備考英語四級(jí)--閱讀理解天天練三

　　Among the more colorful characters of Leadville’s golden age were H.A.W.Tabor and his second wife,Elizabeth McCourt,better known as “Baby Doe”.Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West.Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont.With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead in Kansas.Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking,or perhaps he was lured by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines.At any rate,a few years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch,which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. “Great deposits of lead are sure to be found here.”he said.

　　As it turned out,it was silver,not lead,that was to make Leadville’s fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself,so he opened a general store,which sold everything from boots to salt,flour,and tobacco.『It was his custom to “grubstake” prospective miners,in other words,to supply them with food and supplies,or “grub”, while they looked for ore,in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered.』①He did this for a number of years,but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.

　　Finally one day in the year 1878,so the story goes,two miners came in and asked for “grub”. Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way.These were persistent, however,and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. “Oh help yourself.One more time won’t make any difference,” He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers.the two miners took $17 worth of supplies,in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings.They picked a barren place on the mountainside and began to dig.After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver.Tabor bought the shares of the other two men,and so the mine belonged to him alone.This mine,known as the “Pittsburgh Mine,” made ��1 300 000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.

　　Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117 000.This turned out to be even more fabulous than the Pittsburgh,yielding $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time.Leadville grew.Tabor became its first mayor,and later became lieutenant governor of the state.

　　1.Leadville got its name for the following reasons EXCEPT.

　　A.because Tabor became its leading citizen

　　B.because great deposits of lead is expected to be found there

　　C.because it could bring good fortune to Tabor

　　D.because it was renamed

　　2.The word “grubstake” in paragraph 2 means.

　　A.to supply miners with food and supplies

　　B.to open a general store

　　C.to do one’s contribution to the development of the mine

　　D.to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine,if one was discovered

　　3.Tabor made his first fortune.

　　A.by supplying two prospective miners and getting in return a one-third interest in the findings

　　B.because he was persuaded by the two miners to quit supplying

　　C.by buying the shares of the other

　　D.as a land speculator

　　4. The underlying reason for Tabor’s life career is.

　　A. purely accidental

　　B. based on the analysis of miner’s being very poor and their possibility of discovering profitable mining site

　　C. through the help from his second wife

　　D. he planned well and accomplished targets step by step

　　5.If this passage is the first part of an article,who might be introduced in the following part?

　　A.Tabor’s life.

　　B.Tabor’s second wife,Elizabeth McCourt.

　　C.Other colorful characters.

　　D.Tabor’s other careers.

　　Vocabulary

　　1.barren adj. 貧瘠的

　　2.fabulous adj. 神話般的，難以置信的

　　3.lure vt.誘惑，引誘

　　4.deposit n.沉淀，儲(chǔ)蓄

　　5.grubstake v.下注

　　長(zhǎng)難句解析

　�、佟窘馕觥俊癐t”是形式主語，真正的主語是“to”后面的句子，“while”引導(dǎo)時(shí)間狀語從句。

　　【譯文】他的通常做法是對(duì)來采礦的人“下注”，說得更明確一點(diǎn)就是泰勃供給這些人食品、用品等物品，作為回報(bào)，當(dāng)他們采到礦后就會(huì)分給他一部分股份。

　　答案與詳解

　　【短文大意】本文主要講述霍塞斯·奧斯汀·沃納·泰勃發(fā)家的故事。

　　1. C細(xì)節(jié)題。因?yàn)長(zhǎng)eadville可以為Tabor帶來巨富。這一點(diǎn)不是Leadville得名的原因，因?yàn)樵谖恼碌诙�段中，講到這一點(diǎn)時(shí)，提及三個(gè)原因：A.因?yàn)門abor成為當(dāng)?shù)氐木用翊�表人物，B.因?yàn)樵贚eadville有豐富的鉛的儲(chǔ)藏量。D.因?yàn)長(zhǎng)eadville是因?yàn)門abor重要而起的名，唯獨(dú)C沒有，因?yàn)榈胶髞戆l(fā)現(xiàn)是銀礦才給他帶來巨富。

　　2. D詞匯題。第二段中g(shù)rubstake的詞義與D所述內(nèi)容是相同的，即“供給探礦者資金，衣物，食品以及其他物品”。(可參閱英華大辭典修訂第二版64頁(yè))但此處還補(bǔ)充地講，作為回報(bào)，供給者可以獲得礦中資源一定份額。(見文章第二段第4行)

　　3. A細(xì)節(jié)題。Tabor第一次真正發(fā)財(cái)是他為兩名礦工提供資助，為此他獲得他們礦資源三分之一的股份。見文章第三段4-9行內(nèi)容：兩名開礦者從Tabor那兒借走價(jià)值17美元的物品，作為回報(bào)，Tabor獲得他們礦資源三分之一股份。于是兩位開礦者在一座山旁的不毛之地開始挖掘，九天之后，發(fā)現(xiàn)了銀的富礦，于是Tabor又將兩人的股份全買下，這樣，銀礦屬于Tabor一個(gè)人所有，這個(gè)礦就是后來著名的“匹茲堡”礦。Tabor用17美元的投資換來了130萬美元的收獲。

　　4. B推斷題。由原文可知泰勃的財(cái)產(chǎn)來源是有一定偶然性的，但是畢竟也是基于他開創(chuàng)的“grubstake”模式，因?yàn)锳、D都不對(duì)，C更是沒有根據(jù)，因?yàn)樗�還沒有娶第二位夫人這一切就發(fā)生了。分析泰勃的做法，會(huì)得出B選項(xiàng)所示的結(jié)論。

　　5. B推斷題。如果本文是一篇文章的第一部分，那么在文章的第二部分將介紹誰呢?key可以從文章第一句分析出來，在Leadville的黃金年代，其多彩的特點(diǎn)當(dāng)中，Tabor及其第二任妻子Elizabeth McCourt是值得大書特書的，接著，文章都在講述有關(guān)H.A.W.Tabor發(fā)家致富的歷史，如先買下匹茲堡礦，后又買下Matchless礦，最后成為市長(zhǎng)，代理州長(zhǎng)，等等，所以涉及到的全是男主人公，因此下邊再講的話，應(yīng)成為女主人公即Elizabeth McCourt的天地了，她是Tabor的第二任妻子。這是順理成章的事。

　　Passage 6建議用時(shí)：6分鐘From:To:

　　While the cities of China have undergone modernization evident in the rising towers and bright lights that have awakened the sleeping country, the countryside remains largely the same.

　　『Rectangular rows of rice fields litter the landscape separated by long lanes of water designed to provide the constant supply of water that is vital to producing the crop.』① The experience is not unlike driving through the American Midwest, only rice not corn dominates the landscape.

　　Four years ago, when I last took this trip, the roads were dust and telephone wires did not run parallel to the highway. Bare roads have been replaced by sleek, newly paved highways running from Shanghai to Nanking, to my smaller, home city, Wuhu. Unlike the changes I had heard of and expected in Shanghai, Wuhu was much more of a surprise. The small city where I was born had grown up as I have. There are large high-rise buildings, each ringed with smaller buildings around it, many of these apartment complexes. Little seemed familiar and I wonder what my grandparent’s flat built of brick and mortar had become.

　　『Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out that their home had been demolished and rebuilt as a six story apartment complex as well. 』②Walking up to the second floor I saw my grandfather’s face peering out of the screen door. He began to smile as he saw me, and so did I. Their home is now no different from a western apartment. Equipped with the modern amenities of a gas stove, a toilet, a shower�瞭his was indeed different from four years ago.

　　1. According to the author, dramatic changes took place in.

　　A. cities but not countryside of China

　　B. both cities and countryside of China

　　C. countryside but not in large cities

　　D. everywhere

　　2. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that .

　　A. peasants lead similar life all over the world

　　B. Chinese irrigating system is more impressing than that in America

　　C. peasants in Midwest America raise more corns while Chinese peasants raise more rice

　　D. peasants in Midwest America raise more rice while Chinese peasants raise more corn

　　3. The author was traveling to Wuhu.

　　A. in order to take a stop during the trip from Shanghai to Nanking

　　B. in order to find some place similar to his hometown

　　C. in order to visit his grand parents

　　D. in order to find out changes in small cities

　　4. The author’s grand parents.

　　A. live in their house of brick and mortar

　　B. live in an apartment similar to westerners

　　C. led a totally westernized life

　　D. was poor as they always were

　　5. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

　　A. Flash back to China

　　B. From Shanghai to Nanking

　　C. Wuhu Today

　　D. Back With My Grand Parents

　　Vocabulary

　　1. mortar n. 灰泥

　　2. amenity n. 便利設(shè)施

　　3. rectangular adj.長(zhǎng)方形的

　　4. litter n.亂七八糟的東西

　　5. lane n.小路

　　6. demolish vt.拆除

　　長(zhǎng)難句解析

　�、佟窘馕觥烤渥拥闹鞲墒恰啊璴andscape separated by…”，“that”引導(dǎo)的定語從句，修飾“water”。

　　【譯文】長(zhǎng)方形的稻田雜亂地分布在田野上，田野被一些長(zhǎng)長(zhǎng)的水槽所隔開，這些水槽是為了提供這些作物生長(zhǎng)所必需的水。

　�、凇窘馕觥俊癮s well”作“也，又”講，一般放在句末，而“as well as”作“也，又”講放在句中。

　　【譯文】也許，對(duì)于他們家已被拆除，重新蓋起了六層的公寓，我不應(yīng)該感到驚奇。

　　答案與詳解

　　【短文大意】本文主要講述作者回家鄉(xiāng)所看到的家鄉(xiāng)的巨大變化。

　　1. A細(xì)節(jié)題。這道題很簡(jiǎn)單, 就是考察對(duì)第一段那個(gè)長(zhǎng)句的理解。作者說雖然大城市有巨大的變化, 但是農(nóng)村還是老樣子。

　　2. C推斷題。美國(guó)中西部的農(nóng)民種植玉米較多而中國(guó)農(nóng)民種植大米較多。根據(jù)第二段最后一句: 眼前的景象很容易讓人想起美國(guó)的中西部地區(qū), 只不過那里到處是玉米, 這兒到處是大米。

　　3. C推斷題。蕪湖是作者的家鄉(xiāng)， 他回去是要看望自己的祖父母。

　　4. B細(xì)節(jié)題。作者的祖父母住在一個(gè)類似于西方人的房子里面。

　　5. A主旨題。蕪湖，祖父母，旅途都只是文章涉及的一個(gè)方面， 做標(biāo)題最適合的還是A選項(xiàng)。