?
A. He ran outside during an earthquake.
B. He put forth a theory about how
Yosemite was formed.
C. He headed inland for the Sierra Nevadas.
D. He began to write articles about the Sierra Nevadas.
E. He wrote short stories for the local newspaper.
4. When did John Muir meet Theodore Roosevelt?
A. between 1901 and 1906
B. between 1838 and
1868 C. between 1906 and 1914
D. between 1868 and 1901
E. between 1906-1907
5. What happened last?
A. John Muir died.
B. John Muir Trail was dedicated.
C. Muir's glacial theory was proven.
D. The Sierra Club was formed.
E. John's family visited him.
Passage Two
The Galapagos Islands are in the Pacific Ocean, off the western coast of
South America. They are a rocky, lonely spot, but they are also one of the most unusual places in the world. One reason is that they are the home of some of the last giant tortoises left on earth.
Weighing hundreds of pounds, these tortoises, or land turtles, wander slowly around the rocks and sand of the islands. Strangely, each of these islands has its own particular kinds of tortoises. There are seven different kinds of tortoises on the eight islands, each kind being slightly different from the other.
Hundreds of years ago, thousands of tortoises wandered around these islands. However, all that changed when people started landing there. When people first arrived in 1535, their ships had no refrigerators. This meant that fresh food was always a problem for the sailors on board. The giant tortoises provided a solution to this problem.
Ships would anchor off the islands, and crews would row ashore and seize as many tortoises as they could. Once the animals were aboard the ship, the sailors would roll the tortoises onto their backs. The tortoises were completely helpless once on their backs, so they could only lie there until used for soups and stews. Almost 100,000 tortoises were carried off in this way.
The tortoises faced other problems, too. Soon after the first ships, settlers arrived bringing pigs, goats, donkeys, dogs and cats. All of these animals ruined life for the tortoises. Donkey and goats ate all the plants that the tortoises usually fed on, while the pigs. Dogs and cats consumed thousands of baby tortoises each year. Within a few years, it was hard to find any tortoise eggs-or even any baby tortoises.
By the early 1900s, people began to worry that the last of the tortoises would soon die out. No one, however, seemed to care enough to do anything about the problem. More and more tortoises disappeared, even though sailors no longer needed them for food. For another fifty years, this situation continued. Finally, in the 1950s, scientist decided that something must be done.
The first part of their plan was to get rid of as many cats, dogs and other animals as they could. Next, they tried to make sure that more baby tortoises would be born. To do this, they started looking for wild tortoise eggs. They gathered the eggs and put them in safe containers. When the eggs hatched, the scientists raised the tortoises in special pens. Both the eggs and tortoises were numbered so that the scientists knew exactly which kinds of tortoises they had-and which island they came from. Once the tortoises were old enough and big enough to take care of themselves, the scientists took them back to their islands and set them loose. This slow, hard work continues today, and, thanks to it, the number of tortoises is now increasing every year. Perhaps these wonderful animals will not disappear after all.
6. What happened first?
A. Sailors took tortoises aboard ships.
B. The tortoise meat was used for soups and stews.
C. Tortoises were put onto their backs.
D. Settlers brought other animals to the islands.
E. Pigs had been all the sailors had to eat.
7. What happened soon after people brought animals to the islands?
A. Tortoise eggs were kept in safe containers.
B. Scientists took away as many animals as they could.
C. The animals ate the tortoises' food and eggs.
D. The tortoises fought with the other animals.
E. The tortoises continued to wander freely.
8. When did people start to do something to save the tortoises?
A. in the 1500s
B. in the 1950s
C. in the early 1900s
D. in the 1960s
E. in the 1400s
9. What happens right after the tortoise eggs hatch?
A. The scientists take the tortoises back to their islands.
B. The scientists get rid of cats, dogs, and other animals.
C. The sailors use the tortoises for food.
D. The scientist raised the tortoises in special pens.
E. The scientist encouraged the villagers to help.
10. What happened last?
A. The tortoises began to disappear.
B. The number of tortoises began to grow.
C. Scientists took away other animals.
D. Tortoises were taken back to their home islands.
E. The number of tortoises began to decrease.
Passage Three
Charles A. Lindbergh is remembered as the first person to make a nonstop solo flight across the
Atlantic, in 1927. This feat, when Lindbergh was only twenty-five years old, assured him a lifetime of fame and public attention.
Charles Augustus Lindbergh was more interested in flying airplanes than he was in studying. He dropped out of the
University of Wisconsin after two years to earn a living performing daredevil airplane stunts at country fairs. Two years later, he joined the United States Army so that he could go to the Army Air Service flight-training school. After completing his training, he was hired to fly mail between
St. Louis and
Chicago.
Then came the historic flight across the
Atlantic. In 1919, a
New York City hotel owner offered a prize of $25,000 to the first pilot to fly nonstop from
New York to
Paris. Nine
St. Louis business leaders helped pay for the plane Lindbergh designed especially for the flight. Lindbergh tested the plane by flying it from
San Diego to
New York, with an overnight stop in
St. Louis. The flight took only 20 hours and 21 minutes, a transcontinental record.
Nine days later, on May 20,1927, Lindbergh took off from
Long Island, New York, at 7:
52 A. M. He landed at
Paris on May 21 at 10:21 P. M. He had flown more than 3,600 miles in less than thirty four hours. His flight made news around the world. He was given awards and parades everywhere he went. He was presented with the U. S. Congressional Medal of Honor and the first Distinguished Flying Cross. For a long time, Lindbergh toured the world as a
U. S. goodwill ambassador. He met his future wife, Anne Morrow, in
Mexico, where her father was the
United States ambassador.
During the 1930s, Charles and Anne Lindbergh worked for various airline companies, charting new commercial air routes. In 1931, for a major airline, they charted a new route from the east coast of the
United States to the Orient. The shortest, most efficient route was a great curve across
Canada, over
Alaska, and down to
China and
Japan. Most pilots familiar with the
Arctic did not believe that such a route was possible. The Lindberghs took on the task of proving that it was. They arranged for fuel and supplies to be set out along the route. On July 29, they took off from
Long Island in a specially equipped small seaplane. They flew by day and each night landed on a lake or a river and camped. Near
Nome, Alaska, they had their first serious emergency. Out of daylight and nearly out of fuel, they were forced down in a small ocean inlet. In the next morning's light, they discovered they had landed on barely three feet of water. On September 19, after two more emergency landings and numerous close calls, they landed in
China with the maps for a safe airline passenger route.
Even while actively engaged as a pioneering flier, Lindbergh was also working as an engineer. In 1935, he and Dr. Alexis Carrel were given a patent for
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