Question

Herbie Ricketts，52,lives in Thornton Heath，south London，and works as an electrician．He has been a listening volunteer with the Samaritans for 16 years.

Each caller is as individual as their circumstances and I didn’t realize so many people take their own lives until I became a Samaritan．And only then did the true nature of the work I was doing hit home.

I’ll always remember my first day on duty．The caller, stressed and depressed，told me he was suicidal(想自杀的)．He’d been too frightened to talk to the people around him，which is common．People are told they’ve got nothing to be upset about．Or, if they are already classified as having mental health issues，so they tell no one．How do you make sense of your feelings if you can’t tell someone? Just allowing people to say what they honestly feel helps them find a different perspective．I couldn’t offer him practical advice but I could support him emotionally．I helped him come to terms with his situation and make sense of some of the terrible emotions he was experiencing．Offering anonymity(匿名)and being nonjudgmental(无偏见的)allows people easily hurt to explore their thoughts without fear or worry．I left him in an emotionally safe place，ensuring he knew 1 wasn’t rejecting or abandoning him．I let him know we were still there if he needed us，explaining that it might not be me on the other end of the phone but another Samaritan who could also support．

Suicidal people will ring with issues like drug use or loneliness．If you look at it from the perspective of, “How can I solve this? ”you can become，like them，at a loss．Every cell in your body wants to offer solutions，but as a Samaritan I’m not there to sort their problems out．I listen and will support them when they can’t see any further than tomorrow．When the phone goes silent，we stay with that caller as long as we possibly can，which could be two or three hours．

The shifts are up to four hours long．When it doesn’t go so well，I offload to my colleague，so I don’t carry home a heavy heart．Being a Samaritan has greatly improved my life．I’m calmer and become a supportive listener, which has also improved my relationships．But being a wonderful Samaritan doesn’t make you a wonderful parent or wonderful partner—I wish it did．

1.What does the underlined sentence in the passage probably mean?

A．Those who called in had their unique nature．

B．I got to realize the value of being a Samaritan．

C．It was common that many people committed suicide．

D．I was determined to be a Samaritan at home．

2.Some people choose not to tell others about their feelings mainly because they________.

A．actually have nothing to worry about

B．are too shy to expose themselves to others

C．suffer from serious mental health problems

D．find no supportive listeners around them

3.Samaritans usually help callers by________.

A．sorting out their problems

B．providing practical advice for them

C．offering them emotional support

D．asking questions such as“How can I solve this? ”

4.We may infer from the passage that________.

A．being a good Samaritan takes patience

B．Samaritans are easily affected by callers

C．callers are always successfully comforted

D．people kill themselves for lack of listening volunteers

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要讲述了在撒玛利亚存在着许多人都去用不同的方式选择自杀的事件，而原因就在于他们不善于倾听别人的心声，给需要帮助的人提供不了行动上的支持，使得那些需要帮助的人根本就不去告诉别人自己的想法，导致很多人精神或者心理压力过大选择自杀。而这就告诉我们我们需要很好的耐心去学会倾听，这才是成为一名好的撒玛利亚人的迫切需求。

1. 推理判断题，本文第二段Each caller is as individual as their circumstances and I didn’t realize so many people take their own lives until I became a Samaritan．And only then did the true nature of the work I was doing hit home. 在每个调用方是个体的情况下，我没有意识到那么多人自杀，直到我成为了 Samaritan.并仅仅是我正在工作的本质所在。可以推断出我意识到自己成为一名撒玛利亚人的真正的价值。只有B选项与其意相近，故选B。

2. 推理判断题，本文第三段中People are told they’ve got nothing to be upset about．Or, if they are already classified as having mental health issues，so they tell no one．人们被告知他们一无所有而感到沮丧，否则，如果他们被归为有心理健康问题一类人时，他们因此就不会告诉任何人。以及Just allowing people to say what they honestly feel helps them find a different perspective．I couldn’t offer him practical advice but I could support him emotionally．只是允许人们说真实的感受去帮助他们找到不同的视角、观点，我不能提到实际可行的建议，但是可以在情感上支持他们，可以推断出人们找不到在行动上支持他们的听者。故选D。

3. 细节理解题，本文中第三段Just allowing people to say what they honestly feel helps them find a different perspective．I couldn’t offer him practical advice but I could support him emotionally．只是允许人们说真实的感受去帮助他们找到不同的视角、观点，我不能提到实际可行的建议，但是可以在情感上支持他们，可知选C。

4. 主旨大意题，本文最后一段最后一句话But being a wonderful Samaritan doesn’t make you a wonderful parent or wonderful partner—I wish it did．但成为一名很棒的撒玛利亚人不会输于你的精彩的父母或优秀的合作伙伴 — 我希望我可以做到。可以推断出成为一名好的撒玛利亚人需要有耐心，去倾听和帮助别人。所以选A。

考点：考查议论性文章阅读。