单选题 By far the most common snake in Britain is the adder. In Scotland, in fact, there are no other snakes at all. The adder is also the only Britain snake with a poisonous bite. It can be found almost anywhere, but prefers sunny hillsides and rough open country, including high ground. In Ireland there are no snakes at all.
Most people regard snake bites as a fatal misfortune, but not all bites are serious, and very few are fatal: Sometimes attempts at emergency treatment turn out to be more dangerous than the bite itself, with amateurs heroically, but mistakenly, trying do-it-yourself surgery and other unnecessary measures.
All snakes have small teeth, so it follows that all snakes can bite, but only the bite of the adder presents any danger. British snakes are shy animals and are far more frightened of you than you could possibly be of them. The adder will attack only if it feels threatened, as can happen if you take it by surprise and step on it accidentally, or if you try to catch it or pick it up, which it dislike intensely. If it hears you coming, it will normally get out of the way as quickly as it can, but adders cannot move very rapidly and may attack before moving if you are very close.
The effect of a bite varies considerably. It depends upon several things, one of which is the body-weight of the person bitten. The bigger the person, the less harmful the bite is likely to be, which is why children suffer far more seriously from snake bites than adults. A healthy person will also have better resistance against the poison.
Very few people actually die from snake bites in Britain, and though these bites can make some people very ill, there are probably just as many cases of bites having little or no effect, as there are of serious illness.

单选题 Adders are most likely to be found ______.
A. in wilder parts of Britain and Ireland
B. in Scotland and nowhere else
C. on uncultivated land throughout Britain
D. in shady fields in England

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】解答本题时要看清题干“蝮蛇最可能在……地方被发现”。几乎在任何地方都可以找到蝮蛇，但是它最喜欢呆在向阳的山坡和崎岖的乡间地带，可知C项“在英国各地未开垦的地带”是正确答案。而B项“苏格兰地区，其他地区没有”和D项“在英国背阴的地带”是错误的；根据第一段第五句“爱尔兰没有蛇”可知A项是错的。

单选题 If you are with someone who is bitten by an adder you should ______.
A. try to catch the adder
B. make no attempt to treat the bite
C. not worry about the victim
D. operate as soon as possible

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据第二段“有时候，紧急情况下所做的处理可能比挨蛇咬本身还严重，毫无经验的业余人士勇敢地但却是错误地给人动手术或采取一些其他的不必要的措施”，可知B项为正确答案。D项为错误答案；而C项“不为被咬者担心”是不符合人之常情的，担心是肯定的，但不要急于采取不必要的措施是正确的；根据第三段可知A项是错误的做法。

单选题 We are told that adders are______.
A. normally friendly towards people
B. unlikely to bite except in self-defence
C. aggressive towards anyone in their territory
D. not afraid of human beings

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】根据第三段第三句“蝮蛇只有在它感到受到威胁时才攻击别人”可知B项“除了自卫外，不可能咬人”是正确的判断。C项“对任何处于他们领地的人都充满敌意”是错误的，因为它们只有在你试图抓住它们时或偶然踩住它们时才会攻击你；D项“它们不怕人类”是错误的，因为根据第三段第二句可知“蝮蛇是害羞的动物”，再根据最后一句可知，“如果它们听到你的到来，通常会尽快地退走”；A项不能从文章中推理出来。

单选题 If an adder hears you approaching, it will usually _______.
A. move out of your path
B. take no notice of you at all
C. disappear very quickly
D. wait until you are close then attack

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】根据第三段最后一句可知A项是正确答案，因为“蝮蛇在听到你的到来时，通常会尽快地退走，但是往往行动缓慢，在它还没退走之前，你已经靠近了，所以它才会攻击人”。据此，还可知B项和D项是错误的；而C项“迅速消失”是不可能的，因为它行动缓慢。

单选题 We are told in general British people think snakes are______.
A. not very common in Britain'
B. usually harmless
C. more dangerous than they usually are
D. unlikely to kill people by their bite

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】根据第二段第一句“许多人认为被蛇咬伤是致命的”可知C项“蛇比实际上更危险”是正确答案。而A项“在英国不常见”与第一段第一句不相符合；B项“通常是无害的”与文章内容不符；D项“不可能咬人致死”与第二段第一句不符合。