Question

Head held high, hands firmly gripping her walker, Mary Arnott, 99, walks slowly with dignity through the women’s changing room at the Etobicoke Olympium pool, past the teenage girls who have been blow-drying their hair for half an hour, into the mist of the showers, then out the door and first one into the heated pool. She jumps over to the shallow end, stopping to talk to friends—everyone knows Arnott here;she swims twice a week and treats it as a job—about their children, the viciousness（謬誤）of bridge and their health.

 In fact, Arnott is an exception to the exception. Not only has she lived 20 years past the average lifespan for Canadians, she’s healthy, her mind is sharp and she lives independently.

Born in Brooklyn on May 28, 1909, Arnott was raised on Staten Island. She survived scarlet fever（猩紅熱）, helped bring up four siblings（兄弟姐妹）after her mother died in 1923 and worked as a secretary in New York City for 12 years, earning＄35 a week and a＄150 bonus at Christmas.

 Now she’s happy living in a one-room apartment with a kitchen and a bathroom in her daughter’s house. She wears a hearing aid, does the cryptic crossword（有隱義的縱橫字謎）with a magnifying glass, and can’t really explain why she has lived so well so long.

Until recently, she has still liked to drink red wine—she used to drink two glasses before supper each day. It’s more likely genes, she admits. Her interest in other people and life in general may have had something to do with it. Asked if a star photographer can take her picture at the pool, Arnott seems cheerful.

“I look good in a swimsuit, ” she says, nodding her head firmly. “I look better in a swimsuit than I do in pants. ”

31. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A. Mary Arnott likes to swim and is known to the local people.

B. Mary Arnott is afraid to swim at the swimming pool.

C. Mary Arnott can’t swim but she likes water.

D. Mary Arnott just likes to talk to her friends at the bank of the swimming pool.

32. Which of the following is TRUE as for Mary Arnott as an exception to the exception?

A. She has lived 30 years past the average lifespan for Canadians.

B. She’s healthy and her mind is sharp.

C. She lives with her daughter.

D. She likes to live with her children and has a happy life.

33. What happened when Mary Arnott was 14?

A. She had a disease called scarlet fever but survived.

B. Her mother died and she had to help her father to bring up her sisters and brothers.

C. She found a job as a secretary in New York City.

D. She was born in Brooklyn.

34. What may Mary Arnott think of her living alone?

A. Bitter.                        B. Happy.

C. Meaningless.               D. Boring.

35. If someone asks about swimming, Mary Arnott may ________.

A. like pants                  B. like swimsuit better

C. like to sit at the bank         D. like to swim with girls

Answer 1

一個年近100歲的老人仍然堅持游泳，來保證身體的健康。

31. 【解析】選A。推理判斷題。根據(jù)第一段可知，Mary Arnott喜歡游泳，當?shù)厝硕颊J識她。

32. 【解析】選B。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段可知，A、C、D三項和文章不符。

33. 【解析】選B。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段可知，她14歲時（1923年），她媽媽去世，她不得不幫助父親撫養(yǎng)兄弟姐妹們。

34. 【解析】選B。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第四段可知，Mary Arnott認為她的生活很幸福。

35. 【解析】選B。細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)最后一段可知。