I am standing on the seventh-floor balcony of an apartment building overlooking the heart of Moscow. It is a dark city, some might say grim. It looks and feels as if it has been worn down to its bare bones: broken sidewalks, cracked facades, weeds rooted in the very mortar. This city is not easy to look at. So I avert my eyes, and they settle on a little boy sleeping inside the apartment. His name is Alexei. He is 7. With every rise and fall of his chest, Moscow, the used, broken city, is renewed for me a thousand times. A dark place has given me light in the form of my adoptive son.
Alexei has been my son for only two days, but I have been waiting three years for him. That’s when I began the adoption process, three years ago, before I even knew of Alexei’s existence. Never in my imaginings did I think that I would one day be so far from home, counting my son’s breaths, counting the hours until we would board a plane for America, a place that he had no conception of “Alexei,” I had said through a translator as I knelt before him at the orphanage and helped him with his socks. “What do you know about America?” His reply was immediate: “I will have all the gum I want.”
Most people adopt infants or very little children so that as much of their history as possible will be given to them by their parents. But Alexei carries a radiance of native culture: his memories of orphanage life in the once-closed city of Tula; the large, gracious, doting Russian women who have cared for him all his life; the aromatic Russian food he loves, and the language, that impossible, expressive, explosive Russian language that sometimes separates me from him like a wall, but also summons us to heroic legends as we attempt to communicate.
I have been in Russia for two weeks. But it wasn’t until the fourth day that I was brought to see Alexei. My Russian contact drove me through 100 miles of a country struggling to get back on its feet after years of internal neglect; pitted roadways, crumbling bridges, warped roofs. It made me recall what someone had once said about Russia, that she is a third-world country with a first-world army. We finally came to an orphanage. Once inside, I stood in a near-empty room, reminding myself that this was the culmination of three years of scrutiny, disappointment, and dead-ends.
There were moments when I had told myself, “It’s so much easier to have a kid the natural way. Nobody asks any questions.” But as a single man, a biological child was not a ready option. I now recognized these as idle thoughts, for I realized that Alexei, even sight unseen, would be as much mine as if he were my natural son.
The door opened. A woman came out, her hand on the shoulder of a little boy just awakened from sound sleep.
I gave Alexei a Pez candy dispenser, something as alien to him as life in America. After a few moments of scrutiny, he filled with candy, a sure sign of intelligence, for Pez, dispensers are notoriously difficult to load.
At the end of our first meeting I knelt before Alexei and told him I would be back to get him in a week.
1.The author watched every rise and fall of Alexei’s chest（ ） .
2.The author apparently appreciates and respects（ ） .
3.When the author was travelling 100 miles of a country, which of the following is NOT a sign showing it was pretty worn-out?
4.The author dismissed the idea of having a kid the natural way because（ ） .
第1题:
【选项释义】
The author watched every rise and fall of Alexei’s chest ________. 作者注视着Alexei胸部的每一次起伏________。
A. counting his son’s breaths and biding his time to board the plane A. 数着他儿子的呼吸，等待登机
B. turning his eyes away from the gloomy and dilapidated city B. 把目光从阴郁而破败的城市移开
C. feeling a nameless pang of regret about the adoption process C. 心里都对收养过程感到莫名的悲痛
D. visualizing the potential of the city to regain its vigor and power D. 想象着这座城市重新获得活力和力量的潜力
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】第一段最后两句讲“随着Alexei胸脯的每一次起伏，莫斯科这座破旧不堪的城市在我的心中更新了无数次。一个黑暗的地方因为我的养子而有了光明。”由此可推知，作者其实是在想象这个城市恢复生机的潜力，故选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“数着他儿子的呼吸，等待登机”在第二段第三句提到，但与本题无关，属于出处错位；
B选项“把目光从阴郁而破败的城市移开”定位到第一段第五句“于是我转移视线，眼睛盯上了一个睡在公寓里的小男孩”，与题目中“注视着Alexei胸部的每一次起伏”无关，属于出处错位；
C选项“心里都对收养过程感到莫名的悲痛”原文均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The author apparently appreciates and respects ________. 作者显然很欣赏并尊重________。
A. the rich and brilliant culture of the country A. 这个国家丰富灿烂的文化
B. the orphans’ history given by their parents B. 孤儿父母灌输的历史文化
C. the great country for nurturing his lovely son C. 这个伟大的国家对他可爱的儿子的养育
D. the gracious woman for bringing up his lovely son D. 这位优雅的女士养育了他可爱的儿子
【答案】A
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】第三段的一、二句讲“大多数人收养婴儿或很小的孩子，这样他们的父母就会尽可能地把他们的历史告诉他们。但Alexei带着本土文化的光辉（carries a radiance of native culture）”，由此可知作者欣赏并尊重这个国家丰富灿烂的文化，故选项A正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项根据原文内容可知，作者非常喜欢他的这个养子，因为Alexei身上散发着浓烈的俄罗斯本土文化气息，所以作者欣赏并尊重的是这个国家丰富灿烂的文化，而不是“孤儿父母灌输的历史文化”，属于偷换概念；
C选项“这个伟大的国家对他可爱的儿子的养育”和D选项“这位优雅的女士养育了他可爱的儿子”原文均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
When the author was travelling 100 miles of a country, which of the following is NOT a sign showing it was pretty worn-out? 当作者在一个国家旅行100英里时，下列哪项不是显示这个国家已经很破旧的迹象？
A. Roads scarred with holes. A. 坑坑洼洼的道路。
B. Walls overgrown with weeds. B. 长满杂草的墙壁。
C. Streets leading to dead-ends. C. 通向死胡同的街道。
D. Bridges falling into decay. D. 倒塌的桥梁。
【答案】B
【考查点】细节事实题。
【解题思路】根据第四段第三句“……坑坑洼洼的道路（pitted roadways），摇摇欲坠的桥梁（crumbling bridges），弯曲的屋顶（warped roofs）。”以及最后一句“……提醒自己这是三年审视、失望和死胡同（dead-ends）的结果”可知，B选项“长满杂草的墙壁”文中没有提及，故选项B正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项分别对应第四段的pitted roadways、dead-ends和crumbling bridges，属于反向干扰。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The author dismissed the idea of having a kid the natural way because ________. 作者摒弃了以自然方式生孩子的想法，因为________。
A. it was an idle thought to have moments of scrutiny A. 有时间仔细观察是一种徒劳的想法
B. it was not easy to do so for an unmarried man B. 这对一个未婚男子来说并不容易
C. he was looking forward to adopting a Russian boy C. 他期待收养一个俄罗斯男孩
D. he preferred to adopt a Russian boy sight unseen D. 他宁愿收养一个素未谋面的俄罗斯男孩
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】倒数第四段最后一句讲“我现在意识到，这些都是无聊的想法，因为我意识到，即使与Alexei素未谋面，他也是我的儿子，就像我的亲生儿子一样。”由此可推知，作者不考虑自然生子是因为他宁愿收养素未谋面的俄罗斯男孩。选项D正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“有时间仔细观察是一种徒劳的想法”倒数第四段最后一句讲“I now recognized these as idle thoughts”，其中“these”指的是作者以前关于生孩子的想法，属于偷换概念；
B选项“这对一个未婚男子来说并不容易”原文说的是“但作为一名单身男子，生一个亲生孩子并不是一个现成的选择”，属于偷换概念；
C选项“他期待收养一个俄罗斯男孩”原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
【文章来源】《基督教科学箴言报》（The Christian Science Monitor）1993
【参考译文】
我站在一栋公寓楼七楼的阳台上，俯瞰着莫斯科市中心。这是一座黑暗的城市，有些人可能会说它冷酷。它看起来和感觉上似乎已经被磨损得只剩骨架：破碎的人行道，破裂的外墙，杂草在灰泥中扎根。这个城市不容易看。于是我移开视线，看到一个小男孩在房间里睡觉。他叫阿列克谢。今年7岁。随着他胸口的每一次起伏，莫斯科这座破旧的城市，对我来说，又重新焕发了无数次。一个黑暗的地方给了我光明，那就是我的养子。
阿列克谢做我儿子才两天，但我等他已经等了三年了。那是我开始领养的时候，三年前，那时我还不知道阿列克谢的存在。我从未想过有一天我会离开家这么远，数着儿子的呼吸，数着我们要登上飞机去美国的时间，一个他完全没有概念的地方。“阿列克谢，”我在孤儿院跪在他面前，帮他穿袜子时，通过翻译对他说。“你对美国了解多少？”他立刻回答说：“我想要多少口香糖就有多少。”
大多数人收养婴儿或很小的孩子，这样他们的历史就会尽可能多地由他们的父母告诉他们。但阿列克谢身上散发着本土文化的光芒：他对曾经封闭的图拉市的孤儿院生活的回忆；那些照顾了他一辈子的高大、亲切、宠爱他的俄罗斯女人；他喜欢吃芳香的俄罗斯食物，他的语言，那种不可能的、富有表现力的、爆炸性的俄罗斯语言，有时就像一堵墙把我和他隔开，但当我们试图交流时，也会把我们召唤到英雄的传说中。
我已经在俄罗斯待了两个星期了。但直到第四天，我才被带去见阿列克谢。我的俄罗斯联系人开车带我穿过100英里，这个国家在被内部忽视多年后，正在努力恢复元气；坑坑洼洼的道路，摇摇欲坠的桥梁，弯曲的屋顶。这让我想起有人曾经对俄罗斯的评价，她是一个拥有第一世界军队的第三世界国家。我们终于来到了一家孤儿院。一进去，我站在一个几乎空无一人的房间里，提醒自己，这是三年来审查、失望和死胡同的顶点。
有时我告诉自己：“用自然的方式生孩子要容易得多。没有人问任何问题。”但作为一个单身男人，生儿育女并不是一个现成的选择。现在我意识到这些都是胡思乱想，因为我意识到阿列克谢，即使看不见，也会像我的亲生儿子一样属于我。
门开了。一个女人走了出来，她的手放在一个刚从熟睡中醒来的小男孩的肩上。
我给了阿列克谢一个Pez糖果盒，这对他来说就像美国的生活一样陌生。仔细观察了一会儿之后，他装满了糖果，这肯定是聪明的标志，因为Pez糖果盒是出了名的难装。
在我们第一次见面结束时，我跪在阿列克谢面前，告诉他我一周后会来接他。
