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  3. In the end, it got a bit tedious, queuing to see the millionaire. As befitted our colour, marshals waved us through the outer ga

In the end, it got a bit tedious, queuing to see the millionaire. As befitted our colour, marshals waved us through the outer ga

admin2012-06-10  55
问题     In the end, it got a bit tedious, queuing to see the millionaire. As befitted our colour, marshals waved us through the outer gates into the court of preliminary investigation; but here we waited for some hours with perhaps a thousand others until, eventually, there were checks on the authenticity of our displays.
    After that it was the whole day progressing along an upward-spiralling ramp, rehearsing answers to hypothetical questions, eyeing each other until we reached the first level platform and presented ourselves. Tests continued throughout the night; but I experienced no difficulty in producing correct responses. As the sun rose, the other eleven of my group were on the downward ramp, while I rejoined the slow onward climb.
    The second level was reached, once again, some time towards evening. Here the questioning was more indeterminate. But my preparations were adequate. And so I rose to the third and final level. The thousands which had presented themselves at the outer gate had been winnowed down to some twenty. It was possible, indeed, that we might be the last. We then began the last stage of the journey: a spiral ramp leading to the viewing platform. I made myself ready.
    Looking down at the millionaire in its envelope of support machinery, I found it difficult to believe that such a misshapen, pallid being was of any cosmic significance. Yet its race had at one time dominated our space, not through force, but through the irresistible spread of its freely-shared technologies and cultures. And now, here was the last of them. The natural ageing of the species had at some point deprived it of fertility; but its biology had been engineered to give each individual effective immortality.
    Yet, in the end, they could not defeat the grindstone of time. Accident, conflict, the wear-and-tear of existence had cut the numbers down: from trillions to billions, and then to millions, thousands, hundreds, tens; and at last to one, who, according to the records, was over a million years old. The millionaire.
    My moment had come. Reciting the codes, I focused energies on the being below, and watched as the radiance flowed from its body, turning the liquids in the surrounding tubes to vapour, the metals and synthetics to liquid. Attendants reached out for me; but it was over. The light below ended as suddenly as it had come, leaving only black dust.
    So ended the last of the human beings. A thousand civilizations, smothered in infancy by human benevolence, had been avenged.
All the people who wanted to see the millionaire had to go through
选项 A、tests of patience and physical strength.
B、severe competition and long waiting.
C、three levels of questioning and exams.
D、adequate preparation and repetitive rehearsal.
答案B
解析 细节题。文章前三段都是在讲述参观the millionaire之前需经历种种选拔、考核、审查等。文中使用了tedious，queuing以及waited for some hours等词汇，可见其经历了漫长的等待。而在第二段提到与“我”同行的十一个伙伴都已经落选，第三段更是提到前来参加选拔的数千人最后只剩下了大约二十人，可见竞争是相当激烈的。由此可见，B为本题答案。
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