Question

【题目】In the famous fairy tale, Snow White eats the Queen's apple and falls victim to a curse（诅咒）;in Shakespeare's novel, Romeo drinks the poison and dies; some ancient Chinese emperors took pellets（药丸）that contained mercury（水银）, believing that it would make them immortal, but they died afterward.

Poison has long been an important ingredient in literature and history, and it seems to always be associated with evil, danger and death. But how much do you really know about poison?

An exhibition, The Power of Poison, opened last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, intended to give the audience a more vivid understanding of poison.

The museum tour starts in a rainforest setting, where you can see live examples of some of the most poisonous animals: caterpillars（毛毛虫）, frogs and spiders. Golden poison frogs, for instance, aren't much bigger than a coin, but their skin is covered with a poison that can cut off the signaling power of your nerves, and a single frog has enough venom to kill 10 grown humans.

"Poisons can be bad for some things," Michael Novacek, senior vice president of the museum, told NBC News. "Yet they can also be good for others."

A poisonous chemical found in the yew tree is effective against cancer, which is what led to the invention of a cancer-fighting drug called Taxol.

The benefits from natural poisons are not limited to just medicine. Believe it or not, many substances（物质）that we regularly ingest（摄入）-chili, coffee and chocolate-owe their special flavors or stimulating（提神的）effects to chemicals that plants make to poison insects.

【1】What does the underlined word "immortal" in Paragraph 1 mean?

A. happy B. not moral

C. living forever D. sick

【2】What is the main purpose of the exhibition The Power of Poison?

A. To give people more in-depth knowledge about poison.

B. To teach people how to handle poisonous animals.

C. To inform people about which animals are the most poisonous.

D. To show how poison has been used for medical treatment.

【3】Which of the following statements about the Golden poison frog is TRUE according to the article?

A. Its skin can cut off the signaling power of your nerves.

B. It's about the size of a coin.

C. It's the most poisonous animal on display.

D. You can only see it in a rainforest setting of the museum.

【4】The stimulating effects of coffee come from ________.

A. natural poison made by the plant

B. the substances that we regularly ingest

C. chemicals produced by poisonous insects

D. its special flavor

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】A

【3】B

【4】A

【解析】本文主要讲述了毒药的渊源，毒药在历史中的地位，以及纽约举办的《毒药的力量》的展览，该展览阐述了毒药真正的力量与实体存在形式，让人们对毒药有更深入的了解。

【1】词义猜测题。根据“some ancient Chinese emperors took pellets（药丸）that contained mercury（水银）,believing that it would make them immortal, but they died afterward”根据but表转折，故与前句意思相反，结合they died afterward（他们之后就死了），推知他们认为这些药丸可以让他们长命百岁。故选C。

【2】细节理解题。根据第三段“An exhibition, The Power of Poison, opened last month at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, intended to give the audience a more vivid understanding of poison”可知，这个展览的目的是让人们对毒药有更深入的了解。故选A。

【3】细节理解题。根据第四段“Golden poison frogs, for instance, aren't much bigger than a coin”可知，金毒蛙大概有硬币大小。故选B。

【4】细节理解题。根据最后一段的表述可知，咖啡的刺激性来自于植物自然产生的毒性。故选A。