Question

Watching some children trying to catch butterflies one hot August afternoon, I was reminded of an incident in my own childhood．When I was a boy of 12 in South Carolina, something happened to me that cured me forever of wanting to put any wild creature in a cage.We lived on the edge of a wood, and every evening at dusk the mockingbirds would come and rest in the trees and sing. There isn’t a musical instrument made by man that can produce a more beautiful sound than the song of the mockingbird.

I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.

I finally succeeded in catching one and put it in a cage. At first, in its fright at being captured, the bird fluttered about the cage, but eventually it settled down in its new home. I felt very pleased with myself and looked forward to some beautiful singing from my tiny musician.

I had left the cage out on our back porch, and on the second day of the bird’s captivity my new pet’s mother flew to the cage with food in her mouth. The baby bird ate everything she brought to it. I was pleased to see this. Certainly the mother knew better than I how to feed her baby.

The following morning when I went to see how my captive was doing, I discovered it on the floor of the cage, dead. I was shocked! What had happened! I had taken excellent care of my little bird, or so I thought.

Arthur Wayne, the famous ornithologist, happened to be visiting my father at the time, hearing me crying over the death of my bird, explained what had occurred. “A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries. She thinks it better for her young to die than to live in captivity.”

Never since then have I caught any living creature and put it in a cage. All living creatures have a right to live free.

1.Why did the writer catch a mockingbird when he was a boy of 12?

A．He had just got a new cage.                B．He liked its beautiful feather.

C．He wanted it to sing for him.               D．He wanted a pet for a companion.

2.The mockingbird died because it ______.

A．was frightened to death                  B．ate the poisonous food its mother gave it

C．refused to eat anything                   D．drank the poisonous water by mistake

3.An ornithologist probably means ______.

A．a religious person                       B．a kind person

C．a schoolmaster                         D．an expert in birds

4.What is the most important lesson the writer learned from the incident?

A．Freedom is very valuable to all creatures.

B．All birds put in a cage won’t live long.

C．You should keep the birds from their mother.

D．Be careful about food you give to baby birds.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.A

【解析】

試題分析：本文敘述了作者在小的時候由于想抓住一只鳥來為他唱歌，于是就抓住了一只知更鳥，把它放在籠子里，結果鳥的母親給小鳥吃了有毒的果實不久那只小鳥就死了，作者很傷心，后來從鳥類專家那里了解到小鳥認為沒有了自由還不如死，從此以后作者再也不敢抓小鳥了。

1.細節(jié)理解題。根據I decided that I would catch a young bird and keep it in a cage and in that way would have my own private musician.作者想讓知更鳥為他唱歌，故選C。

2.細節(jié)理解題。根據A mother mockingbird, finding her young in a cage, will sometimes bring it poison berries.小鳥吃了母親帶給它的有毒的果實，故選B。

3.細節(jié)理解題。根據ornithologist鳥類專家，故選D。

4.推理判斷題。根據All living creatures have a right to live free.自由是非常重要的，故選A。

考點：故事類短文閱讀。

點評：細節(jié)理解題可以用“重現”的方法來解答。所謂“重現”，就是指某一個單詞或短語的同義、反義、上下義、同根詞或原詞在文中重復出現的現象。這種方法常用于解答完形填空，但用來解答閱讀理解細節(jié)題也同樣管用。細節(jié)理解題的重現指的是：正確答案選項語句中的單詞或短語與閱讀材料中的單詞或短語構成一種重復出現的關系。它同樣可以分為：同義、反義、上下義、同根詞或原詞。