Question

Calvin Coolidge, thirtieth president of United States, was a person who hated gossiping（闲聊）. He had no time for small talk. The following two incidents clearly show how Coolidge enjoyed silence.

    When he was vice-president, Coolidge had plenty of opportunities to take part in Washington’s social life, especially the many dinner parties. Because of his knowing nothing about the art of conversation, he did not exactly endear（使……受喜欢）himself to his hostesses. One lady felt she could solve this problem. She placed him next to Alice Roosevelt Longworth, daughter of former President Theodor Roosevelt. Mrs. Longworth, an excellent conversationalist, began to chat in her usual charming（媚人的）manner, but all attempts to arouse（引起）interest on the part of the vice-president were fruitless. Finally, she said, “I’m sure that being to as many dinners as you do, you must get terribly bored.”

    Without lifting his eyes from his plate, Coolidge answered in a low voice, “Well, a man has to eat somewhere.”

    Later, when he was president and again at a dinner party, Coolidge was seated next to a most clever society woman, one of those busybodies, who seem to take delight in trying to change the lives of everyone they meet.

“Oh Mr. President,” she said, “you are always so quiet. I made a bet（打赌）today that I could get more than two words out of you.”

The president became angry and then said, “you lose.”

1. Calvin Coolidge was ________.

    A. president of the U.S

    B.vice-president of the U.S

    C.a man of few words

    D.all of the above

2. His hostesses found him ________ guest.

    A. a pleasing

    B.an easy-going（随便的）

    C.a difficult

    D.a boring

3. At one dinner, the hostess placed Calvin Coolidge next to the daughter of former President Roosevelt ________.

    A.by mistake　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    B.jokingly

C.angrily　　　　　　      　　 D.all of the above

4. From the story we can see Calvin Coolidge’s ________.

    A. dislike for small talk

    B.sense of humor

    C.unskillful at conversation

    D.all of the above

5. The underlined word “busybodies” in the last paragraph means “________”.

    A. people who take too much interest in the affairs of others

    B.people who enjoys silence

    C.people who just mind their own business

    D.people who make others angry

 

Answer 1

答案：D;D;B;B;A
解析：

1.D  该题是一道概括题。要求根据全文陈述，对Calvin Coolidge这个人物进行概括。为此，我们应注意整篇文章中属于他的身份、特点的说明。 “Calvin Coolidge, thirtieth president of the United States …” 这两句表明Coolidge曾当过副总统，后来又当了总统；另从语篇主要讲述他寡言少语的事例，可以判定最佳选项为D项。 2.D  该题是细节题。考查学生对Coolidge在别人家做客时给女主人留下的印象的判断能力。应注意选词描述Coolidge是什么样的客人，要紧扣作者在文中渗透的观点思考，由“Because of his knowing nothing about the art of conversation, he did not exactly endear himself to his hostesses.” 可知，他肯定是太无趣味了，不能让别人喜欢自己，D项为最佳项。 3.B  该题是细节题。考查学生对女主人安排Coolidge座位的意图的理解。从文中叙述 “One lady felt she could solve this problem” 以及 “Mrs. Longworth, an excellent conversations, began to chat in her usual charming manner.” 应理解这位女士是想故意引发他谈话，以此解决Coolidge不开口讲话的“难题”，女主人也想看看这个安排是否奏效，但谁也不是恶意。 4.B  该题是推理判断题。考查学生是否真正理解通过此文所揭示Calvin Coolidge的个性特征。语篇讲述了两次宴会上两位不同的女士都未能引发他交谈的事情，尤其是对第二位女士所言 “You are always so quiet. I made a bet today that I could get more than two words out of you”, Coolidge的回答是两个字“You lose”，充分显示了他的个性与幽默。 5.A  这是一道细节题。要求学生对作者行文的语气，以及与Coolidge性格形成鲜明的对比的那位女士的描述，正确猜测busybodies的词意。一个只关心自己的事，懒得去管别人喜不喜欢谈话的人，是不会费尽心思逗Calvin Coolidge一起说话的。

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