单选题 On November 20, 2003, a fire burned Vivienne Palmer's house to the ground and turned her possessions to ash. At the time, she was devastated—but later, a surprising state of happiness set in. 'After getting over the shock, I would remember a certain thing and think, it's gone, and let go of it. It felt amazingly freeing,' Palmer says.
Now, ten years later, she looks around her cluttered house and wants to reclaim that freedom. Her plan: Project 3650, a commitment to let go of at least ten things every day for a year (culminating in a total of 3, 650 donated or sold items).
A friend warned her: Don't set yourself up for failure; that's a lot of stuff. But Palmer is reveling in the challenge. Everything is fair game—from the practical (the drawerful of plastic forks and knives she's accumulated from take-out orders) to the emotional (the rabbit costumes she made for her young sons for Halloween one year). 'You just get on a roll,' she says.
On February 7, it's a Davy Crockett 'un-coonskin' cap for kids. Bags of plastic bags. Four random cloth napkins, six bandannas (大手帕), two tablecloths. Not one but two 'nightmare-inducing' cymbal-clapping toy monkeys. And a toy dog, made of real animal fur. OK, the husband wants to keep that one. He thinks it's cool. Palmer thinks it's disgusting.
To keep herself accountable, Palmer posts images of her tossables on her Process of Elimination blog, where she gives away many things free. And it feels good. 'I honestly get a little rush from getting rid of stuff,' she says. 'And that has replaced my desire for a shopper's high. Beyond peace of mind and room to breathe, there's another motivator: By selling some items online, Palmer hopes to raise enough money to fund a family vacation to Southeast Asia.' Everything is swirling around: There's the writing, the trip, me wanting to get rid of stuff, me wanting to make money, me wanting to create a new good habit, 'Palmer says.' It's a huge process, but it's energizing. And I can't think of anything I'd rather do more.'

单选题 Palmer felt ______ immediately after her house was burned down in 2003.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】题干问是的：Palmer在2003年自己的房子被火烧毁了之后感受如何?题干中的关键字眼是immediately，如果学生没有注意到这个词，很有可能将答案误选为B、C、D中一项，甚至难以做出选择。从文章第1、2段我们知道，在自己房子被火烧毁，财产化为灰烬之后，Palmer还是经历了非常痛苦、震惊的阶段，而在此阶段过后，她才觉得一种放手的自由。

单选题 What do we learn about Palmer's plan: Project 3650? ______

单选题 What did Palmer's friend mean by saying 'Don't set yourself up for failure' (Para. 3)? ______

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】关于Palmer朋友对这个计划的看法，文章并没有给出太多信息，唯一可以找到的地方是第4段，因此本题也是考查学生对这句话的理解。Palmer朋友说：Don't set yourself up for failure；that's a lot of stuff，这里是表示“不要给自己定太高的目标，这样会失败的，毕竟每天处理10样东西还是很多的”。学生如果正确理解了这句话的意思，做出选择是不困难的。