Passage Two
You probably know about the Titanic, but it was actually just one of three state-of-the-art (最先进 的）ocean ships back in the day. The Olympic class ships were built by the Harland & Wolff ship makers in Northern Ireland for the White Star Line company. The Olympic class included the Olympic, the Britannic and the Titanic. What you may not know is that the Titanic wasn't even the flagship of this class. All in all, the Olympic class ships were marvels of sea engineering, but they seemed cursed to suffer disastrous fates.
The Olympic launched first in 1910, followed by the Titanic in 1911, and lastly the Britannic in 1914. The ships had nine decks, and White Star Line decided to focus on making them the most luxurious ships on the water.
Stretching 269.13 meters, the Olympic class ships were wonders of naval technology, and everyone thought that they would continue to be so for quite some time. However, all suffered terrible accidents on the open seas. The Olympic got wrecked before the Titanic did，but it was the only one to survive and maintain a successful career of 24 years. The Titanic was the first to sink after famously hitting a huge iceberg in 1912. Following this disaster, (he Britannic hit a naval mine in 1916 and subsequently sank as well.
Each ship was coal-powered by several boilers constantly kept running by exhausted crews below deck. Most recognizable of the ship designs are the ship's smoke stacks, but the fourth stack was actuallyjust artistic in nature and served no functional purpose. While two of these ships sank, they were all designed with double hulls (船体）believed to make them “unsinkable”，perhaps a mistaken idea that led to the Titanic’s and the Britannic’s tragic end.
The Olympic suffered two crashes with other ships and went on to serve as a hospital ship and troop transport in World War I. Eventually, she was taken out of service in 1935，ending' the era of the luxurious Olympic class ocean liners.
What does the passage say about the three Olympic class ships?
细节题。原文第一段最后一句话指出，总而言之，奥林匹克级邮轮是海上工程的奇迹，但它们似乎被诅咒了，都遭受了灾难性的命运。选项C中的terrible misfortunes同义替换原文中的disastrous fates，意为可怕的不幸，故答案为C。A、B两项原文均未提及，故排除。D项与原文不符，原文指出这三艘邮轮是海上工程的奇迹，并不是现代工程的典范，故排除。
What did White Star Line have in mind when it purchased the three ships?
推理题。原文第二段最后一句话指出，白星航运公司决心把这三艘邮轮打造成水上最豪华的船只。由此可知，白星航运公司购买时的考虑是这几艘船可以让乘客享受到最大程度的舒适。选项中的utmost comfort解释了原文中的luxurious，故答案为B。A、D两项原文均未提及，故排除。C项与原文不符，原文第一段指出这三艘邮轮都遭受了灾难性的命运，故排除。
What is said about the fourth stack of the ships?
细节题。原文第四段第二句话指出，最容易辨认的设计是邮轮的烟囱，但第四个烟囱实际上是艺术性质的，没有任何功能用途。由此可知，第四个烟囱只是一个装饰品，故答案为A。B、C两项原文均未提及，故排除。D项与原文不符，原文是说烟囱是最容易辨认的船舶设计，但没有说容易从远处辨认出来，故排除。
What might have led to the tragic end of the Titanic and the Britannic?
细节题。原文第四段最后一句话指出，这两艘沉船都被设计成双层船体，让人们认为它们是“永不沉没的”，也许正是这个错误的想法，导致了泰坦尼克号和不列颠尼克号的悲剧结局，故答案为D。A项与原文不符，原文并未指出这种船舶设计是不科学的，故排除。B、C两项原文均未提及，故排除。
What happened to the ship Olympic in the end?
细节题。原文最后一段最后一句话指出，最终奥林匹克号邮轮于1935年退役，结束了豪华的奥林匹克级远洋邮轮的时代。选项D中的retired同义替换原文中的take out of service，意为退役，故答案为D。A、C两项答非所问，这并不是奥林匹克号最后的结局，是它在退役前的用途，故排除。B项与原文不符，故排除。