阅读理解

Though the horses got off to a good start, it was not long before over half of them out of the race. As was expected, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen had got well in front with the remaining horses grouped together some way behind. On a sharp bend, three of the horses leading the group fell, throwing the riders behind. As the rece went on, the track became full of horses without riders. Towards the end, there were only three horses left: College Boy and Sweet Seventeen were still leading with an unknown horse, Tom Thumb, a very long way behind. The crowd was very disappointed when on the last jump in the race, the riders of both horses which were expected to win failed to keep in the saddle (马鞍). Everyone shouted with delight when College Boy continued by himself and ‘win’ the race…without his rider! Tom Thumb now took his time and the crowd cheered as he crossed the finishing line without a rival (竞争对手) in sight.

1．After a dangerous corner ________.

[　　]

A．all of the horses going ahead fell

B．few riders were thrown behind

C．most of the horses fell out of the race

D．the remaining horses were grouped together and then fell

2．People had expected ________ to win the race.

[　　]

A．Tom Thumb

B．College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

C．College Boy

D．Tom Thumb, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

3．Towards the end of the race ________.

[　　]

A．Tom Thumb went in front of College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

B．College Boy and Tom Thumb were a very long way behind

C．the riders of Sweet Seventeen and College Boy fell too

D．there was not any horse left

4．The real winner was ________.

[　　]

Though the horses got off to a good start, it was not long before over half of them were out of the race．As was expected, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen had got well in front with the remaining horses grouped together some way behind．On a sharp corner, three of the horses leading the group fell, throwing the riders behind．As the race went on, the track became full of horses without riders．Towards the end, there were only three horses left: College Boy and Sweet Seventeen were still leading with an unknown horse, Tom Thumb, a very long way behind．The crowd was very disappointed when on the last jump in the race, the riders of both horses which were expected to win failed to keep in the saddle．Everyone shouted with delight when College Boy continued by himself and 'win' the race-without his rider! Tom Thumb now took his time and the crowd cheered as he crossed the finishing line without a rival in sight．

41．On a dangerous bend __________．

    A．all of the horses going ahead fell

    B．few riders were thrown behind

    C．most of the horses fell out of the race

    D．the remaining horses were grouped together and then fell

42．People had expected __________ to win the race．

    A．Tom Thumb

    B．College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

    C．Tom Thumb, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

    D．None of the above

43．Towards the end of the race __________．

    A．Tom Thumb went in front of College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

    B．College Boy and Tom Thumb were a very long way behind

    C．The riders of Sweet Seventeenth and College Boy fell too

    D．There was not any horse left

44．The real winner was __________．

    A．College Boy      B．Sweet Seventeen

    C．Tom Thumb        D．None of the above

阅读理解

　　Though the horses got off to a good start, it was not long before over half of them were out of the race. As was expected, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen had got well in front with the remaining horses grouped together some way behind. On a sharp corner, three of the horses leading the group fell, throwing the riders behind. As the race went on, the track became full of horses without riders. Towards the end, there were only three horses left: College Boy and Sweet Seventeen were still leading with an unknown horse, Tom Thumb, a very long way behind. The crowd was very disappointed when on the last jump in the race, the riders of both horses which were expected to win failed to keep in the saddle (马鞍). Everyone shouted with delight when College Boy continued by himself and “win” the race without his rider! Tom Thumb now took his time and the crowd cheered as he crossed the finishing line without a rival (对手) in sight.

(1) Half of the horses were out of the race ________.

[　　]

A．as soon as the race began

B．on their leaving the start post

C．when three horses got off to a good start

D．before College Boy and Sweet Seventeen went ahead

(2) On a dangerous bend ________.

[　　]

A．all of the horses going ahead fell

B．few riders were thrown behind

C．most of the horses fell out of the race

D．the remaining horses were grouped together and then fell

(3) People had expected ________ to win the race.

[　　]

A．Tom Thumb

B．College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

C．Tom Thumb, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

D．None of the above

(4) Towards the end of the race ________.

[　　]

A．Tom Thumb went in front of College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

B．College Boy and Tom Thumb were a very long way behind

C．the riders of Sweet Seventeenth and College Boy fell too

D．there was not any horse left

(5) The real winner was ________.

[　　]

阅读下列短文， 从所给的四个选项中，选出最佳答案

　Though the horses got off to a good start, it was not long before over half of them went out of race．As was expected, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen had got well in front with the remaining horses grouped together some way behind．On a sharp corner, three of the horses leading the group fell, throwing the riders behind．As the race went on, the track became full of horses without riders．Towards the end, there were only three horses left: College Boy and Sweet Seventeen were still leading with an unknown horse．Tom Thumb, a very long way behind．The crowd was very disappointed when on the last jump in the race, the riders of both horses which were expected to win failed to keep in the saddle．Everyone shouted with delight when College Boy continued by himself and “win” the race --- without the rider! Tom Thumb now took his time and the crowd cheered as he crossed the finishing line without a rival in sight．　

(1) Half of the horse went out of the race ______．　　　

[　　]

A．as soon as the race began

B．on their leaving the starting point

C．when three horses got off to a good start

D．before College Boy and Sweet Seventeen went ahead

(2) On a dangerous bend ______．　　　

[　　]

A．all of the horses going ahead fell

B．few riders were thrown behind

C．most of the horses fell out of the race

D．the remaining houses were grouped together and then fell

(3) People had expected ______ to win the race．　　　

[　　]

A．Tom Thumb

B．College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

C．Tom Thumb, College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

D．None of the above

(4) Towards the end of the race ______．　　　

[　　]

A．Tom Thumb went in front of College Boy and Sweet Seventeen

B．College Boy and Tom Thumb were a very long way behind

C．the riders of Sweet Seventeen and College Boy fell too

D．there was not any horse left

(5) The real winner was ______．　　　

[　　]

A．College Boy

B．Sweet Seventeen

C．Tom Thumb

D．None of the above．

Mail was usually carried west on ships that sailed around the bottom of South America and then north to California．That could take several months.  

So, in eighteen fifty-seven, D.C．Lawmakers in Congress（国会） in Washington wanted to make it possible to send mail all the way across the United States by land．Congress offered to help any company that would try to deliver mail overland to the West Coast. A man named John Butterfield accepted this offer. He developed plans for a company that would carry the mail—and passengers, too.

Congress gave John Butterfield six hundred thousand dollars to start his company. In return, he had to promise that the mail would travel from Saint Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, in twenty-five days or less.

It was not possible to travel straight through because of the Rocky Mountains and the deep snow that fell in winter. So the stagecoach（马车） would travel south from Saint Louis to El Paso, Texas, then over to southern California, then north to San Francisco. The distance was about four thousand five hundred kilometers.

Two hundred of these stations were built, each about thirty-two kilometers apart. The workers were to quickly change the horses or mules whenever a stagecoach reached the station. There could be no delay. Each stagecoach was to travel nearly two hundred kilometers a day.

One hundred stagecoaches were built and painted red or dark green. They were the most modern coaches that money could buy. They were designed to hold as many as nine passengers and twelve thousand pieces of mail. The seats inside could be folded down to make beds. Passengers either slept on them or on the bags of mail.

The cost would be one hundred fifty dollars to travel from Saint Louis to San Francisco. If a passenger was not going all the way, the cost was about ten cents a kilometer. The passengers had to buy their own food at the stations. The stagecoach would stop for forty minutes, two times a day.

The company warned passengers about the possible dangers. A poster said: “You will be traveling through Indian country and the safety of your person cannot by granted by anyone but God.”

1．What is the passage mainly about?

         A．Different ways of sending mail in the United States.

         B．The difficulty in sending mails across the USA by land.

         C．The first stagecoaches that carried both passengers and mail.

         D．The history of the first stagecoaches carrying mail to the American West.

2．The reason why Lawmakers wanted to send mail by land was that ________.

         A．mail was usually carried west on ships  

B．it was safer to travel to send mail by land

         C．it would take less time to send mail by land

D．stagecoaches could carry passengers and mail

3．As is described in the passage, the stagecoach ________.

         A．could only stop once a day                

B．was modern with seats ,beds and cooking equipment

         C．was a closed wagon operated only by skillful drivers.

         D．had different horses or mules pulled all the way

4．What can we learn from the passage?

         A．John Buttterfield got thousands of dollars for delivering mail in stagecoaches.

         B．John Buttterfield kept his promise to deliver mail straight to the West Coast.

         C．Passengers might be robbed by Indians when traveling through the West.

         D．Passengers needed to pay one hundred dollars for their journey.