A
For more than nine days,for more than 60 miles,thousands of Beijing-bound vehicles have come to an almost total stop on highways called the 6 and 110 that run from Inner Mongolia southeast to the nation’s capital.
Bai Xiaolong,a 30-year-old truck driver,said it took him five days to make the 350-mile journey from Inner Mongolia to Tianjin.He spent much of that time reading,text-messaging and sleeping rather than speeding up.
“There was one day that I didn’t move,not even an inch,”said Bai,an inhabitant(居民) of Jining in Inner Mongolia,a city at the western end of the traffic jam.
Chinese officials said that the congestion(堵塞) is mainly because of the maintenance(维护) projects that began in mid-August and are scheduled to be completed in mid-September.Trucks carrying 8 tons or more of coal or fruit have been responsible for damaging the roadway,thus making the work necessary.
Drivers who often use the route know that heavy traffic has long been a fact of life.“The problem is really that there’re too many cars and trucks but not enough lanes(车道),”Bai said.“We drivers are used to this sort of thing happening.”
The two national freeways are heavily used by trucks carrying coal from the recently opened fields of Inner Mongolia to China’s coastal cities.
The seemingly endless jam began on the 6 and spread to the 110,which runs parallel(平行),when officials sought to ease the traffic on the 6.
The GlobalTimes,an English-language newspaper,said the jam had eased somewhat in the last two days,but inhabitants of the region say the congestion simply spilled out onto other roads.
The congestion has created an economy of its own.Vendors(小贩) sell boxed lunches,noodles and drinking water to the travelers,often at jacked-up prices.And because of the long-standing problems along the highways,dozens of small hotels have appeared,attracting drivers who need a stop to catch more serious sleep.
21.During the congestion,Bai Xiaolong did all the following EXCEPT .
A.sleeping B.text-messaging
C.speeding up D.reading
答案C
解析细节理解题。根据文章第二段的最后一句可知,在堵车的过程中,他除了睡觉、发短信,就是阅读,没有加速行驶。
22.According to the text,the 110 was mainly damaged by .
A.too many cars
B.bad weather
C.poor maintenance
D.heavy trucks
答案D
解析细节理解题。从文章第四段最后一句及第六段可知,导致这条国道毁坏的主要原因是那些重型卡车。
23.The underlined word “jacked-up” in the last paragraph probably means “ ”.
A.high B.right
C.special D.low
答案A
解析词义猜测题。因为堵车所以司机被困在那里,他们需要吃的和喝的,而一些商贩发现了这个商机,往往哄抬物价,由此可猜测出该词的意思是“很高的”。
24.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.The congestion creates an economy of its own.
B.Traffic jam near Beijing stretches on for days.
C.The traffic has improved in Beijing.
D.Truck drivers in China live a hard life.
答案B
解析标题归纳题。本文报道了一次严重的交通堵塞,60多英里的道路变成了停车场,足足堵了九天多的时间,B项作为标题最合适。
