阅读理解
The mythology of a culture can provide some vital insights into the beliefs and values of that culture. By using fantastic and sometimes incredible stories to create an oral tradition by which to explain the wonders of the natural world and teach lessons to younger generations, a society exposes those ideas and concepts held most important. Just as important as the final lesson to be gathered from the stories, however, are the characters and the roles they play in conveying that message. Perhaps the epitome of mythology and its use as a tool to pass on cultural values can be found in Aesop's Fables, told and retold during the era of the Greek Empire. Aesop, a slave who won the favor of the court through his imaginative and descriptive tales, almost exclusively used animals to fill the roles in his short stories. Humans, when at all present, almost always played the part of bumbling nincompoops struggling to learn the lesson being presented. This choice of characterization and personification allows us to see that the Greeks placed wisdom on a level slightly beyond humans, implying that deep wisdom and understanding is a universal quality sought by, rather than stemming from, human beings. Aesop's fables illustrated the central themes of humility and self-reliance, reflecting the importance of those traits in early Greek society. The folly of humans was used to contrast against the ultimate goal of attaining a higher level of understanding and awareness of truths about nature and humanity. For example, one notable fable features a fox repeatedly trying to reach a bunch of grapes on a very high vine. After failing at several attempts, the fox gives up, making up its mind that the grapes were probably sour anyway. The fable's lesson, that we often play down that which we can't achieve so as to make ourselves feel better, teaches the reader or listener in an entertaining way about one of the weaknesses of the human psyche. The mythology of other cultures and societies reveal the underlying traits of their respective cultures just as Aesop's fables did. The stories of Roman gods, Aztec ghosts and European elves all served to train ancient generations those lessons considered most important to their community, and today they offer a powerful looking glass by which to evaluate and consider the contextual environment in which those cultures existed.
单选题1.The author appears to view fables as______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】属态度推断题。文章第一段第一句指出：了解一种文化中的神话传说可以为了解该文化中人们的信仰及价值观念提供极其重要的见解，由此可推出选项B中的serious subjects ofstudy(值得认真研究的话题)表述正确。下面两段以《伊索寓言》为例进行阐述，从文章的用词来看(如第二段第二句中的imaginative and descriptive tales——想象力丰富，故事描述逼真；第三段最后一句的in an entertaining way——以轻松的形式)，可证明选项B中的entertaining表述正确。因此，选项B正确。选项A与原文内容不符(most的语气太绝对)；选项C(remnant意为“遗留下来的”)与文章最后一句内容不符：时至今朝，这些神话故事就像一面镜子，力量无穷，人们通过它去评估、思忖神话所代表的文化是处于什么样的环境中的。选项D与原文第二段第一句不符，其中primary(主要的)与原文中的a tool有出入。
单选题2.The way that fables were used in the past is most similar to today's______.
单选题5.The author names the Roman, Aztec and European cultures in order to______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】属信息推断题。题目中的关键词Roman，Aztec and European出现在最后一段第二句：有关罗马诸神、阿兹特克鬼魂还有欧洲小精灵的故事都在教导先辈这方面发挥了一些作用……。这句话是对第一句(……其他文化或其他社会中的神话也展现出这些文化各自的内在特征)的补充说明。由此可知，选项C正确。选项B与第二句不符，Roman，Aztec and European不是故事人物的名字，而是地名；选项A中的primary method在文中无法推出；选项D中的most语气过于绝对，在文中没有依据。