D. To do sightseeing.

25. What can we learn about the girls from paragraph 3?

A. They enjoyed much respect.

B. They had a room with a bathtub.

C. They lived with the local kids.

D. They suffered severe hardships.

26. Which part of Wickenden’s writing is hair-raising?

A. The extreme climate of Auburn.

B. The living conditions in Elkhead.

C. The railroad building in the Rockies.

D. The natural beauty of the West.

27. What is the text?

A. A news report.

B. A book review.

C. A children’s story.

D. A diary entry.

【答案】24. A 25. D 26. C 27. B

【解析】本文为说明文，介绍了Dorothy Wickenden写了一本关于自己的(外)祖母Dorothy Woodruff和Rosamond  Underwood年轻时去贫困山区支教的书，作者简单介绍了这本书的情节并对这本书加以赞许。

24. 细节理解题。根据第一段第一句中的“Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood —traveled to a  settlement in the Rocky Mountains to teach in a one-room  schoolhouse.”可知，这两位富家女孩去到落基山脉是为了在当地一所学校教书，故选A。

25. 细节理解题。根据第三段第一句中的“had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow  on their quilt when they woke up in the morning”可知，这两个女孩在支教时受了不少苦，故选D。

26. 细节理解题。根据第四段第二句“A hair-raising section concerns the building of the  railroads, which entailed (牵涉) drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding  snowstorms.”可知，Wickenden书中最令人毛骨悚然的部分是关于在落基山脉修建铁路的部分，故选C。

27. 文章来源题。根据第一段最后一句中的“Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two  Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden”，第四段的开头“In Wickenden’s  book”和最后一段的开头“Wickenden is a very good  storyteller.”可知，整篇文章都在围绕Wickenden这本书展开叙述，所以是一篇书评，故选B。

C

Can a small group of drones (无人机) guarantee the safety and reliability of  railways and, at the same time, help railway operators save billions of euros  each year? That is the very likely future of applying today’s “eyes in the sky”  technology to making sure that the millions of kilometres of rail tracks and  infrastructure (基础设施) worldwide are safe for trains on a 24/7 basis.

Drones are already being used to examine high-tension electrical lines.  They could do precisely the same thing to inspect railway lines and other vital  aspects of rail infrastructure such as the correct position of railway tracks  and switching points. The more regularly they can be inspected, the more railway  safety, reliability and on-time performance will be improved. Costs would be cut  and operations would be more efficient (高效) across the board.

That includes huge savings in maintenance costs and better protection of  railway personnel safety. It is calculated that European railways alone spend  approximately 20 billion euros a year on maintenance, including sending  maintenance staff, often at night, to inspect and repair the rail  infrastructure. That can be dangerous work that could be avoided with drones  assisting the crews’ efforts.

By using the latest technologies, drones could also start providing  higher-value services for railways, detecting faults in the rail or switches,  before they can cause any safety problems. To perform these tasks, drones for  rail don’t need to be flying overhead. Engineers are now working on a new  concept: the rail drones of the future. They will be moving on the track ahead  of the train, and programmed to run autonomously. Very small drones with  advanced sensors and AI and travelling ahead of the train could guide it like a  co-pilot. With their ability to see ahead, they could signal any problem, so  that fast-moving trains would be able to react in time.

28. What makes the application of drones to rail lines possible?

A. The use of drones in checking on power lines.

B. Drones’ ability to work at high altitudes.

C. The reduction of cost in designing drones.

D. Drones’ reliable performance in remote areas.

29. What does “maintenance” underlined in paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Personnel safety.

B. Assistance from drones.

C. Inspection and repair.

D. Construction of infrastructure.

30. What function is expected of the rail drones?

A. To provide early warning.

B. To make trains run automatically.