公共英语四级辅导：PETS4阅读精讲（18）

会计考友

　　Reading Comprehension
　　Read the following two texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D.
　　Easter Eggs
　　Most English holidays have a religion origin. Easter is originally the day to commemorate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. But now for most people, Easter is a secular spring holiday, when everyone hopes to enjoy fine weather, when the days are lengthening fast, when trees are already in bud and leaf, and spring flowers appear, the most welcome of the year-violets and primroses, daffodils and narcissi. For children, Easter means, more than anything else, Easter eggs or chocolate eggs.
　　Real, natural eggs do not belong to course to single season of the year. They are eaten all the year round (Duck eggs are a rarity in England, and the eggs of smaller birds are rarer still, a luxury for the very rich and privileged). Eggs are everyday food-inexpensive, nutritious, and especially good for breakfast. Their association with spring, when hens begin to lay after the winter, is older than the manufacture of chocolate eggs. In some places, real eggs are used in an Easter game called “egg rolling”. They are first hardboiled and then given to competitors to roll down a slope. The winner is the person whose egg gets to the bottom first. In some families, the breakfast eggs in Easter Sunday morning are boiled in several pans, each containing a different vegetable dye, so that when they are served the shells are no longer white or pale brown in color, but yellow or pink, blue or green. The dyes do not penetrate the shell of course.
# A( y. q, q; |/ \) @: e% q　　Most British children would be very disappointed if there were the only eggs they had at Easter. Chocolate Easter eggs are displayed in confectioners’ shops as soon as Christmas is over. The smallest and simplest are inexpensive enough for children to buy with pocket money. These are of two sorts. Very small ones, perhaps a little longer than an inch in length, are coated thinly with chocolate in the outside and filled with sweet, soft paste, called fondant. They are wrapped in colored foil in a variety of patterns. Slightly larger eggs, a little bigger, as a rule, than a duck’s egg, are hollow. There is nothing inside at all-just a wrapped chocolate shell. You break the shell and eat the jagged, irregular pieces.
% W7 u8 Z$ d* z% F2 \　　1. Easter is originally the day to____.
2 j) E1 m7 ^! p　　A. mark the beginning of the spring.
　　B. remember the rebirth of Jesus Christ.
" M3 G$ G/ M+ X0 r& h( |　　C. sell chocolate eggs.
　　D. be enjoyed only by British children.
　　2. You can not eat ___ all the year round.
　　A. real natural eggs
　　B. duck eggs
4 |  g; [" `5 S! l/ V( e　　C. the eggs of smaller birds
, q# u" D8 [6 P% t: Q, u( g, n　　D. both B &C

会计考友

</p>　　3. How do the Easter eggs become colorful?
+ F3 a+ X7 x/ }2 M5 E8 j* ^　　A. The eggs are boiled in several pans.
　　B. put different vegetables into different pans.
　　C. Use dyes which do not penetrate the shell.
　　D. Both B &C
: ?6 G3 m. J) z! J8 ]　　4. Confectionery begins to sell Easter sweets____.
) y: j% L2 v# c& A+ |7 Z: ]4 l　　A. when Easter starts.
　　B. as soon as Christmas is over
, x' d$ u* ?3 h/ L/ s8 ?" n+ I　　C. in spring
9 }: E( I1 Q0 s2 y) v( c　　D. all the year round
8 H) P. K1 b3 r+ D% P, f9 M* y　　5. What do the jagged pieces refer to?
8 O% ~6 `0 w8 @; ]9 M　　A. It refers to the chocolate shells of the eggs.
　　B. It refers to the duck eggs.
0 g/ H) Y. }: I　　C. It refers to the sweet soft pastes.
8 k7 M+ F2 K1 N0 r$ Q　　D. It refers to varieties of patterns.
　　解析：
. K7 B: @% b" w1 A　　1. B
　　A标志着春天的开始，并不是它的起源。而只是后来人们赋予它的一个特征。C卖巧克力蛋只是商家在这一天赚钱的途径，最初这一天并不卖巧克力蛋。D小孩字们尽情地享受着复活节带给他们的快乐，但这同样不是复活节最初的功能。
3 ~+ w; }, B3 W* l% E9 o　　2. D
# {! ^: @6 B- g- h1 C" J. S% e　　第二段开头部分说，你一年到头都可以吃到普通的鸡蛋，但是在英国鸭蛋和小鸟蛋却是稀罕的东西。只有那些富人和享有特权的人才可以吃得到，所以在一年当中，你吃不到的蛋就是鸭蛋和小鸟蛋。
# T. G' y  [4 v+ _　　3. D
: p- g7 j/ B- _2 @( ]# G　　复活节蛋怎么才能变得五颜六色呢?在文章的第二段末尾，作者告诉我们，　英国人在复活节这一天，把鸡蛋放在几个盘子里煮，这些盘子里面都装有不同的蔬菜颜料，取出后 就得到了彩色的复活节蛋。
　　4. B
- N3 m. l% B( P2 t% u+ }　　文章第三段说，圣诞节一结束，糖果店就把巧克力作的复活节蛋摆了出来，也就是说圣诞节一过完，糖果店就开始卖复活节彩蛋了。
3 q8 ?) G# t1 W% s) r, L　　5. A
9 _  B0 l, m) c　　jagged的意思是“齿状的”。文章的最后一段说有一种巧克力蛋是中空的,比鸭蛋还大,吃的时候要把它打碎，然后就可以吃那些齿状的，不规则的一片片蛋壳，所以 jagged pieces指的是巧克力蛋的壳。