阅读理解 TEXT B I know when the snow melts and the first robins (知更鸟) come to call, when the laughter of children returns to the parks and playgrounds, something wonderful is about to happen. Spring cleaning. I'll admit spring cleaning is a difficult notion for modern .families to grasp. Today's busy families hardly have time to load the dishwasher, much less clean the doormat. Asking the family to spend the weekend collecting winter dog piles from the melting snow in the backyard is like announcing there will be no more Wi-Fi. It interrupts the natural order. "Honey, what say we spend the weekend beating the rugs, sorting through the boxes in the basement and painting our bedroom a nice lemony yellow?" I say. "Can we at least wait until the NBA matches are over?" my husband answers. But I tell my family, spring cleaning can't wait. The temperature has risen just enough to melt snow but not enough for Little League practice to start. Some flowers are peeking out of the thawing ground, but there is no lawn to seed, nor garden to tend. Newly wakened from our winter's hibernation (冬眠), yet still needing extra blankets at night, we open our windows to the first fresh air floating on the breeze and all of the natural world demanding "Awake and be clean! " Biologists offer a theory about this primal impulse to clean out every drawer and closet in the house at spring's first light, which has to do with melatonin, the sleepytime hormone (激素) our bodies produce when it's dark. When spring's light comes, the melatonin diminishes, and suddenly we are awakened to the dusty, Virus-filled house we've been hibernating in for four months. I tell my family about the science and psychology of a good healthy cleaning at spring's arrival. I speak to them about life's greatest rewards waiting in the removal of soap scum from the bathtub, which hasn't been properly cleaned since the first snowfall. "I'll do it," says the eldest child, a 21-year-old college student who lives at home. "You will? Wow! " I exclaim. Maybe after all these years, he's finally grasped the concept. Maybe he's expressing his rightful position as eldest child and role model. Or maybe he's going to Florida for a break in a couple of weeks and he's being nice to me who is the financial-aid officer. No matter. Seeing my adult son willingly cleaning that dirty bathtub gives me hope for the future of his 12-year-old brother who, instead of working, is found to be sleeping in the seat of the window he is supposed to be cleaning. "Awake and be clean! " I say.
单选题 According to the passage, "... spring cleaning is a difficult notion for modern families to grasp" means that spring cleaning
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】根据题干定位到第3段首句。 [解析] 选项A中的no longer easy对应于原句中的difficult; a practice to understand对应于原句的a notion,因此A是对原句的正确理解。 [点睛] 句意理解题。不要误选B,B的意思是春季大扫除不再是现代家庭生活的一部分,文章作者自己的家庭就是B的反例,B过于绝对了,所以不能选。原文中完全没有提及C和D,所以也应排除。
单选题 Which of the following is LEAST likely to be included in family spring cleaning?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解答本题需正确理解第3段第3句话“让一家子花整个周末把后院中融化的积雪里的狗粪给清理掉.就如同宣告再也没有无线网络可用一般”,这里提到现代家庭难以想象缺了无线网络是为了说明他们也同样难以想象去后院收拾狗粪,表明这两件事都是不太可能的,显然无线网络和春季大扫除无关,正确答案是C。 [点睛] 细节判断题。此题可用排除法,选项A、B、D都作为春季大扫除的例子出现在文章中,可顺利排除。
单选题 Why does the author say "spring cleaning can't wait"?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】 根据题干定位至第6段。 [解析] “春季大扫除可不能等”的原因从第6段2-3句可得知:马上要开始少年棒球联赛训练了,也要开始播种草地、照看花园了,概括起来就是气温再升高点,就有很多其他事要忙了,所以正确答案是A。 [点睛] 句意理解题。选项B、C、D虽然在文中都有提及,但要注意它们都没有和“春季大扫除可不能等”直接构成因果关系,所以均应排除。
单选题 Which of the following interpretations of the biologists' theory about melatonin is INCORRECT?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】根据题干中melatonin定位至第7段。 [解析] 第7段最后一句明确指出“当春光来临,褪黑素减少”,选项D说“人体中的褪黑素量始终不变”显然与原文不符,为本题答案。 [点睛] 细节判断题。注意此题选项A刚好是和D相反的,答案则往往在这两个中产生。A的说法和原文相符,那么D显然就是错误说法。同时注意B和C的说法类似,则不可能是答案。
单选题 Which of the following can best sum up the author's overall reaction to her adult son's positive response to spring cleaning?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】 文章倒数第3和第4段。 [解析] 根据前文作者有关现代家庭对春季大扫除态度的看法可确定,“You will? Wow!”表达了作者的惊讶和欣慰之情(relieved)。倒数第3段,作者对长子的做法给予各种猜测后,说的No matter以及长子的反应给作者带来的希望,可确定其乐观态度,因此C正确。 [点睛] 观点态度题。其他选项中的Surprised,Elated和Optimistic都正确,但是,作者对长子的做法给予的猜测只表示她不能确定原因,不表示对儿子的反应表示怀疑或犹豫不决,所以这三个选项均可排除。