16．In the past，many people depended on horses for transportation（運輸），farming and other kinds of work．Nowadays a lot of people still like to ride horses．So it is not surprising that many expressions about itare still used by Americans today．
Long ago，people who were rich or important rode horses that were very tall．Today，if a girl is too proud and looks down upon others，you might say she should"get off her high horse．"
Last night，I got a telephone call while I was watching my favorite television show．I decided not to answer it because"wild horses could not drag me away"from the television--there was nothing that could stop me from doing what I wanted to do．
Sometimes you get information"straight from the horse's mouth．"It comes directly from the person who knows most about the subject and is the best source．Let us say your teacher tells you there is going to be a test tomorrow．You could say you got the information"straight from the horse's mouth．"However，you would not want to call your teacher a horse!
You may have heard this expression："You can lead a horse to water，but you cannot make him drink．"That means you can give someone advice but you cannot force him to do something he does not want to do．
In politics，a"dark-horse candidate"is someone who is not well known to the public．Sometimes，a dark horse unexpectedly wins an election（選舉）．
Another piece of advice is"do not change horses in midstream．"You would not want to get off one horse and on to another in the middle of a river．Or make major changes in an activity that has already begun．
61．What does the underlined word"it"mean in the first paragraph？A
A．the horse
B．riding horses
C．raising horses
D．horse racing
62．The expression"get off her high horse"is used for a girlC．
A．who has a lot of money
B．who is cleverer than others
C．who thinks she is better than anyone else
D．who is respected by others
63．What can we learn about the news"straight from the horse's mouth"？B
A．It is very hard to get the news．
B．The news will be true and reliable（可靠的）．
C．The person who gives the news is called a horse．
D．The news is a lie and can't be trusted．
64．Which of the following can describe a person who wins an election unexpectedly？C
A．do not change horses in midstream
B．wild horses could not drag me away
C．dark-horse candidateD．get off her high horse
65．What's the best title of the passage？C
A．The horse is a kind of useful animal．
B．The expressions used by Americans．
C．Some expressions about the horse
D．It is popular to use the word"horse"
分析 本文是一篇文化類文章閱讀，主要介紹了馬曾經(jīng)是一種交通工具，現(xiàn)在也還有許多人喜歡騎馬．"馬"在日常交際中也有許多不同的含義．本文講述了"馬"在日常用語中的種種含義．
解答 61．答案：A．詞義猜測題．A．the horse馬；B．riding horses騎馬；C．raising horses養(yǎng)馬；D．horse racing賽馬．本段是指現(xiàn)在還有許多我喜歡騎馬，因為美國人今天還用了許多與it相關(guān)的表達，由此可以推測出it指的是"馬"．故選A．
62．答案：C．細節(jié)理解題．A．who has a lot of money錢多的女孩；B．who is cleverer than others比別人聰明的女孩；C．who thinks she is better than anyone else 認(rèn)為自己比別人優(yōu)秀的女孩；D．who is respected by others被別人尊重的女孩．根據(jù)第二段里的："Today，if a girl is too proud and looks down upon others，you might say she should"get off her high horse．"可知，get off her high horse指的是太驕傲而看低別人的女孩．故選C．
63．答案：B．推理判斷題．A．It is very hard to get the news．難以得到消息；B．The news will be true and reliable（可靠的）．消息真實可靠；C．The person who gives the news is called a horse．提供消息的人被稱為"馬"；D．The news is a lie and can't be trusted．消息是謊話，不能信．由第四段開頭的：Sometimes you get information"straight from the horse's mouth．"It comes directly from the person who knows most about the subject and is the best source．可知，"straight from the horse's mouth．"消息來自對情況了解最多的對象，因此消息最可靠，最真實，故選B．
64．答案：C．細節(jié)理解題．由倒數(shù)第二段的：Sometimes，a dark horse unexpectedly wins an election可知，"不可思議地贏得比賽者"被稱之為黑馬．故選C．
65．答案：C．主旨大意題．"horse"這個詞很受歡迎．本文講述了"馬"在日常用語中的種種含義．故選C．
點評 本文是一篇文化類文章閱讀，題目涉及詞義猜測題，推理判斷題，細節(jié)理解題，主旨大意題，做題時應(yīng)結(jié)合文章上下文內(nèi)容并根據(jù)所給選項的含義進行分析，從而得出正確答案．切記胡亂猜測，一定要做到有理有據(jù)．
