Question

【题目】 Where is it possible to drive from Rome to Moscow, Madrid, Paris, Vienna and Stockholm without going to Europe? The answer is in the state of Maine!

Throughout the United States there are many towns and cities that have been named after not only European cities but other countries as well, such as China, Poland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Just how many New World place names are recycled from the Old World names has never been tallied, but one researcher found forty-one Londons, fifty-six Berlins, twenty-four Dublins, thirty-two Athenses, and twenty-seven Moscows, among others!

Reasons for European place names differ. Some were in memory of settlers' former homes, others in honor of historic events. Founded in 1818 by John coffee, Robert Beauty, John D. Carroll and John Read, Athens is one of the oldest incorporated cities in the State of Alabama. The town was first called Athenson, and the name was then shortened to Athens, after the ancient city in Greece. More interestingly, some names were given by mistake. For instance, the people of Moscow, Kansas, wanted their city to follow the name of the explorer Moscoso. They shortened his name to Mosco, and an official in Washington, thinking the Kansans couldn't spell, added a "w".

【1】What might have made the official in Washington change Mosco into Moscow?

A.Moscow is a world-famous city name.

B.He thought Moscoso would prefer Moscow.

C.He believed Moscow was a far better name.

D.He couldn't spell very well and made a mistake.

【2】The underlined word "tallied"? In Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to"________".

A.builtB.believedC.addedD.visited

【3】The best title for the passage is ________.

A.The Story of Moscow, Kansas

B.American Cities and Their Names

C.Interesting Names

D.Old World Place Names in America

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】C

【3】D

【解析】

本文主要讲述了美国旧大陆城镇名字的由来及相关内容。

【1】细节理解题。题干的意思是：什么让华盛顿的官员把 Mosco 变成Moscow？A的意思是“莫斯科是一个举世闻名的城市。”；B的意思是“他认为莫斯科人更喜欢Moscow。”；C的意思是“他认为莫斯科是一个好得多的名字。”；D的意思是“他拼写不太好并且犯了一个错误。”根据“They shortened his name to Mosco, and an official in Washington, thinking the Kansans couldn't spell, added a "w".”他们把他的名字简称为Mosco，华盛顿的一位官员认为堪萨斯人不会拼写，于是加了一个“W”。可知，华盛顿的官员不会拼写导致的错误。故选D。

【2】词意猜测题。A. built建造；B. believed相信；C. added计算、核算；D. visited参观。根据“but one researcher found forty-one Londons, fifty-six Berlins, twenty-four Dublins, thirty-two Athenses, and twenty-seven Moscows, among others!”但是一位研究人员发现了41个伦敦地名，56个柏林地名，24个都柏林地名，32个雅典地名，27个莫斯科地名，等等！由此可知研究人员进行了统计。因此上文的tallied是“统计，核算”的意思，上文是说到底有多少新世界的地名是从旧世界的地名中回收而来，至今还没有统计出来。而下文说研究人员却进行了统计。故选C。

【3】最佳标题。A. The Story of Moscow, Kansas堪萨斯州莫斯科的故事。B. American Cities and Their Names美国城市及其名称。C. Interesting Names有趣的名字。D. Old World Place Names in America美国旧大陆地名。本文主要讲述了美国旧大陆城镇名字的由来。故选D。

本题的第2小题是词义猜测题。词义猜测题是阅读理解中常见的一种题型，所猜测词汇可以是生词，也可以是熟词新义，还可以是人称代词的指代内容。词义猜测题主要考查考生根据上下文推测词义和语义的能力，突出考查对语境的分析和把握能力。本题可以利用上下文语境来猜测词意。猜测任何词义都离不开上下文，所以要借助上下文对需要猜测的词或短语进行合乎逻辑的推测。