阅读理解 A 500-year-old world map that was the first to name a newfound continent west of Europe "America" was sold for one million dollars at an auction(拍卖) in Christie''s in London. Charles Frodshan, a London book and manuscript dealer, bought the map for 545,600 pounds during bidding at Christie''s. Christie''s said the map was also the first printed portrayal(肖像图) of the Earth as a globe, the first that distinguishes North and South America individually, and the first complete picture of the Pacific Ocean. Printed in 1507 by the German geographer Martin Waldseemuller, the map is just one of five in existence and had been expected to sell for between 500,000 and 800,000 pounds. The document, which is the most important article in the sale of maps, atlases and globes by Christie''s, was discovered in February 2003 after a European collector realized that it was one of the maps in his collection. "This is one of the most exciting discoveries of my career, and represents the peak in the history of map making... This simple sheet of paper holds so many new and anticipated discoveries, all created with an enormous leap of faith by a venerable geographer in a small town in Lorraine (eastern France)," said Tom Lamb, director of the auction house''s book and manuscript department, in a statement. Most history documents credit the Genoa-born explorer, Christopher Columbus, with being the first European to discover the so-called New World of North and South America in 1492, but he was convinced it was part of Asia. A second Italian, Amerigo Vespucci, actually argued that the landmass to the west of Europe was a whole new continent. Until the map''s publication, the layout of the world had been based on the knowledge of the ancient Greeks. But in 1505, Rene II, the Duke of Lorraine ordered a group of scholars led by Waldseemuller to draft a new world map. He gave them a French translation of Vespucci''s travels and as a result, the scholars decided to name the new landmass "America" after the traveler''s first name.

单选题 What was the most special about die map sold at an auction in London?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】分析判断题。首先要审题，注意到题目中的一个“最”字(most special)。习题中给出的四个选项，其中B文中未曾提及，A、C、D在文中都讲到，而且都是这幅地图引人注目的原因，但是我们看到A和D的原因在于C。所以这幅地图的真正与众不同之处在于文中开篇对于这幅地图的描述A500-year-old world map that was the first to name a newfound continent west of Europe America(一张有500年历史的、历史上第一张将欧洲以西的大陆命名为“美洲”的地图)。答案是C。

单选题 Who bought the map at the auction?

单选题 Christie''s in this passage refers to________.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】指代题。新闻英语的另一个重要特点是：尽量避免重复，因此对于同一事物，文章中常用不同的语言来指代。在本文中，Christie''s分别出现在第一段an auction(拍卖)in Christie''s in London；第二段during bidding at Christie''s；第三段Christie''s said；第四段in the sale of maps，atlases and globes by Christie''s。虽然在前四段文章没有明确说明Christie''s到底指的是什么，但是通过在Christie''s发生的事：拍卖、竞拍、售出地图、图册和地球仪，我们可以猜测Christie''s是拍卖行。而在第五段，这种猜测得到印证：the auction house''s。所以答案是B。

单选题 In 1492, when Christopher Columbus reached the new continent, he________.

单选题 How did the continent of America get this name?

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】指代题。文章中没有与四个选项完全相同的内容，但是提到America命名的由来，第七段指出：name the new landmass“America”after the traveler''s first name，那么我们就必须判断这个traveler是什么人。在第六段中提到两个探险家：Christopher Columbus和Amerigo Vespucci。根据我们的背景知识，我们知道他们均为意大利航海家，前者虽然是第一位登上新大陆的人，但是他并不认为这是新大陆；而后者的名字正是America的出处。所以答案是A。