I met Jane Black in university, and soon we became friends.The first time I went to her home I found her family quite different from my own.
In my family, it was always important to place   1 when anything bad happened.
"Who did this? "my mother would scream about a dirty kitchen.
" This is all your  2 , Katharine, " my father would insist when the cat got out or the dishwasher  3 .
From the time we were little, my sister, brothers and I told on each other.We set a place for blame at the dinner table.
,the Whites didn't worry about who had done what.They picked up the pieces and with their lives.The beauty of this was driven home to me the summer Jane died.
In July, the White sisters and I decided to take a car  6 from their home in Florida to New York.The two older sisters, Sarah and Jane, were college students, and the youngest, Amy, had recently  7 sixteen.Proud of having a new driver' s license, Amy was excited about practicing her driving on the trip.She  8 her license to everyone she met.
The big sisters  9 the driving of Sarah' s new car during the first part of the trip, but when they reached _10_ crowded areas, they let Amy  11 .Somewhere in South Carolina, we pulled off the highway to eat.After lunch, Amy got behind the wheel.She came to a crossroads with a stop sign.Whether she was nervous or just didn't see the sign no one would  12 know, but Amy continued into the crossroads without stopping.The driver of a large truck, unable to stop in time, ran into our car.
Jane was killed immediately.I was only  13 injured.The most difficult thing that I’ve ever done was to call the Whites to tell them about the accident and that Jane had died.Painful __14_ it was for me to lose a good friend, I knew that it was far worse for them to lose a child.
When Mr.and Mrs.White arrived at the hospital, they found their two daughters sharing a room.Sarah had a few cuts on the head and Amy' s leg was broken.They hugged us all and cried tears of   15 and of joy at seeing their daughters.They  16 away the girls' tears and made a few jokes at Amy as she learned to use her crutches (拐仗).
To both of their daughters, and especially to Amy, over and over they simply said, "We' re so glad that you' re alive."
I was  17 .No blame.No accusations.
Later, I asked the Whites why they never talked about the fact that Amy was driving and had run a stop sign.
Mrs. White said, "Jane' s gone, and we miss her  18 .Nothing we say or do will ever bring her back.But Amy has her whole life ahead of her.How can she _19____ a full and happy life if she feels we blame her for her sister' s death?"
They were right.Amy graduated from the University of California and got married several years ago.She works   20  a teacher of learning-disabled students.She' s also a mother of two little girls of her own, the oldest named Jane.

【小题1】
A.angerB.blameC.screamD.pride
【小题2】
A.faultB.mistakeC.benefitD.action
【小题3】
A.brokeB.caughtC.stoppedD.worked
【小题4】
A.ThenB.HoweverC.ThereforeD.Still
【小题5】
A.had onB.put onC.got onD.moved on
【小题6】
A.driveB.voyageC.tripD.tour
【小题7】
A.becameB.reachedC.gotD.turned
【小题8】
A.showed offB.turned upC.brought outD.took off
【小题9】
A.tookB.tastedC.sharedD.experienced
【小题10】
A.moreB.lessC.farD.quite
【小题11】
A.turn upB.get downC.take overD.take up
【小题12】
A.hardlyB.neverC.evenD.ever
【小题13】
A.seriouslyB.slightlyC.lightlyD.quickly
【小题14】
A.asB.soC.whenD.while
【小题15】
A.pityB.sadnessC.shameD.sympathy
【小题16】
A.sweptB.gaveC.wipedD.cleaned
【小题17】
A.delightedB.excitedC.amusedD.astonished
【小题18】
A.terriblyB.hardC.graduallyD.rarely
【小题19】
A.directB.guideC.leadD.conduct
【小题20】
A.forB.asC.likeD.to

I had planted different hot peppers in my garden. A Mexican fellow called Sam worked for me. He_36_ hot peppers, too. It was late summer and a beautiful sunny day. My son, Marcus, eight, and my daughter, Ellen, ten, picked several 37 hot peppers and entered our workroom, with their             38 .They wanted to see if Sam could   39  more hot peppers than I.  After a little joking with them we agreed to the contest but they had to   40 ,too. That was not  41 terms for them so they left the room.
They  42  about an hour later with a new proposal and new hot peppers they had just picked.  43 they had reasoned that when a pepper was  44 in color it was the hottest kind. Marcus and Ellen would eat the green colored peppers   45 Sam and I would eat the red colored peppers. Giving Sam a wink(使眼色),we  46 . Showing good sportsmanship(体育精神),I had the kids  47 the peppers that Sam and I would eat.  They picked the largest two red peppers.  Then they picked a  48  green one for themselves. Knowing what was going to  49 ,I told them I would make it  50  for them.  I cut one pepper in half and removed the  51  to reduce the heat a little. The contest was one of speed rather than  52 .Each child had pepper in hand and was  53 to start .
Looking at my  54  I said, OK, on three. One, Two, THREE. So much happened all at once. Tears, screams and spitting running around, the children  55  their mouth with fast waving hands.  A short time later, Sam and I agreed that the red tasted better than the green.

【小题1】
A.ateB.likedC.soldD.studied
【小题2】
A.heavyB.colorfulC.largeD.green
【小题3】
A.proposalB.tricksC.imaginationD.plans
【小题4】
A.plantB.pickC.harvestD.eat
【小题5】
A.tasteB.participateC.contributeD.share
【小题6】
A.acceptableB.comfortableC.profitableD.tolerable
【小题7】
A.enteredB.returnedC.respondedD.reached
【小题8】
A.SomehowB.UnfortunatelyC.UnexpectedlyD.Anyhow
【小题9】
A.purpleB.greenC.red D.orange
【小题10】
A.whileB.butC.soD.if
【小题11】
A.smiledB.understood C.agreedD.jumped.
【小题12】
A.prepare B.selectC.cut D.cook
【小题13】
A.fresh B.smallC.deliciousD.hot
【小题14】
A.take in B.take onC.take placeD.take effect
【小题15】
A.more convenientB.more interesting
C.happierD.easier
【小题16】
A.seedsB.leavesC.skinD.flesh
【小题17】
A.timeB.skillC.qualityD.quantity
【小题18】
A.nervousB.eagerC.willingD.glad
【小题19】
A.watchB.childrenC.partnerD.pepper
【小题20】
A.openedB.coveredC.fanned D.washed

 

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 attracted 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. "A large amount of lead is 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(预期的) miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or"grub", while they looked for ore(矿石), in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He 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(坚持的), 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 abundant than the Pittsburgh, producing $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became the governor of the state.

1. 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

2. The underlying(潜在的)reason for Tabor’s successful 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

3. 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.  

 

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