Question

There is one holiday in the year which is completely American, Thanksgiving Day. It is the day when everyone goes back home to spend the day with his family, to have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner of roast turkey, to talk about old times.

This is a story of Thanksgiving Day and of one man's efforts, under rather special circumstances, to carry on these traditions.

Old Pete took his seat this day on his usual bench in Union Square. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years, Pete had taken this same seat exactly at one o'clock, and each time the same pleasant thing had happened. But this time Pete had come here more from habit than from hunger.

Certainly today Pete was not hungry. He had just had a dinner so enormous that he could hardly breathe. The buttons on his ragged shirt and coat were about to burst. He was so full of soup, oysters, roast turkey, apple pie, ice cream, and a dozen other rich foods that the November breeze and the first light fall of snow felt cool and pleasant to his face.

The meal had been completely unexpected. He had been passing one of the large homes on Fifth Avenue, where there lived two rich old ladies. It seems that it was their custom each Thanksgiving to place a servant at the front entrance with orders to bring in the first hungry looking person that passed and then give him a Thanksgiving dinner of everything he could eat. On this particular Thanksgiving Day, Pete had passed, the servant had brought him in, and, before Pete knew it, he was being served like a king with more food than he could eat.

Pete sat on the bench now, hardly able to move. He happened to look to the left and there in the distance he saw the Old Gentleman coming toward him. He wanted to get up and run, but he was so full of food that he stayed right there. Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years, the Old Gentleman had come here, and found Pete on this same bench, and then taken him to a restaurant and bought him a Thanksgiving dinner. It was a kind of tradition which the Old Gentleman, who had no family and lived alone, had tried to continue. The old man was tall and thin and sixty years old. He was aristocratic looking and he always dressed in black. His hair was whiter and thinner than it had been the year before, and he leaned more heavily on his cane than he used to.

"How do you do!" said the Old Gentleman. "I am glad to see that the changes of another year have permitted you to move in health through this beautiful world."

Each time the Old Gentleman had said exactly this same thing. It was part of the tradition. Old Pete, too, began to feel as though he himself was now a part of the tradition, and he therefore did not have the courage to tell the old man that he had already eaten. This dinner seemed to mean so much to the Old Gentleman.

"Thank you, sir," said Old Pete at last. "I'll go with you gladly. I'm very hungry sir."

Together the Old Gentleman and Pete walked south to the same restaurant where each year Pete had his Thanksgiving dinner. They sat at the same table. The Old Gentleman seemed pleased and happy. When the waiter brought dish after dish of food to Pete, the Old Gentleman sat quietly and smiled. Under the circumstance, Pete had to eat. It was part of the tradition, and so he ate like a hero. Soup, oysters, roast turkey, pie, he ate everything, although when he entered the restaurant even the smell of more food almost made him sick. At last Pete leaned back with the battle won.

"Thank you sir," he said, with some effort, " for a fine dinner."

They parted as they did each year at the door, the Old Gentleman going south, Pete north.

Around the corner, Pete stopped for a moment, felt a terrible pain in his stomach, then fell to the sidewalk unconscious. A little later an ambulance came. In the hospital they discovered that he had had an attack of indigestion.

An hour later, another ambulance brought the Old Gentleman to the same hospital. At first they thought it was also indigestion but later one of the nurses said,

"That nice old gentleman over there-- you wouldn't think that it was a case of starvation. Proud old family, I suppose. He told me that he hadn't eaten a thing for three days.”

1.This year Old Pete came to the Union Square because ______.

A. he was hungry and expected to find some food

B. he had nowhere to go on the Thanksgiving Day

C. he wanted to meet the Old Gentleman and check his health

D. it was a convention for him to accept the Old Gentleman’s dinner

2.Why didn’t Old Pete refuse the invitation from the Old Gentleman?

A. Because he felt he had more room for food.

B. Because he realized he was involved in the tradition.

C. Because he felt moved by the Old Gentlemen’s generosity.

D. Because he didn’t dare to tell the old man he had already eaten.

3.According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A. Only the Old Gentlemen observed Thanksgiving Day traditions.

B. The two gentlemen were both hospitalized because of hunger.

C. The Thanksgiving dinner offered by the Old Gentleman is more than dinner itself.

D. The food in the restaurant tastes better than that in large homes on Fifth Avenue.

4.What can we learn from the two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen?

A. One man’s meat is another man’s poison.

B. They are really gentlemen true to their word.

C. They are too vain to express their true feelings.

D. The conduct of the two gentlemen is really absurd.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：感恩节的大餐是一种传统。然而，今年的感恩节的大餐对于无家可归的Old Peter 来说已经不只是一顿饭而已，它更是对于传统、习惯的遵守。

1.D 判断推理题。根据文章第三段Every Thanksgiving Day for nine years, the Old Gentleman had come here, and found Pete on this same bench, and then taken him to a restaurant and bought him a Thanksgiving dinner.可知，一连九年，每年他都在这里等着老绅士，是为了更方便的让老绅士找到他，去接受感恩节大餐。由此可知D正确。

2.】B 细节理解题。根据文章第八段的Old Pete, too, began to feel as though he himself was now a part of the tradition, and he therefore did not have the courage to tell the old man that he had already eaten. 老皮特感觉到他也是老绅士传统的一部分，因此他没有勇气告诉老绅士，他已经吃过了。因此可知B正确。

3.C 细节理解题。根据文章第八段的This dinner seemed to mean so much to the Old Gentleman.这顿饭不止是一顿饭而已，它对于老绅士的意义更大。

4.推理判断题。作者通过讲述老绅士与老皮特之间的感恩节故事，让大家体会出两位主人公的守信，为对方着想，说话算话。

【名师点睛】

推理判断题在高考中占很大的比重，学生在此类题型中也失分最多。推理判断题要求考生考虑文中信息并在通篇理解文章的基础上领会作者的言外之意，弦外之音做出合理的推理和判断。

（一）、理解定义。判断是对已知的事实仔细评价之后做出的合理决定。推理是对事实的内涵所做的陈述或以事实为依据对未知所做的陈述。注意无论是判断还是推理都是以已知事实为依据。

（二）、推理题常见的提问形式。常以infer，imply，indicate，suggest，conclude，learn，intend，mean，describe，purpose等词提问。或含有表推测的情态动词，如can，could，might，would等和其他表示可能性的动词，如probably，most likely等。

（三）、具体策略

1.通过辨认细节的技巧，找到相关的事实或证据，对这些事实或证据进行分析和评价，在此基础上再作决定。切记：推断是以文章提供的事实为依据，而不是凭空想象，更不是读者自己的意愿。

2.借助常识。在推理判断题中，我们平时积累的一些常识通常会派上用场。一篇关于通信发展史的阅读最为典型。A. The postal service has over the years become faster. B. The postal service has over the years become slower. 大家都应知道交通越来越发达，邮电业当然是faster. 此篇还涉及到有关发邮件的常识，如果同学们有这个common sense，就如鱼得水了。

3. 务必要用排除法。排除法在此类题型中发挥着不可磨灭的作用。根据在文章中找到的事实依据和常识排除错误信息，再排除和文章中一词不差的信息(文章里的原句不会是推理判断出来的结果，但通过同义词或句型转换过的选项有可能是正确答案)，最后再排除无关或偏离信息，正确答案就不言而喻了。

4.词句段篇，相互交融。词的理解要放在句子里，句子的理解要靠段，段的理解也离不开篇。单独说floor谁都知道是什么意思，但…she was floored to see her own name and address inside the cover，in her own handwriting…这个语境里是surprised的意思。因此不能独立地看某个词或某句话。此外，学生对一词多义或一些习语的积累也是很有必要的，这就要靠同学们课下多下工夫了。

5.平时扩大词汇量的同时也要注意学习词的深刻内涵。从措辞去寻找文章的感情色彩，猜测作者的态度或写作意图。现举一简单的例子。When the phone finally rang，he leaped from the edge of his chair and grabbed for it.从这几个词我们能形象地看出他等电话之久，紧张迫不及待的心情，同时也说明电话之重要，这正是作者的真正意图。

考点：考查记叙文阅读理解