Question

A bag is useful and the word “bag” is useful, too. Here is an interesting phrase（短语）, “to let the cat out of the bag”. In meaning it is the same as “to tell the secret（秘密）”. And there is an old interesting story about it.

　　Long ago, when farmers wanted to sell chickens at the market, they would usually just throw the chickens in cloth (布) bags. But cats were cheaper than chickens at that time, so many farmers would put cats into the cloth bags but not chickens. One day, a woman asked a man for a chicken. The man gave her a cloth bag in which there was a cat.      When the man opened the cloth bag, a big black cat ran out. Not a chicken! The man’s secret was out and everyone knew it.

　　Now when we say someone gives away a secret, we say “he lets the cat out of the bag”. And that is the story where the interesting phrase came from.

1.The underlined word “it” in the passage refers to (指的是)     .

A. the useful bag                 B. the phrase              C. the cat                     D. the chicken

2.The farmers put cats but not chickens in the bags to      when they sold chickens.

A. tell the secret                                                      B. sell the cats

C. get more money                                                  D. keep the cats quiet

3.Which is the best for the blank (空白处) in the passage?

A. The woman was angry to see a cat.                 B. The man put a cat in the bag.

C. The man asked her to see the chicken.         D. The woman wanted to see the chicken.

4.The writer wrote the story to tell us     .

A. the woman was smart                                         B. how farmers sold their cats

C. the phrase is useful                                             D. where the phrase came from

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：这篇短文重点介绍了英语中一个短语的由来.

1.联系前文Here is an interesting phrase（短语）, “to let the cat out of the bag”.描述，可知it指的是这个短语，故选B。

2.根据第二段But cats were cheaper than chickens at that time, so many farmers would put cats into the cloth bags but not chickens. 描述,人们把猫当做鸡是为了多卖钱,故选C.

3.联系上下文,可知此处指的是,这个女人想看看这些鸡.故选D.

4.这篇短文重点介绍了英语中一个短语的由来,故选D.

考点：故事类记述文阅读