Question

【题目】For the rest of March, a disease will sweep across the US. It will keep kids home from school. 【1】 Employees will suddenly lose their ability to concentrate.

The disease, known as “March Madness”, refers to the yearly 65-team US men’s college basketball tournament. 【2】 Teams compete against each other in a single-elimination (单局淘汰) tournament that eventually crowns a national champion.

Nearly 20 million Americans will find themselves prisoners of basketball festival madness. The fun comes partly from guessing the winners for every game. Friends compete against friends. 【3】 Colleagues against bosses.

Big-name schools are usually favored to advance into the tournament. But each year there are dark horses from little-known universities.

This adds to the madness. Watching a team from a school with 3,000 students beat a team from a school with 30,000, for many Americans, is an exciting experience. Two years ago, the little-known George Mason University was one of the final four teams. 【4】

College basketball players are not paid, so the game is more about making a name for their university and themselves. 【5】 About $ 4 billion will be spent gambling (赌) on the event. According to Media Life magazine, the event will bring in $ 500 million in advertising income this year, topping the post – season income of every US professional league, including that of the NBA.

A. Husbands against wives.

B. The players will go all out for the games.

C. But that doesn’t mean money isn’t involved.

D. College studentsspan> will ignore piles of homework.

E. People are willing to spend more money on watching it.

F. It begins on March 15 and lasts through the beginning of April.

G. Many people had never even heard of the university before the tournament.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】F

【3】A

【4】G

【5】C

【解析】

试题分析:在每年的三月份举行的美国男子大学篮球锦标赛使得美国人为之疯狂，文章介绍了这个比赛的比赛形式和内容。

【1】D 考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。前句提到了学生不再去学校上学，由此判断而D选项内容College students will ignore piles of homework.恰好符合语境，起到承接作用，故选D。

【2】F考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。前段文字在介绍比赛的时间，判断F选项 It begins on March 15 and lasts through the beginning of April.符合语境，故选F。

【3】A考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。根据Friends compete against friends. Colleagues against bosses.可知A选项Husbands against wives与前后两句句型相同，选A。

【4】G考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。前句Two years ago, the little-known George Mason University was one of the final four teams.，提到了一所大学，而G选项Many people had never even heard of the university before the tournament.恰好符合语境，故选G。

【5】C考查对上下文的理解和推理判断能力。前句提谈到比赛是不用钱的，后句谈到有人在比赛赌博，设计钱，而C选项But that doesn’t mean money isn’t involved.承上启下，故选C。