Section D

Directions:Read the following passage and answer the questions. Write the answers on the answer sheet.

In 1817 one of the most well-known hauntings in American history took place in the small town of Adams, Tennessee. Known as the Bell Witch, the strange activity that caused fear in the small farming community has remained unexplained for nearly 200 years. Like many stories, certain details of who or what the Bell Witch was vary from version to version. The prevailing account is that it was the ghost of a woman named Kate Batts, a mean old neighbour of John Bell. Batts believed Bell cheated her in a land purchase and on her deathbed she swore that she would haunt John Bell and his family.

News of the Bell Witch spread quickly. When word of the haunting reached Nashville, one of its most citizens, General Andrew Jackson, decided to gather a group of friends and go to Adams to investigate. The future president wanted to come face to face with the phenomenon and either expose it as a trick or send the spirit away. According to one account, Jackson and his men were traveling over a smooth section of road when suddenly the wagon stopped. The men pushed and pushed, but the wagon could not be moved. The wheels were even removed and inspected. The came the sound of a voice from the bushes saying, “I will see you tonight.” The astonished men could not find the source of the voice. The horses then unexpectedly started walking on their own and the wagon moved along again. Jackson indeed encountered the witch that night and left early the next morning, claiming he would rather fight the British than the Bell Witch!

The haunting of the Bell house continued for several years, ending with ghost’s final act of revenge. On the morning of December 19, he failed to awake at his regular time. When the family noticed he was sleeping unnaturally, they attempted to rouse him. They discovered Bell couldn’t be completely awakened. John’s son went to the medicine cupboard to get his father’s medicine and noticed it was gone but a strange small bottle was in its place. No one claimed to have replaced the medicine with the bottle. John Bell died on December 20 and “Kate” was quiet until after the funeral.

A few explanations of the Bell Witch phenomena have been offered over the years. One is that the haunting was a trick created by Richard Powell, the schoolteacher of Betsy Bell and Joshua Gardner, the boy with whom Betsy was in love. It seemed Powell was deeply in love with Betsy and would do anything to destroy her relationship with Gardner. Through a variety of tricks, and with the help of several friends, it is believed that Powell created all of the ghostly effects to scare Gardner away. In fact, Gardner eventually did break up with Betsy and left area and Powell did come out winner. In the end, he married Betsy Bell.

81.John Well’s mean old neighbor haunted them because ______.

______________________________________________________________________________

82.On Jackson’s way to investigate the ghost, the ghost ______ and later, Jackson encountered the witch and left early the next morning.

______________________________________________________________________________

83.How did the haunting eventually end?

______________________________________________________________________________

84.What was one explanation for the haunting given in the reading?

______________________________________________________________________________

Native Tongue

At first Kate thought the Romanian girl could not speak and understand English.Nadia would not reply to anything Kate said.Kate was in charge of showing Nadia around on her first day at Buckminster Grade School.Kate could not figure out why the school had put Nadia in a class where she could not understand what people were saying.

“Why did they do this?”Kate wondered aloud.“I mean,you can't learn if you can't understand the teacher.”

Nadia's voice was a whisper.“I understand English.I will learn.”Nadia's English was perfect.

Kate was perplexed.She couldn't understand why Nadia did not like to speak.Then she realized that moving to a new country probably wasn't the easiest thing to do.There were hundreds of unfamiliar and unusual things to learn—all at the same time.

“There're a lot of new things to learn,huh?” said Kate.

Nadia nodded rapidly.In a quiet voice she replied,“Many things people say,I do

not understand.I have been speaking English and Romanian all my life,but I do not know what some children are saying.For example,yesterday a boy asked if I could help him find the USB port on a thin black box he was carrying.Isn't a port a place for ships?It made no sense to me.”

“Don't worry,”said Kate.“You'll figure everything out in time.You see,that thin black box was a computer.A USB port is a place where you can connect other machines to a computer.”

Nadia and Kate were quiet after that.They took notes while the teacher gave a maths lesson.To ?Kate's? surprise,Nadia put up her hand and offered to answer questions at the blackboard.

Nadia handled every question the teacher gave her.Some of the questions were really difficult,and no one understood what was going on except Nadia and the teacher.When the teacher said that Nadia answered everything correctly,the whole class clapped their hands.

Nadia was smiling when she sat back down next to Kate.“Some things,”she said in a normal voice,“are the same all over the world.”

At the beginning of Nadia's first day at school,she was_____________.

A.disappointed         B.helpful         C.lively         D.shy

2.The underlined word“_________perplexed”probably means___________.

A.puzzled              B.angry           C.shocked        D.serious

3.We can infer from the passage that______________.

A.Nadia did not like Kate

B.Nadia had lived by the sea before

C.Nadia had never seen a computer before

D.Nadia spoke in a soft voice out of politeness          

4.Which of the following statements is true?        

A.Nadia was better at maths than other students.        

B.Nadia found some of the maths questions difficult.        

C.Nadia was encouraged to answer questions in class.        

D.Nadia understood the maths teacher better than other teachers.

5.What is the message of the story?

A.Talking about something familiar gives you confidence in communication.

B.Answering questions in class makes you better understood by classmates.

C.Language plays an important role in communication between cultures.

D.Mathematics helps to improve communication between cultures.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网