Question

My color television has given me nothing but a headache. I was able to buy it a little over a year ago because I had my relatives give me money for my birthday instead of clothes that wouldn’t fit. I let a salesclerk fool me into buying a discontinued model. I realized this a day later, when I saw newspaper advertisements for the set at seventy-five dollars less than I had paid. The set worked so beautiful when I first got it home that I would keep it on until stations signed off for the night. Fortunately, I didn’t get any channels showing all-night movies or I would never have gotten to bed.

Then I started developing a problem with the set that involved static(静电) noise. For some reason, when certain shows switched into a commercial, a loud noise would sound for a few seconds. Gradually, this noise began to appear during a show, and to get rid of it, I had to change to another channel and then change it back. Sometimes this technique would not work, and I had to pick up the set and shake it to remove the sound. I actually began to build up my arm muscles(肌肉) shaking my set.

When neither of these methods removed the static noise, I would sit helplessly and wait for the noise to go away. At last I ended up hitting the set with my fist, and it stopped working altogether. My trip to the repair shop cost me $62, and the set is working well now, but I keep expecting more trouble.

1.Why did the author say he was fooled into buying the TV set?

A. He got an older model than he had expected.

B. He couldn’t return it when it was broken.

C. He could have bought it at a lower price.

D. He failed to find any movie shows on it.

2.Which of the following can best replace the phrase “signed off” in paragraph 1?

A. ended all their programs    B. provided fewer channels

C. changed to commercials    D. showed all-night movies

3.How does the author sound when telling the story?

A. Curious    B. Anxious

C. Cautious    D. Humorous

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.D

【解析】本文写了作者买了台电视机却成为让其头疼问题的故事，语言诙谐幽默。

1.细节理解题。第一段I realized this a day later, when I saw newspaper advertisements for the set at seventy-five dollars less than I had paid.中的this指代的是上句中所说的被售货员骗了的事情，而本句句意为：第二天我看到报纸广告上这款电视机售价比我买的价格低了75美金时，我意识到自己被售货员忽悠了。故答案选C，作者感觉被骗是因为他本可以以一个更便宜的价格买下这台电视机。

2.猜测词义题。根据短语所在句子The set worked so beautiful when I first got it home that I would keep it on until stations signed off for the night. 可知，此处要表达的是：这台电视机很棒以至于我差点儿看了一宿，直到电视台signed off for the night。因此，可以猜测可能是电台停播了；再根据后面一句Fortunately, I didn’t get any channels showing all-night movies or I would never have gotten to bed.可知，没有一个频道整夜播放电影，由此可以判断sign off应该是停止播放的意思。故选A。

【名师点睛】猜测词义题主要的解题策略有：

利用词根、前后缀与合成词推断词义。

读懂单词所在句子或前后句意思，猜测词义。

注意标点符号的提示作用，如破折号、冒号、引号等。

本题在短语所在句子无法确定短语的意思，此时可在上下一句找提示。

3.判断文章语言风格，需通篇考虑，本文文笔诙谐幽默，尤其第二段和第三段中作者应对电视出现静电噪音问题采取的一系列措施，从换频道到摇电视到束手无策，再到打电视，最后电视彻底坏掉，从情节到语言诙谐幽默，让人忍俊不禁。例如：I actually began to build up my arm muscles(肌肉) shaking my set.故选D。Curious好奇的； Anxious焦虑的；Cautious谨慎的。