Question

【题目】 Can you imagine that several hundred years ago, tomatoes were seen as toxic food in Europe?

What made Europeans believe this was John Gerard’s publication of Herbal in 1597. Gerard wrote: “The leaves and stalks of the tomato plant are toxic.” Undoubtedly, Gerard’s opinion was based on a misunderstanding of tomatoes. But his opinion was widely spread in Britain and North America for over two hundred years.

In the late 1700s, a lot of Europeans held more fears for tomatoes. A nick name for the fruit was “poison apple” because it was believed that aristocrats(贵族) got sick and died after eating them. But the actual reason was the pewter plates they used. Since tomatoes are high in acidity, when placed on the plates, the lead(铅) in the plates would dissolve. This caused many deaths. This is unluckily, no one knew this at that time. So the innocent tomatoes were picked as the killer.

Today, more than one and a half billion tons of tomatoes are produced every year around the world. Tomatoes are cooked in various ways. This healthy and tasty food finally wins its innocence(清白) back.

【1】What does the underlined word “toxic” in paragraph 1 mean?

A.deliciousB.nutritious(营养)C.poisonousD.safe

【2】What do we know about the book Herbal?

A.It was written by an American writer.B.It was published about 400 years ago.

C.Tomatoes were described as good food.D.Chinese herbal medicine was included.

【3】What’s the passage mainly about?

A.Europeans’ fears for tomatoesB.History of tomato planting

C.Why do people eat so many tomatoesD.How did the tomato prove its value

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】A

【解析】

文章大意：文章主要介绍为什么几百年前欧洲人认为西红柿有毒。

【1】词句推测题。根据文章第三段第一、二行a lot of Europeans held more fears for tomatoes. A nick name for the fruit was “poison apple”“很多欧洲人对西红柿更为恐惧。这种水果的昵称是“毒苹果”可推知toxic的意思是有毒的，delicious美味的；nutritious(营养)；poisonous有毒的；safe安全的，故选C。

【2】细节理解题。根据文章第二段第一行What made Europeans believe this was John Gerard’s publication of Herbal in 1597“使欧洲人相信这个的是约翰·杰拉德在1597年出版的《草药》”可知，《草药》这本书是在大约400多年前出版的，故选B。

【3】主旨大意题。通读全文可以知道文章主要讲述的是欧洲人为什么认为西红柿有毒，以及对西红柿的恐惧，故选A。