16．We took a rare family road trip to the Adirondacks in late August，and it was as refreshing and exhausting as family vacations tend to be．Toward the end of our long drive home，even the kids were leaning forward in their seats urging my lead foot on．At that point in a road trip，even sixty-five miles per hour feels slow．We have become numb to our speed and numb to the road signs flashing by．
My family lives on the edge of Lancaster County．Only thirty miles from home，I hit the brakes，and we began to roll，slowly，behind a horse-drawn carriage．We began to open our eyes again．We saw familiar green hills and the farm with the best watermelons．I rolled down the windows，and we breathed again．Just-cut hay and a barn full of dairy cattle．
At five miles per hour，you remember what you forget at sixty-five．You are thinking about a place，even when you are moving from place to place．
I am a placemaker．A homemaker，too．I am a mother of a young kid at home，and also a writer and a gardener．But，for me，those roles are wrapped up with the one big thing I want to do with the rest of my life：I want to cultivate a place and share it with others．
The place I make with my family is a red-brick farmhouse built in l880．It has quite a few nineteenth-century bedrooms and a few acres of land，and we love nothing more than to fill them with neighbors and friends．We grow vegetables and flowers，keep a baker's dozen of egg-laying chickens，and，since we moved in three years ago，we have planted many，many trees．
Living with my life's purpose does not allow for much travel．I need to be here，feeding the chickens and watering the tomatoes．Any extra in the budget，and we spend it on trees．
But I learned something at the end of our family road trip．Travel can help me in the task of caring for my own place．When I slow down and pay attention to the road between here and there，travel tells me the connections between my place and all the other places．
5．What does the author try to express in the first paragraph？C
A．The tiredness of her past family life．
B．Her disappointment at the family road trip．
C．The family's eagerness to return home．
D．Kids'excitement at driving fast on the road．
6．Why did the author slow her car some miles from her home？B
A．Because she made a way for a horse-drawn carriage．
B．Because she enjoyed the scenery along the road．
C．Because she needed a break after the long drive．
D．Because she wanted to get rid of a fast-paced life．
7．The underlined word"placemaker''in the 4th paragraph refers to someone whoD．
A．devotes most of his energy and time to building his house
B．is ready to help anyone in need in the community
C．makes a creative design for others'houses
D．is good at cultivating a place and sharing it with others
8．What can be the best title of the passage？A
A．On the Way Home
B．Never Travel again
C．Escape from a Family Life
D．Life on the Farm．
分析 本文属于记叙文阅读，作者通过这篇文章主要向我们描述了作者在旅行回来的回家路上的感悟，她放慢了车速，仔细感受附近的山丘和农场，感受自然和谐的氛围，令作者觉得十分舒适，也明白了生活的意义，做一个享受生活懂得分享的人．
解答 5．C．细节理解题．根据文章第一段"Toward the end of our long drive home，even the kids were leaning forward in their seats urging my lead foot on"，最后对我们长长的开车回家的行程，连孩子们都学会了倚在座位上劝我快点，可知全家都渴望回家；故选C．
6．B．推理判断题．根据文章最后一段"When I slow down and pay attention to the road between here and there，travel tells me the connections between my place and all the other places．"当我放慢速度，并注意到这里和那里之间的道路，旅行告诉我我的地方和所有其他地方之间的连接，可推测减速是因为她想摆脱一个快节奏的生活；故选B．
7．D．推理判断题．根据文章最后一段"I want to cultivate a place and share it with others"，我想营造一个场所，并与别人一起分享它，可推测作者是一个善良的人，因此词义为是准备帮助社会上需要的人；故选D．
8．A．主旨大意题，通读全文，文章主要讲在回家的路上作者获得的心灵感悟，觉得人生应该放慢速度，体会生活的美好，和旅行能告诉她她的地方和其他地方之间的连接，可知全文都是围绕回家路上展开的；故选A．
点评 考察学生的细节理解和推理判断能力，做细节理解题时一定要找到文章中的原句，和题干进行比较，再做出正确的选择．在做推理判断题不要以个人的主观想象代替文章的事实，要根据文章事实进行合乎逻辑的推理判断．
