One day, Raul was miles away from the small ranch（牧场）house in a large valley. Everything seemed to be all right，yet he felt strange and somewhat uneasy. The wind had picked up，and angry，dark clouds __1__ across the sky. He could smell the rain coming. And it did. __2__，the lightning flashed through the clouds, nearly __3__ Raul. The thunder（雷声）was so loud that he buried his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. Then he heard it. Hoofbeats（蹄声）. He __4__. There before him stood a tall, white horse. An old man stared down at him from its back.

“Wh-wh-who are y-y-you?" asked Raul. “My name is Gray Cloud,” the old man answered__5__．"Come with me.”

Raul followed on his horse. A __6__ feeling came over him. All __7__ them the rain was pouring down，__8__ not a drop fell on them. They seemed to be __9__ back toward Raul' s home. Raul lost track of time. Then all at once he found __10__ at the ranch gate. The old man turned his horse，waved his hand, and smiled. Lightning flashed again. The old man and his horse were __11__

Raul's father ran out across the yard to __12__ him. "We have been __13__ sick about you. Are you okay? Hurry. Let's get in out of the __14__．”

"Wait,” said Raul. "Have you ever heard of an old man called Gray Cloud?"

"Can't say I…wait. I believe my great-grandfather used to tell stories about a man called Gray Cloud. He died a long time ago. They say he was __15__ by lightning during a terrible thunderstorm. Why do you ask?"

1. A. dropped       B. fell               C. rolled             D. covered

2. A. Suddenly      B. Strongly           C. Quickly           D. Hardly

3. A. beating        B. blinding           C. burning            D. touching

4. A. looked up      B. woke up           C. lay down           D. sat down

5. A. lazily         B. angrily             C. coldly             D. slowly

6. A. natural        B. common            C. strange            D. bad

7. A. around        B. beside              C. through           D. above

8. A. yet           B. for                 C. so               D. or

9. A. walking       B. leading             C. heading           D. returning

10. A. them         B. themselves          C. him              D. himself

11. A. gone         B. left                C. followed          D. lost

12. A. see           B. meet               C. beat             D. ask

13. A. waited        B. thought             C. worried          D. excited

14. A. yard          B. wind               C. grass            D. rain

15. A. defeated       B. caught             C. damaged         D. struck

　 Some people decide to rebuild or redecorate(重新装饰)their homes at some point，and sometimes the job takes longer than expected．The Winchester house in San Jose，California was rebuilt over 38 years! One reason that this house took so long to rebuild was that the owner of the house thought that ghost(鬼)lived there．

　 Sarah Winchester was married to Oliver Winchester．After Mr. Winchester died in 1886．Mrs. Winchester visited a fortune teller(算命人)in Boston to see what the future held for her．The fortune teller told Mrs. Winchester that she would be visited by ghosts because Mr. Winchester made money from the sale of Winchester rifles(枪)，and all of the people who were killed by those rifles would come to his house for revenge(复仇)．The fortune teller told her that there was only one way she could balance the deaths of those people with the money her husband had made．That was by using the money her husband earned to continuously rebuild the Winchester house．Mrs. Winchester followed the fortune teller’s advice．

　 Today，the house has 13 bathrooms，47 fireplaces，40 staircases（楼梯），and three elevators(电梯)．Guests at the house can look out over the land around the Winchester house from any of the house’s 10，000 windows．It is also easy for guests to get lost in the house．There are 20，000 doorways and closets in the Winchester house．Behind many of these doors，guests can find nothing but walls! The purpose of all these changes is to confuse(迷惑)the ghosts who live in the house．

66．Where can you find the Winchester house now?

A．In any part of the world．　　　 　　 B．In the place where ghosts live．

C．In California in the USA．　　　　　 D．At some point in Boston．

67．When did Sarah Winchester and Olive Winchester get married?

A．In the l9th century．　　　　　　　　 B．In the year l886．

C．In the 18th century.　　　　　　　　 D．In the early l7th century．

68．Why would ghosts visit Sarah Winchester according to the fortune teller?

A．Her family was very rich．

B．She helped her husband with the sale of Winchester rifles．

C．Ghosts hated those most who made a great deal of fortune．

D．The rifles which her husband sold killed many people．

69．What do you learn from this passage?

A．Mrs. Winchester did as she was told by the fortune teller．

B．Sarah Winchester refused to provide money for the rebuilding of the Winchester house．

C．Ghosts wouldn’t leave the house until all the money Mr. Winchester earned was gone．

D．Mrs. Winchester wouldn’t listen to the fortune tellers advice．

70．At the end of the passage．the writer seems to tell us that the reason why Sarah Winchester made all these changes about the house was that　　　　 ．

A．the house left to her by her husband should be well and forever protected

B．the ghosts living in the house would get confused

C．she could drive the ghosts out of the house in this way

D．she wanted her house to be “the first” in the world