(2019·兰州实战考试)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 councilwoman 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 councilwoman.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 your mom，”he said.Then he picked up the stray groceries 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 the bus.On one of them was“Small acts of kindness add up.”Mark smiled and thought，“Maybe that's a good place to start.”
【语篇解读】 本文是一篇记叙文。文章主要叙述了Mark去参加社区会议时，发现社区里存在很多问题，但他觉得自己对解决这些问题起不了多大作用。在回家的路上，他帮助了一个妇人，这件事情让他改变了自己的态度。
1．What was being discussed when Mark arrived at the neighborhood meeting?
A．The high price of groceries.
B．The education problem of children.
C．The worsening of the quality of life.
D．The housing conditions in the community.
C [细节理解题。根据第一段中的“leading a discussion about how the quality of life was on the decline”可知，他们正在讨论生活质量如何下降的问题。特别是下文的一些细节也在暗示着生活质量在变差，如“The neighborhood faced many problems”“for parking problems，crime，and for problems in empty buildings”“The problems are too big”等都说明了这个问题。故答案为C。]
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.
B [推理判断题。根据第一段中的“I think this is a waste of my time.Nothing I can do would make a difference here”可知，Mark认为讨论这件事情是浪费时间的，同时他觉得在这里他不能做什么产生影响的事情，这也就意味着Mark认为他没有能力解决这些问题。故答案为B。]
3．What does the underlined sentence“Small acts of kindness add up”mean in the last paragraph?
A．All small acts will add 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.
D [句意理解题。根据上文内容可知，Mark帮助了一位邻居，这个小小的友善的行为得到了邻居的感谢。Mark觉得这是一个好的开始，每个人都能做好自己的部分使生活变得更好。故答案为D。]
【干扰项分析】 A选项意思是“所有小的行为都会增加友善”，与画线句表达的意思不符，画线句表示“友善的小行为会积少成多。”
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 faced by them.
D．The city councilwoman was responsible for the falling of life quality.
B [推理判断题。根据第一段中的“Mark looked at the charts taped to the walls”以及第二段中的“As he rode home，he glanced at the walls of the bus”可知，视觉上的辅助工具能被用来显示一些问题的严重性。故答案为B。]
