Question

At railway stations all across Britain next week, groups of students will gather with their backpacks to wait for the trains that will carry them home for Christmas. This is as large a movement of human beings as before, but with more contradictory traffic flows, so that trains filled with the young pass each other travelling in every direction.

At first, I went home every weekend with my washing, but then those visits became less regular. How did I let my parents know I was coming? They had no phone. Perhaps I wrote to them ("Expect me with dirty shirts this Friday afternoon"), but more likely I didn't let them know, and just turned up or didn't turn up, not understanding that my parents' dashed hopes of seeing me were a greater casualty of my carelessness than a spoiled tea.

And in all this I suspect I was typical, at least of young men. As for our fathers and mothers, none of them talked of "empty-nest syndrome", even though its implication that the principal human duty is to protect and feed the young would have suited their generation better than ours. Then, the feelings of loss went without a name. Today, it's a condition with remedies, which will make parents feel more enjoyable in their life. The Mayo Clinic, for example, suggests you try to maintain regular contact with your children through "visits, phone calls, emails, texts or video chats". If you feel depressed, lean on loved ones or your mental health provider. Above all, stay positive: "Thinking about the extra time and energy you might have to devote to your marriage or personal interests after your last child leaves home might help you adapt to this major life change."

What can’t be denied, however, is that children often leave home. In modern societies, this is what they do. Christmas is the very time they can be depended on to return. For the non-religious, that may be this season’s true comfort and significance.

31．The main reason for the busy traffic across Britain next week is that          .

       A．young students will travel home for Christmas

       B．young people will travel in every direction

       C．it is a large movement of human beings

       D．the traffic flows will be more contradictory

32．From the second paragraph we can learn that the writer       .

       A．went home every week to wash dirty clothes

       B．understood his parents’ desire of seeing him

       C．didn’t understand his parents’ feelings

       D．went home to see his parents regularly

33．The underlined word “remedies” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to          .

      A．reasons               B．excuses               C．habits                  D．solutions

34．From the last paragraph we know that         .

       A．in modern society, children should leave home

       B．Christmas is likely a time for family reunion

       C．the significance of Christmas is celebration

       D．Christmas is not a comfort for the non-religious

35．From the passage we can infer that by writing the article the writer’s purpose is to        .

       A．persuade the young to show concern for their parents

       B．ask the young to go home regularly

       C．make the young understand their parents’ interests                 

       D．enable the young to be more independent

Answer 1

B篇是一篇故事，讲述了圣诞前夕英国大批青年学生乘火车回家，由此引发了作者回顾自我的经历并意识到，当年他根本没有意识到父母对孩子的关爱。还给上了年纪的人如何排解空巢的孤独感和孩子们一些建议。

31. 答案为A。考查细节理解能力。根据文章第一段可知。

32. 答案为C。考查推理判断能力。根据文章第二段内容可知。

33. 答案为D。词义猜测能力。根据该句后面解释可知。

34. 答案为B.。考查推理判断能力。根据最后一段理解可知。

35. 答案为A。考查文章主旨推理判断能力。理解整个故事可知。