Question

【題目】

The term “crocodile tears” refers to insincere sadness. This term has an etymology dating back several centuries. As early as the fourth century, crocodile tears are referenced in the literature with the meaning of insincere sorrow. It is said that crocodiles weep while eating their hunted animals because they are sad; however, this sadness is not honest.

The term crocodile tears became widely popular after it was documented in a fifteenth-century book titled The Voyage and Travel of Sir John Mandeville, Knight. A passage from the book reads: “These crocodiles kill men and they eat them weeping.”

As you may already know, crocodilians(鱷目動物) likely feel bad about little—especially feeding. However, the assumption of the crocodile-tears metaphor may be true. In a 2007 paper published in BioScience titled “Crocodile Tears: And they eat them weeping”, researchers observed 7 crocodilians in cages during feeding time at a reserve (4 caimans and 3 American alligators). The researchers observed the crocodilians outside of water at feeding stations to better find out whether tearing developed.

Five of the 7 crocodilians developed something like tears in their eyes before, during or after feeding. The researchers suggest that these crocodile tears occur because a crocodilian hisses (發(fā)出嘶嘶聲) while it eats, and this hissing forces air through the spaces in the bone behind the nose and out the eye, in the process picking up nasolacrimal secretions (鼻淚管分泌物.)

In humans, crocodile tears is a medical condition that causes a person to tear up while eating. Crocodile tears typically occur because of a temporary loss of facial control due to damage of the facial nerve. Specifically, when the facial nerve grows again, it does so incorrectly thus resulting in tears during chewing food.

【1】The underlined word “etymology” in Paragraph 1 refers to ________.

A.a reference book containing articles on various topics

B.the origin and history of a particular term

C.a printed sheet of paper that arc given free to advertise

D.the application and influence of a new theory

【2】The term “crocodile tears” ________.

A.is a medical condition that causes a crocodile to tear up

B.became widely popular as early as the fourth century

C.refers to pretended sadness

D.proved to be only an assumption

【3】From the 2007 paper published in BioScience, we can know that ________.

A.crocodilians especially feel bad about feeding

B.not all the 7 crocodilians developed tearing

C.the crocodilians were carefully observed inside water

D.crocodile tears occur because a crocodilian hisses after it eats

【4】The passage is mainly about ________.

A.what the real truth is about crocodile tears

B.when the term “crocodile tears” got popular in literature

C.how researchers made the experiment on crocodilians

D.why crocodile tears typically occur in humans

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】B

【4】A

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。文章通過引用“鱷魚的眼淚”這一說法的來源、發(fā)展以及相關(guān)實驗來告訴讀者“crocodile tears”的真實含義。

【1】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)該句中“dating back several centuries”(追溯到幾個世紀前)和下文As early as the fourth century, crocodile tears are referenced in the literature with the meaning of insincere sorrow.(早在公元4世紀，鱷魚的眼淚在文學(xué)作品中的意思是假慈悲)可推測，“etymology”和一個詞條的來源和發(fā)展相關(guān)。故選B項。

【2】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第一段的It is said that crocodiles weep while eating their hunted animals because they are sad; however, this sadness is not honest.(據(jù)說鱷魚吃它的獵物時會淚流，因為它們很悲傷，然而，這種悲傷是假的。)可知，“crocodile tears”是指假傷心，假慈悲。故選C項。

【3】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第四段的Five of the 7 crocodilians developed something like tears in their eyes before, during or after feeding.(7只鱷魚中，有5只在吃食之前，之中和之后流下了眼淚)可知，并非所有的鱷魚在吃食時都會流淚。故選B項。

【4】主旨大意題。根據(jù)文章的主要內(nèi)容，尤其是倒數(shù)第二段的The researchers suggest that these crocodile tears occur because a crocodilian hisses (發(fā)出嘶嘶聲)while it cats, and this hissing forces air through the spaces in the bone behind the nose and out the eye, in the process picking up nasolacrimal secretions(研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)這些鱷魚的眼淚是因為它們在進食時發(fā)出的嘶嘶聲，這種聲音迫使空氣通過鼻子背后的空間從眼睛出來，在這個過程中帶出了鼻內(nèi)管分泌物)可知，作者通過對“crocodile tears”這一詞條的來源、發(fā)展以及相關(guān)實驗來告訴讀者有關(guān)“crocodile tears”的真實含義。故選A項。