阅读理解

Directions: In this section there are reading passages followed by multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.

Passage B

A cold wind soothed the faces of the sweaty men huddled on the muddy field. The team stared at the goat line and focus on game-ending, season-defining play in front of them. Dusty air fitted their lungs with each deep heave they mustered.

For almost two hours the men had battled their opponents on the barren football field. Joe, the center, could see the coach describing the play to a younger player. He was one of the grunts, a lineman, big and tall and eager to push open gaps for the backs. The underclassman’ s labored jog back to the huddle mirrored every man’ s fatigue.

The quarterback confirmed the play and articulated it to his team. Joe saw his mouth move but could not hear the words; nonetheless, he knew his blocking assignment. The hiss of the crowd muffled all sound on the field. Suddenly, Joe picked a voice out of the din, and turned his attention to his good friend Mark. “This is it guys, ” Mark was yelling. “We’ ve been practicing for four months this season and for three more years before that. It’ s time we score and take home a win. Let’ s get it done! ” They all clasped hands to break the huddle and returned to their individual concentration.

Time seemed to drag as the team marched back to the line of scrimmage. Joe glared at his opponents, pleased by the heavy clouds of vapor billowing from their mouths. Exhaustion was written on their faces and in their twitchy movements on the line. He turned his head toward the place in which he wanted to force a gap, then to the defensive end who stood fast which his hands on his knees, gaze fixed on the ground. Joe smiled inwardly: he knew his team had beaten the other with physical play and superior endurance. Time froze as he prepared to snap the ball.

Joe leaned over carefully and clutched the moist leather ball. His teammates cautiously took their places right and left, lining up as in countless practice drills, in perfect order. Like clockwork, too, was each man’ s thorough examination of the opposing force, scanning back and forth for a gap or a weak player, feeling the opponents’ stares in return. Joe felt the quarterback crouch behind him. The passer’ s booming voice still did not register with Joe, but instinct told him what he needed to know. Three staccato hikes later, he snapped 45 the ball with speed and hurled himself towards the first defender.

Joe felt the crunch of pads and brought his forearm under the other man’ s shoulder pads. Lifting with his arms and legs, he threw the lesser player onto his back. The meager lineman lay stunned for a moment, which greatly amused Joe, assuming the two yards he had sent his man back was more than enough to free the rusher to enter the end zone. This lucid moment lasted but a split second before Joe again lunged toward an upright opponent.

Joe turned abruptly at the sound of a whistle and strained to find the scoring rusher. Something was wrong. Joe’ s teammates stood stunned, staring at the pile of defensive players who had fallen on their 60 running back. Referees began pulling men off the heap. With only a few men left on the ground, Joe could see the ball still in the backfield, and in the arms of an opponent. He heard his coach from the sideline: “Fumble? Are you kidding me? I can’ t believe you guys! ”

His men had turned over possession of the hall, and time ran out on the game. “We had them beat, you know, ” Mark hissed to Joe as they walked slowly off the field. “They were dead tired. We should have 70 won the game. ” Their one chance was gone and now they had to endure the other team’ s celebration on the field. Joe’ s team never liked losing, but having come so close to a victory that day meant their last-minute defeat would, be especially disappointing. 

单选题 Joe would most likely agree with which of the following statements about the relationship between the players on his team?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推断题。 文章第五段写到， “His teammates cautiously took their places right and left, lining up as in countless practice drills, in perfect order. . . Joe felt the quarterback crouch behind him. ” 可以看到Joe的队友们训练有素， 共同为了比赛的胜利所努力， 故C项为正确答案。
单选题 Joe can most accurately be characterized as_____
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】推断题。 原文第四段倒数第二句“Joe smiled inwardly: he knew his team had beaten the other with physical play and superior endurance. ” 提到Joe认为他们在身体素质方面赢过了对手， 可以看出他的自信， 但由于队伍最终失去了比赛， 由原文最后一句话“Joe’ s team never liked losing, but having come so close to a victory that day meant their last-minute defeat would, be especially disappointing. ” 可以看出他非常的失望， 故B项为正确答案。
单选题 Which of the following statements does NOT describe one of Joe’ s reactions to the events of the final play of the game?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。 由倒数第二段前两句话可以看到Joe转身， 很惊讶地发现球仍在后场， 排除A项； 由最后一段中部Joe与Mark的对话以及“Mark hissed to Joe as they walked slowly off thefield. ” 可以排除C、 D项； 由于文章并未提到B项， 故B项为正确答案。
单选题 field. ” 可以排除C、 D项； 由于文章并未提到B项， 故B项为正确答案。The main point of the first paragraph is that:
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】段落主旨 题。 由第一段第二句“The team stared at the goat line and focus on game-ending, season-defining play in front of them. ” 可以总结出团队非常地努力打到了比赛非常关键的地步， 故B项为正确答案。
单选题 The main point of the last paragraph is that Joe feels_____
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】段落主旨 题。 由最后一句话“Joe’ s team never liked losing, but having come so close to a victory that day meant their last-minute defeat would, be especially disappointing. ” 以及Joe和队友缓慢地走下场的动作可以推断出Joe对于比赛失利非常失望沮丧， 故D项为正确答案。
单选题 According to the passage, when Joe observes the opposing defensive line, Joe feels_____
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】细节题。 从原文第四段倒数第二句“Joe smiled inwardly: he knew his team had beaten the other with physical play and superior endurance. ” 可以看出Joe认为他们在身体素质方面赢过了对手， 所以对于他们的软弱内心欣喜， 故B项为正确答案。
单选题 Which of the following statements most accurately expresses Mark’ s feelings after the loss?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】推断题。 由最后一段Joe与Mark的对话“We had them beat, you know, . . . They were dead tired. We should have 70 won the game. ” 可以看到Joe认为他们本该赢过体力透支的对手，故D项为正确答案。
单选题 It can logically be inferred from the passage that the reason the players join hands at the end of a huddle is because_____
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推断题。 由第三段倒数第二句话“We’ ve been practicing for four months this season and for three more years before that. It’ s time we score and take home a win. Let’ s get it done! ” 可以看到在Joe激励队员共同为了比赛胜利而努力， 据此推断出这样的动作有利于加强团队精神和互相依赖， 故C项为正确答案。
单选题 A reasonable conclusion Joe draws about his first block is that the block_____
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】细节题。 由倒数第三段第三句“The meager lineman lay stunned for a moment, which greatly amused Joe, assuming the two yards he had sent his man back was more than enough to free the rusher to enter the end zone. ” 可以看到Joe的进攻为队友创造了足够的进攻空间， 即这次进攻是非常有效的， 可以为队友创造充足的得分机会， 故A项为正确答案。
单选题 According to the passage, the reason the final play of the game is crucial to the success of the entire season is that_____
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】推断题。 由于文章开头便说这场比赛是“season-defining” 具有决定整个赛季的重要性， 中部也透露出Joe的队伍为之付出了许多时间与努力， 从最后一句话也可以看出这场比赛是他们最接近胜利的机会， 因此可以推断出这场比赛重要的原因是它在赛季末尾出现， 队员为此做了许多准备， 故C项为正确答案。