Question

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The biggest house of cards, the longest tongue, and of course, the tallest man: these are among the thousands of records logged in the famous Guinness Book of Records. Created in 1955 after a debate 1. (concern) Europe's fastest game bird, 2. began as a marketing tool sold to pub landlords 3. (promote) Guinness, an Irish drink, became the bestselling copyright title of all time (a category that excludes books such as the Bible and the Koran). In time, the book would sell 120 million copies in over 100 countries— quite a leap from its humble beginnings.

In its early years, the book set its sights on 4. (satisfy) man's inborn curiosity about the natural world around him. Its two principal fact finders, twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, moved wildly around the globe to collect facts. It was their task to find and document aspects of life that can be sensed or observed, things that can be quantified or measured. But not just any things. They were only interested in superlatives: the biggest and the best. It was during this period 5. some of the remarkable Guinness Records were documented, answering such questions as "What is the brightest star?" and "What is the biggest spider?"

Once aware of the public's thirst for such knowledge, the book's authors began to branch out to cover increasingly doubtful, little-known facts. They started documenting human achievements as well. A forerunner for reality television, the Guinness Book gave people 6. chance to become famous for accomplishing odd, often pointless tasks. Records were set in 1955 for consuming 24 raw eggs in 14 minutes and in 1981 for the fastest solving of a Rubik's Cube (which took a mere 38 seconds). In 1979 a man yodeled(用真假嗓音交替唱) non-stop for ten and a quarter hours.

In its latest appearance, the book has found a new home on the internet. No longer 7. (restrict) to the limits of physical paper, the Guinness World Records website contains seemingly innumerable facts concerning such topics as the most powerful combustion(燃烧) engine, or the world's longest train. What is striking, however, is that such facts are found sharing a page with the record of the heaviest train to be pulled 8. a beard.

Originating as a simple bar book, the Guinness Book of Records 9. (evolve) over decades to provide insight into the full range of modern life. And although one may be 10. (likely) now to learn about the widest human mouth than the highest number of casualties in a single battle of the Civil War, the Guinness World Records website offers a telling glimpse into the future of fact-finding and record-recording.

Answer

1.concerning

2.what

3.to promote

4.satisfying

5.that

6.a

7.restricted

8.with

9.has evolved

10.more likely

【解析】

本文属于说明文，介绍了吉尼斯纪录的起源以及发展，现在人们可以通过这本书了解现代社会的方方面面。

1.考查介词。句意：在1955年一次关于欧洲速度最快的猎鸟的谈论之后，创建了吉尼斯纪录，最初作为促销爱尔兰啤酒吉尼斯卖给酒吧老板的一种市场工具书，但是成为了有史以来卖的最好的书籍。分析句子可知，本题为concerning关于的意思，故用concerning。

2.考查主语从句。句意：在1955年一次关于欧洲速度最快的猎鸟的谈论之后，创建了吉尼斯纪录，最初作为促销爱尔兰啤酒吉尼斯卖给酒吧老板的一种市场工具书，但是成为了有史以来卖的最好的书籍。分析句子可知，began as a marketing tool sold to pub landlords ___3___ (promote) Guinness, an Irish drink 作became的主语，是一个主语从句，从句中began缺少主语，故用what。

3.考查非谓语动词。句意：在1955年一次关于欧洲飞的最快的鸟的谈论之后，创建了吉尼斯纪录，最初作为促销爱尔兰饮料吉尼斯卖给酒吧老板的一种市场工具书，但是成为了有史以来卖的最好的书籍。分析句子可知，promote在这里作sold目的状语，表示出售吉尼斯书籍为了促销，故用不定式to promote。

4.考查非谓语动词。句意：在早期的时候，这本书定位于人们关于周围自然界的内在的好奇心。On为介词，后接动词ing形式，故用satisfying。

5.考查强调句。句意：正是在这个期间，一些显著的吉尼斯纪录被收集在案。本句为强调句，强调during this period，故用that。

6.考查冠词。句意：作为真人秀电视节目，吉尼斯纪录给了人们一个出名的机会，通过完成一些古怪又无意义的记录而出名。chance为可数名词，第一次提及，故用不定冠词a。

7.考查非谓语动词。句意：不再局限于纸质书的限制，吉尼斯纪录网站记载了数不清的事实。分析句子可知，restrict作状语，与其逻辑主语the Guinness World Records为动宾关系，故用过去分词形式，故用restricted。

8.考查介词。句意：让人震惊的是，这一纪录与用胡须拉最重的火车的记录在同一页上。本句为pull的短语pull sth with sth用某事拉某物，故用with。

9.考查现在完成时。句意：最初作为酒吧消遣书籍，吉尼斯纪录在数十年间已经演变成了可以洞察现代生活的方方面面的书籍。分析句子可知，本句缺乏谓语，由于over decades修饰，故用现在完成时，故用has evolved。

10.考查比较级。句意：与对美国南北战争中死亡最高人数纪录的了解程度相比，人们可能更了解世界上最宽的嘴巴的记录。分析句子可知，由于有than，故为比较级，故用more likely。