Question

【題目】 Imagine a man who cannot read or write. Now imagine that same man creating a brand new alphabet (字母表). It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Yet that is exactly what one man did—a man named Sequoyah.

Born around 1770 in America, Sequoyah was a Cherokee (切羅基人). Like other Native Americans (美國土著) of that time, he could neither read nor write. He noticed, though, how white people wrote to one another on pieces of paper. They often used these “talking leaves”, as some Native Americans called them, to communicate.

Back then, the Cherokee had no way to write down words in their own language. Sequoyah believed it was essential for the Cherokee to have a system of writing. So, in 1809, he set out to create an alphabet that the Cherokee could use to do just that.

Sequoyah started by drawing pictures, with each one symbolizing (代表) a different word or idea. He soon realized that writing sentences using pictures would be much too difficult. Sequoyah decided to try a different way. He began to develop symbols to stand for the sounds, or syllables (音節(jié)), that made up words. Twelve years later, he completed a system of writing with 86 different symbols. Each one stood for a different syllable in the Cherokee language. The symbols could easily be put together to form words. Soon thousands of Cherokee were able to read and write in their own language.

Sequoyah’s work did not end there, however. He helped to set up a print shop and began publishing (出版) a bilingual newspaper in both Cherokee and English. In later years, Sequoyah became a political leader (政治領(lǐng)袖) among the Cherokee.

Sequoyah died in 1843, but many Cherokee of today still use the alphabet he invented. Thanks to him, the Cherokee now have a written history that will never be forgotten.

【1】What do the underlined words “talking leaves” refer to?

A.Paper with words on them.B.Leaves with words on them.

C.Paper with pictures on them.D.Leaves with pictures on them.

【2】The underlined word “essential” is closest in meaning to “ ”.

A.strangeB.luckyC.difficultD.important

【3】When did Sequoyah complete his system of writing?

A.In 1770.B.In 1809.C.In 1821.D.In 1843.

【4】What did Sequoyah do right after he completed his system of writing?

A.He began to learn English.B.He worked as a political leader.

C.He helped to start a newspaper.D.He improved his drawing skills.

【5】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.Sequoyah’s alphabet is still being used today.

B.Sequoyah read many books when he was small.

C.Sequoyah’s family moved to America around 1770.

D.Sequoyah’s system of writing included pictures and syllables.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】C

【4】C

【5】A

【解析】

這是一篇記敘文。文章主要講述美國土著塞闊雅在看到白人在紙上寫字進(jìn)行交流之后，創(chuàng)作屬于切羅基人的音節(jié)書寫系統(tǒng)，并出版了雙語報(bào)紙的故事。

【1】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)第二段“white people wrote to one another on pieces of paper”可知講述的是白人在紙上寫字。劃線的詞指的是寫在紙上的文字。故選A。

【2】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)第三段“the Cherokee had no way to write down words in their own language”可知切羅基人沒有自己的語言來寫文字，所以他決定創(chuàng)造他們自己的字母表，it指代“書寫系統(tǒng)”由此推斷他覺得有自己的書寫系統(tǒng)很重要。essential的近義詞是important。故選D。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段“in 1809, he set out to create an alphabet”他從1809年開始創(chuàng)作字母表；第四段“Twelve years later, he completed a system of writing”12年之后，也就是1821年，他完成了書寫系統(tǒng)的制作。故選C。

【4】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第五段“Sequoyah’s work did not end there, however. He helped to set up a print shop and began publishing (出版) a bilingual newspaper”可知完成書寫系統(tǒng)的創(chuàng)造之后他又開始出版報(bào)紙。故選C。

【5】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段“Thanks to him, the Cherokee now have a written history that will never be forgotten”可知他創(chuàng)作的字母表一直到現(xiàn)在仍然在使用，A表述正確。根據(jù)第二段“Born around 1770 in America, Sequoyah was a Cherokee (切羅基人). Like other Native Americans (美國土著) of that time, he could neither read nor write”可知塞闊雅是美國的土著居民，小時(shí)候不會讀不會寫，選項(xiàng)B和C表示錯(cuò)誤。根據(jù)第四段“He began to develop symbols to stand for the sounds, or syllables (音節(jié)), that made up words... he completed a system of writing with 86 different symbols.”可知他創(chuàng)作的文字系統(tǒng)是有86個(gè)不同的符號，并沒有圖片，選項(xiàng)D表述錯(cuò)誤。故選A。