Question

【題目】Today, we talk about a common object that appears in many expressions — buttons! Buttons, which are usually small and round and made of metal or plastic, are found on all sorts of clothing. They fasten or connect one piece of clothing to another in order to make sure your clothes don’t fall off.

To be cute as a button is an old saying, which means to be attractive or sweet, but in a small way. Babies are often described as cute as a button. Language experts don’t know why. But they do say this expression dates back to the late 1860s.

Here is another expression related to button: button-down. People often wear button-down shirts to the office. Button-down as an adjective means to be conservative or traditional. People described as button-down stay as close as possible to the normal way of dressing and behaving.

When buttoning a button you slip it into a buttonhole. A buttonhole traps the button. So, to buttonhole someone means you have trapped them in a spoken conversation. Now, let’s say you find yourself buttonholed in a conversation at a party. Someone just keeps talking and talking and talking! Finally, you can’t take it any longer. You tell the person to button it! This is a direct, but unacceptable way of saying “Stop talking!” Button your lip is another equally rude but effective way to stop a person who talks too much.

Another kind of difficult person is someone who pushes one’s buttons. To push one’s buttons means to know exactly how to get that person angry or upset. People who like to push other people’s buttons usually do it for selfish reasons. They find a person’s weak point and then they use it to upset them.

【1】What do you think of someone who wears a button-down shirt to the office?

A. Funny. B. Traditional.

C. Crazy. D. Fashionable.

【2】What will you probably say to get rid of a long and boring talk?

A. Button your lip. B. Be cute as a button.

C. Push your buttons. D. Be button-down.

【3】How does the fourth paragraph mainly develop?

A. By giving examples. B. By making contrasts.

C. By listing figures. D. By analyzing cause and effect.

【4】What does the underlined phrase “pushes one’s buttons” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A. Learns of one’s secret. B. Shouts loudly.

C. Gets someone to lose his temper. D. Argues with someone.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】A

【3】A

【4】C

【解析】這是一篇介紹說(shuō)明類文章。文章介紹了一些和button有關(guān)的表達(dá)。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由第三段中的“People often wear button-down shirts to the office. Button-down as an adjective means to be conservative or traditional”可知，穿著button-down襯衫來(lái)上班的人被認(rèn)為是比較保守或傳統(tǒng)的，故B選項(xiàng)正確。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由倒數(shù)第二段中的“Button your lip is another equally rude but effective way to stop a person who talks too much”可知，當(dāng)你想阻止一個(gè)滔滔不絕的人說(shuō)話時(shí)，你可以說(shuō)“Button your lip”，故A選項(xiàng)正確。

【3】推理判斷題。第四段分別介紹了“to buttonhole someone，to button it，button your lip”這三種表達(dá)，很顯然，這是用舉例子的辦法介紹一些和button有關(guān)的表達(dá)。故A選項(xiàng)正確。

【4】詞義猜測(cè)題。由第五段中的“To push one’s buttons means to know exactly how to get that person angry or upset”可知，to push one’s buttons的意思是知道如何使一個(gè)人生氣，即使對(duì)方發(fā)脾氣。故C選項(xiàng)正確。