Question

    I’d been trying for weeks to come up with an idea for my next book. And then suddenly the idea came: Why not write about a celebrity reporter signing up as a hospital volunteer so she could gain access to a movie star who was a patient of the hospital? The heroine would be motivated totally by her career until she learned that in helping others, we help ourselves.

Sounded like a romantic comedy with uplifting message, but first, there was the matter of research. I’d have to observe hospital volunteers. I headed over to my nearby hospital and asked the director of volunteers if I might hang around for a day or two just to research my story. Her answer, “No. If you really want to see what it’s like to be a volunteer, you should become one.”

Become a volunteer? I was not wild about being in close to people with germs (细菌). I would just skip the research, I thought, then reminded myself that I did need to spend quality time at the hospital if I wanted to write credibly about my heroine’s journey. So I signed up, was given my uniform and ID badge (徽章), and reported for duty. My “job” was to wheel a magazine cart throughout the large facility and, in the process, be a shoulder to lean on.

At the beginning, my focus was on my novel. And then a funny thing happened: I stopped researching and started realizing that I might actually be making a difference in people’s lives. A woman who’d just been diagnosed with lung cancer thanked me for brushing her hair and applying her lipstick. A man who was wasting away from AIDS called me his “angel”, simply because I took twenty minutes to note down the letter he dictated to his mother.

Now long after finishing my book, I continued to volunteer. Friends would ask, “Isn’t it depressing at that place?” “On the contrary,” I’d say and mean it.

1.Why did the author want to observe hospital volunteers?

A.She intended to write stories about them.

B.She was preparing for her volunteering jobs.

C.She hoped to gain access to a movie star.

D.She wanted to make her heroine’s story realistic.

2.What can we infer from paragraphs 3&4?

A.The author was determined to become a volunteer in the beginning.

B.The author was meant to shoulder the responsibility of the patients.

C.The patients the author met and the appreciation she received changed her.

D.The patients relied on the author to help them survive in the hospital.

3.In what way is the author similar to the heroine of her book?

A.Motivated by their career, they succeed.

B.By lifting other’s spirits, they lift their own.

C.Being volunteers, they spread uplifting messages.

D.By providing support to others, they are appreciated.

4.What can be a suitable title of the passage?

A.My Turn: Life as a Hospital Volunteer.

B.My Discovery: I Can Make a Difference.

C.My Investigation: Celebrities in Hospital.

D.My Identity: a Volunteer in a Hospital.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了作者想写一本关于医院志愿者的书，因此去医院做志愿者获取相关写作经历，书写完了，但作者也发现医院志愿者经历真的在改变人们的生活，还改变了自己。

1.细节理解题。由第三段的“I would just skip the research, I thought, then reminded myself that I did need to spend quality time at the hospital if I wanted to write credibly about my heroine’s journey.”（我会跳过这项研究，我想，然后提醒自己，如果我想可信地写我女主人公的旅程，我确实需要在医院花大量的时间。），可知作者观察医院志愿者是为了使女主人公的故事逼真。故选D项。

2.推理判断题。由第三段的“I was not wild about being in close to people with germs (细菌)”（我不喜欢和有病菌的人亲近。），第四段的前两句“At the beginning, my focus was on my novel. And then a funny thing happened: I stopped researching and started realizing that I might actually be making a difference in people’s lives. ”（ 一开始，我的注意力集中在我的小说上。然后一件有趣的事情发生了：我停止了研究，开始意识到我可能真的在改变人们的生活。）和第四段最后两句“A woman who’d just been diagnosed with lung cancer thanked me for brushing her hair and applying her lipstick. A man who was wasting away from AIDS called me his “angel”, simply because I took twenty minutes to note down the letter he dictated to his mother.”（一位刚刚被诊断出患有肺癌的妇女感谢我给她梳头和涂口红。一个因艾滋病而消瘦的男人叫我“天使”，仅仅是因为我花了20分钟记下他口述给他母亲的信。），可推断出作者变得愿意接近病人，遇到的病人和她得到的赏识改变了她，作者停止了研究并开始意识到自己可能真的在改变人们的生活。故选C项。

3.推理判断题。由第一段的“The heroine would be motivated totally by her career until she learned that in helping others, we help ourselves.”（女主角会完全被自己的事业所激励，直到她知道在帮助别人的过程中，我们帮助自己。），第四段的“And then a funny thing happened: I stopped researching and started realizing that I might actually be making a difference in people’s lives.”（一开始，我的注意力集中在我的小说上。然后一件有趣的事情发生了：我停止了研究，开始意识到我可能真的在改变人们的生活。）和最后一段的“Now long after finishing my book, I continued to volunteer. Friends would ask, “Isn’t it depressing at that place?” “On the contrary,” I’d say and mean it.”（写完书后很久，我继续做志愿者。朋友们会问：“在那个地方不是很郁闷吗？“恰恰相反，”我认真地说。），可推断出作者和她书中女主角相似之处在于通过提升别人的灵魂，他们提升了自己的灵魂。故选B项。

4.主旨大意题。第一二两段讲述了，作者去做医院志愿者的起源；第三四两段讲述了作者成为医院志愿者的经历，在此过程中，作者不仅帮助了他人还改变了自己；第五段作者总结医院志愿者经历很值得；全文围绕作者医院志愿者经历展开，作者通过志愿者经历不仅帮助了他人还改变了自己，A项“我的转折点：做医院志愿者的生活。”，符合文章大意。故选A项。