2014高考英语最后冲刺每日提升系列(共30天)第26天 人物传记故事类阅读

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember well the polished old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with great interest when my mother used to talk to it.Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person—her name was Information Please and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anybody‘s number.My first personal experience with Information Please came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. I accidentally hit my finger with a hammer. The pain was terrible, but there didn‘t seem to be any reason in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy. I walked around the house sucking my hurting finger, finally arriving at the stairway—the telephone! Climbing up I unhooked the receiver and held it to my ear. ―Information Please,‖ I said.A click o r two and a small clear voice spoke into my ear, ―Information.‖―I hurt my finger…‖ I cried. The tears came readily enough now that I had an audience. ―Isn‘t your mother home?‖ came the question. ―Nobody‘s home but me.‖ I sobbed. ―Are you bleeding?‖ ―No,‖ I replied. ―I hit my finger with the hammer and it hurts.‖ ―Can you open your icebox?‖ she asked. I said I could. ―Then chip off a little piece of ice and hold it to your finger.‖After that I called Information Please for everything. I asked her for help with my geography and she told me where Philadelphia was. And there was the time that Petey, our pet canary (金丝雀) died. I called Information Please and told her the sad story. She listened, and then said the usual things grown-ups say to comfort a child. But I was unconsoled. Why is it that birds should sing so beautifully and bring joy to all families, only to end up as a heap of feathers, feet up on the bottom of a cage?She must have sensed my deep concern, for she said quietly, ―Paul, always remember th at there are other worlds to sing in.‖ Somehow I felt better.Another day I was on the telephone. ―Information Please.‖ ―Information,‖ said the now familiar voice. ―How do you spell fix?‖ I asked.All this took place in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Then when I was 9 years old, we moved to Boston. I missed my friend very much. Information Please belonged to that old wooden box in former home, and I somehow never thought of trying the tall, shiny new phone that sat on the hall table.Yet as I grew into my teens, the memories of those childhood conversations never really left me; often in moments of doubt and sadness I would recall the sense of security I had then. I appreciated now how patient, understanding, and kind she was to have spent her time on a little boy.A few years later, on my way west to college, my plane put down in Seattle. I had about half an hour or so between planes, and I spent 15 minutes or so on the phone with my sister, who lived there now. Then without thinking what I was doing, I dialed my hometown operator and said, ―Information Please.‖Unexpectedly, I heard again the small, clear voice I knew so well, ―Information.‖ I hadn‘t plannedthis but I heard myself saying, ―Could you tell me please how to spell fix?‖ There was a long pause. Then came the soft spoken answer, ―I guess that your finger must have healed by now.‖I laughed, ―So it‘s really still you,‖ I said. ―I wonder if you have any idea how much you meant to me during that time.‖―I wonder,‖ she said, ―if you know how m uch your calls meant to me. I never had any children, and I used to look forward to your calls.‖I told her how often I had thought of her over the years and I asked if I could call her again when I came back to visit my sister.―Please do; just ask of Sally.‖Just three months later I was back in Seattle…. A different voice answered Information and I asked for Sally.―Are you a friend?‖ ―Yes, a very old friend.‖ ―Then I‘m sorry to have to tell you. Sally has been working part-time the last few years becaus e she was sick. She passed away five weeks ago.‖ But before I could hang up she said, ―Wait a minute. Did you say your name was Paul?‖―Yes!‖―Well, Sally left a message for you. She wrote it down. Here it is. I‘ll read it. ―Tell him I still say there are other worlds to sing in. He‘ll know what I mean.‖I thanked her and hung up. I did know what Sally meant.1．According to the text, Information Please is actually ________.A. a robotB. the author‘s motherC. a telephone operatorD. the telephone itself 2．The author picked up the telephone for the first time to ________.A. call his mother who was visiting a neighborB. call the doctor for his wounded fingerC. find out what exactly lived in the telephoneD. find someone to give him sympathy3．The underlined word ―unconsoled‖ in paragraph 6 means ________.A. too sad to have a talkB. difficult to deal with somebodyC. hard to communicate with somebodyD. unable to accept comfort4．What did Sally mean by saying those underlined words in the message?A. The author didn‘t need to feel sad for her death.B. She went to another place to make a living as a singerC. The world without her would still be good to the author.D. The author should explore new worlds for his new life.5．Why did the writer never think of trying the new phone after moving to Boston?A. He hadn‘t got used to the line service in Boston yet.B. There was something wrong with the new phone.C. He missed Information Please in the old phone so much.D. He didn‘t like the tall and shiny style of the new phone.【答案】1．C2．D3．D4．A5．C【解析】One morning, teachers arrived to find the little country schoolhouse swallowed in flames. They dragged an unconscious little boy, who went to start the fire in the old-fashioned coal stove to heat, out of the flaming building more dead than alive. He had major burns over the lower half of his body and was taken to a nearby county hospital.From his bed the dreadfully burned, semi-conscious little boy faintly heard the doctor talking to his mother. The doctor told his mother that her son would surely die — which was for the best, really — for the terrible fire had ruin ed the lower half of his body.But the brave boy didn‘t want to die. He made up his mind that he would surviv e. Somehow, to the amazement of the physician, he did survive. When the deadly danger was past, he again heard the doctor and his mother speaking quietly. The mother was told that since the fire had destroyed so much flesh in the lower part of his body, it would almost b e better if he had died, since he was doomed to be in a wheelchair all lifetime with no use at all of his lower limbs (肢体).Once more the brave boy made up his mind. He would not be a disabled man. He would walk. But unfortunately from the waist down, he had no motor ability. His thin legs just hung there, all but lifeless.Ultimately he was released from the hospital. Every day his mother would massage his little legs, but there was no feeling, no control, nothing. Yet his determination that he would walk was asstrong as ever.When he wasn‘t in bed, he was confined to a wheelchair. One sunny day his mother wheeled him out into the yard to get some fresh air. This day, instead of sitting there, he threw himself from the chair. He pulled himself across the grass, dragging his legs behind him.He worked his way to the white fence bordering their lot. With great effort, he raised himself up on the fence. Then he began dragging himself along the fence，resolved that he would walk. He started to do this every day until he wore a smooth path all around the yard beside the fence. There was nothing he wanted more than to develop life in those legs.Ultimately through his daily massages, his iron persistence and his resolute determination, he did develop the ability to stand up, then to walk slowly, then to walk by himself — and then to run.He began to walk to school, then to run to school, to run for the pure joy of running. Later in college he made the track team.Still later in Madison Square Garden this young man, the great athlete, Dr. Glenn Cunningham, ran the world‘s fastest mile!6．Which word can best describe Glenn Cunningham according to the author?A. MiserableB. UnfortunateC. DeterminedD.Disabled7．Glenn got seriously burned _____.A. when he was playing near the stoveB. when he went to set fire to the schoolhouseC. when he was probably younger than tenD. when his teachers were lighting the fire8．Which cannot be inferred from the passage?A. Glenn didn‘t catch what the doctor told his mother so he didn‘t worry about his burns.B. Glenn decided to survive though his lower part of body had lost the sense of feeling.C. Glenn struggled to stand up by dragging along the fence and other supportable matters.D. Glenn never stopped practicing walking and running, even after he ran first in the race. 9．The doctor advised Glenn‘s mother to let Glenn die because the doctor was too______.A. unskillfulB. practicalC. subjectiveD. i rresponsible【答案】6．C7．C8．A9．B【解析】儿童时代的一次烧伤事故让Glenn Cunningham丧失了行走能力，甚至差点要了他的命。