A
Gertrude Chandler listened. Another train was passing her house in Putnam, Connecticut. She loved living across the street from the railway station.
Sometimes, Gertrude was ill and had to stay home from school. When she was not feeling well, books were her friends. One day in 1899, while she was reading a book, Gertrude, at the age of 9, glanced (瞥) out the window at a train. She could see inside its last car. She saw a small stove (炉子), cups, and a coffee pot. How comfortable it looked! It was like a little home. Wouldn't it be wonderful to live in a boxcar?
After high school, Gertrude decided to find a job. She had always loved to write. Soon she was writing for a newspaper in her town. Later, at age twentysix, she wrote her first real book. With her sister Frances, Gertrude wrote more books. Most of these were for grownup readers.
In 1924, Gertrude wondered again about living in a train car. She decided to write a story called The Boxcar Children. The characters in the book were called the Alden children. They were named Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny. Afraid of living with a grandfather they had never met, the Alden children made a home for themselves in an old red boxcar they discovered in the woods. The oldest boy Henry worked in a nearby town to buy food and other things they needed. The brave children made a happy life for themselves and had many adventures (奇遇) together. When Gertrude became a teacher, she read the boxcar book to her pupils.
During the next thirty years, Gertrude wrote eighteen more books about the boxcar children. She died in 1979, but her wellloved books live on. The adventures of Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny still bring smiles to the faces of young readers.
语篇解读：本文是记叙文。格特鲁德·钱德勒住在铁路边，路过的火车使她幻想生活在火车车厢中的情景。随后，她创作了《篷车少年》系列作品，让书中的人物替自己实现了儿时的梦想。
1．What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
A．Why Gertrude's family lived near a train station.
B．How Gertrude got the idea of living in a boxcar.
C．Why Gertrude's friends were mostly books.
D．How Gertrude spent her days off school.
解析：选B 段落大意题。由第二段可知，格特鲁德生病在家看书时，瞥见窗外路过的火车的最后一节车厢，里面的陈设很温馨，给人一种小家的感觉，于是她便幻想住在火车车厢中会不会很棒。因此，本段主要介绍格特鲁德是如何产生住在火车车厢中这个想法的。
2．What happened to the Alden children?
A．They had to support themselves.
B．They lived in a boxcar on a train.
C．They had no families to live with.
D．They had many adventures on a train.
解析：选A 推理判断题。由第四段中的“the Alden children made a home ... in the woods”和“The oldest boy Henry worked ... things they needed”可知，这几个孩子独自住在森林里的一节废弃车厢里，年长的哥哥通过打工来维持兄妹几个的生活。
3．What can we learn about Gertrude Chandler?
A．She wrote most of her books with Frances' help.
B．She dropped out of school at a very young age.
C．She is known for her books for children.
D．She liked traveling by train.
解析：选C 细节理解题。由最后一段中的“Gertrude wrote eighteen more books about the boxcar children”和“her wellloved books live on”可知，格特鲁德所著的《篷车少年》系列儿童读物在她去世后依然流传于世，且倍受喜爱。
