2013年高考英语试题(模拟)(5)
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）
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
A
Fat and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis, cricket —— anything with a round ball, I was useless.” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the one always made fun of in school gym classes in Devonshire, England.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first he went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to ride the bike along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind on building up his body, increasing his speed and strength. At the age of 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway and he was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s School of Adventure in Scotland, where he learnt about Ridgway’s cold-water exploits. Greatly interested, Saunders read all he could about North Pole explorers and adventures, then decided that this would be his future.
In 2001, after becoming a skillful skier, Saunders started his fist long-distance expedition towards the North Pole. It took unbelievable energy. He suffered frostbite（冻疮）, ran into a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit, pulling his supply-loaded sled（雪橇）up and over rocky ice. Next October, Saunders, 27, heads south from the coast of Antarctic to the South Pole and back, a 2900-kilometer journey that has never been completed on skis.
46. What change happened to Saunders after he was 15 years old?
A. He became good at most sports. B. He began to build up his body.
C. He joined a sports team. D. He made friends with a runner.
47. The underlined word “exploits” (Para. 3) is closet in meaning to _________.
