Question

【题目】 第四节 阅读表达

In Chinese, the phrase “daomei’’ is often used to describe bad luck. Where did “daomei” come from? It is said that daomei comes from Zhejiang during the Ming Dynasty (朝代). It has something to do with the keju testing system that were given in ancient China.

At the time, there were no entrance examinations for colleges and universities like today. If someone wanted to become an officer, that person would need to take the keju tests. The keju testing system consisted of several tests at different levels. Through the highest-level tests, called dianshi, the best candidates (候选人) were chosen by the emperor.

The keju tests were hard and competition was fierce(激烈的). During the Ming Dynasty, candidates in Zhejiang would put up a flagpole in front of the gate to their home, wishing for good luck on the tests. Local people called the flagpole “mei” (楣) at the time. If someone passed a test, the flagpole would be kept up. If they failed, the flagpole would be removed, which was called “daomei”, meaning “the flagpole falls”.

As time passed, daomei came to refer not only to “failing a test”, but also to describe being unlucky in general. The Chinese character for mei was also changed from“楣” to today’s “霉”, since the two have the same pronunciation.

【1】Which province did the term “daomei” come from?

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【2】Were there any college entrance examinations in ancient China?

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【3】According to the story, what did “mei” refer to (指的是) during the Ming Dynasty?

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【4】Who chose the best candidates?

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【5】How do you like the keju tests?

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Answer 1

【答案】

【1】Zhejiang.

【2】No.

【3】The flagpole.

【4】The emperor.

【5】It’s hard .

【解析】

本文是一篇记叙文，讲述了“倒霉”这种说法的来源，是与明朝时期浙江人民参加科举考试有关。

【1】根据It is said that daomei comes from Zhejiang during the Ming Dynasty，可知“倒霉”一词来源于浙江，故答案为Zhejiang。

【2】根据At the time, there were no entrance examinations for colleges and universities like today当时没有像今天这样的大学入学考试。可知当时没有高考，故答案为No。

【3】根据Local people called the flagpole “mei” (楣) at the time，可知指的是旗杆，故答案为The flagpole。

【4】根据Through the highest-level tests, called dianshi, the best candidates were chosen by the emperor，可知是皇帝选出最佳候选人，故答案为The emperor。

【5】根据The keju tests were hard and competition was fierce，可知科举考试很难，竞争激烈，故答案为It’s hard.