Mauritius, with its full name the Republic of Mauritius, an island country, lies 1,200 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa, and just east of Madagascar, another African island country, which is larger by far than Mauritius. It covers 788 square miles and has a population of 1,100,000, about 750,000 Indians, 300,000 Chinese and 20,000 Whites included. They are living together peacefully, although they share such different beliefs as Hindu, Roman Catholic, Muslim and so on.
The country can be divided into many parts with different climates all because of its peculiar terrains (地形). In the center there are volcanoes (火山) several thousand feet high, and 90% of its arable land is covered with sugarcane.
There were no people living on the island before the Dutch landed on it in 1638. The Dutch relinquished it in 1710, and five years later, the French came and succeeded in planting sugarcane there. It was conquered (征服) by Britain in 1818. As a result, its official language is English. The main big cities are Beau-Bassin and Mahebourg, with Port Louis as its capital.
Mauritius has many rare and unique animals, such as the snakes, parrots and lizards. The giraffe is a type of animal with a very long neck and legs and yellow skin with dark spots. It is the tallest of all living animals.
Mauritius was extremely poor when it declared its independence in 1968. In the past ten years, obvious economic prosperity (繁荣) has shown itself in this island country. Nowadays its business, culture and tourism are developing rapidly. Every year, thousands of millions of people rush there to enjoy the silver sad beach and song and dance performances with native national characters.
【小题1】The underlined word “relinquished” in the third paragraph means .A．took its placeB．gave it up C．left for itD．held it out【小题2】The right order that shows the history of Mauritius should be .
a. seized by the French b. became its master
c. ruled by the Dutch d. conquered by the British A．b, a, c, dB．a, c, d, b C．d, c, a, bD．c, a, d, b【小题3】 According to the passage all of the following statements are TRUE except .
Arable land covers 90% of the country’s total area
It was the rule of foreigners that made the Mauritius people live in poverty
More than half of Mauritius population are Indians
Britain ruled the island longer than French and Dutch B
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(答案→)B
解析：
【小题1】本题考查根据上下文猜测特定词语含义的能力。由下文 “…and five years later, the French came and succeeded in planting sugarcane there.”可知, 一国放弃之后，又一国相继而入。
【小题2】本题考查对文章细节进行排列顺序的能力。由 “There were no people … by Britain in 1818,”这段文字可知：在the Dutch 登上该岛之前无人居住此岛，the Dutch 放弃该岛之后the French 来了，最后又被英国占领。其独立在英国占领之后。
【小题3】本题考查根据文章相关信息进行正误判断的能力。由第二段 “In the center there are volcanoes several thousand feet high, and 90% of its arable land is covered with sugarcane.”可知不是毛里求斯的total area（全部地区），而是它的its arable land（适于耕种的地）90%种有甘蔗。