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  3. In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being "tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics." Tantalized

In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being "tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics." Tantalized

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问题     In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being "tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics." Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones). The meaning of the verb tantalize is a very particular one: "to promise or show something desirable to a person and then take it away; to tease by arousing hope." Many (but not all) English dictionaries give you a brief indication of a word’s origins in brackets before or after the explanation of the meaning. For tantalize the following explanation is given: [> Tantalus]. This means that you should look up the name Tantalus to find out the word’s origins, and if you do, you will find out that in Greek mythology, Tantalus was a king who was punished in the lower world with eternal hunger and thirst; he was put up to his chin in water that always moved away when he tried to drink it and with fruit on branches above him placed just a little bit out of his reach. Can you see why his name was changed into a verb meaning "to tease or torment by arousing desire"?
    Another example is the word siren, familiar to us as the mechanical device that makes such an alarming sound when police cars, ambulances, or fire engines approach. This word also has its origins in Greek mythology. The traveler Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) made his men plug their ears so that they wouldn’t hear the dangerous voices of the sirens, creatures who were half bird and half woman and who lured sailors to their deaths on sharp rocks. So the word came to be associated both with a loud sound and with danger!
    When someone speaks of a "jovial mood" or a "herculean effort", he or she is using words with origins in mythology. Look these words up to find their meaning and relationship to myths.
    Many common words, such as the names for the days of the week and the months of the year, also come from mythology. Wednesday derives from the ancient Norse king of the gods, Woden, and Thursday was originally Thor’s day, in honor of Thor, the god of thunder. As a matter of fact, all the planets, except the one we live on, bear names that come from Roman mythology, including the planet that is farthest away from the sun and for that reason was called after the Roman god of the dead. This god has also given his name to one of the chemical elements. Several other elements have names that come from mythology, too.
    It seems that myths and legends live on in the English language.
The purpose of the first sentence in Para. 1 is________.
选项 A、to describe the work of some Chinese scholars
B、to arouse readers’ interest in hieroglyphics
C、to lead readers onto the main theme
D、to link the preceding part to the present one
答案C
解析 本题的题干无特殊关键词，问的是第一段第一句话的写作目的是什么，答案线索定位在第一段。从第一段第一句话得知，一些中国学者被描述成对着神秘的龙骨象形文字(mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics)干着急(tantalized)，这句话作为引子，引出单词tantalized，接着第二句话表明tantalized同许多英语单词一样，起源于过去的神话和传说。后文主要讲起源于神话和传说的英语单词，因此，第一段第一句话作为引子，目的是将读者引入文章主题，选项C符合题意，为正确答案。虽然第一句话表明一些中国学者的工作是研究神秘的龙骨象形文字，但这只是这句话的字面含义，作者这句话的目的是为了引出单词tantalized，因此，选项A属于就事论事。本文中除了第一段第一句话以外，没有其他与象形文字相关的内容，单凭这一句话难以引起读者对象形字 (hieroglyphics)的兴趣，由此可见，选项D曲解文意。本文第一句话主要为了引出后文所讲的单词tantalized，即该句的作用只是为了引出下文，但第一段第一句话作为文章开头，并不存在上文，所以选项D无中生有。第一段：tantalize一词在希腊和罗马神话中的起源。
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