SAT阅读练习题:Reading Comprehension Test 3

　　10 minutes - 7 questions

　　The passage is taken from a biography of Florence Nightingale who is mainly remembered for her heroic work as a nurse during the Crimean War.

　　The name of Florence Nightingale lives in the memory of the　world by virtue of the heroic adventure of the Crimea. Had she　died - as she nearly did - upon her return to England, her　reputation would hardly have been different; her legend would　5 have come down to us almost as we know it today - that gentle　vision of female virtue which first took shape before the adoring　eyes of the sick soldiers at Scutari. Yet, as a matter of fact, she　lived for more than half a century after the Crimean War; and　during the greater part of that long period all the energy and all the　10 devotion of her extraordinary nature were working at their　highest pitch. What she accomplished in those years of unknown sat　labor could, indeed, hardly have been more glorious than her　Crimean triumphs; but it was certainly more important. The true　history was far stranger even than the myth. In Miss Nightingales　15 own eyes the adventure of the Crimea was a mere incident -scarcely more than a useful stepping-stone in her career. It was the　fulcrum with which she hoped to move the world; but it was　only the fulcrum. For more than a generation she was to sit in secret, working her lever: and her real life began at the very 20 moment when, in popular imagination, it had ended.

　　She arrived in England in a shattered state of health. The hardships and the ceaseless efforts of the last two years had　undermined her nervous system; her heart was affected; she　suffered constantly from fainting-fits and terrible attacks of utter　25 physical prostration. The doctors declared that one thing alone　would save her - a complete and prolonged rest. But that was also　the one thing with which she would have nothing to do. She had　never been in the habit of resting; why should she begin now?

　　Now, when her opportunity had come at last; now, when the iron　30 was hot, and it was time to strike? No; she had work to do; and,　come what might, she would do it. The doctors protested in vain;

　　in vain her family lamented and entreated, in vain her friends　pointed out to her the madness of such a course. Madness? Mad -possessed - perhaps she was. A frenzy had seized upon her. As

　　35 she lay upon her sofa, gasping, she devoured blue-books, dictated　letters, and, in the intervals of her palpitations, cracked jokes. For　months at a stretch she never left her bed. But she would not rest.

　　At this rate, the doctors assured her, even if she did not die, she　would become an invalid for life. She could not help that; there　40 was work to be done; and, as for rest, very likely she might rest ...

　　when she had done it.

　　Wherever she went, to London or in the country, in the hills　of Derbyshire, or among the rhododendrons at Embley, she was haunted by a ghost. It was the specter of Scutari - the hideous　45 vision of the organization of a military hospital. She would lay that　phantom, or she would perish. The whole system of the　Army Medical Department, the education of the Medical Officer,　the regulations of hospital procedure ... rest? How could she rest　while these things were as they were, while, if the like necessity　50 were to arise again, the like results would follow? And, even in　peace and at home, what was the sanitary condition of the Army?

　　The mortality in the barracks, was, she found, nearly double the　mortality in civil life. You might as well take 1, 100 men every　year out upon Salisbury Plain and shoot them, she said. After　55 inspecting the hospitals at Chatham, she smiled grimly. Yes, this　is one more symptom of the system which, in the Crimea, put to　death 16,000 men. Scutari had given her knowledge; and it had　　given her power too: her enormous reputation was at her back -　an incalculable force. Other work, other duties, might lie before　60 her; but the most urgent, the most obvious, of all was to look to　the health of the Army.