Question

I fell in love with England because it was quaint (古雅)―all those little houses, looking terri­bly old-fashioned but nice, like dolls’ houses. I loved the countryside and the pubs, and I loved London. I’ve slightly changed my mind after seventeen years because I think it’s an ugly town now.

Things have changed. For everybody, England meant gentlemen, fair play, and good man­ners. The fair play is going, unfortunately, and so are the gentlemanly attitudes and good man­ners―people shut doors heavily in your face and politeness is disappearing.

I regret that there are so few comfortable meeting places. You’re forced to live indoors. In Paris I go out much more, to restaurants and nightclubs. To meet friends here it usually has to be in a pub, and it can be difficult to go there alone as a woman. The cafes are not terribly nice.

As a woman, I feel unsafe here. I spend a bomb on taxis because I will not take public trans­port after 10 p. m. I used to use it, but now I’m afraid.

The idea of family seems to be more or less non-existent in England. My family is well united and that’s typically French. In Middlesex I had a neighbour who is 82 now. His family only lived two miles away, but I took him to France for Christmas once because he was always alone.

56. The writer doesn’t like London because she ______.

   A. is not used to the life there now

   B. has lived there for seventeen years

   C. prefers to live in an old-fashioned house

   D. has to be polite to everyone she meets there

57. Where do people usually meet their friends in England?

   A. In a cafe.       B. In a restaurant.          C. In a nightclub.        D. In a pub.

58. The underlined part “it” (in Para. 4) refers to______.

   A. a taxi             B. the money                  C. a bomb                 D. public transport

59. The writer took her neighbour to France for Christmas because he ______.

A. felt lonely in England  B. had never been to France

C. was from a typical French family              D. didn't like the British idea of family

Answer 1

56.A

解析：整體理解題。作者在文章說英國（倫敦）也不再像以往人們知道的那樣了，她現在很不習慣住在那兒，故選 A。

57.D

解析：細節題。文章三段中的“Tomeetfriend...hasto be in a pub...”說明在英國要想會會老朋友的話不得不在酒吧進行，故選 D。

58.D

解析：聯系上下文，在文章第四段中作者說在倫敦沒有安全感，不敢坐公交，只是過去曾去坐過公交，因此選 D。

59.A

解析：聯系上下文，文章最后一段中的“...forChristmasonce because he wasalwaysalone”，說明不僅是作者，連朋友在倫敦也總是孤單，因此選 A。