Ⅲ. Read and answer the questions.
When I arrived, it was early morning and it was raining. I looked to the east—the sky was becoming grey. I got out of the car, went through a gate and walked along a dark path. There was nothing to see, but I knew it was there.
After about a mile, a stranger appeared beside the path. “Am I going the right way?” I asked. He knew where I was going. “Yes,” he replied, “you’ll get there in five minutes.” Finally, I came to some rocks and stopped. I looked over them, but it was silent and there was no sign of it.
Suddenly, the rain stopped and the clouds cleared. The sun rose behind me and shone on the rocks. Far below me, the ground fell away and down to a river. I was looking across one of the wonders of the natural world—the Grand Canyon.
I looked down to the Colorado River, a silver stream nearly one mile below me. If you put the two tallest buildings in the world on top of each other at the bottom of the canyon, they still would not reach the top. Then I looked across to the other side of the canyon. It was about fifteen miles away, maybe more. Finally, I looked to my left and to my right, and on both sides the canyon went far away for more than 200 miles. The Grand Canyon was not just big. It was huge!
I remained by the canyon for about half an hour, and asked myself, “Is the Grand Canyon the greatest wonder of the natural world?” I certainly know the answer.
()1. What does the weather like when the writer first arrived at the Grand Canyon?
A. Sunny and hot.
B. Rainy and cool.
B. Cloudy and warm.
D. Snowy and cold.
()2. What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A. The path.
B. The rain.
C. The Colorado River.
D. The Grand Canyon.
()3. How does the writer show that the Grand Canyon is huge?
A. By asking questions.
B. By telling a story.
C. By listing numbers.
D. By giving examples.
()4. What can we infer from the last sentence?
A. The writer doesn’t like the Grand Canyon.
B. The writer will ask someone else for their opinion.
C. The writer thinks the Grand Canyon is the greatest.
D. The writer thinks the question is impossible to answer.
5. Do you think the Grand Canyon is the greatest natural wonder in the world?
Why or why not?

1. B 2. D 3. C 4. C
5. One possible version: Yes, because it is huge with spectacular views.

【分析】
本题为英语阅读理解题，包含4道选择题和1道开放性问答题。解题思路如下：1. 第1题是细节理解题，需定位原文中作者刚到达时的天气描述，匹配对应选项；2. 第2题是词义猜测题，需结合上下文语境，确定代词it指代的前文核心事物；3. 第3题是写作手法题，需分析作者描述大峡谷规模时使用的方法；4. 第4题是推理判断题，需结合最后一段作者的表述推断其观点；5. 第5题是开放性问答题，需结合原文对大峡谷的描述给出合理回答。
【解析】
1. 第1题：定位原文第一句“When I arrived, it was early morning and it was raining.”，可知作者刚到达时正在下雨，对应选项B（Rainy and cool），故选B。
2. 第2题：第二段最后一句“there was no sign of it”，结合前文作者寻找的是大峡谷，第三段明确提到“the Grand Canyon”是自然奇观，可知it指代Grand Canyon，故选D。
3. 第3题：第四段作者用“nearly one mile”“fifteen miles”“more than 200 miles”等具体数字描述大峡谷的规模，以此说明其巨大，采用列数字的写作手法，故选C。
4. 第4题：最后一段作者问自己“Is the Grand Canyon the greatest wonder of the natural world?”，随后表示“certainly know the answer”，结合前文对大峡谷壮观景象的描述，可推断作者认为它是最伟大的自然奇观，故选C。
5. 第5题：开放性问题，结合原文中提到的大峡谷巨大、壮观的特点，给出肯定回答及合理原因即可，示例回答为：Yes, because it is huge with spectacular views.
【答案】
1. B 2. D 3. C 4. C
5. One possible version: Yes, because it is huge with spectacular views.
【知识点】
阅读理解、词义猜测、推理判断
【点评】
本题围绕大峡谷的阅读材料展开，考查学生的细节查找、词义猜测、推理判断及开放性表达能力，题目设置贴合文本内容，难度适中，能有效检验学生的英语阅读综合能力。
【难度系数】
0.6