Question

      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

Answer 1

36.B　 37.B　38.A　39.A　40.D　41.D　42.C　43.C　44.A　45.B　

46.B　 47.A　48.C　 49.D　50.A　 51.B　52.C　 53.D　54.C　55.D

解析:

36.解析：seasons季节。根据下文中的spring可判断出这里说的是季节的变化。

37.解析：根据“he asked Zeus ... to give Persephone to him”可判断出Zeus是神的统治者。

38.解析：根据下文中的the marriage可判断出Hades想娶Persephone为妻。

39.解析：forbid禁止。上文的agree与forbid是反义词，既不同意，也不禁止。

40.解析：permission允许根据上文所提供的情景可判断出Hades决定不经过允许而得到这个女孩。

41.解析：find out发现真相。发现什么事发生在Persephone身上。

42.解析：发现自己的女儿被别人抓去了，自然会生气。

43.解析：stop growing停止生长。根据下文中的“was determined not to let crops grow”可确定答案。

44.解析：be in danger of starving处于挨饿的危险。因为植物停止了生长，人们没有东西吃只得挨饿。

45.解析：not until直到……才……。直到她的女儿回到了她的身边，才让庄稼生长。

46.解析：根据上文中的“Zeus did not want either to disappoint Hades or to upset Demeter”可判断出这里指的是Zeus。

47.解析：return回来。从下文的go back可以看出，Zeus决定在一定的情况下可以让Persephone回来。

48.解析：根据下文“had eaten several pomegranate seeds”可判断出如果Persephone不吃任何东西，她就可以回到她妈妈的身边。

49.解析：accept接受。根据because引导的原因状语从句可判断出她接受了这个决定。

50.解析：discover发现。发现她吃了几粒石榴。

51.解析：根据上文的“go back to her mother”可判断出Zeus同意她与自己的母亲待半年。

52.解析：happen发生。it作形式主语，that从句作真正的主语，表示发生了什么事情。

53.解析：will愿意。根据上文中的sad可判断出Persephone在地狱时，Demeter很伤心，她不愿意让庄稼生长。

54.解析：why引导表语从句，表示原因，为什么冬天植物不生长的原因。

55.解析：回到妈妈的身边自然是一件令人高兴的事。