单选题 Two years ago Japan was struck by a strong earthquake that triggered a disastrous tsunami. Now comes a sobering account of the human and environmental toll. Gretel Ehrlich, an American writer, flew to the north-east coast of the island of Honshu three months after the quake. A student of Japanese poetry and Buddhist philosophy, she was drawn to "meet those who faced the wave and survived". Readers of her book can witness the devastation through keen eyes.
This stretch of coastline was described by a 17th-century poet, Basho, as the most beautiful spot in Japan. In June 2011 it was "a plain of chaos, a monstrous picture that no eye, no painting could truly capture". Roving the 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) of shattered coast, Ms. Ehrlich seeks out survivors and relays their stories. Pervasive are reports on the radiation spewing from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, reflections on human suffering and resilience, and a series of dreadful facts.
More than 28,700 people died in Japan; thousands more went missing. The tsunami wave rose 38 metres (124 feet), washing away entire towns. The reactor meltdown caused "the worst maritime contamination disaster in recorded history". The energy released was 600m times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
"Three sorrows: quake, tsunami, meltdown", encapsulates the disaster. Ms. Ehrlich does not provide a comprehensive reckoning, but a set of stories. The tsunami is retold as it happens through a blog updated as a fisherman races out to sea, uploading observations from his mobile phone. Months later, corpses still surface. One mother has rented an industrial digger and ceaselessly explores the river channel searching for her child. "The sea floor is covered in debris," an old fisherman says. "{{U}}If you go trolling for flatfish, you might pull out a dead friend.{{/U}}"
单选题 It can be inferred from the first paragraph that ______.
  • A.Honshu lies to the north-east of Japan
  • B.the earthquake was caused by the tsunami
  • C.an American writer wrote a book about the disaster
  • D.many people have witnessed the devastation through their own eyes
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A原文：an American writer, flew to the north-east coast of the island of Honshu[一位美国作家飞往本州岛(位于日本中部)东北海岸]，而非A项的本州岛位于日本东北部，故A错误。B原文首句提到：a strong earthquake that triggered a disastrous tsunami.(地震引发了海啸)，而非B项的地震被海啸引起，该项将主被动关系颠倒，错误。C文章最后一句提到：Readers of her book can witness the devastation through keen eyes.可见她写了本关于这场灾难的书，而她指代上文的she was drawn to...中的she；也就是上文的Gretel Ehrlich, an American writer。故该项是正确的。D该句原文来自最后一句：Readers of her book can witness the devastation through keen eyes.(读者可以通过她的书目击这场灾难。)而非D项的许多人亲眼目击了这场灾难，故D项错误。
单选题 We know from the second paragraph that ______.
  • A.the stretch of coastline was once beautiful
  • B.the coastline can not he seen by human eyes now
  • C.Ms. Ehrlich walked 1,300 kilometres to seek survivors
  • D.Basho wrote down the stories of the survivors of the disaster
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。 选项与原文对比。A根据第二段首句：This stretch of coastline was described by a 17th-century poet, Basho, as the most beautiful spot in Japan.我们知道该项是正确的。B原文说：“a plain of chaos, a monstrous picture that no eye, no painting could truly capture”.(如今这是人眼或者绘画无法捕捉的画面)，这句是在形容灾后场面的混乱，而非该项说的“这个海岸如今已经看不见了”。C原文：Roving the 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) of shattered coast, Ms. Ehrlich seeks out survivors...原文提到roving(徘徊)一词，但并没有说Ms. Ehrlich是walked(步行)，故错误。D原文第三、四行：Ms. Ehrlich seeks out survivors and relays their stories.可见是Ms. Ehrlich在转述幸存者的故事而非Basho；文章首句提到Basho是一位17世纪的诗人，故该项错误。
单选题 Which of the following is NOT the dreadful fact caused by the tsunami?
  • A.Thousands of people went missing.
  • B.A bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
  • C.The tsunami wave washed away the whole towns.
  • D.The reactor meltdown caused the worst ocean pollution.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。 选项与原文对比。文章第三段在描述灾难导致的后果。首先首句提到：thousands more went missing，可见A是正确的。第二句提到The tsunami wave rose 38 metres (124 feet), washing away entire towns.可见选项C是正确的。第三句提到：The reactor meltdown caused "the worst maritime contamination disaster in recorded history". 其中maritime contamination=D项的ocean pollution，故D正确。只有B不是答案。原文说：The energy released was 600m times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.(核反应堆崩溃释放的能量是投到广岛原子弹释放能量的6亿倍。)虽与原文有所对应，但B项本身不是海啸带来的后果。故B是答案。
单选题 Which of the following is NOT one of the three sorrows?
  • A.Earthquake.
  • B.Seismic sea wave.
  • C.Reactor meltdown.
  • D.Maritime contamination.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。 选项与原文对比。文章最后一段首句提到：“Three sorrows: quake, tsunami, meltdown”, encapsulates the disaster.可见题干中的three sorrows指的就是quake(地震)，tsunami(海啸)，meltdown(核泄漏)。这三种悲痛对应选项中的A、B、C。其中A、C两项比较容易判断；而B项即使看不懂seismic一词，至少能看懂sea wave是海浪的意思，由此推测出其意思为海啸，相当于tsunami。故D为答案。
单选题 What can we learn from the last sentence?
  • A.It is not suitable to go fishing.
  • B.Many corpses are still floating in the sea.
  • C.Some flatfish are as big as human beings.
  • D.Some bodies have been eaten by the fish.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 语义题。 选项与原文对比。语义题要注意文章上下文背景，文章前两句提到：Months later, corpses still surface.该句又提到：If you go trolling for flatfish, you might pull out a dead friend.可见作者说这话的目的是为了表示许多尸体仍然漂浮在海面上。语义题本身的意思往往都比较值得推敲，因此答案不会显得过于表面。选项A的fishing；C的flatfish；D的fish都停留在对表面意思的理解，故错误。本题答案为B。