Over the last six months, the coronavirus pandemic (冠状病毒疫情) has affected different countries and regions in different ways. Here, we’ll take a look at a few of the most important events that have happened.
Italy shuts down
On March 10, the Italian government decided to put the whole country on lockdown after the number of cases (病例) in the country started increasing quickly, people were suggested not leaving their home. The first case was detected (检测到) as early as January 31. In the following weeks, the number of cases reached over 10,000 by the time of the lockdown. The lockdown affected 16 million people across the country. Italy was one of the first of many countries that carried out lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus.
WHO declares pandemic
On March 11, World Health Organization (WHO) officially characterized (描述) COVID-19 as a pandemic. This was because of a growing number of cases around the world. By this time, there were more than 20,0000 cases in Europe, including 1,000 deaths, as well as 1,000 cases in the US.
Summer Olympics delayed
On March 24, President of the International Olympic Committee ( IOC) Thomas Bach announced the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, which were planned to be held in Tokyo, would be delayed until the following year in the interest of protecting pubic safety.
US hits over 1 million cases
On April 28, the US officially recorded over one million COVID-19 cases nationwide. This came just four days after it was announced that the virus had resulted in over 50,000 deaths across the country. The virus spread rapidly across the country, as the first case had been recorded three months earlier.
根据短文内容，选择最佳答案。
41. The events in the passage are all connected with ________.
A. Italy’s lockdown B. Olympic games
C. US cases D. the coronavirus pandemic
42. In Paragraph 2, the underlined word “lockdown” probably means ________.
A. 封城 B. 控制 C. 关押 D. 锁定
43. COVID-19 was officially announced as a pandemic because it ________.
A. caused the lockdowns B. had a growing number of cases in the world
C. could result in death D. spread quickly in Europe
44. 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo will be delayed because ________.
A. people may not go during the pandemic B. the cases in Asia increased quickly
C. it hasn’t been well-prepared D. it’s necessary to protect public safety
45. It took ________ for the number of COVID-19 cases in the US to reach over one million.
A. four days B. twenty-eight days
C. three months D. four months
文章大意：本文主要讲述了在过去的六个月，冠状病毒疫情以不同的方式影响不同的国家和地区。
41.D【解析】细节理解题。根据第1段中“Over the last six months, the coronavirus pandemic has affected different countries and regions in different ways.”结合全文内容可知这些事都和冠状病毒疫情有关。故选D。
42.A【解析】词义猜测题。根据画线词所在语境中“people were suggested not leaving their home”可知人们被建议不要离开自己的家，由此可知意大利政府是决定封锁全国。lockdown意为“封城”。故选A。
43.B【解析】细节理解题。根据第3段中“On March 11, World Health Organization (WHO) officially characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic. This was because of a growing number of cases around the world.”可知世界卫生组织正式将COVID-19定性为流行病是因为世界各地的病例越来越多。故选B。
44.D【解析】细节理解题。根据第4段中“... the 2020 Summer Olympic Games ... would be delayed until the following year in the interest of protecting pubic safety.”可知东京2020年夏季奥运会被推迟是为了保护公众安全。故选D。
45.C【解析】细节理解题。根据最后一段中“On April 28, the US officially recorded over one million COVID-19 cases nationwide. ... as the first case had been recorded three months earlier.”可知4月28日时美国冠状病毒的病例超过了一百万，而第一例病例是在3个月前记录的，可知到达一百万用了3个月。故选C。