Question

    There are hundreds of grape varieties in Japan, but only one can sell for several hundred dollars per grape. The Ruby Roman was cultivated in Japan’ s Ishikawa Prefecture and is considered one of the world’ s most expensive fruits.

The story of Ruby Roman began in 1995, when Ishikawa grape farmers appealed to the government to create a large red grape variety. 400 experimental vines（葡萄树）were planted into a test field. Two years later; they started bearing fruit. However, out of the 400 vines, only 4 turned out to be red grapes, and only one of them was considered large enough to meet the farmers’ expectations. Over the next 14 years, researchers constantly improved its size, taste, color and ease of planting, and today Ruby Roman is considered a “treasure of Ishikawa”.

In 2008, soon after making its commercial debut（首秀）, the Ruby Roman grape variety made international headlines after a 700-gram bunch sold for 10,000 yen（$910）, or $26 per grape. Eight years later, a 26-grape bunch sold for 1.1 million yen（$11,000）, or roughly $370 per grape.

While the Ruby Roman name is used to describe a type of grapes, every bunch must meet very strict standards. For example, every grape in the bunch must weigh at least 20 grams and have a sugar content of at least 18 percent. There is also a Premium class of Ruby Roman grapes—each grape must weigh over 30 grams, and the whole bunch must be at least 700 grams heavy.

Most bunches of Ruby Roman grapes are sold through auctions（拍卖）, but Premium Ruby Rose are extremely difficult to find. For example, in 2010, only six bunches of grapes were certified Premium, and in 2011 no bunches qualified for it.

And if you’ re wondering how the Ruby Roman name came to be, it was apparently voted by local residents（居民）out of 639 different names.

1.The underlined word“cultivated”in the first paragraph can be best replaced by”_________”.

A.discovered B.preserved

C.developed D.promoted

2.According to the second paragraph, Ruby Roman _________.

A.is widely planted in Japan B.does not come easily

C.used to be a treasure of Ishikawa D.is more productive than expected

3.What’s the author’s purpose in listing a number of figures in paragraph 3 ?

A.To explain how large Ruby Roman grapes are.

B.To tell how profitable planting Ruby Roman is.

C.To prove how popular Ruby Roman is globally.

D.To show how expensive Ruby Roman grapes are.

4.What does the text say about the Ruby Roman grape?

A.It’s named after its birthplace.

B.It isn’t available in abundance.

C.It doesn’t refer to only one grape variety.

D.Its price has nothing to do with its color.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.B

【解析】

本文是说明文，介绍了日本石川县出产的一种世界上最昂贵的水果，被称为“石川珍宝”的罗马红宝石葡萄。

1.

词句猜测题。文章是关于日本石川县出产的一种昂贵的葡萄Ruby Roman。根据第二段“400 experimental vines（葡萄树）were planted into a test field.”石川的农民种植葡萄树。由此可以推测，cultivate与句中的“plant”意思相近，意为“培育”。故选C项。

2.

推理判断题。文章第二段介绍Ruby Roman葡萄品种的由来。根据“Two years later, they started bearing fruit. However, out of the 400 vines, only 4 turned out to be red grapes, and only one of them was considered large enough to meet the farmers’ expectations. ” 两年才开始结出果实。在400棵葡萄树中，只有4棵是红葡萄，其中只有一棵被认为可以满足农民的期望。由此可意推断，Ruby Roman葡萄来之不易。故选B项。

3.

推理判断题。第三段中提到Ruby Roman葡萄的售价成了国际头条新闻，“a 700-gram bunch sold for 10,000 yen（$910）, or $26 per grape. Eight years later, a 26-grape bunch sold for 1.1 million yen（$11,000）, or roughly $370 per grape.” 一串700克的葡萄售价10000日圆(910美元),或者一颗26美元。8年后，一串26粒葡萄以110万日元(1.1万美元)的价格售出，约合每颗葡萄370美元。作者列举这一系列的价格是为了说明Ruby Roman葡萄有多么昂贵。故选D项。

4.

细节理解题。根据第四段中“Most bunches of Ruby Roman grapes are sold through auctions（拍卖”可知，大多数Ruby Roman葡萄通过拍卖出售，不是可以大量买得到的。优质的Ruby Roman葡萄极难找到。故选B项。