Question

Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.

Sometimes, the word “green” means young, fresh and growing. For example, a greenborn is someone who has no experience. In the 15 th century, a greenborn was a young cow or an ox whose borns(角)had not yet developed. A century later, a greenborn was a soldier who had no expericnce in war. By the 18 th century, a greenborn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.

Someone who is good at growing plants is said to have a green thumb(大拇指). The expression comes from the early 20 th century. A person with a green thumb can make plants grow quickly and well. The Green Revolution(绿色革命)is a name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. It was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.

Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling, jealousy(嫉妒). The green eyed monster is not a dangerous animal from outer space. It is an expression used about 400 years ago by the British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling when someone has something he wants.

In most places in the world, a green light is a signal(信号)to move ahead. In everyday speech, a green light means approval(赞成)to continue with a project.

1.A person with a green thumb____.

A. is good at growing plants    B. really has a green thumb

C. has no experience in war    D. is new in a job

2.A man may meet the green eyed monster if ____.

A. he sees a dangerous animal    B. he can’t get something

C. he reads a sad play    D. his friend gets a prize that he wants

3.This passage doesn’t mention the history of the expression “____”.

A. a green    B. a greenborn    C. the green eyed monster    D. a green light

4.Which would be the best title of the passage

A. Green, the color of grass and trees    B. The stories about the color “green”

C. Green, a sign of approval    D. Different meanings of “green”

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.D

4.D

【解析】短文大意：绿色是自然界中一种重要的颜色，它是树叶和青草的颜色，这也是大多数生长中的植物的颜色。短文中作者给我们介绍了一些跟“green”这个词有关的习语和他们的历史，并且举了很多例子来解释他们的用法。最后又提到绿灯，在世界上大部分地方，绿灯是前进的信号，在日常用语中，绿灯表示同意继续进行某项工程。

1.细节理解题。根据短文中Someone who is good at growing plants is said to have a green thumb可知，a green thumb指的是擅长种植植物的人，所以答案选A。

2.细节理解题。根据短文的最后一段可知，green也可以用来形容强烈的感情，例如嫉妒。It describes the unpleasant feeling when someone has something he wants如果有人得到了你没有的东西，你可能就会meet the green eyed monster，结合选项可知选D。

3.推理判断题。从文中可以看出，文中第二段对a greenhorn的用法从15世纪一直讲到了现在，即指明了发展史；文中第三段介绍的是green thumb的来历及发展，文章第四段讲述的是green-eyed monster的出处，因此greenhorn、green thumb、green-eyed monster的来历都已经在文章中指明了，唯独a green light没有阐明其来源，关于这个文章中只是提到现在的用法，即In most places in the world，a green light is a signal（信号）to move ahead．In everyday speech，a green light means approval（赞成）to continue with a project．因此答案选择D。

4.主旨大意题。文章用大部分内容介绍了不同词组或修饰词中green的不同含义，因此可知文章的主旨就是 Different meanings of "green"，答案为D。