Question

B

My 10-year-old nephew is timid. I was delighted when his mother, my sister, asked me to take him to the circus(马戏团). ＂Buy one bag of popcorn,＂ she ordered.

＂Is there anything we should avoid?＂

＂Yes, but you can’t avoid it. It’s the elephants’ parade around the ring.＂

David has read that the circus elephants are the most unhappy creatures in the universe. They’d rather be torn open by a lion than made fool of themselves before a crowd. So, when they started their act, David began to cry, ＂Those big, big tears …＂

So, eyes still dry, sharing popcorn, we watched simian(猴的) cast rush into the ring to a burst of cheers. Then we watched the individual acts — the monkey from the Bolshoi, the famous clown who climbed the tallest pole, hanging on by a finger and a knee. He raised laughter from the audience of children. If the clown slipped, the net would catch him, although no net can be trusted. It’s easy to fall wrong, and if so you can break your silly neck. I would keep that information from David, I promised my schoolteacher. I was the cool adult here.

At last elephants came and did their parade, each wearing a hat. My arm slipped around my beloved nephew.

＂Aunt Ella, they are so unhappy.＂

＂I believe they are. But some day this act will be outlawed.＂

＂Really?＂

＂Yes. The elephants will be returned to the grasslands in Africa and spend the rest of their lives eating green stuff, never having to grab a tail.＂ I put my arms around him and whispered in his ear, ＂I love you.＂

He did not sob(呜咽) but nestled closer to me.

The elephants were the last act of the first half of the show, and enduring their performance earned us another box of popcorn.

【题文1】 Why did the author’s sister ask her to buy a bag of popcorn?

A. To show a new fashion.

B. To use it to help David kill time.

C. To use it to help improve David’s attention.

D. To use it to distract David’s attention to his fear.

【题文2】 What does the author use ＂clown＂ in Paragraph 5 to refer to?

A. The circus monkey.        B. The circus worker.

C. The circus audience.        D. The amusing actor.

【题文3】 How did the author feel when watching the monkey acting?

A. She was touched by its acting.      B. She was afraid of her nephew’s fear.

C. She regretted taking David to watch it.     D. She was worried about the monkey’s safety.

【题文4】What will the following paragraph be about?

A. How the author comforted her nephew.     B. What the second half of the show was like.

C. What lesson the author got from the show.    D. How much popcorn was needed in the play.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

【解题导语】本文是记叙文，讲述了作者带外甥去看马戏表演时的感受。

1.推理判断题。文章一开始就讲述外甥胆小，他妈妈让作者带他去看马戏，并且因担心他害怕马戏表演中的一些动作，他妈妈让作者买一盒爆米花，以消除他看马戏表演时的恐惧。

2.词义推测题。根据第五段中的the monkey from the Bolshoi, the famous clown who climbed the tallest pole…可知，作者用小丑指代那只正在表演的猴子。

3.细节理解题。根据第五段中的If the clown slipped, the net would catch him, although no net can be trusted. It’s easy to fall wrong…可知，作者在观看猴子表演时担心猴子的安全。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的The elephants were the last act of the first half of the show可知，文章接下来的内容是关于马戏表演的下半场的。