Question

Have you ever played crossword? It's a popular form of word puzzle. The player is given clues* and the number of letters and then fills in a grid of boxes with the right words.

The history of word puzzles might start from the ancient Rome. Today, many newspapers have a daily or weekly crossword. People also buy crossword books. Yet, the first published crossword puzzle was created by Arthur Wynne. Wynne was from Liverpool in the UK but he lived and worked for a newspaper called New York World. He wrote the first crossword puzzle for the "fun" section of the newspaper on December 21, 1913. Readers loved the puzzle and it became a weekly part of the newspaper. Then other newspapers also began publishing crossword puzzles and they became very popular in the USA.

The very first crossword puzzle didn't look much like the crosswords today. It was shaped like a diamond* and it didn't have any black squares. The squares were numbered and the clues were below the puzzle. It was called a "Word-Cross puzzle".

In the UK, the first crossword was published in 1922. It came out in the page of the London newspaper, The Times in 1930. The Times became famous for its "Cryptic crossword" － a very difficult crossword. To solve a cryptic puzzle, you have to find out the clue itself as well as the meaning, but they are very satisfying.

The crossword puzzles were at first created by hand. Only in 1997 the first computer software program that created crossword puzzles was developed.

Now the New York World is no longer around, but the crossword puzzle along with its popularity still continues.

1.Where did word puzzles first appear in history probably?

A.In Liverpool. B.In London. C.In New York. D.In Rome.

2.What did the world's first published crossword puzzle look like?

A. B. C. D.

3.What does the writer think of "Cryptic crosswords"?

A.They look boring. B.They require much effort.

C.They were the most difficult crosswords. D.They became famous because of The Times.

4.What's the main idea of the passage?

A.How crosswords developed. B.Why crosswords are played.

C.Where crosswords were created. D.What people do with crosswords.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.B

4.A

【解析】

文章大意：本文主要介绍了纵横填字游戏的发展。

1.

细节理解题。根据文中The history of word puzzles might start from the ancient Rome.可知，拼字游戏的历史可能始于古罗马，故答案为D。

2.

推理判断题。根据文中The very first crossword puzzle didn't look much like the crosswords today, It was shaped like a diamond*and it didn't have any black squares. The squares were numbered and the clues were below the puzzle. It was called a "Word-Cross puzzle".第一个填字游戏看起来不像今天的填字游戏，它的形状像一颗钻石，没有黑色的方块。方块被编号，线索在拼图下面，它被称为“填字游戏”可知，A选项符合文中描述的样子，故答案为A。

3.

细节理解题。根据文中The Times became famous for its "Cryptic crossword" - a very difficult crossword. To solve a cryptic puzzle, you have to find out the clue itself as well as the meaning,泰晤士报以其“神秘纵横填字游戏”而闻名，这是一个非常困难的纵横填字游戏。要解决这个神秘的谜题，你必须找到线索本身以及它的含义可知，“神秘纵横填字游戏”需要很多努力才能解决，故答案为B。

4.

主旨大意题。通读全文，尤其是根据第一段中The history of word puzzles might start from the ancient Rome. Today, many newspapers have a daily or weekly crossword.拼字游戏的历史可能始于古罗马。今天，许多报纸都有每日或每周的填字游戏可知，本文主要介绍了纵横填字游戏的发展，故答案为A。