For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages. Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet planes fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured (忍受). The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow windows of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
Then there is the time spent being ‘processed’ at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being ‘processed’ at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and cannot turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday-maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and the limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. Speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.
【小题1】 What does the writer try to express in Paragraph 1?A．Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages.B．Man has been fond of traveling rather than staying in one place.C．The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short.D．The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams.【小题2】How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph 2?A．By giving examples.B．By giving instructions.C．By analyzing cause and effect.D．By following the order of time.【小题3】According to Paragraph 3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because .A．they pay less for the ticketsB．they feel safer during the travelC．they can enjoy higher speed of travelD．they don’t have to waste time being ‘processed’【小题4】 What does the last sentence of the passage mean?A．They could travel with their master.B．They needed the clock to tell the time.C．They preferred traveling on horseback.D．They could enjoy free and relaxing travel.C
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(答案→)C
解析：乘坐飞机旅游，使现代旅游者认为距离和速度不再是担忧的问题。实现了100多年以来梦寐以求的旅游自由。但它也带来了些许无奈，缺少了诸多乐趣——人们成了时间的奴役。
【小题1】段落大意题：第一段讲了由于旅行速度快，国与国之间的距离变成了村与村的距离。实现了旅行区域自由的梦想。先扬后抑，导入下文。C选项符合此意。
【小题2】写作手法题：该段先讲述了现代旅行买下了时间和距离。但旅行目的是讨个享受，而不是忍耐。接着分别正反两方面举例说明：搭船旅游可以悠闲地领略途中不断变换的美景和自然声响；坐火车旅行可以观赏窗外湖光山色；而乘飞机只能面对单调的蓝天和机内乏人的音像。所以选A。
【小题3】细节理解题：这段前半部分描述了乘飞机旅行时， 现在的乘客像机器人似的，进入或离开机场时要耗费时间在一些“程序化”的事情上。而搭船和坐火车则不一样。所以人们更乐意选modern high-speed train.选项D符合此意。
【小题4】推理判断题:文章倒数两行句子Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.介绍了远古时代人们骑马可以悠闲自由地驰骋在辽阔的平原上，领略与今日不同的世界， 而不受时间的蹂躏。故D选项正确。