The Taj Mahal (泰姬陵) is a love story, a sad and beautiful one. If it didn’t exist, we would easily imagine that the story of its construction was simply a fairy tale. Three hundred years ago, there lived an Indian emperor called Shah Jahan. His wife was a beautiful and bright woman whom he loved greatly. Her title was Mumtazl Mahal: its shortened form Taj Mahal, means “pride of the palace”. In the year 1630 this beloved wife of the emperor died. He was so brokenhearted that he thought of giving up his throne. He decided out of his love for his wife, to build her the most beautiful tomb that had ever been seen.
He summoned the best artists and architects from India, Turkey, Persia and Arabia and finally, the design was complete. It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
The building itself stands on a marble platform 29 meters square and 6-7 meters high. Towers rise from each of the four corners. The Mahal itself soars another 61 meters into the air. It is an eight-sided building made of white marble.
The emperor planned to build an identical tomb of black marble for himself on the other side of the river connected by a silver bridge. However, his son put him into a prison in the palace before he could finish, and for the rest of his life, he could only gaze across the river at the tomb of his beloved wife.
小题1: The whole passage tells us about ______.
A．a beautiful fairy tale
B．the story of the Taj Mahal
C．white and black marble tombs made for two emperors
D．the love story of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife小题2:Which of the following statements is NOT true about the Taj Mahal?
A．It was completed quickly owing to the efforts of the best artists and workers.
B．A lot of people took part in the building work.
C．It is a magnificent building.
D．It is a tomb for the emperor’s beloved wife.小题3: The emperor’s own tomb was designed to be ____________.
A．61 meters high
B．eight-sided
C．black-colored
D．white-colored小题4:The emperor _____________.
A．died soon after Taj Mahal died
B．was killed by his son
C．was beloved by his people
D．died after 1648
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:D
文章从一个感人的爱情故事引出的泰姬陵的建造，包括建筑设计结构情况，建筑耗时多久等方面。
小题1:主旨题：虽然文中第一句话“The Taj Mahal is a love story”是讲爱情故事， 但是后三段都在讲泰姬陵的建造，是围绕泰姬陵来说的而非爱情故事，故选B。
小题2:细节题：从第二段中“It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahal, ...”可知建泰姬陵花了很长时间，A项错误，B项正确。从“...one of the most beautiful buildings in the world”可知，C项正确;由“...to build her the most beautiful tomb that had never been seen”可知，D项正确，所以答案为A。
小题3:细节题：由最后一段“The emperor planned to build an identical tomb of black marble for himself on the other side ...”可知，黑色的坟墓是君主自己的，故选C。
小题4:由第一段“In the year 1630 this beloved wife of the emperor died ...”和“It took 18 years ...to build the Taj Mahal”可推测，君主是1648年以后死的，选D
什么是历史文化类阅读：
本类题型常用的方式是夹叙夹议。叙述的目的是为了议，所以要把握其议才是主要方面。阅读这类文章，先弄清其引入的话题，再弄清里面人物对其不同的看法，然后理解作者本身对话题的观点看法或思考。
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