2017年12月英語四級閱讀精選試題

　　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 mountain side 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.

　　英語四級閱讀答案解析:

　　1. C 細節(jié)題。因為Leadville可以為Tabor帶來巨富。這一點不是Leadville得名的原因，因為在文章第二段中，講到這一點時，提及三個原因：A.因為Tabor成為當?shù)氐木用翊�表人物，B.因為在Leadville有豐富的鉛的儲藏量。D.因為Leadville是因為Tabor重要而起的名。

　　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”。

　　3. A 細節(jié)題。Tabor第一次真正發(fā)財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那兒借走價值17美元的物品，作為回報，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一個人所有，這個礦就是后來著名的“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產(chǎn)來源是有一定偶然性的，但是畢竟也是基于他開創(chuàng)“grubstake”模式，因為A、D都不對，C更是沒有根據(jù)，因為他還沒有娶第二位夫人這一切就發(fā)生了。分析泰勃的做法，會得出B選項所示的結(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?可以從文章第一句分析出來，在Leadville的黃金年代，其多彩的特點當中，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，代理州長，等等，所以涉及到的全是男主人公，因此下邊再講的話，應成為女主人公即Elizabeth McCourt的天地了，她是Tabor的第二任妻子。這是順理成章的事。

　　英語四級閱讀答案解析:

　　1. D 主旨題。文章第一段簡述了人們對壘球所持的偏見——認為它毫無活力、從容和緩，不像橄欖球那樣(禁止)迭起、令人激動。文章的第二、三、四、五段探討了壘球的根本特征及欣賞角度，文章的最后一句話用一個比喻概括了壘球的魅力：“如果橄欖球是一曲交響樂的話，那么，壘球中所表現(xiàn)出來的運動恰似一曲優(yōu)美的室內(nèi)樂�！笨梢�，本文主要探討的是壘球的特點及其欣賞。

　　2. C 細節(jié)題。文章第一段指出：許多人不喜歡壘球，一提起壘球這些人就打哈欠甚至皺眉頭。對他們來說，看壘球意味著眼巴巴地觀望著身著運動裝(outfit)的人呆立在球場上，東瞧瞧西望望，很少有什么(激動人心的)事發(fā)生——沒意思透了。他們認為這樣的運動更適合上個世紀的人的口味，不像橄欖球那樣充滿活力。

　　3. B 推斷題。第三段指出，在電視上，壘球運動被切換成不同角度的畫面，而且不斷地使用重放、特寫等電視制作技術(shù)，這破壞了該運動的整體運動感，使觀眾無法將自己投入(project)到運動中去，以體會到這種寓動于靜的運動之美。電視做不到這一點(The TV won’t do it for you)，因此，電視上的壘球比賽看上去(seems)孤孤單單、冷冷清清、沉沉靜靜、慢慢騰騰。C、D不對，作者僅指出了不同運動有不同運動的特征，并未說哪種運動優(yōu)于哪種。

　　4. B 推斷題。第四段整個都在描述壘球場上的一個場景：拿三壘的運動員假設(shè)對方全投出好球，作好了一切準備，但是對方投出的并不是好球。所以在那時候他的準備做不做都不會影響比賽結(jié)果。他說本來可以閉上眼睛，意思就是B項所寫的。

　　5. D 推斷題。在本文中，作者主要探討了壘球的特征及欣賞，作者著重指出的是：只有根據(jù)壘球的特征來欣賞它，才能體會到它的魅力。在他看來，觀察到壘球比賽中運動員的各種動作、壘球位之間的關(guān)系等是欣賞它的關(guān)鍵(第三段第二句)。只有從整體來把握它，才能看到每一個小的動作、每一個眼神乃至于“靜止”的意義，也只有這樣，才能全身心地投入比賽中，欣賞到它的魅力�？梢姡�作者對壘球有很深的理解而且非常喜愛壘球。

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