Question

Outside her cottage, old Mrs. Taylor was hanging out laundry on a wire line, unaware that some children were hiding in a nearby tree watching her every move. They were determined to find out if she really was a witch.（女巫）

They watched nervously as she took a broomstick(长柄扫帚）to sweep the dirt from her stone steps. But much to their disappointment, she didn’t get on the broomstick and fly off. The old lady only looked up when her hen began to make sounds loudly —signaling that she had laid an egg in the nest on the top of the haystack.(干草堆).

The old lady put aside her broomstick and walked to the haystack, followed by Michael, a black cat she had rescued from a fox trap. With only three legs, it was hard for Michael to keep up with his mistress. The cat was proof for the children that only a witch would own a black cat with three legs! Crawling further along the branches, they could clearly see the haystack.

Mrs. Taylor was standing on a wooden box with the new-laid egg in one hand. Placing the egg in her pocket, she readied herself to climb down. Then, without warning, the box broke under her and she crashed to the ground. The children were in horror.

“Should we go and help her?” asked Mia.

“What if it’s a trick?” replied Patrick. “She probably knows we’re here. Witches know things like that!”

After thinking for a while, Julia said“Anyway, we should go and check whether she is all right.”

Approaching prudently, they could see a wound on the old lady’s forehead. She had knocked her head on a stone and was unconscious.

“Go and get Dad,” Mia yelled to her brothers. “Tell him about the accident.”

The boys didn’t need another excuse to leave. They ran as fast as they could for help, hoping that Mrs. Taylor would not regain consciousness and turn the girls into frogs.

Later, in the hospital, the old lady smiled her thanks. “I was so lucky that you lovely children happened to be passing when 1 fell. I must have yelled quite loudly.”

The children exchanged guilty glances, but were very pleased that she was not a witch after all!

1.Mrs. Taylor stopped sweeping when_______.

A. her doorstep became very clean

B. she heard the hen making sounds loudly

C. she noticed the children in the tree

D. her cat Michael managed to get her attention

2.Why was Patrick not willing to help Mrs. Taylor when she fell ？

A. He thought that she could be cheating them.

B. He was afraid of the three-legged black cat.

C. He did not think that she was hurt in the fall.

D. He knew he and the others shouldn’t have been in her tree.

3.Which of the definitions is closest in meaning to the underlined word “prudently” ?

A. Slowly.            B. Hurriedly.

C. Carefully.         D. Quietly.

4.Which of these old sayings best summaries the lesson from story?

A. Make hey while the sun shines.

B. Never judge a book by its cover.

C. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

D. People in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：文章讲述了孩子们怀疑老太太泰勒是女巫，观察泰勒是否为女巫最后救了老太太泰勒的故事，文章告诉我们不能以貌取人。

1.B细节理解题。根据第二段The old lady only looked up when her hen began to make sounds loudly —signaling that she had laid an egg in the nest on the top of the haystack.(干草堆).当她的母鸡很大声叫的时候，泰勒停止了打扫。故选B。

2.A细节理解题。根据第六段“What if it’s a trick?” 要是这是个把戏呢？可知，他以为老太太太乐可能在骗他们。故选A。

3.C句意理解题。因为他们怀疑老太太是女巫，所以他们看她的时候是非常谨慎小心的。句意：谨慎地接近，他们看到老太太的额头上的伤口。故选C。

4.B推理判断题。根据文章描述的孩子们凭借老太太的样子怀疑老太太是女巫，但是最后证实老太太不是女巫，所以文章告诉我们不能从外表就断定一个人。故选B。

考点：考查故事类阅读

【名师点睛】

英语高考阅读理解细节题解题技巧

一、语义转换题——跳读查找法这是做事实细节题最基本也是最常用的方法。在通常情况下，细节题主要考查考生对某句话或某几句话的理解，同学们若能根据题干内容从原文中找到相关的句子，然后进行比较和分析，便可确定最佳答案。

运用跳读查找法时，同学们要特别注意试题（包括选项）与原文之间的适当变换。根据近几年的考题情况来看，现在很少有直接用原文中的句子进行考查和测试的，而通常要进行一定的处理。而这种“处理”主要就是指进行语义转换，其中包括同义变换、概念解析、归纳事实等。比如第22小题，细节理解题。根据第六段“What if it’s a trick?” 要是这是个把戏呢？可知，他以为老太太太乐可能在骗他们。故选A。

二、生活应用题——常识理解法生活应用题要求考生在读懂文章的基础上结合一定的生活常识进行判断。三、细节排序题——首尾定位法

这种试题要求考生根据动作发生的先后顺序和句子之间的逻辑关系，找出事件发生的正确顺序。同学们在做这种题时可采用“首尾定位法”，即最先找出第一个动作和最后一个动作，迅速缩小选择范围，从而快速选出正确答案。比如第21题：细节理解题。根据第二段The old lady only looked up when her hen began to make sounds loudly —signaling that she had laid an egg in the nest on the top of the haystack.(干草堆).当她的母鸡很大声叫的时候，泰勒停止了打扫。故选B。

四、寻找信息题——题干定位法快速寻找信息题一般为功能阅读题，主要形式有广告、公告、演出信息、航班时间表等。做这类题时没有必要阅读全文，宜采用“题干定位法”。