Question

【題目】There are plenty of things you can feel positive knowing about Garfield—the cat who loves lasagna, hates Mondays and adores a teddy bear named Pooky. But last week, without warning, there rose a strange and sudden debate around a question about the famous cat that even creator Jim Davis needed to weigh in on: Is Garfield a boy， a girl, or no gender（性別）at all?

The argument appears to have begun when writer Virgil Texas came across a 2014 Mental Floss interview with Davis where he described his tabby creation Garfield as “not really male or female or any particular race or nationality, young or old.”

In response to the quote（引用），Virgil wrote on Twitter: “FACT：Garfield has no gender. This. Is. Definite.” So sure was he of Garfield‘s true gender status that Virgil even took it upon himself to update the Garfield character Wikipedia page with the information。

But it was quickly clear that not everyone agreed with Virgil‘s edits, and thus began a war over the Wikipedia entry edits. Some mentioned that Garfield is male. Others wrote that it shouldn’t matter at all whether Garfield is male or female. Washington Post reported that the battle took place over 60 hours and eventually ended when Wikipedia shut things down by locking the page.

It was a statement that soon appeared to have been made in hurry as Jim Davis indeed soon joined the debate, shutting everything down in one line to Washington Post: “Garfield is male.” The 71-year-old cartoonist also pointed out that Garfield has a girlfriend, Arlene, and claimed that his 2014 quotes had been “taken out of context”. “I’ve always said that I wanted to work with animals because they’re not regarded as being any particular gender, race, age or ethnicity,” he said. “In that sense, the humor could be enjoyed by a broader group.”

【1】What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. An argument about the gender of Garfield.

B. The interview between Jim Davis and Virgil Texas.

C. An update of Wikipedia entry edits about Garfield.

D. The popularity of the famous cartoon character Garfield.

【2】What does the underlined phrase “weigh in on” probably mean?

A. Agree with. B. Join in.

C. Put forward. D. Care about.

【3】The debate online upon the gender of Garfield was ended up by ______.

A. writer Virgil Texas B. Wikipedia

C. Washington Post D. creator Jim Davis

【4】What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A. Jim Davis’ 2014 quotes had been cut out.

B. Garfield becomes more famous than before.

C. Washington Post shut everything down in one line about Garfield.

D. The creation of Garfield is aimed at entertainment rather than anything else.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】D

【4】D

【解析】文章介紹了人們對加菲貓性別的爭論。

【1】主旨大意題。第一段的最后一句Is Garfield a boy， a girl, or no gender（性別）at all?具有引出下文以及統(tǒng)領(lǐng)全文的作用，從第二段開始，全文都在對加菲貓的性別提出各方的一些爭論，所以本文的主旨就是對加菲貓性別的爭論，故選A。

【2】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)本句話中的關(guān)鍵詞debate about a question，對一個奇怪問題的爭論，甚至是加菲貓的創(chuàng)造者Jim Davis也都（）。既然后爭論，肯定是大家就某個問題集結(jié)在一起進行爭論，所以此處括號里應(yīng)填參加參與之類的意思的詞，因此選項B就是對的。

【3】推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段It was a statement that soon appeared to have been made in hurry as Jim Davis indeed soon joined the debate, shutting everything down in one line to Washington Post: “Garfield is male.”可知加菲貓的作者在華盛頓郵報上寫了一行字作為整件事的一個終結(jié)，加菲貓是男的，因此終結(jié)這場性別之爭的正式加菲貓的創(chuàng)造者Jim Davis，答案為D。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段最后一句“In that sense, the humor could be enjoyed by a broader group.”可知，Jim Davis認(rèn)為，動物沒有種族，性別，年齡之分，那么更多的人就能享受到快樂和愉悅，因此加菲貓的創(chuàng)造也是旨在娛樂而不是其他，故選D。