《2024年课课练九年级英语上册译林版》

二、阅读理解
The twelve animal signs, also called Chinese zodiac signs (生肖), are the twelve kinds of Chinese animals that match the twelve Earthly Branches (地支) in the year of human birth. According to Guo Licheng, the purpose of the animal signs is to make it easier for people to remember the name of Heavenly Stems (天干) and Earthly Branches.
The earliest record of the same twelve zodiac signs as the modern ones is Lun Heng written by Wang Chong of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It is said that the twelve zodiac came from animal worship (崇拜). In old days, people lived mainly on animals. They respected animals. They were afraid of animals as well. That was the origin of the Zodiac. The Zodiac began in the 6th century BC, and it was used to mark Chinese years. According to the Qin bamboo slips (竹简) in Hubei Province and Gansu Province, a complete Zodiac appeared in the pre-Qin period.
The Zodiac is also known as the twelve-year animals. There is such a story about it. Long long ago, in order to give time to humans, the Jade Emperor (玉帝) decided to choose twelve kinds of animals as the signs in the human world. Therefore, the animals in the world had a competition for the Zodiac King. On that day, the rats appeared first and then the oxen, tigers, rabbits, dragons, snakes, horses, sheep, monkeys, roosters, dogs and pigs. Therefore, Chinese years have calendars of rats, oxen, tigers and so on. They appear in a fixed order.
With the development of history, animal signs went into people's thoughts and lives. All of them have rich stories, which become part of Chinese culture. Twelve animal signs were first used on humans in the Northern Zhou Dynasty during the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In modern times, more and more people think that the zodiac signs are the mascot (吉祥物) of the Spring Festival and the symbol (标志) of Chinese cultural activities. As a long-standing symbol of Chinese culture, the Zodiac has left behind a large number of poems, novels, paintings and a lot of other forms of art. Besides China, many countries around the world sell zodiac stamps during the Spring Festival to express their wishes for the Chinese New Year.
( ) 1. Which of the following is this article from?
A. A notice.
B. A book.
C. A diary.
D. A dictionary.
( ) 2. The underlined word “origin” means “______” in Chinese.
A. 起源
B. 概况
C. 发展
D. 现状
( ) 3. Which is the right order of the following historical facts (史实)?
① People first used animal signs on humans.
② People lived mainly on animals.
③ The Zodiac was first used to mark Chinese years.
④ The earliest record of the same twelve zodiac signs as the modern ones appeared.
A. ③②①④
B. ②③④①
C. ①②④③
D. ④②③①
( ) 4. In old days, animal signs were used ______. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. to remember years
B. to remember Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
C. on humans
D. as the mascot of the Spring Festival
( ) 5. What is this article mainly about?
A. The meaning of animal signs.
B. The stories of animal signs.
C. The history of animal signs.
D. The effect (作用) of animal signs.

答案： B
A
B
D
C