A
The little town of Half Moon Bay has become the pumpkin capital of California. Each year about 6, 000 tons of this unusual fruit are raised and shipped as far as Hawaii and the east coast of the United States. Yet pumpkins were first grown in the town only in 1934, when a nine-year-old boy planted a few seeds and grew a crop of his own. Now they are such big business that Half Moon Bay holds a pumpkin festival in fall every year and there are more than 10, 000 visitors. Farmers work all summer to try to grow the biggest pumpkins in the world, and thousands of visitors come to help harvest them.
The festival is held at the same time with Halloween at the end of October. Children all over the country make Jack-O’-lanterns(南瓜灯)out of pumpkins by emptying them, carving faces in them and putting candles inside. The insides of the pumpkins can then be used to make delicious pies. The Indians of the eastern United States had been eating pumpkins long before the first settlers arrived. But this food was not introduced in Europe until the 1500s, when the Spanish explorers brought some back from Mexico—where they were first grown some 8, 000 years ago.
【语篇概述】美国加州有一个叫半月湾的地方, 那里有一个有趣的南瓜节。
1. Who are the earliest to eat pumpkins?
A. The first settlers in America.
B. The Spanish explorers who brought some back.
C. The Indians of the eastern United States.
D. The farmers who first grew them in California.
【解析】选C。细节理解题。从第二段第四句“The Indians of the eastern United States had been eating pumpkins long before the first settlers arrived. ”可以推出答案为C项。
2. When did Europeans begin eating pumpkins?
A. In the 1500s.
B. About 8, 000 years ago.
C. In the year 1934.
D. Before the first settlers arrived in America.
【解析】选A。推理判断题。文章最后一句“But this food was not introduced in Europe until the 1500s, . . . ”说明了欧洲人开始吃南瓜的时间应该是16世纪。
3. How long does it take from planting the seeds to harvesting the pumpkins?
A. A whole summer.
B. More than half a year.
C. Four or five months.
D. From spring to fall.
【解析】选C。推理判断题。由第一段最后两句可推知南瓜从播种到收获大约有四到五个月的时间。
4. What’s the best title of this passage?
A. A Special Festival
B. Halloween and Pumpkins
C. Pumpkin Capital
D. How Pumpkins Come from
【解析】选A。主旨大意题。本文介绍的是美国的一个特殊节日——南瓜节。
