单选题 As we all know that the common cold spreads widely in the whole world. The most widespread mistake is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world.
During the First World War, soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches, cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds. In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp, naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds. At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, astonished took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. Some exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose. If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most painstaking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors such as aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms.
单选题 The writer offered ______ examples to support his argument.
  • A. 4
  • B. 5
  • C. 6
  • D. 3
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。作者举了5个例子来说明自己的观点：Eskimos；explorers in isolated Arctic regions；soldiers during the First World War；prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp；volunteers in Experiments。故答案为B。
单选题 Which of the following does not agree with the passage?
  • A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.
  • B. Colds are not caused by cold.
  • C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.
  • D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already had one.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。选项A、B、D均与原文相符(见第一段)，而选项C显然与文中的“You catch a cold by coming into contact with someone who already has one.”不相符。故答案为C。
单选题 Arctic explorers may catch colds when ______.
  • A. they are working in the isolated Arctic regions
  • B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather
  • C. they are free from work in the isolated Arctic regions
  • D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。从“…explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside”可知：这些探险者是因为与外界接触而感冒的。故答案为D。
单选题 According to the passage, which is true for the cold?
  • A. cure for cold will be found in the near future
  • B. there are drugs that can cure the cold
  • C. aspirin is the best drug to cure cold
  • D. the cold is still irremediable nowadays
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。从第三段的“No one has yet found a cure for the cold. ”可知目前还没有人找到治愈感冒的良方。故答案为D。
单选题 The passage mainly discusses ______.
  • A. the experiments on the common cold
  • B. the fallacy about the common cold
  • C. the reason and the way people catch colds
  • D. the continued spread of common colds
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨题。第一段中“The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. ”是本文的主题句。从而可以看出全文主要阐述了“感冒不是由寒冷引起的”这一观点。故答案为B。