2014高考英语阅读理解训练-有详解(03)

Sometimes it is impossible to deliver all the mail that arrives at the post office. Perhaps there is an inadequate or illegible address and there is no return address. The post office cannot just throw the mail away, so it becomes “dead mail”. 

Dead mail is sent to one of the U. S. Postal Service’s dead mail offices in Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, St. Paul, and San Francisco. Seventy-five million pieces of mail can end up in these offices in one year. 

The staff of the dead mail offices has a variety of ways to deal with all of these pieces of dead mail. First of all, they look for clues that can help them deliver the mail; they open packages in the hope that something inside will show where the package comes from or is going to. Dead mail will also be listed on a computer so that people can call in and check to see if a missing item is there. 

However, all of this mail cannot simply be stored forever；there is just too much of it. When a lot of dead mail has piled up, the dead mail offices hold public auctions. Every three months, the public is invited to the offices and bins containing items found in dead mail packages and they are sold to the highest bidder. (www.yywords.com)

1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to deal with dead mail?

A. To search for clues.                        B. To throw dead mail away. 

C. To open dead mail.                        D. To list dead mail on a computer.

2. The staff in a dead mail office may open a package in order to find _______.

A. some money                                  B. some missing objects 

C. an address                                     D. a computer

3. The passage indicates that dead mail auctions are held _______.

A. once a year                                    B. twice a year

C. three times a year                           D. four times a year

4. Which is the best title for the passage?(www.nmet168.com)

A. Dead Mail                                     B. Mail Auction 

C. Unknown Mail                              D. The Dead Mail Office

【答案与解析】本文主要是讲有关dead mail 的形成以及邮局对dead mail 的处理方法。

1. B。事实细节题。根据文中的…they look for clues…they open packages…Dead mail will also be listed on a computer so that…可知，选项A、C、D均提到了，但没有提到期To throw dead mail away 故选B。

2. C。事实细节题。根据第3段中的 …they open packages in the hope that something inside will show where the package came from or is going to 可知答案为C。

3. D。事实细节题。根据文中的 all of this mail cannot simply be stored forever …Every three months 可推出答案为D。

4. A。主旨大意题。文章主要谈及Dead Mail及其处理方法，故答案选A。