

1. Keria was ________ about the presentation on the evening of the day before.

A. nervous         B. excited

C. surprised           D. unhappy

2.Keria wore ordinary clothes that day because ________.

A. the clothes made her stand out

B. they were her favourite clothes

C. she didn’t find anything with West African roots

D. she didn’t want to show others her West African roots

3. ________ was a favourite character in Keria’s West African traditional stories.

A. Tortoise       B. Spider

C. Lizard         D. Chamelon

4.The underlined word “famine” in Paragraph 5 most probably means a time short of ________.

A. money        B. food    C. water       D. job

5. From the passage, we can learn ________.

A. culture can’t go without certain kinds of clothes

B. one can’t find his roots without going to his own country

C. culture not only appears in something material like clothes

D. culture will die soon after you live far away from your place

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.A

4.B

5.C

【解析】

试题分析：短文大意：本文介绍了西非传统人讲述故事的情况。讲的是文化传统不仅仅表现在材料身上比如说衣服上。

1.B细节理解题。根据文中As Keira climbed into bed, she thought about tomorrow’s field trip. Her class was going to a presentation by a West African traditional storyteller. Keira was excited because she was of West African descent.可知当凯拉爬到床上，她想到了明天的旅行。她的班级是由西非传统说书人去演讲。凯拉很兴奋，因为她是西非血统。故选B。

2.C细节理解题。根据She dug through every drawer, but she couldn’t find anything that really stood out. Finally, she put on a white shirt and jeans.可知她翻抽屉，但她找不到任何引人注目的衣服。最后，她穿了一件白色衬衫和牛仔裤。故选C。

3.A细节理解题。根据Also, Tortoise was a favorite character in Keira’s bedtime stories.可知乌龟是凯拉睡前故事中最喜欢的角色。故选A。

4.B词语猜测题。根据Her great-grandmother left her village because of a famine, a time of hunger.可知她的祖母离开了村庄因为食物，一段时间的饥饿。故选B。

5.C综合理解题。本文介绍了西非传统人讲述故事的情况。讲的是文化传统不仅仅表现在材料身上比如说衣服上。故选C。

考点：考查历史类短文阅读。