A pre-2011 visit to Malta wouldn’t have been complete without a ride on one of the colorful buses. Until 1973 you could tell the destination of the bus just by looking at its color--Sliema was green and white, Zabbar was red and white with a blue stripe( 条纹 )etc. Later, the buses all had numbers. For a while, they were all painted green and white before the ‘final’ orange, yellow and white.

In their prime , walking around the Triton fountain at the Valletta bus station, you would have found it very difficult to see two buses of exactly the same design. Most of them had locally built bodies. On the front of the buses carried names like Dodge, Leyland, Bedford etc. You were equally likely to find football pennants( 锦旗 )and the like decorating the cabs. Real bus experts would have recognized that these were there mainly for decorative reasons, and were seldom an exact idea of the vehicle’s origins.

Nowadays much more modern buses are to be found at the Floriana bus station. They are more environmentally friendly and possibly even more comfortable than the older types. However, I miss the old buses. I remember, when you boarded your bus, you had to prepare the correct change to pay the usually bad-tempered driver as you got on. If you were seated anywhere near the front, you would have noticed that most drivers sat well to the right of their steering wheel. The reason for this, as any Maltese would tell you, was to leave space for their pet to sit alongside them. I wonder where the pet sits these days.

9 ． What makes a pre-2011 visit to Malta special according to Paragraph 2?

A ． Traveling in colorful buses.

B ． Using buses with stripes.

C ． Painting buses bright colors.

D ． Telling destinations by different colors.

10 ． Which of the following best explains ‘prime’ underlined in Paragraph 3?

A ． the most painful time. B ． the loudest time.

C ． the most disappointing time. D ． the strongest time.

11 ． What message does the author want to tell the readers about Malta buses?

A ． They were of the same pattern.

B ． The decorations showed their origin.

C ． Most were uniquely designed.

D ． Only football pennants decorated the cabs.

12 ． How would the author feel about the old style Malta buses?

A ． Comfortable. B ． Environment-friendly.

C ． Safe. D ． Memorable.

答案

1 ． A

2 ． D

3 ． C

4 ． D

【分析】

本文是一篇记叙文。文章主要介绍了 2011 年之前的马耳他之行特色是乘坐色彩斑斓的巴士。在马耳他公交车流行时期，你很难在街上找到两个设计完全一样的汽车。而如今马耳他色彩公交汽车已经被现代汽车所取代了，作者非常怀念旧的马耳他巴士。

1 ．

细节理解题。根据文章第二段 “A pre-2011 visit to Malta wouldn’t have been complete without a ride on one of the colorful buses.( 2011 年之前的马耳他之旅，如果没有乘坐其中一辆色彩鲜艳的巴士，是不完整的。 )” 可知， 2011 年之前的马耳他之行特色是乘坐过色彩斑斓的巴士。故选 A 。

2 ．

词义猜测题。根据划线词后文 “walking around the Triton fountain at the Valletta bus station, you would have found it very difficult to see two buses of exactly the same design.( 漫步在瓦莱塔汽车站的特里同喷泉旁，你会发现很难看到两辆设计完全相同的公交车。 )” 可知，这应该是发生在马耳他彩色巴士最辉煌鼎盛的时期，所以可猜测 prime 意思为 “ 鼎盛时刻；光荣时期 ” 。故选 D 。

3 ．

推理判断题。根据文章第三段 “In their prime, walking around the Triton fountain at the Valletta bus station, you would have found it very difficult to see two buses of exactly the same design. 在他们的鼎盛时期，漫步在瓦莱塔汽车站的特里同喷泉旁，你会发现很难看到两辆设计完全相同的公交车 )” 可推断，马耳他公交车流行的时候，他们的大多数设计非常独特。故选 C 。

4 ．

推理判断题。根据文章最后一段第三句 “However, I miss the old buses.( 然而，我想念旧的公共汽车。 )” 可知，作者想念旧的公共汽车。从而推断作者对旧的马耳他公交汽车是怀念难忘的。故选 D 。