Say yon are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked long and hard to bui
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Say yon are a 17th century construction worker who’sworked long and hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of youremperor.
Now say that the emperor ordersyour fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, that is theTaj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behindthe construction is just as impressive(印象深刻的)as the buildingitself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, alsocalled the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Madlyin love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But than sadness came. AsMumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she had heard herunborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she askedJehan to build a lasting memorial(纪念物)to celebrate theirlove.
When the heartbroken Jehanappeared eight days after his wife’s death, his people were shocked to see thathis coal-black hair had turned snow-white. Putting away his sadness, Jehanordered hiswife’sdying wish becarried out. More than 20 000 workers labored nearly 22years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehanplaced Mumtaz’s remains in the center under the building.
And than, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers andtook over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of hisdays—eight years, to be exact—imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan wasonly allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasurefrom a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it—until he wasburied next to his wife.
Today 25 000 people visit the TajMahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange, sadstory, those who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happinessthat inspired(激发……的灵感) its construction.
1. The first two paragraphs werewritten to show that________.
A. the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building
B. ancient Indian emperors were cruel
C. construction workers led a hard life in ancient India
D. India has some of the most famous buildings in the world
2. The Taj Mahal was first builtas ________.
A. a prison
B. a gift to Mumtaz
C. a memorial building
D. a tourist attraction
3. We learn from the text thatMumtaz probably died in ________.
A. 1626
B. 1632
C. 1634
D. 1653
4. The underlined word “happiness”in the last sentence refers to ________.
A. the married happiness of the emperor and his wife
B. the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising hispower
C. the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal
D. the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the TajMahal
试题答案
答案：A;C;B;A
解析：| 1. A。考查考生对短文前两段主旨要义的理解情况。第一段说明这是17世纪为国王的亡妻建设的塔式建筑，第二段则讲述了为使其绝无仅有国王残酷的决定和与其相关的一段故事，这些都说明了Taj Mahal的非凡和其悠久的历史。 2. C。考查考生对短文中细节信息的理解情况。由短文中出现的And as Mumtaz 1ay dying，she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial to celebrate theirlove看，Taj Mahal本来是一座纪念性建筑。 3. B。考查考生根据短文中有关内容进行简单推断的能力。短文中说到，Mumtaz 1612年嫁给Jehan，20年后死去。 4. A。考查考生根据短文中相关内容对词语的含义进行简单推断的能力。选项中惟有A项中的内容能够解释短文中happiness的所指，且与上下文内容相符。
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