A
Paracutin was born in Mexico in February 1943.At the end of one week Paracutin was 500 feet high，and it is now over 9,000 feet high.Today Paracutin is asleep.
What is Paracutin? It was the first volcano in the world which was seen from its birth right up to the present day.On February 20,1943，a peasant and his wife set out to work in their cornfields from the Mexican village of Paracutin.They were surprised to find the earth warm under their feet.Suddenly they heard noises deep in the earth and a small hole appeared in their fields.In the afternoon there was a sudden loud noise and stones were thrown high in the air.The peasants ran from the field and turned to watch.They saw the birth of a volcano.
Large quantities of stone and lava broke out and a little hill began to form.By evening this hill was 100 feet high and hot ashes were falling on the village.At night the strong light of the hot lava lit up the countryside.The trees near the village were killed and the villagers had to leave their houses.
When the village was destroyed，its name was given to the volcano.The news quickly reached Mexico City，far to the east.Many people came to watch the scene.The volcano grew and grew for ten years and hundreds of square miles of forest were destroyed.Then Paracutin went to sleep.
【解题导语】 文章讲述了一座火山是如何形成的。
21．In this passage the writer is trying to ________.
A．tell us an interesting happening
B．explain a scientific theory
C．make us believe something
D．make up an interesting story
解析：选A 主旨大意题。通读全文可知作者要告诉我们一件有趣的事情，一座火山竟然从脚底下冒了出来。
22．What can we learn about volcanoes from this passage?
A．New volcanoes may appear in places where people do not expect them to be.
B．Volcanoes are always growing.
C．Volcanoes are active from time to time.
D．New volcanoes are active for only ten years.
解析：选A 推理判断题。从第二段第四、五句话“They were surprised to find...Suddenly they heard noises...in their fields.”可以推知火山也许会在人们没有预料到的地方冒出来。
23．What was destroyed in the growing up of the volcano?
A．The little hill of stones.
B．The villagers living nearby.
C．The forests and fields around Paracutin.
D．The Mexican peasant and his wife.
解析：选C 细节理解题。由第三段最后一句话和最后一段倒数第二句话可知。
24．Paracutin was once the name of ________.
A．a peasant B．a village
C．an old mountain D．a Mexican
解析：选B 细节理解题。由最后一段第一句话可知，“当这个村子被毁之后，它的名字就成了火山的名字”。故Paracutin曾经是个村名。
