Question

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D) 中，选出最佳选项。

Some myths are stories told since ancient times to explain the causes for natural happenings. The Greek myth that explains why there are changes of (1) ______ is about Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. She had a daughter, Persephone, whom she loved very much. Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone, and he asked Zeus, the (2) ______ of the gods, to give Persephone to him as his (3) ______. Zeus did not want either to disappoint Hades or to upset Demeter, so he said he would not agree to the marriage, but neither would he (4) ______ it. Hades, therefore, decided to take the girl without (5) ______. When Persephone was picking flowers in the garden, he seized her and took her to the underworld. When Demeter (6) ______ what happened to Persephone, she became so (7) ______ that she caused all plants to (8) ______ People were in (9) ______ of starving. But Demeter was determined not to let crops grow (10) ______ her daughter, Persephone, was returned to her. (11) ______, still not wanting to disappoint Hades, decided upon a condition for Persephone's (12) ______. She could go back to her mother if she had not (13) ______ anything while she was in the underworld. Demeter (14) ______ it because she did not know that Persephone had eaten several pomegranate (石榴) seeds in the underworld. When Zeus (15) ______ this, he agreed that Persephone could spend part of the year with her (16) ______, but he added that since she had eaten the seeds, she must spend part of the year in the underworld. And so it (17) ______ that when Persephone is in the underworld, Demeter is sad and therefore (18) ______ not let the crops grow. That is (19) ______ we have winter when plants do not grow. When Persephone returns, Demeter is (20) ______, it is spring, and plants begin to grow again.

1.A. periods             B. seasons         C. time                 D. age

2.A. winner         B. ruler                C. advisor         D. fighter

3.A. wife            B. lover                C. partner         D. daughter

4.A. forbid         B. forgive         C. admit                D. accept

5.A. arrangement         B. warning         C. reason           D. permission

6.A. let out             B. worked out       C. thought out     D. found out

7.A. excited             B. tired                C. angry                D. serious

8.A. grow fast       B. start growing        C. stop growing         D. grow slowly

9.A. danger         B. hope                 C. turn                 D. case

10.A. since         B. until                C. after                D. when

11.A. Persephone         B. Zeus                 C. Demeter         D. Hades

12.A. return             B. change           C. marriage             D. journey

13.A. stolen             B. found            C. eaten                D. heard

14.A. understood         B. refused         C. doubted         D. accepted

15.A. discovered         B. studied         C. forgot           D. prepared

16.A. daughter       B. mother           C. god             D. ruler

17.A. works         B. remains         C. happens         D. starts

18.A. should             B. can             C. dare                 D. will

19.A. where         B. because         C. why             D. how

20.A. nice           B. friendly             C. fresh                D. happy

Answer

1.B

【详解】根据54和55空后面的单词winter和spring可以得到答案是有关季节的时间名词。

2.B

【详解】根据文章中两次都是由Zeus来调解的，因此我们可以推断Zeus说是万神之王。

3.A

【详解】依据上文中的fell in love with以及下文的he would not agree to the marriage可以得出答案。

4.A

【详解】由上文中Zeus did not want either to disappoint Hades or to upset Demeter, 他也难于做出判决，都不能让双方不高兴或者失望，因此，也不强迫(forbid)。

5.D

【详解】既然万神之王Zeus睁一只闭一只眼，没有完全制止，Hades也就敢于决定未经同意想带走Persephone。

6.D

【详解】根据句意，是Demeter弄清楚（查明）Persephone所发生的事。

7.C

【详解】Demeter一直是不同意这桩婚事的，当然是勃然大怒了。

8.C

【详解】Demeter就是主管seasons之神，自然就可以阻止世间万物生长了。

9.A

【详解】世间人们也就处于挨饿危险境地了。

10.B

【详解】注意not…until…句式的意思，直到……才……。

11.B

【详解】根据整篇文章意思，Zeus就是万神的主管，还是得由他来裁决。

12.A

【详解】为使两方都满意，由Zeus来裁决Persephone返回她母亲身边的条件。

13.C

【详解】依据下文中的“Persephone had eaten several pomegranate (石榴)”也可得到答案。

14.D                                                           

【详解】生米已煮成熟饭，Demeter也只好同意了。

15.A

【详解】Zeus是万神之王，只discovered发现，而不必去studied这么深奥吧。

16.B

【详解】自然是返回好母亲身边了。

17.C

【详解】根据句意，于是就发生了/出现了……，再说it happens that也是个常用的句式。

18.D

【详解】Demeter就will“决不会”，而其它几个都是正式的情态动词，没有这种含义。

19.C

【详解】解释原因。

20.D

【详解】Persephone回来了，Demeter自然就高兴了。