1 . In 2010, Barack Obama was to pay a visit to Mumbai’s Gandhi Museum, where palm trees full of me dotted the grounds. Before his visit, Indian authorities removed every last sign of me from the premises for fear that the president of the United States would be taken out by one of me landing on his head.
Let’s get this out of the way: My reputation as the killer fruit of countless innocents was then and still is a myth. A repeatedly misinterpreted 1984 study greatly exaggerated the number of deaths I caused by hitting and the vicious rumor spread. Today, the only things about me to die for are the sometimes too-delicious foods you humans make with me, which include macaroons, pi a coladas, rich curries, and custard pies. A decade ago, health experts briefly gave me a halo because some of my saturated fat (饱和脂肪) called medium-chain triglycerides, can raise beneficial HDL cholesterol. And no wonder: I’m a long-lasting source of food and water, and my fibrous flesh is used to make rope, mats, mattress stuffing, and fishing nets. My shell can be turned into charcoal for fire or used as a bowl or musical instrument. My leaves are used for thatching roofs and making brooms and baskets, while my trunks are used for building houses, boats, and drums. My tree’s roots have many folk medicinal uses and produce pigments that become dyes — and their frayed ends have even been repurposed as toothbrushes.
In World War II John F. Kennedy was trapped on an island. He scratched a message for help into a coconut shell, and two coast-watchers delivered it to Allied forces, who managed to rescue him. The coconut shell sat on JFK’s desk in the Oval Office throughout his presidency and now is a center-piece of the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston — as proof that we coconuts don’t take lives, we save them.
1. What did Indian authorities do to welcome Barack Obama?
| A．They took down all the coconuts. |
| B．They tried to protect him from being attacked. |
| C．They prepared a lot of coconut juice to treat him. |
| D．They got rid of the potential natural threat to safety. |
2. How did coconuts get the bad reputation as the killer fruit‖ ?
| A．It has always remained unknown. |
| B．A research in 1984 was overestimated. |
| C．Fake statistics were believed by many people. |
| D．News on coconut accidents in 1984 travelled on wings. |
3. What can be inferred from the second paragraph?
| A．The flesh outside the shell is eatable. |
| B．Coconut roots can be turned into furniture. |
| C．Coconut appeals to people a lot as a delicacy. |
| D．Coconut is yet to be proved beneficial to health. |
4. Which can be the best title for the text?
| A．Coconut — A Welcome Fruit |
| B．Coconut — A Mistaken Fruit |
| C．Coconut — A Life-saving Fruit |
| D．Coconut — A Multi-function Fruit |
