Question

People in the United States honour their parents with two special days: Mother’s Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father’s Day, on the third Sunday in June.These days are set aside to show love and respect for parents. They raise their children and educate them to be responsible citizens. They give love and care.These two days make us think about the changing roles of mothers and fathers. More mothers are now working outside home. More fathers must help with the children care.
These two special days are celebrated in many different ways. On Mother’s Day, people wear carnations(康乃馨). A red one symbolizes（象征） a living mother, while a white one shows the mother is dead. Many people attend religious services to honour parents. It is also a day when people whose parents are dead visit cemetery ( 墓地). On these days, families get together at home, as well as in restaurants. They often have outdoor barbecues for Father’s Day. These are days of fun and good feelings and memories.
Another tradition is to give cards and gifts. Children make them in school. Many people make their own presents. These are valued more than the ones bought in stores. It is not the value of the gift that is important, but it is the thought that counts. Greeting card stores, florists, candy makers, bakeries, telephone companies and other stores do a lot of business during these holidays.
【小题1】Which of the following is NOT a reason for parents show love and respect for parents?

A．Parents bring up children

B．Parents give love and care to children

C．Parents educate children to be good persons

D．Parents pass away before children grow up

【小题2】Which do you think is true about “carnation” mentioned in paragraph 2?

A．It has only two kinds of colours

B．It refers to the special clothes people wear on Mother’s Day or Father’Day

C．It’s a kind of flower showing love and best wishes.

D．People can wear carnations only on the second Sunday in May

【小题3】What can we learn from the passage?

A．Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are both in May

B．Fewer women worked outside the home in the past

C．Not all the children respect their parents

D．Fathers are not as important as mothers

【小题4】What do you think the underlined word “florists”do?

A．They sell flowers

B．They offer enough room for having family parties

C．They sell special clothes for Mother’s day

D．They make bread or pastry(点心)

Answer 1

【小题1】D
【小题2】C
【小题3】B
【小题4】A

解析试题分析：本文介绍了美国人对父母表示敬重的原因和如何过父亲节和母亲节。
【小题1】推断题。A、B和C三项均是对父母敬重的原因，而只有D项是不正确的。可以从第一段中“They raise their children and educate them to be ?responsible? citizens. They give love and care.”得出答案。?
【小题2】词义猜测题。通读文章便知carnation是康乃馨。选C。
【小题3】推理题：从第一段第一句“Mother's Day, on the second Sunday in May, and Father's Day, on the third Sunday in June.”可知这两个节日不在同一个月；从第一段最后一句“More mothers now work outside the home. More fathers must help with child-care.”现在有更多的母亲在外工作，可以推出“以前有较少的妇女在外工作”，所以B为正确答案；C项和D项中的说法文中并没有提到或有所暗示。
【小题4】词义猜测题。根据构词法，名词后缀-ist，表示“……主义者”及专业人员，可知此处的flowers为花商。因此花商要趁此节日销售鲜花。选A
考点：考查社会现象类短文
点评：本文有一定难度，要求考生了解西方的传统文化。考查较为全面，审题以后再阅读文章要准确定位考点。特别是猜词题，要结合上下文的暗示做题，掌握方法是关键。