Question

A French father-of-two who swam across the Channel 16 years after losing all his limbs(四肢) in an electrical accident said Sunday that he was “the happiest man alive.”

Philippe Croizon, a 42-year-old former metalworker, said he had performed his feat(壮举)to inspire all those “who think life is nothing but suffering.”

He set off from Folkestone in southern England just before 8:00 am on Saturday, and arrived on the French coast near Wissant just before 9:30 pm, aided by his specially designed flipper-shaped prosthetic(假肢的)legs.

Steadying himself with his prosthetic arms, Croizon kept up a constant speed in good weather and was accompanied by wild dolphins for part of the 33-kilometre (20-mile) crossing. “For a while, I didn’t realize what I’d done. It was only that night, when I went to bed, that suddenly I burst out laughing, and told myself, ‘You did it!’,” he told AFP by telephone from his home in northern France.

In 1994 Croizon was hit by a 20,000-volt charge as he attempted to remove a television aerial from a house roof. “I was on my hospital bed; they’d just finished cutting off my last leg. You can imagine how that felt. And then I saw a television documentary on a female swimmer who crossed the Channel,” he explained.

“There and then, I asked myself: ‘Why not me one day?’” he said.

Croizon trained for two years and last month completed a 12-hour swim between the ports of Noirmoutier and Pornic on France’s Atlantic coast, but his final Channel crossing was much faster than he had expected. “I wanted to slow down, but I couldn’t. The motor was running,” he said, adding that he had expected to be at sea for 24 hours.

“It was huge. I was in the zone. I was inside my head. I didn’t want to disappoint anyone,” he said, declaring that his next long-distance challenge will be to swim between Europe and Africa.

60. What led to Philippe’s decision to swim across the English Channel?

A. The aim to inspire all those suffering from disabilities.

B. His strong will and determination.

C. The female swimmer who crossed the Channel.

D. His unfortunate experience.

61. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. Philippe’s success in crossing the Channel was incredible

B. the wild dolphins kept him company all the way

C. it took him 24 hours to cross the Channel

D. Philippe planned to travel to Africa

62. What does the underlined sentence mean in the last paragraph?

A. Philippe was swimming in his head.

B. Philippe filled his mind with determination to succeed.

C. Philippe was imagining his success.

D. Philippe was dreaming about his swimming across the Channel.

63. What can be the best title of the passage?

A. Limbless Man Crosses The English Channel

B. Crossing The Channel with Prosthetic Flippers.

C. Philippe’s Purpose of Crossing the Channel.

D. How Philippe Became Limbless.

Answer 1

【文章大意】在一次电击事故中失去四肢的法国42岁男子菲利普•克鲁瓦松日前成功横渡英吉利海峡，克鲁瓦松表示自己是“世上最幸福的人”，并希望通过自己的举动来鼓励“那些认为生活就是受苦”的人们。

60. C考查细节理解。文章说，菲利普触电之后双腿被锯了，躺在医院的病床上的他很难受，当时看见一档电视节目，“就在那个时候和地方，我就问自己，为什么我将来哪一天不能做到呢？”由此判断选C，当时他看的电视节目使他萌生了横渡英吉利海峡的想法。

61. A考查推理判断。从文章的叙述看，一个失去手脚的人能横渡英吉利海峡，确实是难以置信的。第四段说，菲利普竟然不敢相信自己成功横渡英吉利海峡。可以推知，作为一个严重残疾的人，菲利普的成功确实是令人难以置信的。

62. B考查句意理解。语境说，“我就在这个区域里，我不想让任何人失望”，由此判断，划线句子的含义是B，这里在表述菲利普成功的决心。inside one’s head在心头，有数，胜券在握。

63. A考查主旨大意。本文介绍法国一位没有四肢的男子横渡英吉利海峡的故事，因此本文的标题应该选A。