单选题
Salt, shells or metals are still used as money in
out-of-the-way parts of the world today. Salt may seem rather a
strange {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}to use as money,
{{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}in countries where the food of the
people is mainly vegetable, it is often an {{U}} {{U}} 3
{{/U}} {{/U}}necessity. Cakes of salt, stamped to show their {{U}}
{{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}, were used as money in some countries until
recent {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}, and cakes of salt {{U}}
{{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}buy goods in Borneo and parts of
Africa. Sea shells {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}}
{{/U}}as money at some time {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}another
over the greater part of the Old World. These were {{U}} {{U}} 9
{{/U}} {{/U}}mainly from the beaches of the Maldives Islands in the Indian
Ocean, and were traded to India and China. In Africa, shells were traded right
across the {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}from East to
West. Metal, valued by weight, {{U}} {{U}} 11
{{/U}} {{/U}}coins in many parts of the world. Iron, in lumps, bars or rings,
is still used in many countries {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}}
{{/U}}paper money. It can either be exchanged {{U}} {{U}} 13
{{/U}} {{/U}}goods, or made into tools, weapons, or ornaments. The early money
of China, apart from shells, was of bronze, {{U}} {{U}} 14
{{/U}} {{/U}}in flat, round pieces with a hole in the middle, called "cash".
The {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}of these are between three
thousand and four thousand years old-older than the earliest coins of the
eastern Mediterranean. Nowadays, coins and notes have {{U}}
{{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}nearly all the more picturesque {{U}}
{{U}} 17 {{/U}} {{/U}}of money, and {{U}} {{U}} 18
{{/U}} {{/U}}in one or two of the more remote countries people still keep it
for future use on ceremonial {{U}} {{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}such as
weddings and funerals, examples of {{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}}
{{/U}}money will soon be found only in museums.
单选题
A. object
B. article
C. substance
D. category
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】本题考查名词辨析。object“物质”，多指用触觉或者视觉可以感觉到的东西(a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow)；article“物品”；substance“物质；实质”；category“种类，分类”。第一段说“盐、贝壳和金属被当做钱…”，强调的为一种物质的这一实质，因此正确答案为C“substance”。
【答案解析】本题考查形容词辨析。abstract“抽象的”，与concrete“具体的”相对；advantageous“有利的，有益的”，常作表语，修饰后面的名词时，常表示后面的名词能让别的物获利，如advantageous rules意思是rules that can give advantage to...；abundant“充裕的，丰富的”，通常指数量上多；absolute“完全的”。四个选项中只有absolute可与necessity搭配，表示“绝对必要”，因此正确答案为D“absolute”。
【答案解析】本题考查固定搭配。recent times表示“最近”，time的复数形式有时代之意，这里表达的是古今对比，讲的是一个时间段，也可由此推出times为答案。event“事件”；situation“情况；形势；处境；位置”；condition“条件；情况；环境；身份”。situation与condition也是完形填空题目中经常出现的单词，注意两者差别，condition着重于人、事、物的具体条件、状态、行为，如His condition is dangerous.；situation着重于人、事、物的抽象、比拟、较大方面的形势、境遇、场所，如Measures must be taken to meet this situation.。背几个常用搭配也是区别易混单词的好方式之一。
单选题
A. even
B. also
C. still
D. never
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】本题考查语境理解。此空前面说盐过去(由were used as可看出)到现在(until recent...) 一直在某些国家用做钱，然后由and引出并列句子，26空后的动词buy为现在时，可知说的是前面的状态一直延续到现在，所以正确答案为C“still”。这一段的意思是“把盐当做钱可能看起来相当奇怪，但是在一些以蔬菜为主要食物的国家，它们是必需品。在有些国家，标注价值的盐块儿从过去流通到现在，婆罗洲和非洲的一些地方仍然用盐块儿来交换商品。”
单选题
A. had been used
B. are used
C. would be used
D. would have been
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】本题考查语法。本句中此空后面都是用过去时，所以此空需要填过去的某个时态。salt为被使用，所以选择C“would be used”，这里would还表示过去常常。这句需要注意与time相关的几个词组辨析：some time“某段时间”；“sometime”某个时间，常用将来时；some times“几次”；sometimes为副词，表示“有时，间或”。所以正确答案为C“would be used”。
【答案解析】本题考查形容词的比较级和最高级。后面出现older than the earliest coins of the eastern Mediterranean，显然这里是将中国最早的钱币和东地中海最早的钱币进行对比，所以正确答案选B“earliest”。无论是完形填空还是阅读理解，都应该格外注意引号、破折号、表转折的词汇所引出来的关键信息点、hints等。
单选题
A. replaced
B. reproduced
C. reflected
D. recovered
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】本题考查动词辨析。replace“代替”，replace A with B指“用B代替A”；reproduce“复制，再生”；reflect“反映；反射”；recover“恢复；修补”。现在人们使用coins和notes，很少使用原来的钱币了，也就是替代了原来的钱币，所以正确答案为A“replace”。