题目

I am an American. I believe that the American presidency is the most important job in the world. It's a job that goes up for grabs (争夺) every four years. The candidate (候选人) who wins in November of 2000 will take office the following January and be the first new U.S. president of the twenty-first century.The election campaign (运动) is a long one. Some say it begins right after the election and goes on for the next four years. That's probably untrue, but it does last a long time. Those who have their eyes on the job have to start gathering support and building campaign organizations early.Some believe that the campaign for president should be shorter. I disagree. A long campaign is an endurance contest. It gives the candidates a chance to show their strengths and forces them to overcome their weaknesses. The close examination makes it much less likely that the voters (选民们) will accidentally choose an unqualified candidate to be their leader.Personally, I enjoy the contest. It's a long-distance race that produces a winner who may have a profound effect on all our lives. The debates and November election are the sporting events that really matter!25. The word "matter" in the last sentence of the article means "________".A. are unimportantB. are very importantC. are useful materialsD. are meaningless

I am an American. I believe that the American presidency is the most important job in the world. It's a job that goes up for grabs (争夺) every four years. The candidate (候选人) who wins in November of 2000 will take office the following January and be the first new U.S. president of the twenty-first century.

The election campaign (运动) is a long one. Some say it begins right after the election and goes on for the next four years. That's probably untrue, but it does last a long time. Those who have their eyes on the job have to start gathering support and building campaign organizations early.

Some believe that the campaign for president should be shorter. I disagree. A long campaign is an endurance contest. It gives the candidates a chance to show their strengths and forces them to overcome their weaknesses. The close examination makes it much less likely that the voters (选民们) will accidentally choose an unqualified candidate to be their leader.

Personally, I enjoy the contest. It's a long-distance race that produces a winner who may have a profound effect on all our lives. The debates and November election are the sporting events that really matter!

25. The word "matter" in the last sentence of the article means "________".
A. are unimportant
B. are very important
C. are useful materials
D. are meaningless

题目解答

答案

根据文章最后一句，“The debates and November election are the sporting events that really matter!” 可以看出，作者将总统选举比作体育赛事，而“matter”在这里表示“重要”。结合上下文，作者认为总统选举是一场长期的竞赛，最终的辩论和选举结果对国家未来有重大影响。因此，“matter”应理解为“非常重要”。 A项“are unimportant”与句意相反，排除。 B项“are very important”符合语境，表示“真正重要”。 C项“are useful materials”与“事件”不符，排除。 D项“are meaningless”也与句意不符，排除。 综上，正确答案是B。 答案：B. are very important

解析

本题考查对文章中词汇含义的理解。解题思路是结合文章上下文语境来推断“matter”一词在文中的意思。

  1. 首先，文章整体围绕美国总统选举展开，作者认为总统选举是一场长期的竞赛，对人们的生活有深远影响。
  2. 接着看最后一句 “The debates and November election are the sporting events that really matter!”，作者把总统选举的辩论和11月的选举比作体育赛事，结合前文对选举重要性的描述，可以判断这里“matter”表达的是积极的、强调重要性的含义。
  3. 然后分析各个选项：
    • A选项 “are unimportant” 意思是不重要，与文章强调选举重要性的语境相悖，所以A选项错误。
    • B选项 “are very important” 表示非常重要，符合文章中作者对选举重要性的强调，所以B选项正确。
    • C选项 “are useful materials” 指的是有用的材料，“matter”在这里并不是这个意思，且与“事件”不匹配，所以C选项错误。
    • D选项 “are meaningless” 意为无意义，与文章表达的选举有重大影响的意思不符，所以D选项错误。