Question

【題目】Cold weather has a great effect on how our minds and our bodies work. Maybe that is why there are so many expressions that use the word “cold”. For centuries, the body's blood has been linked closely with the emotions. People who show no human emotions or feelings, for example, are said to be cold－blooded. Cold－blooded people act in a merciless way. They may do brutal things to others, and not by accident. For example, a newspaper says the police are searching for a cold－blooded killer. The killer murdered someone, not in self－defense. He seemed to kill with no emotion.

Cold can affect other parts of the body, the feet, for example. Heavy socks can warm your feet，if your feet are really cold. But there is an expression—to get cold feet—that has nothing to do with cold or your feet. The expression means being afraid to do something you decided to do. For example, you agree to be president of an organization. But then you learn that all the other officers have resigned. All the work of the organization will be your responsibility. You are likely to get cold feet about being president when you understand the situation.

Cold can also affect your shoulder. You “give someone the cold shoulder” when you refuse to speak to him. You treat him in a distant, cold way. The expression probably comes from the physical act of turning your back towards someone, instead of speaking to him face－to－face. You may give a cold shoulder to a friend who has not kept a promise he made to you or to someone who has lied about you to others.

“A cold fish” is not a fish. It is a person. But it is a person who is unfriendly, unemotional and show no love or warmth. A cold fish does not offer much of himself to anyone.

“Out in the cold” is an expression often heard. It means not getting something that everybody else got. A person might say that everybody but him got a pay raise. He was left out in the cold. And it is not a pleasant place to be.

【1】The passage is intended to tell us that ________.

A. cold weather has a great effect on human bodies

B. many English expressions contain the word “cold”

C. cold is a word closely linked with human emotions

D. the word “cold” has many different meanings in English

【2】The underlined word “brutal” in Paragraph 1 most probably means“________”．

A. impolite B. illegal

C. cruel D. extreme

【3】You can say Tom ________ if the teacher gives all the boys except him a pen as a prize.

A. is given the cold shoulder

B. is left out in the cold

C. has got cold feet

D. is murdered by a cold－blooded killer

【4】We can draw a conclusion from the passage that ________.

A. all the expressions containing the word “cold” have negative meanings

B. all the expressions containing the word “cold” have something to do with cold

C. people who show no human emotions or feelings have cold blood

D. many parts of the human body can be badly affected by cold

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】B

【4】A

【解析】本文選自VOA Special English，介紹了英語中一些含有cold這個(gè)單詞的習(xí)慣用語。

【1】B主旨大意題。本題考查考生對(duì)文章主旨大意地把握，文章重點(diǎn)解釋了很多含有cold的習(xí)語，故選B。A、C選項(xiàng)都很片面。

【2】C猜測詞義題。根據(jù)前文Cold-blooded people act in merciless ways可知brutal意為“殘忍的，野蠻的”。故C正確。

【3】B詞義理解題。本題同樣是考查考生對(duì)文中所介紹的含有cold的幾個(gè)短語的理解，從文章最后一段可知。be left out in the cold：被冷落；被排斥。故B正確。

【4】A歸納判斷題。文中所介紹的含有cold的幾個(gè)短語均為負(fù)面或貶義詞。B項(xiàng)不對(duì)，因?yàn)椴⒎撬�有�?/span>cold短語都與cold（寒冷）有關(guān)，從第一段的最后一句可知選A。