单选题
Can you imagine life without French fries (炸薯条)? Potatoes
are very popular today. But in the past this was not true. Potatoes grew in
South America five thousand years ago. But they only became popular in other
places two hundred years ago. In the 1500s, the Spanish took
the potato from South America to Europe. But the people in Europe did not like
this strange vegetable. Some people thought that if you ate potatoes your skin
would look like the skin of a potato. Other people could not believe that you
ate the underground part of the plant. So they ate the leaves instead. This made
them sick because there is poison (毒性) in the leaves. In the
1800s, people in other parts of the world started to eat potatoes. In Ireland,
potatoes became the main food. Then, in 1845, a disease killed all the potatoes
in Ireland. Two million people died of hunger. Today, each
country has its own potato dish. The German people eat potato salad, and the
United States has the baked potato. And, of course, the French invented French
fries, which are now popular all over the world.
单选题
When did potatoes get well-known outside South America?
A. About 200 years ago.
B. About 300 years ago.
C. About 400 years ago.
D. About 500 years ago.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“土豆是什么时候开始在南美以外的地方流行的?”从本文第一段的最后一句“But they only became popular in other places two hundred years ago.”可知，直到两百年前土豆才在别的地方流行起来，故A正确。
单选题
Why did some Europeans refuse to eat potatoes at first?
A. They did not trust the Spanish people then.
B. They were afraid of the poison in potatoes.
C. They were afraid it would cause skin problem.
D. They had never eaten food from abroad before.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“为什么某些欧洲人最初拒绝吃土豆?”从文章第二段第三句“Some people thought that if you ate potatoes your skin would look like the skin of a potato.”可知，一些人认为如果你吃土豆，你的皮肤会看起来像土豆，故C正确。
单选题
Why did two million people died in Ireland in 18457
A. They had nothing to eat.
B. They ate the bad potatoes.
C. They ate the potato leaves.
D. They got a terrible disease.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“在1845年，爱尔兰为什么会有两百万人死去?”从文章第三段第三、四句“Then, in 1845, a disease killed all the potatoes in Ireland. Two million people died of hunger.”可知，1845年，一场疾病杀死了爱尔兰所有的土豆，这使得两百万人死于饥饿，故A正确。