Question

Times are a little tough at our house right now. Neither of us makes a lot of money, but years of experience have taught us how to walk between the raindrops and make it from one month to the next with a fair amount of grace. I cook a lot at home, more when we're facing lean times. When I know that I have to keep us fed on not much money, I fall back on my grandmother's recipes. She taught me to cook.

When I was a kid, my twin brother and I spent long summer weeks and Christmas vacations with my mother's parents in the mountains of North Carolina. Rather than go hunting with my grandfather on frozen mornings, I found myself more and more in the kitchen with my grandmother, watching her making a lemon cheese pie with her soft hands.

My great-grandmother died when my grandmother was 11 years old. As the eldest daughter, she was expected to take on all of the housework while attending school. Throughout the Great Depression, she learned how to make a little food go a long way. Vegetables were cheap, so she cooked a lot of them, mostly only using small amounts of meat for seasoning. Roast beef was a twice-a-month luxury, but there was nothing she couldn't do with a chicken, every part of it. Nothing went to waste.

Now I understand that her food was sacred. I feel connected to my grandmother and to hundreds of years of family when I'm in my kitchen making country food. In the delicious smells is a long tale of victory over hard times, of conquering starvation—of not just surviving, but finding joy and pleasure in every meal of every day.

From grandmother I learned to take real satisfaction in feeding people. My grandmother would beam with pleasure over a heavily laden table and say, “Do you know what this would cost at the restaurant? ” I never knew what restaurant in particular she had in mind, but I knew that the question was totally not fair, because no restaurant anywhere can cook like a grandmother. But now, thanks to her guidance and years of practice, I can.

1.According to the passage, the author cooks a lot at home because__________.

A. she wants to try out her grandmother’s recipes

B. she and her husband are quite particular about food

C. she enjoys cooking at home

D. she and her husband are embarrassed financially

2.What does the underlined word “lean” mean in the first paragraph?

A. with a bad harvest    B. with little money

C. with little enengy    D. with little work

3.According to the passage, the author’s grandmother__________.

A. learnt to cook throughout the Great Depression

B. was careful in budgeting

C. preferred chicken to beef

D. was careful in cooking vegetables

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. Cook like My Grandmother    B. My Grandmother’s Sacred Food

C. My Grandmother’s Recipe    D. Joy and Pleasure in Cooking

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.B

4.A

【解析】文章主要讲述了作者学习奶奶艰苦度日，精打细算的优秀品质，在经济拮据的情况下学奶奶自己做饭。

1.推理判断：根据第一段Neither of us makes a lot of money, 。。。 I cook a lot at home, more when we're facing lean times. 可知他们家庭经济状况不好。

2.猜测词义题。根据前面语境Neither of us makes a lot of money, but years of experience have taught us how to walk between the raindrops and make it from one month to the next with a fair amount of grace.可知lean 表示经济紧张，缺钱。

3.推理判断题。根据第三段As the eldest daughter, she was expected to take on all of the housework while attending school. Throughout the Great Depression, she learned how to make a little food go a long way. Vegetables were cheap, so she cooked a lot of them, mostly only using small amounts of meat for seasoning. Roast beef was a twice-a-month luxury, but there was nothing she couldn't do with a chicken, every part of it. Nothing went to waste.内容可知作者的奶奶在大萧条时期学会了用很少的食物支撑很多天，从不浪费任何食物，菜便宜，她便经常做菜，只用肉当佐料。所以可以判断奶奶精打细算。

4.标题题。根据每段的中心词，可以看出，文章主要讲述了作者学习奶奶艰苦度日，精打细算的优秀品质，在经济拮据的情况下学奶奶自己做饭。所以标题应该为A。

名师点睛：

词义猜测主要的解题策略有：语境猜测、语法猜词和常识猜词。

语境既上下文。由于上下文中的生词不是孤立存在的，其词义与句中其它词的词义或具体的语境有着密切的联系。因此在阅读过程中，许多生词的词义可以充分利用上下文中相关的词汇，短语并结合具体的语境来推测。命题者为了考查学生的这种猜词能力，常采用以下几种命题策略：

策略（1）：依据标点符号猜测词义

标点符号是词义猜测的最直接，最简单的信号词。比如，破折号（ --- ）、冒号 ( ： ) 常常起解释说明的功能，引号（‘'）和（ ( ) ）有时也起到相同的作用。

策略（2）：依据反义词和对比关系猜测词义

运用对比手法描述事物或现象是文章写作的一种常用的修辞手法。在这种修辞手段下，作者常借用一些信号词来提供相反信息，从而表明一个词与前面的另一个词互为反义。常用的信号词有： but/yet/however/nevertheless; while/whereas; otherwise/or else; unlike/instead/ rather than; by contrast/compared to; on the contrary/ on the other hand 等。

策略（3）：依据下定义，作解释、打比喻等猜测词义

在说明文，科技文中运用下定义或解释概念的方法来定义或诠释某一名词或概念是文章写作的又一特点。在写作方法上常采用先总后分（即先定义后解释）或先分后总（即先说明后结论）的叙述方式。常用的定义信号词有： be defined as/be termed( 被定义为 ) ， be called ( 被称为 ) ， mean/ refer to/be( 意指，是 ) 。

策略（4）：依据逻辑推理猜测词义

运用逻辑推理猜测词义是使用最广考查最多也最易失分的猜词方式。要求考生具备整合分散、复杂信息的能力，充分利用上下文中相关的词汇并结合具体的语境，从形式和内容上把握语言之间的内在联系，理顺语言之间的逻辑关系，进而达到猜词的目的。常见的逻辑关系有：因果关系，同位关系，对比关系，转折关系等。

此题中的第二题属于词义猜测题。根据策略4，依据逻辑关系猜测词义。此题根据前文语境Neither of us makes a lot of money, but years of experience have taught us how to walk between the raindrops and make it from one month to the next with a fair amount of grace.可知作者家庭经济拮据。再根据I cook a lot at home, more when we're facing lean times. ，可以猜测lean 表示经济紧张，缺钱，在这时他一般自己做饭。