第三部分：閱讀理解（共20小題，每題2分，滿(mǎn)分40分）

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。

A

I used to think of myself as a person learned in books, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and an Australian book, my literature collection only consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I couldn’t ever find anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.

So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing.

With no idea where to get those books, I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, so I decided to ask the readers all over the world for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.

The response was amazing. People all over the world were getting in touch with me, offering ideas and book lists. Some posted me books from their home countries. In addition, several writers, like Turkmenistan’s Ak Welsapar and Panama’s Juan David Morgan, sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works unavailable in Britain. Even with such an extraordinary team of bibliophiles(愛(ài)書(shū)者) behind me, however, sourcing books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 per cent of literary works published in the UK, getting English versions of stories was tricky.

One by one, the books from the countries on the list filled my heart with laughter, love, anger, hope and fear. Lands that had once seemed exotic and remote became close and familiar to me. At its best, I learned, reading makes the world real.

51. The author realized she was not a learned person when she found ________.

 A. she could do nothing but read books

 B. she had never been to Indian and Australian

 C. she didn’t have any translated books.

 D. she could only read simple English stories

52. What was the challenge the author set for herself?

 A. Reading books from nearly 200 countries in a year.

 B. Creating a blog to offer help to other readers.

 C. Looking for publications to publish her own books.

 D. Giving some suggestions on learning English. 

53. It was not easy to find the books mainly because ________.

 A. there were too few translations in the UK 

 B. the readers were unwilling to offer help

C. the author had no time and no chance to do it

D. the writers didn’t want to publish their books

54. We can infer that by reading the books from other countries, the author feels ________.

A. bored and regretful B. thankful and pitiful

C. calm and peaceful  D. satisfied and rewarded 

B

The adder（蝰蛇）is the only poisonous snake native to Britain. Adders have the most highly developed poison injecting mechanism of all snakes, but they are not aggressive animals. Adders will only use their poison as a last means of defence, usually if caught or trodden on. No one has died from adder bites in Britain for over 20 years. By far the most common snake in Britain is the adder. In Scotland, in fact, there are no other snakes at all. The adder is also the only British snake with a poisonous bite. It can be found almost anywhere, but it prefers sunny hillsides and rough open country, including high lands. In Ireland there are no snakes at all.

Most people regard snake bites as a fatal misfortune, but not all bites are serious, and very few are fatal . Sometimes attempts at emergency treatment turn out to be more dangerous than the bite itself, with amateurs heroically, but mistakenly, trying do-it-yourself surgery and other unnecessary measures.

All snakes have small teeth, so it follows the tall snakes can bite, but only the bite of the adder presents any danger. British snakes are shy animals and are far more frightened of you than you could possibly be of them. The adder will attack only if it feels threatened, as can happen if you take it by surprise and step on it accidentally, or if you try to catch it or pick it up, which it dislikes intensely. If it hears you coming, it will normally get out of the way as quickly as it can, but adders cannot move very rapidly and may attack before moving if you are very close.

The effect of a bite varies considerably. It depends upon several things, one of which is the body-weight of the person bitten. The heavier the person is, the less harmful the bite is likely to be, which is why children suffer far more seriously from snake bites in Britain , and

people think these bites can make some people very ill, and there are probably just as many cases of bites having little or no effect, as there are of serious illness.

55. What does the underlined phrase “ trodden on” probably mean?

A. Found out          B. Heard from     C. Stepped on.     D. Robbed of.

56. Where are adders to be found?

 A. In fertile fields in Scotland.                

 B. On wild land throughout Britain.

C. In many parts of Britain and Ireland.     

 D. Everywhere in Britain except Scotland

57. What should you do if you are with someone who is bitten by an adder?

 A. Catch the biting adder at once.             

B. Don’t worry about the bitten person.

   C. Don’t try to treat the bite by yourself.      

D. Operate on the person as soon as possible.

58. What’s the best title of the passage?

 A. Poisonous Snakes             B. Adders in Britain  

 C. Take Care of Snake Bites        D. Protect Endangered Adders