Question

【題目】Winters are long and unforgiving in North Dakota. The winter of 1996 was especially brutal. It was a hard time in my own life too, A neck injury had kept me flat in bed for nearly a year. “Just in time for Easter,” my husband, Dick, said. But how could I feel the joy when the snow was four feet deep and I had months of painful physical treatment ahead?

I was doing the dishes one day, feeling hopeless when there was a tap against the glass. It was a branch of the troublesome cottonwood (棉白楊).Back in the fall of 1979, it was a new subdivision (分支) then, an eight-foot stick. The people who’d briefly occupied the house before us had placed the pipe from the pump next to it. The earth was so wet that the poor thing had fallen down, most of its bare root system pointing skyward, and blowing hopelessly back and forth in the cold wind. Dick decided to pull it out one day, but I disapproved of it.

“Look at how hard it’s trying!” I said, pointing to the way it strongly kept hold of the earth. “It deserves a chance.”

Dick borrowed some tools. We packed dry soil around the tree and put up some stakes (樁) into the ground, making it stand upright. That winter was still terrible. Surprisingly, in the spring my “rescue stick” put forth a few leaves, then with lots of branches. The year after that, we were able to remove the stakes. By the 1990s that little stick was a giant, towering over the house.

Now the tapping at the window continued, louder as the wind picked up, almost as though to tell me to look up. At last, I did. I caught ray breath. In the window against the icy blue sky, thousands and thousands of fresh red buds were waving in the wind.

The tree was bursting with life and I had a wonderful Easter.

【1】【1】What is the meaning of the underlined word “brutal” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A. busy. B. hard.

C. long. D. warm.

【2】【2】How did Dick rescue the new subdivision?

A. By supporting the stick firmly.

B. By watering the stick regularly.

C. By distributing chemical fertilizer.

D. By gathering sticks day and night.

【3】【3】What is the author’s purpose in writing the last paragraph?

A. To inform us of the current condition of her cottonwood.

B. To imply that she’d spent the hardest time and felt hopeful.

C. To tell us that the tree had survived from the awful winter

D. To suggest what she was going to do for the coming festival.

【4】【4】Which of the following can serve as the main idea of the passage?

A. A friend in need is a friend indeed,

B. There is no garden without its weeds.

C. Success is the accumulation of sweat,

D. Where there is life, there is hope.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】【1】B

【2】【2】A

【3】【3】B

【4】【4】D

【解析】這篇文章主要講了作者在生活的低谷時，注意到曾經(jīng)垂死的樹枝已經(jīng)變得枝繁葉茂，那是自己和丈夫親手救活的樹枝，作者從中受到啟發(fā)，她又對生活重新充滿希望。

【1】【1】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)Winters are long and unforgiving in North Dakota.以及It was a hard time in my own life too. A neck injury had kept me flatin bed for nearly a year. 可猜出"brutal"的意思是艱難，所以選B。

【2】【2】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)We packed drysoil around the tree and put up some stakes (樁) into the ground, making it stand upright. 以及Surprisingly,inthespringmy“rescuestick”putforthafew

leaves,then with lots of branches.可知Dick通過用一根棍子牢牢地支撐新的分支，而救了它，所以選A。

【3】【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)Thetreewas bursting with life and I had a wonderful Easter. 可知作者寫最后一個自然段的用意是暗示她已經(jīng)度過了最艱難的時期，現(xiàn)在她滿懷希望，所以選B。

【4】【4】主旨大意題。這篇文章主要講了作者在生活的低谷時，注意到曾經(jīng)垂死的樹枝已經(jīng)變得枝繁葉茂，那是自己和丈夫親手救活的樹枝，作者從中受到啟發(fā)，她又對生活重新充滿希望，所以這篇文章的主題思想是有生命的地方就有希望，所以選D。