40.The passage is mainly to ________.

A. advertise the hotels in Sydney

B. tell us how to choose a suitable hotel in Sydney

C. show that Sydney is truly a heaven on earth

D. describe Sydney after the 2000 Olympics

答案与解析　B　主旨大意题。第一段中的“... is so large an area that choosing a hotel is something you need to do very carefully.”引出话题，后三段都是围绕找旅馆展开的。故答案为B。

B

Long long ago, there lived two brothers in a village. Their parents died and left them a farm. The elder son took everything except for a very small piece of land, a cat and a dog. The younger son had to use the cat and the dog to pull his plough (犁) because he did not have an ox (牛). They did not like this at all and cried out.

Near the farm, there was a mountain called Stone Mountain. A demon (魔鬼) lived on this mountain and people who looked at it carefully could see his face. When the Demon of Stone Mountain heard the cat and the dog crying out, he looked down. He thought a cat and a dog looked funny pulling a plough. He opened his mouth and laughed.

The younger son heard the demon's laughter. He looked up and saw inside the demon's huge, open mouth, it was full of gold and silver. Quickly, he ran up the mountain and hurried inside the demon's mouth. There, he collected a little of the gold and silver and then hurried out again. Now he could buy himself a house, a larger piece of land and an ox to pull his plough.

His brother soon found out what had happened. He immediately got the cat and the dog and used them to pull his plough near Stone Mountain. Once again, the demon opened his mouth to laugh at the sight of a cat and a dog pulling a plough. Quickly, the elder brother ran into the demon's mouth and began filling his bags with gold and silver.

He was so busy that he forgot about the cat and the dog, and it was not long before the two animals lay down to rest. As soon as this happened, the Demon of Stone Mountain stopped laughing and closed his mouth. The elder brother was kept inside and was never seen again.

语篇解读　本文是记叙文。文章通过讲述兄弟二人从魔鬼嘴里拿财宝的故事告诉我们：贪多必失。

41.The underlined word “They” in Paragraph 1 refers to “________”.

A. the two brothers B. the oxen

C. the cat and the dog D. the two brothers' parents

答案与解析　C　代词指代题。由前一句可知，弟弟出于无奈，只能让猫和狗帮助他犁地。猫狗不喜欢这样，所以开始哭泣。第二段中的the cat and the dog crying out也是提示。

42.The elder brother used the cat and the dog to pull his plough to ________.

A. have some fun

B. punish the two animals

C. help his younger brother

D. get treasure from the demon

答案与解析　D　细节理解题。根据第四段可知，哥哥知道了弟弟有钱的秘密，也开始用猫和狗犁地，好让山上的魔鬼也张开大嘴露出财宝。