A
Paper cutting is a very special visual art of Chinese handicrafts. One saying is that it originated from the religious ceremony or offering sacrifices (供品). The ancient people cut papers into animals or people. They either buried them with the dead or burned them on the funerals, wishing that things that paper stand for could be with the dead. Later, they were used during festivals to decorate gates and windows. After hundreds of years' development, now they have become a very popular means of decoration among country folk, especially women.
It is easy to learn about cutting a piece of paper but very difficult to master it with perfection. Beginners need only a knife and paper. For craftsman, they need knives and gravers of various types to make complicated (复杂的) patterns. It can be one piece of paper or many pieces. Simple patterns can be cut with a knife. For complicated patterns, people first pasted the pattern on the paper and then used various kinds of knives to make it. No mistake can be made during the process otherwise the work would fail.
Paper cutting covers nearly all topics, from flowers, birds, animals, legendary people, figures in classic novels, to types of facial makeup in Peking Opera. Paper cutting has various styles in different parts of China. In the past, women living in the countryside gathered in their free time to make paper cutting, which is a way to judge their skillfulness. As society develops, fewer and fewer people learn this skill while there are some who still regard it as a profession. At present, there are factories and associations for paper cutting in China. Exhibitions and exchanges are held regularly and books of this kind are published. Paper cutting has changed from decoration to a kind of art. At the same time, paper cutting also appears in cartoons, on stage, in magazines or in TV series.
语篇解读：剪纸是一项传统的手工艺术，在过去人们把剪纸看作是装饰，而现在它已成了一种艺术。
1．Why did the ancient burn paper animals or people on the funerals?
A．They wanted to give them warmth.
B．They wanted the dead to have enough food.
C．They wanted the animals or people to accompany the dead.
D．They wanted the dead to use them as decoration.
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第一段第四句“希望他们代表的东西能和已故的人在一起”判断，人们这样做的原因是想让这些纸动物和纸人陪伴着他们。
2．If a mistake is made during the process, ________.
A．you have to correct after you finish it
B．you'd better use some kind of knife to correct it
C．all your work will be wasted
D．it doesn't affect the result
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“No mistake can be made during the process otherwise the work would fail.”可知。
3．From the passage we can infer that ________.
A．it is very easy to become a paper cutting artist
B．it takes great patience and skill to make a perfect paper cutting
C．paper cutting is limited to some topics
D．people in different parts of China have similar styles
解析：选B 推理判断题。根据文章的第二段制作复杂的图案可看出，剪纸的人需要有耐心，并且要把剪纸做得完美还需要技巧。
4．What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A．More and more people regard paper cutting as a profession.
B．Paper cutting is in danger of disappearing in the future.
C．Paper cutting is a way to judge a woman's skill.
D．As a kind of art, paper cutting is still popular today.
解析：选D 推理判断题。现在有剪纸艺术工厂和协会，有展览和交流、出版与剪纸有关的书籍，在卡通、舞台、电视剧中都有剪纸艺术，由此推断剪纸现在仍然受欢迎。
