Question

The term “crocodile tears” refers to insincere sadness. This term has an etymology dating back several centuries. As early as the fourth century, crocodile tears are referenced in the literature with the meaning of insincere sorrow. It is said that crocodiles weep while eating their hunted animals because they are sad; however, this sadness is not honest.

The term crocodile tears became widely popular after it was documented in a fifteenth-century book titled The Voyage and Travel of Sir John Mandeville, Knight. A passage from the book reads: “These crocodiles kill men and they eat them weeping.”

As you may already know, crocodilians(鳄目动物) likely feel bad about little—especially feeding. However, the assumption of the crocodile-tears metaphor may be true. In a 2007 paper published in BioScience titled “Crocodile Tears: And they eat them weeping”, researchers observed 7 crocodilians in cages during feeding time at a reserve (4 caimans and 3 American alligators). The researchers observed the crocodilians outside of water at feeding stations to better find out whether tearing developed.

Five of the 7 crocodilians developed something like tears in their eyes before, during or after feeding. The researchers suggest that these crocodile tears occur because a crocodilian hisses (发出嘶嘶声) while it eats, and this hissing forces air through the spaces in the bone behind the nose and out the eye, in the process picking up nasolacrimal secretions (鼻泪管分泌物.)

In humans, crocodile tears is a medical condition that causes a person to tear up while eating. Crocodile tears typically occur because of a temporary loss of facial control due to damage of the facial nerve. Specifically, when the facial nerve grows again, it does so incorrectly thus resulting in tears during chewing food.

1.The underlined word “etymology” in Paragraph 1 refers to ________.

A.a reference book containing articles on various topics

B.the origin and history of a particular term

C.a printed sheet of paper that arc given free to advertise

D.the application and influence of a new theory

2.The term “crocodile tears” ________.

A.is a medical condition that causes a crocodile to tear up

B.became widely popular as early as the fourth century

C.refers to pretended sadness

D.proved to be only an assumption

3.From the 2007 paper published in BioScience, we can know that ________.

A.crocodilians especially feel bad about feeding

B.not all the 7 crocodilians developed tearing

C.the crocodilians were carefully observed inside water

D.crocodile tears occur because a crocodilian hisses after it eats

4.The passage is mainly about ________.

A.what the real truth is about crocodile tears

B.when the term “crocodile tears” got popular in literature

C.how researchers made the experiment on crocodilians

D.why crocodile tears typically occur in humans

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章通过引用“鳄鱼的眼泪”这一说法的来源、发展以及相关实验来告诉读者“crocodile tears”的真实含义。

1.词义猜测题。根据该句中“dating back several centuries”(追溯到几个世纪前)和下文As early as the fourth century, crocodile tears are referenced in the literature with the meaning of insincere sorrow.(早在公元4世纪，鳄鱼的眼泪在文学作品中的意思是假慈悲)可推测，“etymology”和一个词条的来源和发展相关。故选B项。

2.细节理解题。根据文章第一段的It is said that crocodiles weep while eating their hunted animals because they are sad; however, this sadness is not honest.(据说鳄鱼吃它的猎物时会泪流，因为它们很悲伤，然而，这种悲伤是假的。)可知，“crocodile tears”是指假伤心，假慈悲。故选C项。

3.细节理解题。根据文章第四段的Five of the 7 crocodilians developed something like tears in their eyes before, during or after feeding.(7只鳄鱼中，有5只在吃食之前，之中和之后流下了眼泪)可知，并非所有的鳄鱼在吃食时都会流泪。故选B项。

4.主旨大意题。根据文章的主要内容，尤其是倒数第二段的The researchers suggest that these crocodile tears occur because a crocodilian hisses (发出嘶嘶声)while it cats, and this hissing forces air through the spaces in the bone behind the nose and out the eye, in the process picking up nasolacrimal secretions(研究人员发现这些鳄鱼的眼泪是因为它们在进食时发出的嘶嘶声，这种声音迫使空气通过鼻子背后的空间从眼睛出来，在这个过程中带出了鼻内管分泌物)可知，作者通过对“crocodile tears”这一词条的来源、发展以及相关实验来告诉读者有关“crocodile tears”的真实含义。故选A项。