A
(2021·山东重点中学联考)As my husband and I drove down a country road, we passed a fire station with a sign that read, “Are you ready for the next storm？” Our area had just been in the path of Hurricane Irma, causing downed trees and outages. We were stuck in the dark and cut off from the outside world.
We have had our share of storms in the past — a snowstorm and other heavy snows that knocked down trees, sometimes up to a week at a time. Those days in a cold house weren't fun, but we learned so much from those early storms, things that made later storms easier to bear.
Now we have stored up flashlights, lanterns and candles. We bought a batteryoperated radio to keep up with the news. We stocked up on batteries so that we'd have plenty for extended power failures. We make sure our grill (烤架) is ready and its tank is full, and we purchase food that can be easily prepared and then cooked or heated on the grill. And we don't forget to buy emergency chocolate! We have book lights to read in the dark. We keep our car gas tanks full and have emergency cash on hand.
We're ready for the next storm, but we wouldn't have learned to do all those things if we hadn't encountered a storm in the past. The same is true spiritually. Those little storms in our lives are never fun, but they prepare us for the big storms — the big trials — that will come our way. They can teach us some valuable lessons.
Are you ready for the next storm? Now is the time to get ready ... not when the storm arrives.
【语篇解读】本文是一篇夹叙夹议文。作者一家经历过暴风雨后懂得了如何为下一次暴风雨做好准备。作者通过自身经历告诉我们要未雨绸缪，要为人生中出现的困境随时做好准备。
1. Which can replace the underlined word “outages” in Paragraph 1?
A. Weather change.
B. Virus spreading.
C. Power failure.
D. Emotional reaction.
C 词义猜测题。根据画线词后一句“We were stuck in the dark and cut off from the outside world.”可知，作者和丈夫被困在黑暗中与外界失去联系。根据“in the dark”可以猜测“outages”意为“停电”。故选C。
2. What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A. The lessons that storms can teach us.
B. The importance of being ready for storms.
C. The necessities the author bought for her daily life.
D. The preparations the author made for the next storm.
D 段落大意题。第三段主要提到作者一家准备了随时照明用的东西、电池，还有烤架、食物，汽车油箱也加满了油，手头还有应急现金。由此可知，第三段主要讲述了作者为以后的暴风雨所做的准备。故选D。
3. What does the author think of experiencing the past storms?
A. It was rewarding.
B. It was annoying.
C. It was thrilling.
D. It was frightening.
A 推理判断题。根据第四段中的“but we wouldn't have learned to do all those things if we hadn't encountered a storm in the past”以及“They can teach us some valuable lessons.”可知，作者认为以前经历的暴风雨教会了他们一些重要的东西。由此可以推断，作者认为曾经经历过的暴风雨对他们是有益的。故选A。
4. What can we learn from the author's story?
A. Things will work out.
B. Keep something for a rainy day.
C. Don't stop regardless of the weather.
D. Sunshine always comes after the storm.
B 推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“Now is the time to get ready ... not when the storm arrives.”可知，作者认为现在要为以后的暴风雨做准备，而不是当暴风雨来临的时候才准备。由此可以推断，作者的故事告诉我们一定要未雨绸缪。故选B。
