英銘國考英文周刊-No.64-閱讀測驗篇

閱讀測驗是很多考生畏懼的英文題型之一，其實閱讀測驗的解題並不難，因為外國人寫文章都愛用破題法，只要看第一段即可知道文章大概在講什麼內容。在此篇文章的第一段中，有提到“phoenix” (鳳凰)，所以文章一定跟鳳凰有關。

---

The phoenix was, according to legend, a bird which died in a fire

but came out of the flames alive. In ancient Egypt, the phoenix was

connected with the worship of the sun.

According to some stories, it was like a large eagle, with red and

5
gold feathers. It lived for hundreds, or even thousands of years. But

when its death was near, it built a nest of the scented branches of

trees and spices. It then sang a beautiful, haunting and sad song,

and fanned the nest until it burst into flames. The phoenix died in the

fire it had made, but from the flames and ashes came a new

10
phoenix, which would live for many years.

In other legends, the phoenix was like an Egyptian heron called

the bennu. It was also associated with the worship of the sun and is

found carved on ancient Egyptian monuments as a symbol of the

rising sun and life after death. Because the phoenix was regarded as

15
immortal, it was adopted by the Christian Church as a symbol of the

Resurrection of Jesus and of eternal life. It has also been used as a

sign over chemists’ shops from its association with alchemy and the

search for immortality.

(  ) 1. What is the main idea of this passage?

(A) The phoenix was to the Egyptians what the sun was to the Christians.

(B) The phoenix played an important role in Greek mythology.

(C) The phoenix was burned to ashes before it was reborn and it symbolized immortality.

(D) The account of western civilization would not be complete without mentioning the phoenix.

(  ) 2. Which of the following words is closest in meaning to “immortal” in paragraph 3?

(A) Eternal  (B) Fragile  (C) Agile  (D) Conceited

(  ) 3. What did a phoenix do in preparation for its death?

(A) It kept singing until it was completely exhausted.

(B) It built a nest and then burned it.

(C) It migrated to where the grass was greener.

(D) It built a fire and burned its mate along with itself.

(  ) 4. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

(A) The phoenix resembled a large eagle.

(B) The phoenix was likely to live to be thousands of years old.

(C) The phoenix was dubbed “Bennu” in ancient Egypt.

(D) Nowadays, the phoenix is still used as a sign over drugstores.

---

英銘老師：閱讀測驗是很多考生畏懼的英文題型之一，其實閱題測驗的的解題並不難，因為外國人寫文章都愛用破題法，只要看第一段即可知道文章大概在講什麼內容。例如在此篇文章的第一段中，有提到“phoenix” (鳳凰)，所以文章一定跟鳳凰有關。

第1題：這篇文章的主旨是什麼？根據文章的第8行至第10行，可得知它在巢中煽風，直到火焰燃起。鳳凰死於自己起的火，但是從火焰和灰燼中又產生一個將活很久的新鳳凰。因此答案是(C)。

補充：

fan  n.  扇子、扇形物、螺旋槳(葉片)   v. 扇、激起、驅走、拍翅    (often)

Mrs. Walters cooled herself with a fan.

Walters太太用扇子納涼。

The workers were fanning social unrest with their violent protests.

工人們的暴力抗議會煽動起社會動亂。

更多完整內容 請至國考專門店 英銘國考英文周刊-No.64-閱讀測驗篇