Question

Long before the Internet, and even before the telephone, people relied on pen and paper to communicate. It’s a lot different from writing an email because when you make a mistake, you cannot “backspace” your errors away. 1.

Letter writing has been a key means of communication for people throughout history.2. Famous names like Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci graced my history textbooks growing up, with stories of their explorations. Much of what we know about them is through the letters they wrote to people back in Europe.

There were two main reasons why these early explorers wrote letters.3. The other reason for writing letters was to assure and update the people who financed their trips. These so-called sponsors were often noblemen or wealthy people who had a personal interest in world discoveries. Letters from explorers would raise hopes that new lands could bring more riches.

When the British began building colonies (殖民地) in America during the 17^th century, these lands were settled by people who sailed across the Atlantic Ocean.4. Their letters were mixed with news of illness as well as details of their exotic (异国的) surroundings.

5. With the widespread use of the Internet, the tiny differences of a person’s handwriting are lost to the cold, typewritten text that comes with an email. A person’s unique signature is reserved for signing a receipt for a credit card payment.

A. Letter writing is just how you travel around the world.

B. You simply cross out your mistakes with your pen and continue writing.

C. The early settlers faced a lot of challenges in the unfamiliar environment.

D. One was a boy from England who liked the same music as me: rock and roll.

E. Four hundred years later, however, we don’t really need to write letters anymore.

F. It played a vital part in the exploration of the ‘"New World”, as America was once known.

G. One was to document for the people back home what they saw as they journeyed through the faraway, mysterious land.

Answer

1.B

2.F

3.G

4.C

5.E

【解析】文章介绍了书信在人类历史中的重要作用，分析了人类写信的原因以及现在书信的变化趋势。

1.考查上下文理解和逻辑推理能力。上一句提到：写信和写电子邮件不同，写信时，如果你写错了，你不能像写电子邮件时回车删掉你写错的内容。承接该句，B选项切题：你只是用笔把错误划掉，接着写。

2.考查上下文理解和逻辑推理能力。上一句提到：书信在人类历史中一直是一种非常重要的交流方式。下文以历史上的“Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci”为例。该空承上启下，F选项切题：书信在探索“新世界”的过程中起着重要作用。

3.考查上下文理解和逻辑推理能力。上一句提到，早期的探索者们写信有两个主要原因。下一句提到的是另一个原因。故该空应提到其中一个原因。G选项正确。

4.考查上下文理解和逻辑推理能力。上一句提到：当英国政府开始在美洲建立殖民地的时候，那些跨国大西洋的殖民者们在这些殖民地定居下来。下一句提到这些殖民者的信件内容。故承上启下，C选项正确：这些早期的殖民者们在不熟悉的环境中面临着很多挑战。

5.上文介绍的是书信在人类历史中的重要作用。下一句提到：随着网络的广泛应用，书信逐渐被电子邮件等取代。故承上启下，E选项正确：四百年后，我们不再需要写信了。

【名师点睛】七选五解题技巧：线索法

解答一道题目，首先考虑线索法，这是最简单、最好用的方法。尤其是英语基础差的同学，用好线索法，在读不懂句子的情况下，也有很大的几率做对题目。线索法，就是在空格前后圈定线索词，然后在选项中查找该线索词的原词或同反义词复现。线索词主要包括代词、名词（尤其是时间、地点、名称等专有名词）、数词、动词等。