A
Mark is always engaged in his work. But this time he felt that it was time for him to take part in his community, so he went to the neighborhood meeting after work. The area city council woman was leading a discussion about how the quality of life was on the decline. The neighborhood faced many problems. Mark looked at the charts taped to the walls. There were charts for parking problems, crime, and for problems in empty buildings. Mark read from the charts, “Police patrols cut back, illegal parking up 20%”. People were supposed to suggest solutions to the council woman. It was too much for Mark. “The problems are too big”, he thought. He turned to the man next to him and said, “I think this is a waste of my time. Nothing I can do would make a difference here.”
As he neared the bus stop on his way home, Mark saw a woman carrying a grocery bag, and a baby. As Mark got closer, her other child, a little boy, suddenly ran into the street. The woman tried to reach for him, but as she moved, her bag shifted, and groceries started to fall out. Mark ran to take the boy’s arm and led him back to his mother. “You gotta stay with mom,” he said. Then he picked up the stray groceries while and the woman smiled in relief. “Thanks,” she said, “You’ve got great timing.” “Just being neighborly,” Mark said. As he rode home, he glanced at the walls of bus. On one of them was “Small acts of kindness add up.” Mark smiled and thought, “Maybe that’s a good place to start.”
1. What was being discussed when Mark arrived at the neighborhood meeting?
A. The high price of grocery.
B. The education problem of children.
C. The worsening of quality of life.
D. The housing conditions in the community.
2. What’s Mark’s opinion about the community problems according to the first paragraph?
A. People could solve the problems by themselves.
B. He didn’t have the ability to solve such problems.
C. He didn’t have enough time to solve the problems.
D. People were too selfish to help others solve the problems.
3. What does the underlined words “Small acts of kindness add up” mean in the last paragraph?
A. All small acts will add up to kindness.
B. Everyone should try his best to do good deeds.
C. All small kind acts can make people grow up quickly.
D. Everyone can play his own part to make things better.
4. What can we learn from this passage?
A. Mark always played an active part in community activities.
B. Visual aids were used to display the seriousness of problems.
C. Many people were discouraged by the problems facing them.
D. The city council woman was responsible for the falling of life quality.
【答案】1. C 2. B 3. D 4. B
【解析】
本文是夹叙夹议文。通过Mark的亲身经历说明了这样一个道理：每个人都可以尽自己的一份力，让世界变得更美好。
【1题详解】
细节理解题。由第一自然段“The area city council woman was leading a discussion about how the quality of life was on the decline.(该地区市议会的妇女正在领导一场关于生活质量如何下降的讨论)”可知在小区会议上，人们正在讨论生活质量的日益恶化，故选C。
2题详解】
推理判断题。由第一自然段“It was too much for Mark. “The problems are too big”, he thought. He turned to the man next to him and said, “I think this is a waste of my time. Nothing I can do would make a difference here.”(对马克来说太难了。 “问题太大了”，他想。 他转向旁边的那个人说：“我认为这是在浪费我的时间。 我所能做的一切都不会改变这里。)”可推断出Mark认为自己没有能力解决这些问题，故选B。
【3题详解】
词句猜测题。虽然Mark只是做了一件举手之劳的事，但是却帮助这位女士解决了难题。所以“Small acts of kindness add up”的意思是每个人都可以尽自己的一份力，让世界变得更美好，故选D。
【4题详解】
推理判断题。由第一自然段“Mark looked at the charts taped to the walls. There were charts for parking problems, crime, and for problems in empty buildings. Mark read from the charts, “Police patrols cut back, illegal parking up 20%”.(马克看着贴在墙上的图表。 有停车问题、犯罪和空楼问题的图表。 马克从图表中读到，“警察巡逻减少，非法停车增加20%”)”可推知这是以一种直观视觉的方式来呈现问题的严重性，故选B。
