Question

Can you imagine that several hundred years ago, tomatoes were seen as toxic food in Europe?

What made Europeans believe this was John Gerard’s publication of Herbal in 1597. Gerard wrote: “The leaves and stalks of the tomato plant are toxic.” Undoubtedly, Gerard’s opinion was based on a misunderstanding of tomatoes. But his opinion was widely spread in Britain and North America for over two hundred years.

In the late 1700s, a lot of Europeans held more fears for tomatoes. A nick name for the fruit was “poison apple” because it was believed that aristocrats(貴族) got sick and died after eating them. But the actual reason was the pewter plates they used. Since tomatoes are high in acidity, when placed on the plates, the lead(鉛) in the plates would dissolve(溶解). This caused many deaths. Unluckily, no one knew this at that time. So the innocent tomatoes were picked as the killer.

Today, more than one and a half billion tons of tomatoes are produced every year around the world. Tomatoes are cooked in various ways. This healthy and tasty food finally wins its innocence(清白) back.

1.Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

A. Europeans’ fears for tomatoes

B. History of tomato planting

C. Why do people eat so many tomatoes

D. How did the tomato prove its value

2.What does the underlined word “toxic” in paragraph 1 mean?

A. delicious B. nutritious(有營(yíng)養(yǎng)的)

C. poisonous D. safe

3.When did people begin to eat tomatoes according to the text?

A. About 100 years ago. B. About 200 years ago.

C. About 300 years ago. D. About 400 years ago.

4.What’s the key point for the death of the aristocrats mentioned in the passage?

A. Tomatoes. B. The pewter plate.

C. Serious illness. D. Chemical reaction.

 

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.B

4.D

【解析】

試題分析：番茄是現(xiàn)在非常受歡迎的蔬菜，但是幾百年前，歐洲人對(duì)番茄充滿恐懼，認(rèn)為其是有毒食品，本文就介紹了番茄被歐洲人恐懼的黑暗歷史。

1.1】概述全文。文章開(kāi)篇明義，番茄在幾百年前的歐洲被認(rèn)為是有毒食品，接著介紹了認(rèn)為番茄有毒的學(xué)術(shù)觀點(diǎn)和歐洲貴族不當(dāng)?shù)氖秤梅绞綄?dǎo)致食物中毒的例子，從理論和實(shí)例兩方面說(shuō)明歐洲人對(duì)番茄的恐懼，故選A。

2.2】詞義解析題。第三段提到，A nick name for the fruit was “poison apple” because it was believed that aristocrats(貴族) got sick and died after eating them.歐洲貴族認(rèn)為食用番茄導(dǎo)致病毒甚至死亡，故稱其為“毒蘋果”，可知選C。

3.3】推理判斷題�！癢hat made Europeans believe this was John Gerard’s publication of Herbal in 1597. Gerard wrote: “The leaves and stalks of the tomato plant are toxic.” “But his opinion was widely spread in Britain and North America for over two hundred years.”約翰·吉拉德在1597年出版的Herbal》中寫到，番茄的葉和莖是有毒的的，這一觀點(diǎn)被歐洲接受，并于200年間在英國(guó)和北美廣泛傳播�？梢酝茢�，番茄有毒的觀點(diǎn)在1597年到1797年間都是為人接受的，人們不會(huì)食用有毒食品。此后，人們才開(kāi)始食用番茄，距離現(xiàn)在應(yīng)為200年，故選B。

4.4】推理判斷題。But the actual reason was the pewter plates they used. Since tomatoes are high in acidity, when placed on the plates, the lead(鉛) in the plates would dissolve(溶解). This caused many deaths.真正的原因是他們使用的錫盤。因?yàn)槲骷t柿含酸量高，當(dāng)被放置在錫盤里，錫盤中含有的鉛會(huì)溶解，導(dǎo)致死亡。所以，西紅柿和錫盤都不能直接導(dǎo)致死亡，而是兩者放置一起后，發(fā)生化學(xué)反應(yīng)導(dǎo)致死亡。故選D。

考點(diǎn)：考查科普文閱讀