第三部分：阅读理解（共12小题；每小题2分, 满分24分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Every Christmas, we visit my parents who live nearly 400 miles away from us. It is always 9 to 10-hour drive, but we always try to make it because that’s the only time my parents get to see their grandchildren.
One year, I was the driver, my wife Adriana was in the passenger seat, my three kids----Jacob, Ethan and Caleb----sat in the back seat, and our dog Susie was placed by the kids’ feet.
That year, we traveled at night to avoid the heavy holiday traffic. We left the house at about 9:00 in the evening, so we could get to my parents’ house by about 6:00 the next morning.
The first three hours was fine. My wife and kids were all fast asleep, including Susie who was lying on Jacob’s lap. But by around 1 am, I was very sleepy. So I stopped at a small convenience store and tried to wake myself up with a cup of coffee. The coffee helped for several miles. But soon I was drifting in and out of sleep. I closed my eyes for what felt like a very short moment. What I didn’t know was that I was slowly driving towards the other lane and that a truck was coming quickly towards us.
I had fallen asleep at the wheel when Susie roughly woke me up by jumping onto my lap. When I opened my eyes, I saw the glaring headlights of the truck heading towards our car. I quickly drove the car back to our lane. I had narrowly missed hitting the truck and getting my family into what could have been a very serious accident.
I checked everyone to see if they were OK, and they were still fast asleep. I drove the rest of the distance very alert and awake. As soon as we got there, I told my wife, my kids and my parents what Susie had done and we could not have been more proud of our dog.
56. Why does the author visit his parents with his family every Christmas?
A. Because Christmas is the only time he can relax every year.
B. Because his parents don’t like the 400-mile travel.
C. Because he missed his parents very much.
D. Because his parents can only see their grandchildren at that time.
57. What did the author do to wake himself up during the journey?
A. He got off the car to breathe the fresh air.
B. He stopped to have a cup of coffee.
C. He talked with his wife and children.
D. He stopped every few miles.
58. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
A. the author’s wife and kids had no idea about the narrow escape during the journey
B. the author was so frightened by the truck that he could hardly drive for the rest of the
journey
C. no one but Susie kept awake for the whole journey
D. the author had never experienced a car accident before
59. The passage tells us a story about ______.
A. a poor driver’s first driving experience
B. how the author’s family spent their Christmas
C. how a dog saved a whole family
D. the disadvantages of driving at night