Question

【題目】Two Christmas traditions have come under attack in recent years from environmentalists: Christmas cards and Christmas trees.

Paper cards are seen as wasteful and, for some people, going card-free is another way ofgoing green. They also argue that in a world of e-mail, Skype, Facebook and Twitter, peopleare in touch all the time anyway; they no longer need the yearly card that connects them with long lost friends. If you want to send Christmas greetings, there are freee-cards, which get the job done with no postage or wasted paper.

However, especially for people who didn’t grow up with e-mail, there is something missing from a Christmas e-mail. The first Christmas cards appeared in London in 1843and were designed by the same man who had introduced the world’s first postage stamp three years earlier. His name was Sir Henry Cole.Theyrose in popularity throughout the 20th century. Many people sent cards that were sold for charity (慈善). In the UK this year, in the three weeks before Christmas, the postofficeexpects to handle 100 millioncards every day.

When we think of trees at Christmas, there is one that instantly springs into mind---the evergreen tree that people decorate with ornaments and place their giftsunder.Thecustom dates back almost a thousand years to Germany. Nowadays 33 to 36 millionChristmas trees are produced in America and 50 to 60 million in Europe each year.Some trees are sold live with roots and soil so people can plant them later and reusethem next year.

Some people prefer artificial trees as they are reusable and much cheaperthan the natural ones. However, environmentalists point out that theyare made from petroleum(石油) products, thus causing many pollution problems.

【1】What is the purpose of writing the article?

A. To introduce the debate about some Christmas traditions.

B. To explain the history of two typical Christmas traditions.

C. To analyze how two Christmas traditions grew in popularity.

D. To suggest the solution to the problems caused by celebrating Christmas.

【2】What does the underlined word “They” in the fourth paragraph probably refer to?

A. Many people. B. Christmas e-mails.

C. Postage stamps. D. Christmas cards.

【3】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?

A. There is always a wider Christmas tree market in America than in Europe.

B. The custom of decorating Christmas trees first appeared in Britain.

C. Some people love to buy live trees that can be reused next year.

D. Artificial trees are better than natural ones in all aspects(方面).

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】C

【解析】本文是一篇說明文，說明了圣誕節(jié)習俗：圣誕卡片和圣誕樹，對其進行討論，圣誕卡片浪費紙，圣誕樹是由石油做成的，有很多的污染。

【1】A

推理題，由本文的主要意思“辯論圣誕節(jié)習俗，有圣誕卡片、圣誕樹等”，可以推出答案，故選A。

【2】D

推理題，由第四段第一行Many people sent cards that were sold for charity.可以推出They指的是“圣誕卡片”，所以選D。

【3】C

細節(jié)題，由最后一段第一句Some people prefer artificial trees as they are reusable and much cheaper than their natural alternative.可知，有些人喜歡買活的樹，可以在明年利用。，所以選C。

本文說明了辯論圣誕節(jié)習俗，有圣誕卡片、圣誕樹等。做細節(jié)題的關鍵是找出原文的根據(jù)，認真核查題支和原文的異同，常犯錯誤有：絕對化語言，范圍擴大或縮小，以偏概全，張冠李戴等。推斷題測試考生在閱讀基礎上的邏輯推理能力，要求考生根據(jù)文章所述事件的邏輯關系，對未說明的趨勢或結(jié)局作出合理的推斷；或根據(jù)作者所闡述的觀點理論，對文章未涉及的現(xiàn)象、事例給以解釋。考生首先要仔細閱讀短文，完整了解信息，準確把握作者觀點。