Sometimesit’shardtoletgo.FormanyBritishpeople,thatcanap...

問題詳情：

Sometimes it’s hard to let go. For many British people, that can apply to institutions and objects that represent their country’s past-age-old castles, splendid homes… and red phone boxes.

Beaten first by the march of technology and lately by the terrible weather in junkyards (廢品場), the phone boxes representative of an age are now making something of a comeback. Adapted in imaginative ways, many have reappeared on city streets and village greens housing tiny cafes, cellphone repair shops or even defibrillator machines (除顫器).

The original iron boxes with the round roofs first appeared in 1926. They were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of the Battersea Power Station in London. After becoming an important part of many British streets, the phone boxes began disappearing in the 1980s, with the rise of the mobile phone sending most of them away to the junkyards.

About that time, Tony Inglis’ engineering and transport company got the job to remove phone boxes from the streets and sell them out. But Inglis ended up buying hundreds of them himself, with the idea of repairing and selling them. He said that he had heard the calls to preserve the boxes and had seen how some of them were listed as historic buildings.

As Inglis and, later other businessmen, got to work, repurposed phone boxes began reappearing in cities and villages as people found new uses for them. Today, they are once again a familiar sight, playing roles that are often just as important for the community as their original purpose.

In rural areas, where ambulances can take a relatively long time to arrive, the phone boxes have taken on a lifesaving role. Local organizations can adopt them for l pound, and install defibrillators to help in emergencies.

Others also looked at the phone boxes and saw business opportunities. LoveFone, a company that advocates repairing cellphones rather than abandoning them, opened a mini workshop in a London phone box in 2016.

The tiny shops made economic sense, according to Robert Kerr, a founder of LoveFone. He said that one of the boxes generated around $13,500 in revenue a month and cost only about $400 to rent.

Inglis said phone boxes called to mind an age when things were built to last. I “like what they are to people, and I enjoy bringing things back,” he said.

58. The phone boxes are making a comeback ______.

A. to form a beautiful sight of the city

B. to improve telecommunications services

C. to remind people of a historical period

D. to meet the requirement of green economy

59. Why did the phone boxes begin to go out of service in the 1980s?

A. They were not well-designed.                    B. They provided bad services.

C. They had too short a history.                    D. They lost to new technologies.

60. The phone boxes are becoming popular mainly because of ______.

A. their new appearance and lower prices             B. the push of the local organizations

C. their changed roles and functions                 D. the big funding of the businessmen

【回答】

58. C    59. D    60. C

【解析】

這是一篇説明文。文章講述了在英國，電話亭在20世紀80年*始停止使用。後來，一些商人使電話亭的角*和功能發生了變化，電話亭又變得流行起來。

【58題詳解】

細節理解題。根據第一段Sometimes it’s hard to let go. For many British people, that can apply to institutions and objects that represent their country’s past-age-old castles, splendid homes.. and red phone boxes.(有時候真的很難放手。對許多英國人來説，這可以適用於代表他們國家過去歷史的機構和物品--古老的城堡、輝煌的住宅……還有紅*的電話亭)和最後一段Inglis said phone boxes called to mind an age when things were built to last.(英格利斯説，電話亭讓人想起了一個東西經久耐用的時代)可知，電話亭正在捲土重來，以提醒人們一個歷史時期。故選C。

【59題詳解】

細節理解題。根據第三段After becoming an important part of many British streets, the phone boxes began disappearing in the 1980s, with the rise of the mobile phone sending most of them away to the junkyards.(在成為英國許多街道的重要組成部分後，電話亭在20世紀80年*始消失，隨着移動電話的興起，大部分電話亭被扔到了垃圾場)可知，電話亭在20世紀80年*始停止使用是因為它們輸給了新技術。故選D。

【60題詳解】

推理判斷題。根據第五段As Inglis and, later other businessmen, got to work, repurposed phone boxes began reappearing in cities and villages as people found new uses for them. Today, they are once again a familiar sight, playing roles that are often just as important for the community as their original purpose.(隨着英格利斯和後來的其他商人開始工作，改裝後的電話亭開始在城市和鄉村重新出現，人們發現了它們的新用途。今天，它們再次成為人們熟悉的景象，扮演着與它們最初的目的同樣重要的角*)和第六段In rural areas, where ambulances can take a relatively long time to arrive, the phone boxes have taken on a lifesaving role.(在農村地區，救護車要花相當長的時間才能到達，電話亭就起到了拯救生命的作用)以及第七段Others also looked at the phone boxes and saw business opportunities.(其他人也在電話亭尋找商機)可推斷出，電話亭之所以變得流行，主要是因為它們的角*和功能發生了變化。故選C。

知識點：社會現象類閲讀

題型：閲讀理解