单选题 You'd think Pauline Hord would have served her time by now. After all, she recently celebrated her 90th birthday, and by the time she achieved that breathtaking (激动人心的，使人惊叹的) milestone, she'd already done a 10-year stretch in the Mississippi State Prison.
Ms. Hord is a sweet-natured, gentle-talking, white-haired Southerner who never owed a debt to society—thus, she never had to pay one. So you have to wonder what a woman like this is doing in a place where most people are itching to get loose. Unlike the rest of the population, Ms. Hord goes to prison freely and eagerly. And when she gets there, she persuades prisoners of every sort to sing little ditties (小诗，短歌谣) about their ABCs and XYZs.
At age 80, Ms. Hord began teaching prisoners to read during a chance visit to the State Prison with a lawyer friend. "When Igor there, I heard that a group of volunteer workers had been praying for a teacher. They asked me if I would come and I said I would be thrilled (非常激动的，高兴的) ,” she said.
On a personal level, Ms. Hord considers this rewarding work. "If you get at the reason why these men went into crime, you will find that none of them succeeded in their early years of schooling." "They went to school at 5 believing they were going to learn to read. When they didn't learn in the first or second grade, they realized something was wrong. By 8, they were having problems. By 12 or 13, they were drinking or using drugs. And it's getting worse. I'm seeing younger and younger prisoners who know less and less. They can't read well enough to function in this society." She says.
It is this situation that Ms. Hord goes to prison week after week to correct. And when her most difficult students finally begin to read, she is sure that she, too, knows why the caged birds sing,

单选题 Ms. Hord goes to prison eagerly to .

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第二段Unlike the rest of the population，Ms. Hord goes to prison freely and eagerly. And when she gets there，she persuades prisoners of every sort to sing little ditties about their ABCs and XYZs.(和其他人不同，Hord夫人能自由出入监狱并且她渴望去那里。地一到那里就鼓励各类囚犯唱字母歌)。可能有些考生读到这里误以为Hord夫人在教唱歌。随着阅读的深入。在第四、五段出现了多次read，尤其在第五段And when her most difficult students finally begin to read，she is sure that she，too，knows why the caged birds sing.(当她的学习最困难的学生也能认字读书时，她确信她也理解了为何关在笼子里的“小鸟”，即囚犯要歌唱)，因此Hord夫人去监狱的目的是教囚犯认字。
[避错] A“给囚犯唱歌”、C“为囚犯祷告”、D“与囚犯交朋友”均不能体现Hord夫人想教闪犯认字读书的真切愿望，

单选题 Judging from the context, "itching" (Line 3, Para. 2) most probably means" ".

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题关键是要根据上下文理解第二段第二句 So you have to wonder what a woman like this is doing in a place where most people are itching to get loose。其中a place所指的是“监狱”。那么在监狱里，当然是人人渴望自由了。get loose意思为“摆脱防守”。
[避错]A“害怕”、B“乐意”、C“不情愿”皆不对；

单选题 According to Ms. Hord, the root of crimes lies in .

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 根据文章第四段第二句 If you get at the reason why these men went into crime。you will find that none of them succeeded in their early years of schooling.可以得知答案在于schooling，即学校教育的缺乏，答案选C。
[避错] A“种族歧视”和B“恶劣的生存环境”原文均没有提及；D“酗酒吸毒”是crimes的表现而不是其根源。

单选题 Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 由第三段首句At age 80，Ms. Hord began teaching prisoners to read during a chance visit to the State Prison with a lawyer friend.可以推出她是由于偶然的机会开始做这个工作的。
[避错] 原文说Hord夫人到达监狱后听说有一群义工要求有—位教师，而不是A所说“许多人自愿加入Hord夫人的工作”。B“多数闪犯在儿时不愿学习”以及C”Hord夫人发现有些囚犯不好教”，在原文中均没有提及。