【解析】
1. 定位到短文第二段第一句“At the age of 8, Patterson moved from Wales to join his parents in Shanxi.”，可得出答案。
2. 从短文第二段最后一句“When the family moved from Jiangsu to Guangdong, they took the old green train and spent nearly two days on the trip.”提取答案。
3. 根据短文第三段内容“Now with high-speed trains, life has become much easier. Long and boring trips in the past have become shorter. Also, the modern trains are more comfortable.”整合信息得到答案。
4. 结合短文第四段“It is people like him who make these changes possible.”及前文提及的Jiao Yulu，可知答案为像焦裕禄这样的人。
5. 从短文最后一段“I'm proud to act as a bridge between the UK and China and help the two peoples know about each other better.”可找到答案。
【答案】
1. At the age of 8.
2. Nearly two days.
3. Life has become much easier. Long and boring trips have become shorter and the modern trains are more comfortable.
4. People like Jiao Yulu.
5. By acting as a bridge between the UK and China.
【知识点】
细节信息提取、文本内容整合、跨文化认知
【点评】
本文通过英国学生的亲身经历展现中国交通的飞速发展，融入榜样人物事迹，既考查学生的阅读理解信息提取与整合能力，也传递了奉献精神，内容贴近生活且富有教育意义。
【难度系数】
0.8
