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Despite the fact that it has never been seen，almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn (獨角獸). Descriptions of unicorns have been found dating from ancient times. The great philosopher Aristotle theorized that there were two types of unicorn — the so-called Indian Ass and the Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noble family, town council or university as their special sign. Even Scotland is represented by a unicorn.
According to the legend, anyone attempting to catch a unicorn had to be extremely cautious as it has a reputation for being very fierce. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers, in order to catch this magnificent beast without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand in front of a tree and then to move quickly behind it as the unicorn charged. Hopefully, the creature could then be captured when its horn was stuck in the tree.
When hollowed out and used as a drinking-cup, the unicorn’s horn was said to have the power to offer protection against poison. It was believed that nobody could be harmed by drinking the contents of a unicorn’s horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, the French court was said to have used cups made of “unicorn” horn in order to protect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicinal value, so much so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the same weight of gold. What, then, was “unicorn” horn? We know at times the rhino (犀牛) was confused with this legendary creature. A drinking-
-cup supposedly made of “unicorn” horn was discovered to be made of the horn of a rhino.
1. Which of the following is TRUE of the unicorn?
A. It was not historically recorded.
B. Its horn was first used in France.
C. It was similar to the Indian Ass and the Oryx.
D. It could be the symbol of a university.
2. To catch a unicorn, the unicorn-trappers had to try all of the following EXCEPT _____.
A. tempting the unicorn to attack
B. making use of the tree as a protection
C. hiding quickly behind the unicorn
D. having the unicorn horn stuck in the tree
3. The last paragraph is mainly about _____.
A. the properties of the unicorn horn
B. the users of the unicorn horn
C. the price of the unicorn horn
D. the comparison between the unicorn horn and the rhino horn
4. In the last paragraph, the word “unicorn” is in quotation marks (引號) because _____.
A. the cup is designed only for a royal family
B. the unicorn does not exist in reality
C. the unicorn is the rarest animal in the world
D. the medicinal value of the horn is appreciated
【閱讀賞析】
本文介紹的是獨角獸。在西方文化中，獨角獸是一種與中華文化中的龍具有相似地位的東西，也就是說獨角獸在西方文化中就是一種圖騰。在西方,有關獨角獸的傳說可謂源遠流長。如果我們了解這一中西方文化差異的話，這篇文章就很好理解了。
從結構上看，本文層次分明，脈絡清楚。第一段是有關獨角獸的總體介紹，主要談及傳說中獨角獸的種類以及它的象征作用。第二段主要談論降服獨角獸的技巧。第三段主要介紹傳說中獨角獸的角的用途。
【答案解析】
1. D。第一段中提到獨角獸經常被用在貴族家族、市議會和大學的形象標識中。故選D。
2. C。由第二段中的... stand in front of a tree and then to move quickly behind it ...可知it指代的是前面的tree,而不是unicorn。故選項C不符合文中事實。
3. A。第三段整段內容都在談論獨角獸的角，諸如傳說中它的魔力以及藥用價值等。故選A。
4. B。第三段中的最后一個句子提到傳說中的所謂用獨角獸的角做成的酒杯其實是用犀牛的角做的，暗示獨角獸在現實中根本不存在，因此，unicorn加引號表否定。故選B。
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