Question

In the 1950s，a family who owned a farm near Beulah，Michigan kept a bull chained to an elm (榆樹)．The bull paced around the tree，dragging the heavy iron chain，which led to a groove (槽) in the bark.The groove deepened over the years，though for whatever reason，it did not kill the tree.

After some years，the family took their bull away.They cut the chain，leaving the loop (圈) around the tree and one link hanging down.

Then one year，agricultural disaster struck Michigan in the form of Dutch Elm Disease.All of the elms lining the road leading to the farm became infected and died.Everyone thought that the old elm would be next.

The farm’s owners considered doing the safe thing：pulling it out and cutting it up into firewood before it died.But they simply could not bring themselves to do it.It was as if the old tree had become a family friend.So they decided to let_nature_take_its_course.

Amazingly，the tree did not die.Nobody could understand why it was the only elm that was still standing in the country!

Plant pathologists(病理學(xué)家) from Michigan State University came out to observe the tree.They observed the scar left by the iron chain，now almost completely covered by bark.The plant experts decided that it was the chain that saved the elm’s life.They reasoned that the tree must have absorbed so much iron from the chain that it became immune (免疫) to the fungus (真菌)．

It’s said that what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.Or，as Ernest Hemimgway put it，“Life breaks us all，but afterwards，many of us are strongest at the broken places.”

1.What happened to the elms in Michigan during the agricultural disaster?

A．The elms were tied by iron chains.

B．Some of the elms were cut up into firewood.

C．All the elms were infected by a disease and died.

D．Nearly all of the elms died of a disease.

2.From the passage we can learn that the old elm was saved by________.

A．the groove in the bark B．the fungus in the tree

C．the iron remaining in it D．its own immune system

3.The underlined sentence “l(fā)et_nature_take_its_course” means______.

A．leave the elm at the mercy of nature

B．help the elm grow normally

C．let nature take the elm away

D．have nature give a lesson to the elm

4.What is the best title for the text?

A．Never Lose Heart in Trouble

B．Strike While the Iron is Hot

C．Brave to Face Failure

D．Stronger after Suffering

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.D

【解析】文章大意：本文是一篇夾敘夾議文。文章主要講述了在一次農(nóng)業(yè)災(zāi)難中，荷蘭榆樹菌(Dutch Elm Disease)襲擊密歇根的本土榆樹，農(nóng)場沿路邊幾乎所有的榆樹都感染并死掉了，但有一棵曾經(jīng)被鐵鏈拴過的老榆樹卻仍然存活著。作者以這則故事告訴我們：曾經(jīng)經(jīng)歷的磨難會讓我們更強大。

1.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第三段第二句“All of the elms lining the road leading to the farm became infected and died.”可知，在這次農(nóng)業(yè)災(zāi)難中，幾乎所有的榆樹都因為感染了荷蘭榆樹菌而死掉了

2.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第六段第二、三、四句話“They observed the scar left by the iron chain...it was the chain that saved the elm’s life...must have absorbed so much iron from the chain...”可知，這棵老榆樹是吸收了鐵鏈中的鐵(iron)，增強了它對病菌的免疫力

3.句意理解題。根據(jù)文章第四段可知，農(nóng)場的主人曾想過要在這棵榆樹死之前將其砍掉當(dāng)柴火，但由于這么多年來這棵老榆樹已經(jīng)成為了他們的朋友，所以他們不忍心下手，并決定讓這棵榆樹順其自然。因此，此處的let the nature take its course意為“聽天由命；任由大自然的擺布”，即leave the elm at the mercy of the nature。

4.標(biāo)題概括題。文章最后一段是全文的中心段，“what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.”和“Life breaks us all，but afterwards，many of us are strongest at the broken places.”是全文的升華，作者以老榆樹的故事告訴人們，生活中的磨難并不可怕，它會使我們更堅強。所以D項“Stronger after Suffering”最適合做文章的標(biāo)題，故答案選D。