Despite the fact that it has never been seen almost everyone is familiar with th

Despite the fact that it has never beenseen almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn(独角兽). Descriptions of unicornshave been found dating from ancient times. The great philosopher Aristotletheorized that there were two types of unicorn--- the so-called Indian Ass andthe Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noblefamily, town council or university as their special sign. Even Scotland isrepresented by a unicorn.

According to the legend, anyone attemptingto catch a unicorn had to be extremely careful as it was very fierce anddangerous. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers, in order to catch thisamazing animal without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand infront of a tree and then to move quickly behind it as the unicorn dashedangrily. Hopefully, the creature could then be caught when its horn was stuckin the tree.

When hollowed out and used as adrinking-cup, the unicorn’s horn was said to have the power to offer protectionagainst person. It was believed that nobody could be harmed-by drinking thecontents of a unicorn’s horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, theFrench court was said to have used cups made of “unicorn” horn in order toprotect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicinal value, somuch so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the sameweight of gold. What, then, was “unicorn” horn? We know at times the rhino(犀牛) was confused with thislegendary creature. A drinking-cup supposedly made of “unicorn” horn wasdiscovered to be made of the horn of a rhino.

1.Which of the following is TRUE of theunicorn?

2.To catch a unicorn, the unicorn-trappershad to try all of the following EXCEPT ____.

3.The last paragraph is mainly about ____.

试题答案

【答案】

1.D

2.C

3.A

【解析】略