he experimented with creating a letter for each sound in the Cherokee language. First, Sequoyah picked out all the sounds in the Cherokee language. Then he gave each sound a symbol. Unlike English, however, no two sounds shared the same symbol.

　　Sequoyah's work was difficult and took him a lot of time. Worse, those around Sequoyah didn't understand what he was doing with all those strange symbols. Some raised doubts about his work. However, Sequoyah didn't stop working. In 1821, Sequoyah completed his alphabet (字母表). Each symbol in the alphabet symbolized one of the eighty­five sounds in the Cherokee language. By saying the name of each symbol, a person could read the spoken word.

　　Sequoyah taught the symbols to his six­year­old daughter, Ayoka. One day, they went to visit the elders of the Cherokee Nation. Seqouyah asked Ayoka to leave while he wrote down what the elders said. When Ayoka returned, she read out loud what Sequoyah had written. The elders were stunned. Ayoka was able to repeat their words without being present! Sequoyah's alphabet was soon accepted as the written language of the Cherokee Nation.

　　语篇解读：本文是一篇记叙文。文章主要讲述了切罗基语文字的由来。

　　5．Sequoyah learned to sign his work ________.

　　A．so that he would become famous

　　B．with the help of one of his customers

　　C．when he moved to a Cherokee village

　　D．in order to save the Cherokee language

　　解析：选B　细节理解题。由第一段中的"he asked one of his customers to teach him"可知，B项说法正确。

　　6．What can we learn about Sequoyah's alphabet?

　　A．It is made up of eighty­five letters.

　　B．It uses at least two letters to symbolize a sound.

　　C．It was created in the early eighteenth century.

　　D．It was the same as the English alphabet at first.

　　解析：选A　细节理解题。由第二段中的"he started ... creating a letter for each sound"和第三段中的"the eighty­five sounds in the Cherokee language"可知，他发明的字母表中共有85个字母，故选A项。

　　7．The underlined word "stunned" in the last paragraph probably means "________"．

　　A．worried B．thankful

　　C．regretful D．surprised

解析：选D　词义猜测题。由该词后面的"Ayoka was able to repeat their words without being present！"可知，那些长者感到非常惊讶，故选D项。