Question

【题目】Winters are long and unforgiving in North Dakota. The winter of 1996 was especially brutal. It was a hard time in my own life too, A neck injury had kept me flat in bed for nearly a year. “Just in time for Easter,” my husband, Dick, said. But how could I feel the joy when the snow was four feet deep and I had months of painful physical treatment ahead?

I was doing the dishes one day, feeling hopeless when there was a tap against the glass. It was a branch of the troublesome cottonwood (棉白杨).Back in the fall of 1979, it was a new subdivision (分支) then, an eight-foot stick. The people who’d briefly occupied the house before us had placed the pipe from the pump next to it. The earth was so wet that the poor thing had fallen down, most of its bare root system pointing skyward, and blowing hopelessly back and forth in the cold wind. Dick decided to pull it out one day, but I disapproved of it.

“Look at how hard it’s trying!” I said, pointing to the way it strongly kept hold of the earth. “It deserves a chance.”

Dick borrowed some tools. We packed dry soil around the tree and put up some stakes (桩) into the ground, making it stand upright. That winter was still terrible. Surprisingly, in the spring my “rescue stick” put forth a few leaves, then with lots of branches. The year after that, we were able to remove the stakes. By the 1990s that little stick was a giant, towering over the house.

Now the tapping at the window continued, louder as the wind picked up, almost as though to tell me to look up. At last, I did. I caught ray breath. In the window against the icy blue sky, thousands and thousands of fresh red buds were waving in the wind.

The tree was bursting with life and I had a wonderful Easter.

【1】【1】What is the meaning of the underlined word “brutal” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A. busy. B. hard.

C. long. D. warm.

【2】【2】How did Dick rescue the new subdivision?

A. By supporting the stick firmly.

B. By watering the stick regularly.

C. By distributing chemical fertilizer.

D. By gathering sticks day and night.

【3】【3】What is the author’s purpose in writing the last paragraph?

A. To inform us of the current condition of her cottonwood.

B. To imply that she’d spent the hardest time and felt hopeful.

C. To tell us that the tree had survived from the awful winter

D. To suggest what she was going to do for the coming festival.

【4】【4】Which of the following can serve as the main idea of the passage?

A. A friend in need is a friend indeed,

B. There is no garden without its weeds.

C. Success is the accumulation of sweat,

D. Where there is life, there is hope.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】【1】B

【2】【2】A

【3】【3】B

【4】【4】D

【解析】这篇文章主要讲了作者在生活的低谷时，注意到曾经垂死的树枝已经变得枝繁叶茂，那是自己和丈夫亲手救活的树枝，作者从中受到启发，她又对生活重新充满希望。

【1】【1】词义猜测题。根据Winters are long and unforgiving in North Dakota.以及It was a hard time in my own life too. A neck injury had kept me flatin bed for nearly a year. 可猜出"brutal"的意思是艰难，所以选B。

【2】【2】细节理解题。根据We packed drysoil around the tree and put up some stakes (桩) into the ground, making it stand upright. 以及Surprisingly,inthespringmy“rescuestick”putforthafew

leaves,then with lots of branches.可知Dick通过用一根棍子牢牢地支撑新的分支，而救了它，所以选A。

【3】【3】推理判断题。根据Thetreewas bursting with life and I had a wonderful Easter. 可知作者写最后一个自然段的用意是暗示她已经度过了最艰难的时期，现在她满怀希望，所以选B。

【4】【4】主旨大意题。这篇文章主要讲了作者在生活的低谷时，注意到曾经垂死的树枝已经变得枝繁叶茂，那是自己和丈夫亲手救活的树枝，作者从中受到启发，她又对生活重新充满希望，所以这篇文章的主题思想是有生命的地方就有希望，所以选D。