Question

    Feeling achy and feverish? Your misery has plenty of company. By the end of December, the tally (计数器) of flu-like illnesses in the state exceeded the peaks in the two previous seasons, when the biggest number of cases occurred in February and March. This time, the flu virus seems to be hitting even harder.

Flu is unique among human diseases. It circulates constantly in cool and dry areas. Because it spreads from person to person and can be picked up easily, nearly everyone is exposed. While it’s unclear whether the annual flu epidemic (流行病) will worsen this year, or just arrived earlier, fears have been increased by the severity of flu in Australia during its most recent season and the fact that the vaccine may protect against the predominant (盛行的) kind of the flu only 30 percent of the time.

Despite the worries, doctors and public health officials say there is no evidence that people are getting sicker than usual. Flu cases in Massachusetts started rising around Thanksgiving and increased steadily, with an especially steep climb in the last week of the year. “This is a bad flu season but not a horrible one,” said Dr. Andrew G. Villanueva, a lung specialist and chief quality officer at the Lahey Hospital & Medieal Centre in Burlington.

The flu season, while clearly in full swing, doesn’t “feel different” from previous years, Villanueva said. “We’re not seeing a lot of people being hospitalized because of flu,” he said. “Most people with the flu recover on their own without medical care.”

1.What’s the function of the first paragraph?

A.A lead-in. B.A comment. C.A summary. D.A background.

2.What can be learned about the flu this year according to the text?

A.The outbreak of the flu is terrible.

B.The flu has arrived earlier than before.

C.The vaccine against the nu is highly effective.

D.Everyone feels horrible at the mention of the flu.

3.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 4 mean?

A.Crowded B.Changeable C.Permanent D.Active

4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A.To explain what flu is.

B.To rid people of flu panic.

C.To warn readers of how serious the flu is.

D.To inform readers how to prevent the flu.

Answer

1.A

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了关于流感的一些常识，人们没有必要为流感而恐慌。

1.推理判断题。根据文章内容，特别是第二段中的“Flu is unique among human diseases. It circulates constantly in cool and dry areas.”可知，本文主要介绍的是关于流感的一些常识，人们没有必要为流感而恐慌，由此可知，第一段的作用就是引出流感这一话题，故A项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第一段中的“This time, the flu virus seems to be hitting even harder.”可知，这一次，流感病毒似乎更加猛烈，也就是说今年流感的爆发是非常可怕的，故A项正确。

3.词义猜测题。根据画线词前的“This is a bad flu season but not a horrible one”可知，这是一个糟糕的流感季，但并不可怕，再结合画线词后的“doesn’t “feel different” from previous years”可知，流感虽然明显处于高发期，但感觉与往年没有什么不同，由此可知画线词词义为“活跃的”，故D项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段内容可知，专家说今年的流感与往年没什么不同，没有很多人因流感而住院，大多数流感患者可自行康复，由此可知，这篇文章的目的是消除人们对流感的恐慌，故B项正确。