Question

    Every Chinese has his or her own Chinese zodiac sign (known as Sheng Xiao), and so does each year. 2020 is the Year of the Rat. The rat is also the first in the rotation (循环) of the 12 zodiac signs.

Of the many stories that _______ these animal signs and their arrangement (安排), the most famous one is that of the Great Race. As the story goes, Jade Emperor, or Yudi, wanted to find a way to measure (测量) _______. So he organized a race. The first twelve animals to make it across a river would have a place on the zodiac calendar in the order they _______.

The rat rose with the sun to get an early start. _______ the rat was small and couldn’t swim very well, he asked some bigger animals for help. While the tiger and horse refused, the _______ ox agreed to carry the rat across. Yet, just as they were about to reach the other side of the river, the rat_______ the ox’s head and won first place. The ox came in second, with the powerful tiger right_______ him. The rabbit who was small but afraid of falling behind jumped across stones and logs (木头) _______ and came in fourth. Next came the dragon, the snake and the horse.

Then Jade Emperor looked out at the river and found the sheep, the monkey and the rooster were on raft (木筏). They worked together to push it across the river. When they made it across, the three agreed to give the _______ place to the sheep, followed by the monkey and the rooster. Next came the dog. The last animal was the pig, who had gotten hungry and stopped ________ and sleep before finally reaching the finish line.

So, each year is connected with one of the animals in this order.

1.A.prove B.question C.explain

2.A.rotation B.time C.arrangement

3.A.started B.arrived C.stayed

4.A.Because B.If C.When

5.A.hard-working B.open-minded C.kind-hearted

6.A.fell off B.jumped off C.climbed to

7.A.behind B.before C.beside

8.A.lazily B.quietly C.quickly

9.A.seventh B.eighth C.ninth

10.A.eating B.running C.to eat

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.B

4.A

5.C

6.B

7.A

8.C

9.B

10.C

【解析】

文章主要介绍了中国十二生肖的排列顺序的由来。

1.

句意：在许多解释这些动物标志及其排列的故事中。

prove证明；question质疑；explain解释；根据句意理解及后句the most famous one is that of the Great Race. As the story goes, Jade Emperor, or Yudi, wanted to find a way to measure (测量) ___2___.可知，这里说的是“解释”，故选C。

2.

句意：故事说，玉帝想找到一种方法来衡量时间。

rotation旋转；time时间；arrangement安排；根据句意理解及常识以及文章最后So, each year is connected with one of the animals in this order.可知，这里指的是“时间”，故选B。

3.

句意：第一批过河的十二只动物将按照它们到达的顺序在黄道历法上占有一席之地。

started开始；arrived到达；stayed停留；根据句意理解及后文Yet, just as they were about to reach the other side of the river, the rat___6___ the ox’s head and won first place. The ox came in second可知，这里指的是“按照到达的顺序排列”，故选B。

4.

句意：因为老鼠很小，不会游泳，所以他向一些大的动物求助。

Because因为；If如果；When当……时；根据句意理解可知，the rat was small and couldn’t swim very well, he asked some bigger animals for help.两句之间是因果关系，且前句是表示原因，所以用because引导，故选A。

5.

句意：当老虎和马拒绝时，心地善良的牛同意把老鼠扛过去。

hard-working努力工作的；open-minded思想开放的；kind-hearted热心的；根据句意理解及前句While the tiger and horse refused和后句的agreed可知，这里说的是“牛很热心”，故选C。

6.

句意：老鼠从牛头上跳下来，赢得了第一名。

fell off摔下来；jumped off跳下来；climbed to爬到……；根据句意理解及后句won first place可知，这里指的是“从牛头上跳下来”，故选B。

7.

句意：公牛排在第二，强大的老虎紧随其后。

behind在……后面；before在……之前；beside在……旁边；根据句意理解及前句The ox came in second可知，这里表达的是“紧随其后”，所以用behind，故选A。

8.

句意：那只兔子虽小，但害怕落在后面，它很快跳过石头和圆木，名列第四。

lazily懒惰地；quietly安静地；quickly快速地；根据句意理解及后句came in fourth可知，这里表达的是“快速地跳过”，故选C。

9.

句意：三个人同意把第八位让给羊。

seventh第七；eighth第八；ninth第九；根据句意理解及上文的描述Yet, just as they were about to reach the other side of the river, the rat___6___ the ox’s head and won first place. The ox came in second, with the powerful tiger right___7___ him. The rabbit who was small but afraid of falling behind jumped across stones and logs (木头) ___8___ and came in fourth. Next came the dragon, the snake and the horse.可知，这里指的是“羊排在第八位”，故选B。

10.

句意：最后一个动物是猪，它饿了，停下来吃东西睡觉，最后才到达终点线。

eating吃，现在分词或者动名词形式；running跑，现在分词或者动名词形式；to eat吃，动词不定式；根据句意理解及前句who had gotten hungry和后句and sleep可知，这里表达的是“停下来去吃”，英语是stop to do sth，故选C。