Question

Say yon are a 17^th century construction worker who’s worked long and hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.

Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, that is the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive(印象深刻的)as the building itself.

First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Madly in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But than sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she had heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial(纪念物)to celebrate their love.

When the heartbroken Jehan appeared eight days after his wife’s death, his people were shocked to see that his coal-black hair had turned snow-white. Putting away his sadness, Jehan ordered his wife’sdying wish becarried out. More than 20 000 workers labored nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains in the center under the building.

And than, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days—eight years, to be exact—imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it—until he was buried next to his wife.

Today 25 000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange, sad story, those who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired(激发……的灵感) its construction.

1. The first two paragraphs were written to show that________.

A. the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building

B. ancient Indian emperors were cruel

C. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India

D. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world

2. The Taj Mahal was first built as ________.

A. a prison

B. a gift to Mumtaz

C. a memorial building

D. a tourist attraction

3. We learn from the text that Mumtaz probably died in ________.

A. 1626

B. 1632

C. 1634

D. 1653

4. The underlined word “happiness” in the last sentence refers to ________.

A. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife

B. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power

C. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal

D. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal

 

Answer 1

答案：1A2C3B4A
解析：

1. A。考查考生对短文前两段主旨要义的理解情况。第一段说明这是17世纪为国王的亡妻建设的塔式建筑，第二段则讲述了为使其绝无仅有国王残酷的决定和与其相关的一段故事，这些都说明了Taj Mahal的非凡和其悠久的历史。 2. C。考查考生对短文中细节信息的理解情况。由短文中出现的And as Mumtaz 1ay dying，she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial to celebrate their love看，Taj Mahal本来是一座纪念性建筑。 3. B。考查考生根据短文中有关内容进行简单推断的能力。短文中说到，Mumtaz 1612年嫁给Jehan，20年后死去。 4. A。考查考生根据短文中相关内容对词语的含义进行简单推断的能力。选项中惟有A项中的内容能够解释短文中happiness的所指，且与上下文内容相符。