第三部分:阅读理解(共 20小题;每小题 2分,满分 40分)
阅读下列短文,然后从各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C 和 D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When she looked ahead, Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a solid wall of fog. Her body was unfeeling. She had been swimming for nearly sixteen hours.
Already she was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. Now, at age 34, her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast.
On that Fourth of July morning in 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense that she could hardly see her support boats. Sharks came toward her lone figure, only to be driven away by rifle shots. Against the cold water of the sea, she struggled on — hour after hour — while millions watched on national television.
Alongside Florence in one of the boats, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn’t much farther. But all she could see was fog. They urged her not to quit. She never had . . . until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.
Still warming her chilled body several hours later, she told a reporter, “Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I might have made it.” It was not fatigue (疲劳) or even the cold water that defeated her. It was the fog. She was unable to see her goal.
Two months later, she tried again. This time, despite the same dense fog, she swam with her faith ready and her goal clearly pictured in her mind. She knew that somewhere behind that fog was land and this time she made it! Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim across the Catalina Channel, eclipsing (让……黯然失色) the men’s record by two hours!
56. What can be the best title for the text?
A. Keep your goals in sight.
B. Woman can be better than men.
C. How to swim across the Catalina Channel.
D. Where there is a will, there is a way.
57. Why did Florence give up swimming across the Catalina Channel the first time?
A. She couldn’t swim with the dense fog.
B. She could hardly see her support boats.
C. She was all worn out.
D. She couldn’t see the land ahead.
58. It can be inferred from the text that_______.
A. weather has little effect on swimmers
B. knowing one’s goal is very important
C. Florence had great desire to break the men’s record
D. Florence was full of energy after two months’ rest
59. Which of the following is NOT true about Florence?
A. She didn’t know only a half mile left the first time.
B. She had long distant swimming experience before.
C. The TV audience felt unsatisfied because she quit on the half way.
D. It’s dangerous for her to swim across the Catalina Channel.