阅读理解

　　When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.

　　He gave the two - foot - tall Charles name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up(激起)great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

　　During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.

　　Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.

　　Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Torn became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

　　The ceremony (庆典) and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2,000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.

　　Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade(浅谈), communities throughout the country sponsored (主持)“Tom Thumb”weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

1．“Talk of the town”means ________.

[　　]

A．it was in the newspaper

B．people spread mean rumors(谣言) about it

C．it was the most popular happening

D．it was discussed in a city meeting

2．What does the author think about Tom Thumb's wedding?

[　　]

A．People gave it too much of their attention.

B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time.

C．It was funny and ridiculous(荒谬可笑的).

D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

3．Which of the following is the best clue to the fact that Tom was smart?

[　　]

A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five.

B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.

C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon.

D．He married a school teacher.

4．Tom would dance on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because ________.

[　　]

A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom was tap dancing

B．it made Tom feel taller

C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted

D．die difference between them would make Tom look even smaller

5．What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

[　　]

A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.

B．People are always disappointed during war time.

C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose.

D．People should be married when they are small children.

When Tom was very young, he was terribly frightened of snakes, but he soon ______ it.

Tom was a poor boy. He made a living by cleaning leather shoes for others in the street. Tom was also a clever boy.

One day, a very rich man with the name Miser appeared in front of Tom. He watched his dirty shoes for a while, and then looked at Tom. Tom knew this kind of people well: they love money very much and hate to spend it.

Tom said, “Let me clean your shoes, sir.”

“For nothing?” the rich man asked.

“Only two pence, sir.”

Mr Miser shook his head and walked away.

Tom thought for a moment and then called out, “I’d like to clean it for nothing!” This time Mr Miser agreed. And soon one of his shoes was shining brightly.

When the rich man put his other shoe on the stool(凳子), Tom said he wouldn’t clean it for him unless he was paid two pence for his work. Mr Miser was very angry. He refused to pay anything and went away with a smile on his face.

But to his surprise, the well-cleaned shoe was so bright that it made the other one look even dirtier. Mr Miser took a look around. People in the street were laughing at him. He couldn’t walk on any further.

Finally the rich man returned and gave Tom two pence. In a very short time his two shoes shone brightly.

1.The story happened___________.

A．in a shoe shop                          B．in the street

C．at the rich man’s house                 D．near the boy’s home

2.The boy called the man back and agreed to clean his shoes for nothing, because_______.

A.he was afraid of the rich man

B.B.he liked to clean shoes for rich men

C.he wanted to get something else instead of money

D.he was sure he could get his pay from Mr. Miser

3.Mr Miser smiled because________.

A．he liked to walk with only one shoe cleaned

B．He had one of his shoes cleaned without paying for it

C．He thought his other shoe needn’t be cleaned at all

D．He thought he wouldn’t be laughed at by the people in the street.

4.Which of the following is true?

A．The boy was waiting for the rich man that day.

B．Mr. Miser didn’t want to have his shoes cleaned.

C．The rich man won at last.

D．The rich man had to pay the boy for his work.

5.From the passage we know__________.

A.Mr. Miser was a generous man

B.B.the boy was fooled by the rich man

C.the boy was clever enough to have his work paid

D.it is good manners to have one’s shoes cleaned before he or she goes out.

Tom was ________ to win the 100-metre hurdles, but he fell to the ground and missed the chance..

   A. possible      B. probable         C. likely               D. maybe

The novelist, Harriet Beecher Stowe, born 200 years ago, was a poor housewife with six children, and she suffered from various illnesses. Driven by the hatred of slavery, she found time to write Uncle Tom’s Cabin, which became the most influential novel in American history and caused great change, both at home and abroad.
Today, however, the book has a different reputation, owing to the popular image of its character, Uncle Tom, whose name has become a saying for a cowardly（懦弱的）black man who betrays his race.
But this view is wrong: the original Uncle Tom was physically and morally strong, an inspiration for black people and other oppressed（被压迫的）people worldwide. Indeed, that was why, in the mid-19th century, Southerners attacked Uncle Tom’s Cabin as a dangerously destructive book, while Northern reformers—especially black people—often praised it.
The book was influential overseas too. In Russia it inspired Vladimir Lenin, who recalled it as his favorite book in childhood. It was the first American novel to be translated and published in China, and it fueled anti-slavery movements in Cuba and Brazil.
The book’s progressive appeal was the character of Uncle Tom himself: a strong man who is notable because he does not betray his race; one reason he gives up escaping from his plantation（种植园）is that he doesn’t want to put his fellow slaves in danger. And he is finally killed because he refuses to tell his master where two runaway slaves are hiding.
Unfortunately, these themes were lost in many of the stage versions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
The play, seen by more people than those who read the book, remained popular up to the 1950s and still appears occasionally. But in the play, Stowe’s revolutionary themes were drowned.
But it doesn’t have to be that way; indeed; during the civil rights era it was those who most closely resembled Uncle Tom—Stowe’s Uncle Tom, not the embarrassed one of popular myth—that proved most effective in promoting progress. Both Stowe and Uncle Tom deserve our reconsideration and our respect.
【小题1】Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin because she                     .