For a few years now, spreadsheet (电子表格) masters have been working hard to get their hands on the wrestling-style UK and world champion belts awarded to winners of the Microsoft Excel Championships.

Competitive Excel has been around for about 20 years, essentially a timed puzzle-solving competition that demands logical, creative thinking to develop practical, fast general solutions — often paired with a narrative context for each problem. Historically math-focused, the competition has expanded to include more diverse problem-solving tasks — such as maze-solving, poker hand analysis, and sorting scenarios.

Bristol financial advisor Myles Arnott and his business partner Giles Male are passionate about promoting the e-sport, seeking new talent and believing that expanded problem-solving tasks make it more “accessible”. Mr Arnott called it “the golden age of spreadsheet geekery (极客),” while Mr Male noted the competition has “gone nuts” in recent years, calling it “the most exciting way to improve at Excel.”

During the competition, competitors receive files of disordered data and “cases” that require sorting based on specific questions — with the first round giving all participants the same Excel file and a 30-minute window to answer as many questions as possible. There are seven difficulty levels of questions plus bonus tasks, each worth set points (harder questions earn more), and the highest scorer wins; in case of a tie, the faster finisher takes the title.

Mr Male described the world championship finals in Las Vegas as a “crazy” experience — held in an e-sports arena with hundreds of spectators cheering on participants. Alongside the wrestling-style champion’s belt, the event offers a $60,000 (£45,726) prize.

1.1.What can we know about the Excel Championships?

A It has been held for exactly twenty years.

B It now includes tasks beyond mathematics.

C It awards a champion belt but no prize money.

D Its finals are held in a small computer lab.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。从原文第二句“Historically math-focused, the competition has expanded to include more diverse problem-solving tasks...”可知，比赛内容已从数学扩展至多样化任务，B选项准确转述了这一核心信息。A选项错误，因原文仅提及“约20年（about 20 years）”，并非精确数字；文章第五段提到赛事除了冠军腰带，还提供 6 万美元奖金，与 “无奖金” 的说法不符C项排除；第五段指出总决赛在电子竞技场馆举办，有数百名观众，并非 “小型电脑实验室”，D项排除。故选B。

2.2.What does the phrase “gone nuts” suggest about the competition in recent years?

A It has become extremely popular.

B It has lost its original focus.

C It has faced many technical issues.

D It has reduced its difficulty level.

解析：选A。A词义猜测题。第三段中，Giles Male 在说比赛 “gone nuts” 前，提到搭档 Myles Arnott 称当下是 “电子表格极客的黄金时代”；后文还补充该比赛是 “提升 Excel 水平最令人兴奋的方式”，且前文提到二人正积极推广这项电子竞技、挖掘新人才。结合这些语境可推断，“gone nuts” 在这里并非字面的 “发疯”，而是指比赛近年变得 “极其受欢迎”，与选项 A 一致。故选A。

3.3.According to the rules, who would most likely become the champion?

A The one answering the easiest questions fastest.

B The highest scorer with speed breaking ties.

C The one completing all bonus tasks first.

D The participant giving most creative solutions.

解析：选B。B细节理解题。文章第四段清晰阐述比赛规则：“the highest scorer wins; in case of a tie, the faster finisher takes the title.”，即得分最高者获胜；若出现平局，完成速度更快的选手获得冠军。这与选项 B“得分最高者获胜，速度用于打破平局” 完全对应。故选B。

4.4.What is Joe McDaid’s view on the Excel competition’s impact?

A It has pushed the software to improve.

B It has made the software simpler to use.

C It has attracted only a limited audience.

D It has reduced the software’s reliability.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据文章最后一段Joe McDaid的陈述“the competition has ‘enhanced’ Excel and forced it to evolve”以及“the competition’s complex questions push the software to its limits, inspiring developers to continuously improve it”，他的观点是比赛推动了软件的改进。选项A正确；选项B、C、D在文章中均未体现。故选A。