单选题Directions: Read the following text. Choose
the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on theANSWER SHEET. Bingo draws a crowd: low
beds, high loos and handrails assist the weak. Only the glint of razor wire
outside shows this is not a social club. Detmold, near the German city of
Hanover, is a pioneer of future prisons: {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}}
{{/U}}a pen for the young and hardy, they are now housing the old and {{U}}
{{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}, too. In most rich countries,
the {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}are the fastest growing category
of prisoner. Definitions of old age in jail {{U}} {{U}} 4
{{/U}} {{/U}}, but the trend is clear. In the decade after 2000 the over-55s
grew by 181% in America (the total prison population by 17%); the over-60s
{{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}by 128% in England and Wales;
{{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}in Australia the over-65s {{U}}
{{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}by 140%. By 2030 perhaps a third of American
prisoners will be over 55. The main cause is not crime rates
{{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}harsher sentences and less
parole—plus an ageing {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}. Another, says
Azrini Wahidin of Belfast University, is that better forensic science has
fuelled a "phenomenal" clear-up rate of long-ago crimes. That catches
now-elderly {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}
Locking up old people is {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}. In 2012
Human Rights Watch, a campaigning and research outfit, {{U}} {{U}}
12 {{/U}} {{/U}}that jails {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}}
{{/U}}up to nine times more on an ageing convict than on a typical prisoner. In
Britain more than 80% of convicts over 60 have a chronic {{U}} {{U}}
14 {{/U}} {{/U}}or disability. {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}}
{{/U}}only Norwich prison has a 16-bed end-of-life unit, in operation since 2005.
Britain's only elderly prison wing, complete with stairlifts, is at Kingston,
near Portsmouth. Deafness, osteoporosis and dementia need
nursing-home {{U}} {{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}—and a handful of jails
are starting to {{U}} {{U}} 17 {{/U}} {{/U}}it. In December 2012
Rimutaka prison, New Zealand's biggest, opened the country's first unit for
vulnerable inmates. Fishkill prison in New York {{U}} {{U}} 18
{{/U}} {{/U}}a dementia unit in 2007. Japan's Onomichi prison has {{U}}
{{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}cells with rubber floors for the ill and ramps
for the {{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}} {{/U}}.
【答案解析】[解析] 根据上文的young and hardy和下文的old and ______，我们知道young和old是反义词，第二空和hardy是反义词；如果考生碰巧不认识hardy一词的话，解题思路依旧简单，因为能和old并列平行的词，必然是比较不好的，显然选项A的strong不符合老年人的特征，且选项D的sturdy和它是一个意思，因此A、D两项都可以排除。而stout意思为“结实的，矮胖的”，也不能与old平行，因此选择B项weak。
【答案解析】[解析] 根据下文nine times more on an ageing convict, ageing convict(老年囚犯)指的就是上文的locking up old people(关押老人)，根据该句的nine times more(多九倍)我们可知关押老年人的代价是高昂的，即选项C的costly是正确答案。
【答案解析】[解析] 本题考查词组搭配。四个选项都能和with搭配。首先provide sb. with sth. 表示“为某人提供某物”；equip with表示“为……装备”；share with表示“与……分享”；work with则表示“与……合作”。C、D两项比较容易排除。而A、B两项代入原文背景，分别是“为牢房提供橡胶地板”，“给牢房配备了橡胶地板”，两者中显然后者合适。