Question

What is your zodiac（生肖） animal? According to the Chinese lunar calendar（農歷）, 12 animals mark 12 different years. It is the basis of the Chinese zodiac. Nowadays, Chinese zodiac animals have worldwide fame and are increasingly popular among western people.
The zodiac is an important part of Chinese culture. People believe that the characteristics of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. For example, people born in the Year of the Tiger are considered powerful and brave.
Zodiac animals also have some social functions. When people think it is not proper to ask: “How old are you”, they may change their question to “What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.
Zodiac animals are not special to China. Many countries share a similar zodiac culture with China. For example, in the Japanese Zodiac, a wild boar（野豬）takes the place of a pig and the Vietnamese（越南的）zodiac has a cat instead of a rabbit.
But have you ever wondered how these 12 animals were chosen to represent each year? According to legend, the Jade Emperor（玉皇大帝）invited all the animals to join him for Chinese New Year. Only 12 animals went to see him. As a reward he named a year after each one in the order they arrived. The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.
【小題1】The characteristics of a zodiac animal may influence the _____ of every person born in that year.

A．appearance

B．personality

C．hobby

D．education

【小題2】“What is your zodiac animal?” is a question used to find out a person’s______.

A．age

B．name

C．job

D．weight

【小題3】In the Japanese zodiac, we don’t see the zodiac animal：_______

A．wild boar

B．rabbit

C．dragon

D．pig

【小題4】According to the last paragraph, we know that ____ was the first animal to arrive.

A．ox

B．rat

C．pig

D．cat

Answer 1

【小題1】B
【小題2】A
【小題3】D
【小題4】B

解析試題分析：這篇短文主要介紹了十二生肖在中國以及一些其它國家的影響及社會作用，并介紹了十二生肖的來歷。
【小題1】根據第二段People believe that the characteristics of a zodiac animal influence the personality of every person born in that year. 描述，可知選B。
【小題2】根據第三段“What is your zodiac animal?” With this question, you can figure out roughly which year someone was born and the person’s age.描述，可知選A。
【小題3】根據For example, in the Japanese Zodiac, a wild boar（野豬）takes the place of a pig 描述，可知選D。
【小題4】根據The ox would have been the first to arrive, but the rat sat on his back and jumped off just before they arrived to come in first place.描述，可知老鼠是第一個到達的動物，故選B。
考點：關于十二生肖的議論文閱讀
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