Unit 22 Lessons 1 & 2

第二部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）

第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）

　　阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

A ★★☆☆☆

　　Parker Liautaud, a teenage student, is preparing for an expedition (探险) to the South Pole. The 19-year-old is now training for a 640-kilometre journey from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole. If he successfully makes the journey in 22 days as planned, he will break the speed record for the fastest trip from the continent's coast to the South Pole on foot. He would also be the youngest male to reach the goal, although a younger female once did it in the past.

　　Parker says he was motivated by the opportunity to raise awareness about climate change, rather than pushing his own physical limits. Citing (提及) Ben Saunders, the British explorer who recently made an expedition to the South Pole and back, as an inspiring influence in his physical preparation, he said, "Training is something I used to feel very out of place doing, but now I feel very confident about my ability to get from A to B physically."

Given that background and a training schedule involving two or three hours' preparation a day, he might be expected to take a hiatus from his studies at Yale University. However, he is continuing his course in geology (地质学) and geophysics, until he heads out to the Antarctic next month. While in Antarctica, he will be carrying out tests to help show how the climate is changing, including testing a lightweight weather station for the first time on the continent.