Some myths are stories told since ancient times to explain the causes for natural happenings. The Greek myth that explains why there are changes of ___36___ is about Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. She had a daughter, Persephone, whom she loved very much. Hades, god of the underworld, fell in love with Persephone, and he asked Zeus, the ___37___ of the gods, to give Persephone to him as his ___38___. Zeus did not want either to disappoint Hades or to upset Demeter, so he said he would not agree to the marriage, but neither would he ___39___ it. Hades, therefore, decided to take the girl without ___40___. When Persephone was picking flowers in the garden, he seized her and took her to the underworld. When Demeter ___41___ what happened to Persephone, she became so ___42___ that she caused all plants to ___43___ People were in ___44___ of starving. But Demeter was determined not to let crops grow ___45___ her daughter, Persephone, was returned to her. ___46___, still not wanting to disappoint Hades, decided upon a condition for Persephone’s ___47___. She could go back to her mother if she had not ___48___ anything while she was in the underworld. Demeter ___49___ it because she did not know that Persephone had eaten several pomegranate(石榴) seeds in the underworld. When Zeus ___50___ this, he agreed that Persephone could spend part of the year with her ___51___, but he added that since she had eaten the seeds, she must spend part of the year in the underworld. And so it ___52___ that when Persephone is in the underworld, Demeter is sad and therefore ___53___ not let the crops grow. That is ___54___ we have winter when plants do not grow. When Persephone returns, Demeter is ___55___, it is spring, and plants begin to grow again.

36. A. periods?????????? B. seasons??????????????? C. time???????????????????? D. age

37. A. winner??????????? B. ruler???????????????????? C. advisor???????????????? D. fighter

38. A. wife?????????????? B. lover??????????????????? C. partner???????????????? D. daughter

39. A. forbid???????????? B. forgive???????????????? C. admit?????????????????? D. accept

40. A. arrangement??? B. warning??????????????? C. reason????????????????? D. permission

41. A. let out???????????? B. worked out?????????? C. thought out?????????? D. found out

42. A. excited??????????? B. tired???????????????????? C. angry?????????????????? D. serious

43. A. grow fast??????? B. start growing??????? C. stop growing??????? D. grow slowly

44. A. danger??????????? B. hope???????????????????? C. turn???????????????????? D. case

45. A. since????????????? B. until???????????????????? C. after???????????????????? D. when

46. A. Persephone???? B. Zeus???????????????????? C. Demeter?????????????? D. Hades

47. A. return???????????? B. change???????????????? C. marriage?????????????? D. journey

48. A. stolen???????????? B. found?????????????????? C. eaten??????????????????? D. heard

49. A. understood????? B. refused???????????????? C. doubted??????????????? D. accepted

50. A. discovered????? B. studied???????????????? C. forgot????????????????? D. prepared

51. A. daughter???????? B. mother???????????????? C. god????????????????????? D. ruler

52. A. works???????????? B. remains??????????????? C. happens??????????????? D. starts

53. A. should??????????? B. can????????????????????? C. dare???????????????????? D. will

54. A. where???????????? B. because??????????????? C. why???????????????????? D. how

55. A. nice??????????????? B. friendly???????????????? C. fresh??????????????????? D. happy

【答案與解析】

本文通常一個希臘神話說明了四季變化的由來。

36. B。根據(jù)文章最后幾句話可知，文章講的是季節(jié)(season)的更換。

37. B。Zeus是宇宙之神，是眾神的統(tǒng)治者。從下文可以看出，不僅Demeter和Hades之間的矛盾的需要Zeus的調(diào)解，而且他們的想法也要取得Zeus的同意。

38. A。根據(jù)上文的Hades…fell in love with Persephone 以及后文的…agree to the marriage 可知，Hades想娶Persephone為妻。

39. A。此處指的是Zeus既不會同意這樁婚事，也不會禁止。

40. D。根據(jù)下文可知，Hades是搶走Persephone，即沒有得到允許。

41. D。比較：find out查明真相；let out放開，放出；work out 算出；think out 想出。只有選項(xiàng)D最符合語境。

42. C。后文說Demeter 決定要讓所有植物停止生長，可見她很生氣(angry)。

43. C。根據(jù)第54空處的內(nèi)容可知，此處指她使所有植物停止生長。

44. A。比較：in danger of 處于……的危險中；in the hope of 懷有……的希望；in turn 依次；in case of 以防萬一。根據(jù)后文的starving 可知，此題填空in danger of 最佳。

45. B。not...until 意為“直到……才”，此處指的是她要直到她女兒回來才讓植物生長。

46. B。根據(jù)其后的still not wanting to disappoint Hades可知答案。

47. A。此處指Persephone回到她母親身邊。

48. C。根據(jù)下文的Persephone had eaten several pomegranate seeds可知答案。

49. D。根據(jù)上下文的語境看，Demeter 接受了Zeus的條件。

50. A。此處指“發(fā)現(xiàn)”事情真相。

51. B。根據(jù)下文的she must spend part of the year in the underworld可知出此處應(yīng)選with her mother。

52. C。句中的it 為形式主語，真正的主語是that 引導(dǎo)的主語從句。此處的意思是“……就這樣發(fā)生了”。

53. D。比較四個選項(xiàng)，只有will 最合語境。

54. C。That’s why… 的意思是“這就是為什么……”“這就是……的原因”。

55. D。當(dāng) Persephone 回來時，Demeter很高興，所以就是春天，植物開始生長。

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