阅读理解 A line in a song asks, "Does anyone really know what time it is?" This question could easily apply to calendars! Did you know that our ideas about time are affected by religion? Different faiths use different types of calendars to measure time.
Odd structures, such as Stonehenge in England, may have been used to measure time long ago. These ancient rocks stand in a circle like large, gray Legos. Some people think that the rocks relate to the position of the sun. No one knows how people moved them into this information, but it was probably a lot of work. If it was a calendar, it sure was a big one! The Aztecs also had a rock calendar that was related to the sun. They had a Sun Stone that showed their sun god in the center.
The calendar you are probably most familiar is also based on the sun. The powerful Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, first adopted the solar calendar in 46 B. C. The cycle of the year in a solar calendar is measured from one equinox to the next. A solar calendar has to be adjusted every so often to keep in time with the sun. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII first authorized taking a few days out of every year for the purpose of adjusting the calendar. People didn't like this one bit because they thought they were losing time! It took centuries for Europeans to get used to this concept.
. Eventually, a system was worked out to add a single day to the calendar every four years. So it was synchronized with the seasons. The extra day made every fourth year 366 days long. These special years are called leap years, and we add the extra day to the month of February. If you know someone whose birthday is February 29, you know that he or she was born in a leap year. This calendar is called the Gregorian calendar, and it is used in the United States and other Christian countries.
Muslims use a different kind of calendar. Their lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, and it is completely different than a solar one. According to the Muslim holy book, the Koran, Allah said, "Truly, twelve months is the number of the months with God, according to the God's Book, ever since He created Heaven and Earth. " A new Muslim month does not start until two reliable witnesses have seen the new moon. Muslim families often take walks in the evening to find the first yellow slice of the new moon to start Ramadan, their month-long fest.
单选题 26.According to the author of the article, ______has influenced our way of measuring the time.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】本题为细节题。文章第一段最后一句提到“不同宗教信仰的人用不同类型的日历来计算时间”。因此,本题选C。
单选题 27.We know from the article that______calendar is based on the cycle of the moon.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】本题为细节题。文章最后一段第一句就提及“穆斯林使用不同类型的日历。他们的农历基于月亮的周期,和以太阳为周期的完全不同”。因此可知,农历是按月亮的周期计算的。因此答案为D。
单选题 28.From the article we can infer that Ramadan is a muslin festival, which lasts for______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】根据文章最后一段最后一句“穆斯林家庭经常晚上去散步,找到新斋月开始的第一片黄月”,本题选A。
单选题 29.The verb "synchronize" (Line 2, Paragraph 4) probably means______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】文章第四段主要讲了2月29日四年出现一次的原因,是为了保持每年的季节和日期都是相对应的,不会出现季节和日期错乱不对应的情况。那么可以推测“synchronize”在此处有“使合拍;使同步”的意思,因此,本题选D。
单选题 30.The calendar that most people familiar with was first adopted by______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】通过阅读文章第三段前两句可知,公历是我们如今最常用的计时方式。罗马帝围皇帝凯撒大帝,在公元前46年率先采用了阳历,由此可知c选项符合题意。