Last Christmas was a very difficult time for me. My family and all of my close friends were back home in Florida, and I was all alone in a rather cold California. I was working too many hours and became very sick.
I was working a double shift at the Southwest Airlines ticket counter, it was about 9:00 PM on Christmas Eve, and I was feeling really miserable inside. There were a few of us working and very few customers waiting to be helped. When it was time for me to call the next person to the counter, I looked out to see the sweetest-looking old man standing with a cane. He walked very slowly over to the counter and in the faintest voice told me that he had to go to New Orleans. I tried to explain to him that there were no more flights that night and that he would have to go in the morning. He looked so confused and very worried. I tried to find out more information by asking if he had a reservation or if he remembered when he was supposed to travel, but he seemed to become more confused with each question. He just kept saying, “She said I have to go to New Orleans.”
After much time, I was able to at least find out that this old man had been dropped off at the curb on Christmas Eve by his sister-in-law and told to go to New Orleans, where he had family. She had given him some cash and told him just to go inside and buy a ticket. When I asked if he could come back tomorrow, he said that she was gone and that he had no place to stay. He then said he would wait at the airport until tomorrow. Naturally, I felt a little ashamed. Here I was feeling very sorry for myself about being alone on Christmas, when this angel named Clarence MacDonald was sent to me to remind me of what being alone really meant. It broke my heart.
Immediately, I told him we would get it all straightened out, and our Customer Service agent helped to book him a seat for the earliest flight the next morning. We gave him the senior citizen’s fare, which gave him some extra money for travelling. About this time he started to look very tired, and when I stepped around the counter to ask him if he was all right, I saw that his leg was wrapped in a bandage. He had been standing on it that whole time, holding a plastic bag full of clothes.
I called for a wheelchair. When the wheelchair came, we all stepped around to help him in, and I noticed a small amount of blood on his bandage. I asked how he hurt his leg, and he said that he had just had bypass surgery and an artery was taken from his leg. Can you imagine? This man had had heart surgery, and then shortly afterward, was dropped off at the curb to buy a ticket with no reservation to fly to New Orleans, alone!
I never really had a situation like this, and I wasn’t sure what I could do. I went back to ask my supervisors if we could find a place for him to stay. They both said yes, and they obtained a hotel voucher for Mr. MacDonald for one night and a meal ticket for dinner and breakfast. When I came back out, we got his plastic bag of clothes and cane together and gave the porter a tip to take him downstairs to wait for the airport shuttle. I bent down to explain the hotel, food and itinerary (行程) again to Mr. MacDonald, and then patted him on the arm and told him everything would be just fine.
As he left he said, “Thank you,” bent his head and started to cry. I cried too. When I went back to thank my supervisor, she just smiled and said, “I love stories like that. He is your Christmas Man.”
【小題1】Last Christmas the writer had a miserable time because ______.

A.there were more customers than usual waiting to be helped
B.it was freezing cold in California at Christmas time
C.she was working all alone at the ticket counter
D.she was far away from her family and friends
【小題2】The writer’s first impression of the old man was that he was ______.
A.gentle-looking and weakB.tired out and worried
C.confused and very sickD.sad and anxious
【小題3】The old man wanted to fly to New Orleans to ______.
A.see his friends there
B.spend the Christmas with his family
C.visit his sister-in-law
D.undergo heart surgery
【小題4】On hearing the old man say that he would wait at the airport the whole night, the writer felt a bit ashamed. This is because ______.
A.she felt sorry that she couldn’t do the old man a favor
B.she realized that someone was even more miserable than she felt
C.it took her a long time to find out how helpless the old man was
D.the old man was like an angel in the writer’s eyes
【小題5】The writer called for a wheelchair for the old man because ______.
A.the old man had broken his leg when he was dropped off at the curb
B.the old man could spend the whole night on it at the airport
C.the old man was carrying a whole lot of clothes
D.the old man had had surgery just before and was very weak by then
【小題6】 By calling the old man the writer’s Christmas Man, the writer’s supervisor implied that ______.
A.the old man had told the writer a love story on Christmas
B.the old man had caused a lot of trouble for the writer on Christmas
C.the old man was the best gift the writer could have received on Christmas
D.the old man was the only customer the writer had served on Christmas


【小題1】D
【小題2】A
【小題3】B
【小題4】B
【小題5】D
【小題6】C

解析試題分析:作者講述因?yàn)檫h(yuǎn)離家人和朋友開(kāi)始覺(jué)得孤獨(dú),在幫助了那位老人之后,這種孤獨(dú)感已不是那么明顯了。她覺(jué)得老人是她圣誕節(jié)收到的最好的禮物。
【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)題:從第一段的句子:My family and all of my close friends were back home in Florida, and I was all alone in a rather cold California.可知是因?yàn)檫h(yuǎn)離家人和朋友使作者感到痛苦。選D
【小題2】細(xì)節(jié)題:從第二段的句子:I looked out to see the sweetest-looking old man standing with a cane. He walked very slowly over to the counter and in the faintest voice told me that he had to go to New Orleans.可知作者對(duì)老人的第一印象是紳士也很虛弱。選A
【小題3】細(xì)節(jié)題:從第三段的句子:After much time, I was able to at least find out that this old man had been dropped off at the curb on Christmas Eve by his sister-in-law and told to go to New Orleans, where he had family.可知老人想去 New Orleans.是和家人共度圣誕節(jié)。選B
【小題4】推理題:從第三段的句子:when this angel named Clarence MacDonald was sent to me to remind me of what being alone really meant. It broke my heart.可以推斷出作者感到羞愧是因?yàn)樗烙腥吮人纯。選B
【小題5】細(xì)節(jié)題:從第四段的句子:and he said that he had just had bypass surgery and an artery was taken from his leg. Can you imagine? This man had had heart surgery,可知老人剛剛做過(guò)手術(shù),還很弱。選D
【小題6】推理題:在幫助了那位老人之后,這種孤獨(dú)感已不是那么明顯了,說(shuō)明老人是她圣誕節(jié)收到的最好的禮物。選C
考點(diǎn):考查故事類短文
點(diǎn)評(píng):本文推斷題居多,答題時(shí)在文章找到對(duì)應(yīng)的地方,用筆進(jìn)行標(biāo)記,這有利于后期有時(shí)間檢查時(shí)可以立刻找到答案的位置。仔細(xì)理解作者所講的意思,再結(jié)合選項(xiàng),通過(guò)排除法和自己對(duì)全文的把握,選出正確答案。

練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源: 題型:閱讀理解

Some couples spend every waking minute together. Others fill their hours with personal hobbies,outside interests and even part-time jobs, just to keep their distance from each other! "There should be private time and couple time," suggests Dr. Stephen Treat at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia."You don't want your latter years to turn into a process where two people unite as one. If you hold too tightly to your partner, it's going to cause resentment and anger. If you're completely separate, you'll both be lonely and disconnected. You need balance. So you have to talk about how you'll achieve that."

The right balance? It's different for every couple. "Having a conversation about time can be difficult,but it's important for both partners to process those feelings out loud," Dr. Treat says. "You should not be accusing and act as a judge—ask the difficult questions, but do it in a loving way. You could say something like, 'How are we going to be as individuals and how are we going to be as a couple?' "

   Barbara and Chris Christensen have achieved the balance that works for them. In addition to daily routines that keep them close—including about 10 minutes for a daily check-in and about a half hour of relaxation time—they each maintain separate interests and friendships.

 "We have found that we need time apart," Barbara says. "I have a group of women friends that I have known for the last 30 years. We have dinner out once a month. We women also have parties and weekend or weeklong vacations as a group at a beach or somewhere. Chris, a former fighter pilot, has many aviation-oriented(航空的) groups and friends and also a poker-playing group of our friends. I may be with him during the poker night, but I don't play, and the wives usually watch a chick flick' DVD or something while the poker group has an evening of fun. We have found it important to have separate time as well as together time."

The author writes the passage to ______.

A. offer some suggestions on how to spend the time after retirement

B. advise couples to develop their separate hobbies

C. warn couples not to be accusing each other

D. give people some advice on how to entertain themselves after retirement

Dr. Stephen suggests that _________after retirement.

A. couples stay together all the time

B. couples express their feelings in a loving way

C. couples be separate

D. wives make many friends

It can be inferred that________.

A. many couples are faced with problems after retirement

B. America has a large population of retired people

C. most people join various social groups after retirement

D. playing poker is a popular activity among retired people

Barbara and her friends do the following EXCEPT_______.

A. having dinner regularly

B. holding parties

C. having weekly vacations at the beach

D. having fun playing poker

The second paragraph is mainly intended to_______.

A. warn the husband not to act as a judge

B. suggest couples have discussions about difficulties

C. suggest how to keep the correct balance

D. require couples to be considerate

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:2011屆山東省濟(jì)南市第一中學(xué)高三10月階段考試英語(yǔ)卷 題型:閱讀理解

Some couples spend every waking minute together. Others fill their hours with personal hobbies,outside interests and even part-time jobs, just to keep their distance from each other! "There should be private time and couple time," suggests Dr. Stephen Treat at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia."You don't want your latter years to turn into a process where two people unite as one. If you hold too tightly to your partner, it's going to cause resentment and anger. If you're completely separate, you'll both be lonely and disconnected. You need balance. So you have to talk about how you'll achieve that."
The right balance? It's different for every couple. "Having a conversation about time can be difficult,but it's important for both partners to process those feelings out loud," Dr. Treat says. "You should not be accusing and act as a judge—ask the difficult questions, but do it in a loving way. You could say something like, 'How are we going to be as individuals and how are we going to be as a couple?' "
Barbara and Chris Christensen have achieved the balance that works for them. In addition to daily routines that keep them close—including about 10 minutes for a daily check-in and about a half hour of relaxation time—they each maintain separate interests and friendships.
"We have found that we need time apart," Barbara says. "I have a group of women friends that I have known for the last 30 years. We have dinner out once a month. We women also have parties and weekend or weeklong vacations as a group at a beach or somewhere. Chris, a former fighter pilot, has many aviation-oriented(航空的) groups and friends and also a poker-playing group of our friends. I may be with him during the poker night, but I don't play, and the wives usually watch a chick flick' DVD or something while the poker group has an evening of fun. We have found it important to have separate time as well as together time."
【小題1】The author writes the passage to ______.

A.offer some suggestions on how to spend the time after retirement
B.a(chǎn)dvise couples to develop their separate hobbies
C.warn couples not to be accusing each other
D.give people some advice on how to entertain themselves after retirement
【小題2】 Dr. Stephen suggests that _________after retirement.
A.couples stay together all the time
B.couples express their feelings in a loving way
C.couples be separate
D.wives make many friends
【小題3】It can be inferred that________.
A.many couples are faced with problems after retirement
B.America has a large population of retired people
C.most people join various social groups after retirement
D.playing poker is a popular activity among retired people
【小題4】Barbara and her friends do the following EXCEPT_______.
A.having dinner regularly
B.holding parties
C.having weekly vacations at the beach
D.having fun playing poker
【小題5】The second paragraph is mainly intended to_______.
A.warn the husband not to act as a judge
B.suggest couples have discussions about difficulties
C.suggest how to keep the correct balance
D.require couples to be considerate

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:2012-2013學(xué)年遼寧省實(shí)驗(yàn)中學(xué)分校高一上學(xué)期期末考試英語(yǔ)試卷(解析) 題型:閱讀理解

Bungee jumping is an activity about jumping from a tall structure while connected to a large elastic cord(有彈性的繩子). The tall structure is usually a fixed object, such as a building, bridge or crane; but it is also possible to jump from a movable object, such as a hot-air balloon or helicopter, that has the ability to stay over one place on the ground; fixed-wing aircraft are unsuitable because they only stay high when moving quickly forward.
When the person jumps, the cord stretches to absorb (吸收)the energy of the fall, then the jumper flies upwards again as the cord jumps back. The jumper oscillates(擺動(dòng))up and down until all the energy is used up.
The word bungee first appeared around 1930 and was the name for a rubber eraser. The first modern bungee jumps were made on 1 April 1979 from the 250-foot Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, by David Kirk, Chris Baker and Alan Weston of the Dangerous Sports Club. The jumpers continued with jumps in the US from the Golden Gate and Royal Gorge bridges, spreading the concept worldwide. By 1982 they were jumping from mobile cranes and hot-air balloons. Later they put on commercial(商業(yè)的)shows, which began in 1986.
As with any sport, injuries can still happen, and there have been deaths. A relatively common mistake in the cases that may cause death is to use a cord that is too long. The cord should be fully shorter than the height of the jumping place to allow it room to jumper either starts to slow down or keeps speeding up depending upon the speed of falling.
【小題1】Which of the following is NOT suitable for bungee jumping?

A.The fixed-wing aircraftB.The helicopter
C.The hot-air balloonD.The mobile crane
【小題2】In the second paragraph, the author tells_________________.
A.who suits bungee jumping
B.the principle of bungee jumping
C.the material used for bungee jumping
D.the danger of bungee jumping
【小題3】According to the last paragraph, the safety of the jumpers depends mainly on________.
A.the weight of the jumper
B.the height of the jumping place
C.the length of the cord
D.the speed of the falling
【小題4】The purpose of writing this passage is to__________.
A.teach people how to carry out a bungee jumping
B.remind people of the danger of bungee jumping
C.a(chǎn)dvise people not to take the risk of bungee jumping
D.introduce some knowledge about bungee jumping

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:2013-2014學(xué)年北京市石景山區(qū)高三上學(xué)期期末考試英語(yǔ)試卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

Travel Unaccompanied

Now many young people are traveling around the world on their own, not because they have no one to travel with, but because they prefer to go alone.

Kristina Wegscheider from California first traveled alone when she was at college and believes that it is something everyone should do at least once in their life. “It opens up your mind to new things and pushes you out of your comfort zone.” Wegscheider has visited 46 countries covering all seven continents.

In foreign countries, with no one to help you read a map, look after you if you get ill, or lend you money if your wallet is stolen. It is challenging. This is what drives young people to travel alone.It is seen as character building and a chance to prove that they can make it on their own.

Chris Richardson decided to leave his sales job in Australia to go traveling last year.He set up a website, The Aussie Nomad, to document his adventures. He said he wished he had traveled alone earlier. “The people you meet, the places you visit, or the things you do, everything is up to you and it forces you to grow as a person,” said the 30-year-old.

Richardson describes traveling alone like “a shot in the arm”, which “makes you a more confident person that was ready to deal with anything”. He said: “The feeling of having conquered something on my own is a major part of what drives me each day when I’m dealing with a difficult task. I walk around with my head up because I know deep down inside that nothing is impossible if you try.”

The great 19th century explorer John Muir once said: “Only by going alone in silence can one truly get into the heart of the wilderness.”

1.Which of the following will Kristina Wegscheider agree with?

A. Traveling alone is a necessary experience for everyone.

B. It is more meaningful to travel in foreign countries.

C. It is comfortable to travel around without a friend.

D. Traveling abroad helps people to find new things.

2.Traveling alone is challenging because         .

A. it will finally build your character

B. you have to make things on your own

C. you depend on yourself whatever happens

D. it is hard for you to prove yourself to others

3.What can we infer about Chris Richardson?

A. He started traveling at an early age.          B. He was once shot in the arm.

C. His website inspires others a lot.      D. He used to work as a salesman.

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:2015屆黑龍江集賢縣第一中學(xué)高一上學(xué)期期末考試英語(yǔ)試卷(解析版) 題型:閱讀理解

Three high students become heroes after their act of saving a baby’s life.

Andrew Willis, 15, his brother Chris, 13, and friend Reece Galea, 14, were walking along Swallow Drive on their way to school on May 23, when Nicholle Price ran out of her house, shouting for help. Her six-month-old son Corey had swallowed (吞下) an earring (耳環(huán)) and the young mother couldn’t ring for help because something was wrong with her phone. The three teenagers rushed to the aid of Ms Price, called an ambulance (救護(hù)車), calmed her down and waited with her until the ambulance arrived before heading to school.

Ms Price, Corey and his grandmother Joyce Finnie visited the school last Thursday to thank the boys for their kind action. “It’s good to know that there are still some good people who will stop and help,” Ms Price said. “While I was shouting for help, a woman walking her dog went straight past, without stopping. I don’t know what would have happened if these boys had not stopped.”

The teenagers were shocked at the attention they received at school for their heroic act but admitted that the incident was nerve-racking(刺激神經(jīng)的). “We heard her shouting so we knew something wasn’t right,” Andrew said. “We thought someone had died. It was scary (驚慌的) but we just did what we had to do.”

Just as proud as the boys’ parents is their principal, Tim McCallum.

After two days in hospital, Corey has now fully recovered. “He’s got two new teeth to show,” Ms Price said. “I have to keep a closer eye on him. He’s into everything now and grabs whatever he finds to put it straight into his mouth.”

1.The three high students were _____ when a woman ran out of her house shouting for help.

A.playing near the house

B.on their way to school

C.walking their dogs nearby

D.on their way back from school

2.Ms Price spoke of a woman walking her dog without stopping to show _____.

A.how dangerous the case was

B.how brave the three boys were

C.why the three teenagers’ action was heroic

D.how clever the three boys were

3.The underlined sentence in the 4th paragraph probably means “_____”.

A.they didn’t expect they would be given so much praise

B.they felt excited to have become so famous after the incident

C.they were supposed to receive so many prizes for their good deed

D.they were proud of the attention they received at school for their heroic deed

4.Which would be the best title for this passage?

A.How a baby was saved after swallowing an earring

B.Why the mother shouted for help

C.Baby life saved: teenage heroes earn high praise

D.A mother came to school to thank 3 teenagers

 

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案