奇速英语官网—英语在线学习平台_让学英语更快乐_更快速

Japan has selected the Chinese character for “disaster” as its symbol for 2018, a year that saw the country hit by deadly floods, earthquakes and storms. Japanese TV stations broadcast the annual announcement, with Seihan Mori, master of the ancient Kiyomizu temple in Kyoto, writing the character on a huge white board with a calligraphy brush. Organisers of the event, the Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, said, “Many people experienced the threat of natural disasters such as earthquakes, heavy rain, typhoons and heatwaves.”
At the end of every year, the general public votes for the Chinese character they think shows the key news and events of the previous 12 months. A total of 20,858 people out of 193,214 chose the character “disaster”.
The country was hit by a series of natural disasters in 2018, starting with massive flooding in western regions that killed over 200 people. It was also troubled by a typhoon that damaged a major international airport, and an earthquake in the north that brought landslides and stopped supply lines. A rare heatwave also struck the country over the summer, causing more than 150 deaths, with over 80,000 people in hospital.
The series of disasters hit GDP, with the country’s economy reducing in the three months to September. A 42-year-old woman from quake-battered northern Hokkaido said, “I was reminded of how scary natural disasters are. The power went out immediately after the quake and I spent days for the first time without electricity.”
Last year, Japan picked “North”, following a series of North Korean missile launches. The year before the choice was “gold”, in celebration of the success of Japanese athletes at the Rio Olympics. Chinese characters are widely used in Japanese, along with other types of alphabets.

1.Why did Japan choose “disaster” as its symbol for 2018?

A The public in Japan liked this Chinese character very much.

B Japan suffered from a lot of natural disasters this year.

C Master of the ancient Kiyomizu temple wrote it.

D TV stations broadcast it as the annual announcement.

解析：选B。细节理解题。根据第一段第一句Japan has selected the Chinese character for “disaster” as its symbol for 2018, a year that saw the country hit by deadly floods, earthquakes and storms.可知是因为2018年日本遭受了很多自然灾害。故选B。

2.What’s the foundation for Japanese public when choosing the yearly Chinese character?

A The type of the Chinese character.

B The symbolic meaning of the Chinese character.

C The shape of the Chinese character.

D The pronunciation of the Chinese character.

解析：选B。细节理解题。根据第二段第一句At the end of every year, the general public votes for the Chinese character they think shows the key news and events of the previous 12 months.可知日本民众在选择年度汉字的时候会选那些能体现一年中重大事件的字，也就是根据汉字的象征意义来决定的。故选B。

3.What can we conclude from Paragraph 3?

A A massive flooding made Japan suffered the most.

B A typhoon brought landslides and stopped supply lines.

C A rare heatwave led to the most deaths of the year.

D 2018 is a catastrophic year for Japan.

解析：选D。主旨大意题。根据第三段第一句的The country was hit by a series of natural disasters in 2018可知2018年日本经历了许多自然灾害，是多灾多难的一年，后面的内容都是围绕此句展开的，是在举例。故选D。

4.What can’t we infer from the 42-year-old woman’s words?

A She was happy to survive the earthquake.

B She was a victim of the natural disasters.

C She was really frightened after the earthquake.

D She felt inconvenient to live without electricity.

解析：选A。推理判断题。根据第四段中妇女所说的话可知她在震后感到很害怕，地震阻断了电力也使她的生活变得不方便，因此她是自然灾难的受害者，但未能体现出她为自己在地震中幸存而感到高兴。故选A。