Question

The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.

The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses(病毒) passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.?

During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(戰壕), cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.?

In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(奧斯維辛集中營), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.?

At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.?

If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains—taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.?

No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms(癥狀).?

The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.?

A. 4      B. 5      C. 6       D. 3

Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage??

A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.?

B. Colds are not caused by cold.?

C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.?

D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already had one.

Arctic explorers may catch colds when ________.

A. they are working in the isolated Arctic regions?

B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather?

C. they are free from work in the isolated Arctic regions?

D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world

The passage mainly discusses ________.

A. the experiments on the common cold  

B. the fallacy about the common cold?

C. the reason and the way people catch colds

D. the continued spread of common colds

Answer 1

【小題1】B

【小題2】C

【小題3】D

【小題4】B

解析:

本文為議論文。闡述了“感冒不是由寒冷引起的”觀點。

【小題1】細節題。作者舉了5個例子來說明自己的觀點：Eskimos; explorers in isolated Arctic regions; soldiers during the First World War; prisoners at the Auschwitz concentration camp; volunteers in Experiments.

【小題2】細節題。選項A、B、D均與原文相符(見第二段)，而選項C顯然與文中的You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. 不相符，故選C。

【小題3】細節題 從 …explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside  中可以知道，這些探險者是因為與外界接觸而感冒的。

【小題4】主旨題。第二段的第一、二句The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not.是本文的主題句。全文主要闡述了“感冒不是由寒冷引起的”這一觀點。