三、阅读理解
A
Not only children but also adults like playing games. Games
have been around for thousands of years. In 4000 BC, Babylonians
played a board game that was similar to chess. Yo-yos made of stone
were first used in ancient Greece. And kites appeared in China during
the Spring and Autumn Period. Many of the most popular toys today
appeared in the 20th century. These include Crayola Crayons which
first appeared in 1903 and Monopoly which was invented in the
early 1930s.
Another popular game is Scrabble. Architect Alfred
Mosher Butts invented the game in the 1930s. At first it was called
"Lexiko" and later "Criss-Crosswords". In 1948, businessman
James Brunot got the game, but it didn't become popular until 1953
when the president of Macy's discovered it. And since then, more
than 100 million sets have been sold all around the world.
As you can imagine, toys and games are a multi-billion-dollar
industry. Mr Potato Head was made in 1952. It was the first toy
advertised on TV, and it got more than 4 million in its first year.
Play-Doh which was designed for cleaning wallpaper at first made
inventor Joseph McVicker a millionaire by his 27th
birthday. Mattel sells surprising 1.5 million Barbie dolls each week.
Some toys go out of date, but then become all the rage again,
such as Cabbage Patch Kids and the Rubik's Cube. Toy analysts say that parents prefer toys that they remember from their
own childhood.
These days, toys are getting more and more complicated. RoboSapien is a robot that started to be sold in 2004.
RoboSapien was designed by Mark Tilden, who once created robots
for NASA. He expected the toy to be used mostly by schools and
scientists.
()1. Why did the writer talk about yo-yos and kites?
A. To prove how different countries liked different toys.
B. To explain how they were made step by step.
C. To mark the beginning of modern toy production.
D. To show games were around in ancient times.
()2. Which of the following was NOT made as a toy at the
beginning?
A. Mr Potato Head. B. Play-Doh.
C. Barbie dolls. D. Rubik's Cube.
()3. What does the underlined part "all the rage" mean?
A. Popular. B. Gone.
C. Bankrupt. D. Profitable.
()4. In which part of a newspaper can we probably find this
text?
A. Science & Technology B. Health & Sport
C. History & Culture D. Society & Environment

1. D 2. B 3. A 4. C

【分析】
这是一篇介绍游戏与玩具发展历史的说明文，解题时可以先快速浏览题干标记关键词，带着问题回原文精准定位对应段落，结合上下文逻辑逐一比对选项、排除错误干扰项：第一题是写作目的题，要找到例子对应的核心论点；第二题是细节判断题，定位各选项物品的发明背景即可；第三题是词义猜测题，结合转折逻辑推导含义；第四题是文章出处题，梳理全文主题匹配对应板块即可。
【解析】
1. 第1题定位原文第一段前两句，核心论点是“Games have been around for thousands of years（游戏已经存在数千年）”，后续举古巴比伦棋类、古希腊悠悠球、中国春秋时期风筝的例子，都是为了佐证游戏早在古代就已经出现的观点。A选项“证明不同国家喜欢不同玩具”并非作者举例的核心目的，B选项“解释它们的制作步骤”原文完全没有提及，C选项“标记现代玩具生产的开端”和后文20世纪才出现大量现代玩具的内容矛盾，因此选D。
2. 第2题定位原文第三段“Play-Doh which was designed for cleaning wallpaper at first”，明确说明培乐多最初的设计用途是清洁墙纸，并非一开始就作为玩具被发明，其余选项的物品原文均未提及初始用途不是玩具，因此选B。
3. 第3题划线短语所在句出现转折词but，前半部分意为“有些玩具会过时”，转折后语义相反，结合后文“父母更喜欢自己童年记忆里的玩具”的补充说明，可知这些过时的玩具会重新变得受欢迎，all the rage的含义对应Popular，B“消失”、C“破产”、D“盈利”均不符合语境，因此选A。
4. 第4题全文围绕从古代到现代各类游戏、玩具的发展演变脉络展开，属于历史文化类内容，A“科技”、B“健康运动”、D“社会环境”均和文章核心主题不匹配，因此选C。
【答案】
1. D 2. B 3. A 4. C
【知识点】
细节信息查找，词义逻辑猜测，文章出处判断
【点评】
本篇阅读难度适中，绝大多数题目都可以通过回文定位直接找到解题依据，仅词义猜测题需要结合转折逻辑做简单推导，解题时要注意区分举例内容和其支撑的核心论点，避免被例子本身的无关信息误导。
【难度系数】
0.7