戴尔美语练功坊 英检阅读测验(8/10日)
下面一篇阅读测验，大约在英检中级程度，同学可试做看看，了解自己的实力。
One of the greatest and most amazing success stories of
America is that of George Washington Carver. Carver was born a slave
on a Missouri farm in July 1861 and was orphaned as an infant. Although
he was freed at the end of the Civil War, Carver spent his early years in
the household of his former owner, whose name he adopted. He began
his education in a one-room school for black children located 14.5 km
from his home. When he was ten, he moved to Kansas and worked his
way through high school. In 1889, he enrolled at Simpson College In
Iowa and earned the $12 yearly tuition by working as a cook.
Despite his ambition to be an artist, he earned his master's
degree in horticulture in 1896. In the same year, he was invited to head
the newly formed department of agriculture at the Tuskegee Institute
in Alabama, where he spent the rest of his life. At Tuskegee he slowly
built up a laboratory and researched ways to rebuild the exhausted
land around the Institute. Carver found that soil which had apparently
been ruined by over-cultivation of cotton and tobacco could be restored,
and he discovered that growing peanuts and sweet potatoes also
improved the soil.
In order to popularize these crops, he developed over 300
by-products, including cereals, oils, dyes, soaps and new foods. At the
same time he conducted his remarkable school on wheels, a traveling
classroom from which he taught Alabama farmers the basics of soil
enrichment. When he died on June 5, 1943, he was one of America's
most honored scientists, having brought prosperity to large areas of the
impoverished South.
1. Which of the following is an accurate statement about Carver's childhood?
(A) He was born to a rich farming family in Missouri.
(B) His parents died when he was still very young.
(C) Despite his youth, he fought to free slaves in the Civil War.
(D) He was adopted by a man named Carver.
2. It can be inferred form the passage that _________.
(A) Carver could not have succeeded without the generous support of
his family.
(B) Carver used his many talents to improve the lives of other people.
(C) Carver's laboratory skills established America's superiority in industry.
(D) Carver made a fortune by discovering new uses for cotton and tobacco.
3. Which of the following would be most natural as the topic of a
paragraph following this passage?
(A) Carver's bacteriological laboratory.
(B) Carver's improvements to cotton and tobacco production.
(C) The improvements Carver made to the lives of many southerners.
(D) The challenges Carver faced at the Tuskeegee Institute.
答案：1. B 2. B 3. C
原文及题目翻译：
美国最让人惊叹的成功故事之一就是乔治华盛顿卡佛的故事。卡佛于
1861年七月出生于密苏里州的农庄，生下来就是奴隶，婴儿时代就成了孤儿。
虽然南北战争结束时获得解放，卡佛的早年都是在他的前任主人家度过。
他的启蒙学校是只有一间教室，是为黑人孩童而设，距离他家十四点五公里。
他十岁时搬到堪萨斯州，半工半读完成高中教育。1889年他进入爱荷华州的
辛浦森大学，藉著当厨师赚取每年十二元的学费。
尽管他的志向是要成为艺术家，他于1896年获得园艺硕士学位，同年，
他受邀担任阿拉巴马州塔斯凯吉学院新成立的农业系系主任，他在这里度过
余生。在塔斯凯吉学院他慢慢地建立一间实验室，并且研究如何恢复学院四周
枯竭的土地。卡佛发现，过去由于过度种植棉花和菸草以致遭破坏的土地，
可以恢复生机。他发现种植花生和甘藷也可以改善土壤。
为了推广这些农作物，他发明超过三百种附带产品，包括麦片、油、
染料、肥皂、新的食品。在此同时，他还成立了施声誉卓著的以车轮带动的学校，
那是一所流动教室，从那里他教导阿拉巴马的农民土壤施肥的基本知识。
1943年六月五日他去世时，已经是美国最受推崇的科学家之一，给美国南部
的广大贫穷地区带来财富。
1. 下列何者是关于卡佛童年的正确叙述？
(A) 他出生于密苏里的富裕农家。
(B) 他很年轻时父母亲就死了。
(C) 虽然他很年轻，却在南北战争中奋力解放奴隶。
(D) 他被一为叫做卡佛的人所收养。
2. 从本文可以推知________________。
(A) 卡佛若没有家人慷慨的支持，是无法成功的。
(B) 卡佛运用他多种的天赋来改善其他人的生活。
(C) 卡佛的实验室技术建立起美国在工业方面的优势。
(D) 卡佛藉著发明棉花和菸草的用途而发财。
3. 下列何者是可以最理所当然作为本文之后下一个段落的标题？
(A) 卡佛的细菌学实验室。
(B) 卡佛改善棉花和菸草生产。
(C) 卡佛对美国南方人生活的改善。
(D) 卡佛在塔斯凯吉学院所面临的挑战。