Question

    I became a magician by accident. When I was nine years old, I learned how to make a coin disappear. I’d read The Lord of the Rings and ventured into the adult section of the library to search for a book of spells—nine being that curious age at which you’re old enough to work through more than 1,200 pages of fantasy literature but young enough to still hold out hope that you might find a book of real, actual magic in the library. The book I found instead taught basic sleight-of-hand technique, and I dedicated the next months to practice.

At first the magic wasn’t any good. At first it wasn’t even magic; it was just a trick—a bad trick. I spent hours each day in the bathroom running through the secret moves in front of the mirror. I dropped the coin over and over, a thousand times in a day, and after two weeks of this my mom got a carpet from the hardware store and placed it under the mirror to muffle the sound of the coin falling again and again.

I had heard my dad work through passages of new music on the piano, so I knew how to practice—slowly, deliberately, going for precision rather than speed. One day I tried the illusion in the mirror and the coin vanished. It did not look like a magic trick. It looked like a miracle.

One of the lessons you learn very early on as a magician is that the most amazing part of a trick has nothing to do with the secret. The secret is simple and often dull: a hidden piece of tape, a small mirror, a duplicate playing card, diversion of the audience’s attention. In this case, the secret was a series of covert ( 暗 中 的 ) technique to hide the coin behind my hand in the act of opening it, a dance of the fingers that I learned so completely I didn’t even have to think. I would close my hand, then open it, and the coin would vanish not by skill but by real magic.

1.What book did the author intend to find in the library when he was nine years old?

A.A book teaching people how to make a coin disappear.

B.The second book of The Lord of the Rings.

C.A book on how to become a magician.

D.A book of real magic.

2.The underlined word “muffle” probably means ______.

A.clean B.punish

C.lower D.kill

3.What did the author learn from his dad playing the piano?

A.Without music, life  is of no value. B.Practice makes perfect.

C.Great liars are also great magicians. D.No pains, no gains.

4.Which of the following is not mentioned as a magician trick?

A.Carrying out skillful hand moves.

B.Using real magic to create miracles.

C.Hiding some stage tools inside the coat.

D.Guiding the audience to focus on something unimportant.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了作者变成魔术师是偶然的，并且具体讲述了自己九岁时学习如何让硬币消失的经历。

1.

细节理解题。根据第一段中“I’d read The Lord of the Rings and ventured into the adult section of the library to search for a book of spells”(我读过《指环王》，然后冒险进入图书馆的成人区域，寻找一本讲咒语的书)并结合第一段中“still hold out hope that you might find a book of real, actual magic in the library.”(仍然抱有希望在图书馆找到一本讲真实魔法的书)可知作者九岁的时候打算在图书馆里找到一本真正的魔法书。故选D项。

2.

词义猜测题。根据第二段中“I dropped the coin over and over, a thousand times in a day”我一次又一次扔下硬币，一天一千次练习。结合下句“my mom got a carpet from the hardware store and placed it under the mirror to muffle the sound of the coin falling again and again.”我妈妈从五金店买了一块地毯，并将其放在镜子下，以消除硬币一次又一次掉下来的声音。可知因为我每日反复持续几周的练习产生了很多声音，因此妈妈买来一块地毯放在镜子下面来减少硬币掉落在镜子上的声音，因此“muffle”意为消除。A. clean清理；B. punish惩罚；C. lower降低；D. kill杀死。C项“lower”降低切合题意。故选C项。

3.

推理判断题。根据第三段中“I had heard my dad work through passages of new music on the piano, so I knew how to practice—slowly, deliberately, going for precision rather than speed.”(我曾听过爸爸在钢琴上演奏新音乐，所以我知道该如何练习——慢慢地，刻意地追求精确而不是速度）可知作者从爸爸那里学到了一个道理：熟能生巧。A. Without music, life is of no value. 没有音乐,生命是没有价值的；B. Practice makes perfect. 熟能生巧；C. Great liars are also great magicians. 伟大的说谎者也是伟大的魔术师。D. No pains, no gains.不劳无获。通过翻译语境可知B项Practice makes perfect.“熟能生巧”切合文意。故选B项。

4.

细节理解题。根据第一段中“The book I found instead taught basic sleight-of-hand technique”(我发现这本书却教了一些基本的手法)以及最后一段中“The secret is simple and often dull: a hidden piece of tape, a small mirror, a duplicate playing card, diversion of the audience’s attention.”(秘诀很简单，而且常常很乏味：隐藏的胶带，小镜子，重复的扑克牌，转移了观众的注意力)可知B项“Using real magic to create miracles.”用真正的魔法创造奇迹在文中并未提及。故选B项。