Last Sunday, in my return from a weekend in the country, I took a taxi from Waterloo Station to my home in North London. We hadn’t gone very far  1  we had to stop at one of the many traffic lights. Just as the light was changing to  2  a policeman pulled  3  the door of the taxi, jumped in, shouted to the driver,“   4  that blue car in front. It’s been stolen,” and he sat down on the seat beside me. Then he seemed to see me for the first time for he said quickly but5  ,“Sorry sir, but I’ve got to catch that car.”The taxi driver  6  the speed without saying anything. After a few hundred yards the blue car stopped at  7  traffic light and we drew up8  .The policeman got out, ran round to the driver’s door of the blue car, opened it and  9  the driver out. I couldn’t hear what was said, but after a few minutes the policeman  10  to me and I went up to him. He asked me to help him take the car thief to the nearest  11  .The three of us got into the  12  .We drove off  13  the taxi following. I didn’t like sitting next to the  14  ,who was a young, rather tough-looking man, but I had no  15  .  16  it wasn’t far to the police-station. When we got there the policeman took my name and address, thanked me for my  17  and said I could go. So I got back into my taxi and we drove off again. The taxi-driver said18  that that was the second time in a month he had been  19  to he1p the police, and he  20  it wouldn’t happen again.

1.A.until                      B.because                     C.after                         D.before

2.A.orange                   B.yellow                      C.red                           D.green

3.A.out                        B.up                                   C.open                         D.aside

4.A.Follow                   B.Catch                        C.Knock                       D.Watch

5.A.politely                  B.apologically               C.gently                       D.clearly

6.A.increased                B.kept                          C.slowed                      D.removed

7.A.a                           B.the                            C.another                            D.the other

8.A.off                         B.beside                       C.alongside                   D.away

9.A.brought                  B.tried                         C.pulled                       D.spat

10.A.smiled                  B.came                         C.referred                     D.signed

11.A.car-park                B.police-station       C.traffic-light                D.railway-station

12.A.blue taxi               B.stolen car                  C.passing car                D.first taxi

13.A.with                     B.by                                   C.of                             D.in

14.A.thief                     B.driver                       C.policeman                 D.man

15.A.luck                            B.choice                       C.reason                       D.way

16.A.Finally                 B.Naturally                   C.Fortunately                D.Unfortunately

17.A.deed                     B.action                       C.help                          D.words

18.A.happily                 B.angrily                      C.curiously                   D.proudly

19.A.obliged                 B.seen                          C.begged                      D.allowed

20.A.thought                B.guessed                     C.believed                    D.hoped

The idea of sailing west to reach the riches of the East Indies and the Asian mainland was much in fashion with cultured Europeans during the late fifteenth century. Learned people agreed that the earth was round: their only questions were how long and how dangerous would be a trip to reach the Orient. Christopher Columbus, the son of an unknown weaver, and himself a weaver of ambitious dreams, made his historic voyage to the New World in 1492. He didn't go to school very much, but be learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Sailing with a tiny fleet of three ships, the Santa Maria and two smaller ships, the Pinta and the Nina and a crew of ninety sailors, be found the thirty-three-day crossing easier than his nearly-decade-long effort to find royal sponsors willing to support it. The trip drew not only on his own skills as an expert ship's captain, but also on his ability to plan such an expedition, obtain governmental approval and financing, and finally, demonstrate its success so that such explorations could continue. He tried for years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money. Finally they agreed, but he made more demands. He wanted to be made a knight, admiral of the Ocean Sea. He wanted to be the viceroy(总督)and governor general of all lands he would discover. Also he wanted one-tenth of everything he found of value in the new lands. The explorations that followed Columbus-those of Cabot, Verrazano, Cartier, and many others-benefited from a new maritime technology borrowed from Arab sailors and from a variety of new vessels (船,舰) such as the light-weight caravels employed by Columbus. Sailors also perfected sails and various types of riggings that gave ships added stability and greater maneuverability(可操作性)on the open seas. And when leaving sight of the coast, new navigational aids-charts, compasses, and astrolabes-permitted them to determine their position with some, though not perfect, accuracy. Columbus himself made a total of four voyages to the New World but he did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关). Columbus not only discovered a New World, but led the way for other explorers.

1.What was the dream destination of Europeans in the late fifteenth century?

A.The oriental countries.

B.The East Indonesia.

C.The Old World.

D.The African mainland. .

2.What preparations did Columbus make for his first voyage to the New World?

①He planned the expedition thoroughly.

②He spent almost ten years in looking for sponsors.

③He gathered a great many ships.

④He hired 90 sailors.

⑤He demonstrated his success of former far-reaching explorations.

A.①②③④⑤

B.①②④

C.①④⑤

D.②④⑤

3.We can learn from the passage that ________.

A.Christopher Columbus was an ambitious explorer

B.he was a geologist with ambitious dreams

C.Columbus became extremely wealthy after making a total of four voyages

D.he was an unsuccessful canvasser(游说者)

4.What equipment aided the sailors in locating relatively more accurately?

A.A variety of new vessels.

B.The light-weighted caravels.

C.Various types of riggings.

D.Charts, compasses and astrolabes.

5.In the passage, the author mainly tells us ________.

A.the tragedy of Columbus's life as a whole

B.Columbus's life story and his achievements

C.Columbus's exploration to the East Indies and Asia

D.how Columbus arrived in the New World .

 

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