阅读试题

As a young boy, I sometimes traveled the country roads with my dad. He was a rural mail carrier, and on Saturdays he would ask me to go with him. Driving through the countryside was always an adventure: There were animals to see, people to visit, and chocolate cookies if you knew where to stop, and Dad did.

In the spring, Dad delivered boxes full of baby chickens, and when I was a boy it was such fun to stick your fingers through one of the holes of the boxes and let the baby birds peck on your fingers.

On Dad's final day of work, it took him well into the evening to complete his rounds because at least one member from each family was waiting at their mailbox to thank him for his friendship and his years of service. "Two hundred and nineteen mailboxes on my route," he used to say," and a story at every one." One lady had no mailbox, so Dad took the mail in to her every day because she was nearly blind. Once inside, he read her mail and helped her pay her bills.

Mailboxes were sometimes used for things other than mail. One note left in a mailbox read, "Nat, take these eggs to Marian; she's baking a cake and doesn't have any eggs." Mailboxes might be buried in the snow, or broken, or lying on the ground, but the mail was always delivered. On cold days Dad might find one of his customers waiting for him with a cup of hot chocolate. A young girl wrote letters but had no stamps, so she left a few buttons on the envelope in the mailbox; Dad paid for the stamps. One businessman used to leave large amounts of cash in his mailbox for Dad to take to the bank. Once, the amount came to $ 32,000.

A dozen years ago, when I traveled back to my hometown on the sad occasion of Dad's death, the mailboxes along the way reminded me of some of his stories. I thought I knew them all, but that wasn't the case.

As I drove home, I noticed two lamp poles, one on each side of the street. When my dad was around, those poles supported wooden boxes about four feet off the ground. One box was painted green, and the other was red, and each had a long narrow hole at the top with white lettering: SANTA CLAUS, NORTH POLE. For years children had dropped letters to Santa through those holes.

I made a turn at the corner and drove past the post office and across the railroad tracks to our house. Mom and I were sitting at the kitchen table when I heard footsteps. There, at the door, stood Frank Townsend, Dad's postmaster and great friend for many years. So we all sat down at the table and began to tell stories.

At one point Frank looked at me with tears in his eyes. "What are we going to do about the letters this Christmas?" he asked.

"The letters?"

"I guess you never knew."

"Knew what?"

"Remember, when you were a kid and you used to put your letters to Santa in those green and red boxes on Main Street? It was your dad who answered all those letters every year. "

I just sat there with tears in my eyes. It wasn't hard for me to imagine Dad sitting at the old oak table in our basement reading those letters and answering each one. I have since spoken with several of the people who received Christmas letters during their childhood, and they told me how amazed they were that Santa had known so much about their homes and families.

For me, just knowing that story about my father was the gift of a lifetime.

阅读试题

55. It can be inferred from the passage that the writer regarded his travels with Dad as______.

A. great chances to help other people

B. happy occasions to play with baby chickens

C. exciting experiences with a lot of fun

D. good opportunities to enjoy chocolate cookies

56. The writer provides the detail about the businessman to show that______.

A. Dad had a strong sense of duty

B. Dad was an honest and reliable man

C. Dad had a strong sense of honor

D. Dad was a kind and generous man

57. According to the passage, which of the following impressed the writer most?

A. Dad read letters for a blind lady for years.

B. Dad paid for the stamps for a young girl.

C. Dad delivered some eggs to Marian.

D. Dad answered children's Christmas letters every year.

58. The method the writer uses to develop Paragraph 4 is______.

A. offering analyses

B. providing explanations

C. giving examples

D. making comparisons

59. What surprised the children most when they received letters in reply from Santa Claus every year?

A. Santa Claus lived alone in the cold North Pole.

B. Santa Claus answered all their letters every year.

C. Santa Claus had unique mailboxes for the children.

D. Santa Claus had so much information about their families.

60. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. The Mail

B. Christmas Letters 　

C. Special Mailboxes 　

D. Memorable Travels

参考译文

当我还是一个年轻的小男孩的时候，有时我会和爸爸一起走遍乡村小路。他是一个乡村邮递员，每当到星期六时，他就会让我和他一起去。开车穿过村落总是有些冒险的。如果你知道在哪里停车的话，你可以看到许多动物，也可以看到串门的人们，还能看到巧克力作坊，恰好我爸爸就知道。

春天的时候，爸爸会运送用盒装着的小鸡仔，当我还是个小男孩时，最有趣的就是将手指通过盒子上的孔塞进去，让小鸡啄我的手指。

爸爸工作的最后一天，他花了整晚的时间才完成他的工作，因为每个家庭至少有一个成员等在他们的邮箱旁来感谢爸爸的友好与多年服务。他常说：“在我的路线上有二百一十九个邮箱，每个邮箱都有一个故事。”一位女士没有邮箱，所以爸爸每天都亲自把邮件给她，因为她几乎是失明了。一进去，爸爸就给她读邮件并帮助她支付账单。

邮箱有时也用于传递邮件以外的东西。邮箱上有一则留言：纳特把这些鸡蛋带给玛丽安，她在烤蛋糕但是没有鸡蛋了。”邮箱可能被埋在雪地里，可能被破坏了，也可能倒在地上，但邮件总是能被递送。在寒冷的日子里，爸爸总会发现他的一个客户端着一杯热巧克力在那等他。有一个年轻女孩写信却没有邮票，所以她在信封上安一些纽扣，然后投入邮箱，而我爸爸为她付邮费。有一位商人曾把大量现金放在他的邮筒里，让爸爸带去银行。有一次，数额达到32000美元。

十几年前，当我在爸爸去世的悲伤时刻回到我的家乡时，一路上的邮箱让我想起了爸爸的一些故事。我想我知道他们所有人，但事实并不是这样。

当我开车回家时，我看到两个路灯杆，分布在街道的两边。我爸爸在的时候，这些竿子支撑着木箱，使得木箱离地面约四英尺。木箱一个被漆成绿色，另一个被漆成红色，但是每一个木箱上的顶部都有一个细长的孔，用白色字体写着：圣诞老人，北极。多年来，孩子们都通过这个孔投信给圣诞老人。

我在拐角处转了个弯，路过邮局，穿过铁路，就到了我的老房子那。当我听到脚步声时，我和妈妈正坐在厨房的桌子旁。而弗兰克·汤森站在门口，他是爸爸所在邮政局的局长也是爸爸多年的好朋友。然后，我们都坐在桌子旁，开始讲故事。

弗兰克曾一度泪眼婆娑地看着我。他问道“这个圣诞节的信，我们该怎么办？”。

“信？”

“我猜你从来都不知道。”

“知道什么？”

“记住，当你还是个小孩的时候，你曾把你写给圣诞老人的信投在主街的绿箱子和红箱子里吧。但是每年都是你爸爸来回复所有的信。”

我只是满眼含泪地坐在那儿。于我而言，不难想象出爸爸坐在地下室的旧橡木桌边读着这些信，再一一回复的样子。我已经和几个在童年时收到圣诞老人信件的人谈过了，他们告诉我，他们是多么地惊讶，圣诞老人竟然会知道那么多关于他们的家园和家庭的事。

而对我来说，了解关于爸爸的故事则是我一生的礼物。

答案解析

55. C 考查逻辑推理。从文章第一段中的... always an adventure: There were animals to see. . .可知，作者认为与父亲一起去送信是一件令人激动且充满乐趣的事情，所以答案为C项。

56. B 考查逻辑推理。从文章第四段中的One businessman used to leave. . . The amount came to $ 32,000可知，这个商人认为父亲是一个诚实和值得信赖的人，所以他才会这么信任他，让他把巨款送往银行，由此可知B项为最佳答案。

57. D 考查逻辑推理。从文章最后几段可以看出，作者没有想到的是，父亲竟然还曾扮演过圣诞老人的角色，给孩子子们回信，这大大出乎了他的意料。从文章最后一段中的the gift of a lifetime可以看出，作者对父亲的这种行为的印象非常深刻，由此可知答案为D项。

58. C 考查写作手法。从第四段可知，作者在这里举了几个事例，如帮人送鸡蛋，帮小姑娘支付邮票，甚至帮一个商人把巨款送到银行，等等，故答案为C项。

59. D 考查事实细节。从倒数第二段中的and they told me how amazed they were that...可知，当时小朋友们对圣诞老人居然这么了解他们的生活感到非常吃惊，所以答案为D项。

60. A 考查主旨大意。从全文可知，本文作者主要讲述自己的父亲，一个平凡中显现伟大的邮递员的故事，所以A项能概括全文中心，这里用The Mail来表明父亲的工作和他的敬业精神，故A项正确。