2015年3月全国英语等级考试一级真题及答案 短文理解

　　请根据下面短文回答第66—70题：

　　today we are sure that the mail will be sent every day to our door. But in the early days, no one could be sure about where--or when--the mail would arrive.

　　There is a stump (树桩) of a big tree in the state of Washington. It was once a "post office". Because people needed a place for the mail carrier(信使) to leave their letters, they found a tree at the cross of roads and cut it down ten feet from the ground. Then they hollowed it out and covered it with something. Inside, they put many boxes. Each box had a family's name on it. The mail carrier could leave letters there for everyone.

　　Even earlier, when there was no post services, people gave their letters to any traveler going in the right direction. Often they gave them to a traveling shoe maker. The traveler might stop in a small hotel and he would leave the letters there. But the letters stayed there until the person to re- ceive them happened to come by and stop at the hotel.today an airmail letter can travel across the world in much less time than that. And you know that your letter will go where you want it to go, and when.

　　66. What is the text about?

　　A. The uses of a mail box.

　　B. The early days of the mail.

　　C. The post service in Washington State.

　　67. Why did people cut down the tree?

　　A. to make it into a "post office".

　　B. to use it for building houses.

　　C. to build mail boxes.

　　68. What does "hollowed it out" mean in "Then they hollowed it out..."?

　　A. Made its inside empty.

　　B. Covered its stump up.

　　C. Cut it short.

　　69. Who often worked as a mail cartier when there was no post service?

　　A. A hotel owner.

　　B. A letter writer.

　　C. A shoe maker.

　　70. What do we know about the post service in the old days?

　　A. Hotels offered post service.

　　B. Letters were sent to the door.

　　C. When letters would arrive was not clear.

　　现在我们确定信件每天都会被送到我们家门口。但是，在早期没有人能确定信件会在何时到达何地。在华盛顿州有一个大树桩。它曾经是一所“邮局”。由于人们需要一个地方来让信使们放信件，他们在十字路口找了一棵树，砍断后留下了10英尺高的树桩。人们将树桩中间掏空并用东西盖住。他们在树桩里面放了许多盒子，每个盒子上写着不同家庭的名字。信使可以将所有人的信件都留在树桩里。

　　在更早些时候，那时还没有邮递服务，人们将信件托给任何一个去相同方向的旅行者。他们经常把信件托付给旅行的鞋匠。旅行者可能会停留在一个小旅馆然后将信件留在那里。但是那些信件要在那里放着直到收信人碰巧经过并且停留在这个旅馆。

　　现在一封航空信件可以在更短的时间前往世界各地。并且你知道你的信件会在何时到达你想要它到达的地方。

　　66.B【精析】句意：这篇文章是关于什么的?主旨题。文章除首末段引入和结语外，主体的二、三两段都是关于早期邮递服务的，可以推断出，这篇文章是关于早期信件邮递的，故选B。

　　67.A【精析】句意：为什么人们会砍断那棵树?细节题。从文章第二段第二句“It Was once a‘post office’.”可知，人们砍断这棵树把它做成了一个“邮局”。故选A。

　　68.A【精析】句意：在“Then they hollowed it out…”这句话中“hollowedit out”是什么意思?词汇题。“hollowed it out”是挖空的意思，B项意为将树桩盖起来，C意为把它砍短。故选A。

　　69.C【精析】句意：在还没有邮政服务的时候是什么人充当信使的?细节题。从文章第三段第二句“0ften they gave them to a trave—ling shoe maker.”可以看出，人们会把信件托付给四处旅行做生意的鞋匠。故选C。

　　70.C【精析】句意：关于古代的邮政服务，我们了解了哪些?推理题。从文章第一段第二句“But in the early days，no one could be sureabout where—or when一the mail would arrive.”可推出C项符合。而文章第三段虽提到旅行者会将信件存放在旅馆直到收信人碰巧路过取走，但是并没有说旅馆提供邮政服务，故A项不符合文意;B项信件会被送到门口也在文中无法证实。故选c。

（编辑：何莹莹）