D

Whoever has made a voyage up the Hudson River must remember the Catskill Mountains. They are a branch of the great Appalachian family, and can be seen to the west rising up to a noble height and towering over the surrounding country. When the weather is fair and settled, they are clothed in blue and purple, and print their beautiful shapes on the clear evening sky, but sometimes when it is cloudless, gray steam gathers around the top of the mountains which, in the last rays of the setting sun, will shine and light up like a crown of glory(华丽的皇冠).

At the foot of these mountains, a traveler may see light smoke going up from a village.

In that village, and in one of the houses (which, to tell the exact truth, was sadly time-worn and weather-beaten), there lived many years ago, a simple, good-natured fellow by the name of Rip Van Winkle.

Rip’s great weakness was a natural dislike of all kinds of money-making labor. It could not be from lack of diligence(勤劳), for he could sit all day on a wet rock and fish without saying a word, even though he was not encouraged by a single bite. He would carry a gun on his shoulder for hours, walking through woods and fields to shoot a few birds or squirrels. He would never refuse to help a neighbor, even in the roughest work. The women of the village, too, used to employ him to do such little jobs as their less helpful husbands would not do for them. In a word, Rip was ready to attend to everybody’s business but his own.

    If left to himself, he would have whistled(吹口哨) life away in perfect satisfaction; but his wife was always mad at him for his idleness(懒散). Morning, noon, and night, her tongue was endlessly going, so that he was forced to escape to the outside of the house--the only side which, in truth, belongs to a henpecked husband.

68. Which of the following best describes the Catskill Mountains?

A. They are on the west of the Hudson River.

B. They are very high and beautiful in this area.

C. They can be seen from the Appalachian family.

D. They gather beautiful clouds in blue and purple.

69. The hero of the story is probably ______.

A. hard-working and likes all kinds of work                         

B. idle and hates all kinds of jobs

C. simple, idle but very dutiful                

D. gentle, helpful but a little idle

70. The underlined words “henpecked husband” in the last paragraph probably means a man who ______.

A. likes hunting      B. is afraid of hens    

C. loves his wife    D. is afraid of his wife

71. What would be the best title for the text?

A. Catskill Mountains.                            B. A Mountain Village.

C. Rip Van Winkle. D. A Dutiful Husband.

 

E

Every year more people recognize that it is wrong to kill wildlife for “sport”. Progress in this direction is slow because shooting is not a sport for watching, and only those few who take part realize the cruelty and destruction.

The number of gunners, however, grows rapidly. Children too young to develop proper judgments through independent thought are led along way away by their gunning parents. They are subjected to advertisements of gun producers who describe shooting as good for their health and guncarrying as a way of putting redder blood in the veins(血管). They are persuaded by gunner magazines with stories honoring the chase and the kill. In school they view motion pictures which are supposedly meant to teach them how to deal with arms safely but which are actually designed to stimulate(刺激) a desire to own a gun. Wildlife is disappearing because of shooting and because of the loss of wildland habitat(栖息地). Habitat loss will continue with our increasing population, but can we slow the loss of wildlife caused by shooting? There doesn’t seem to be any chance if the serious condition of our birds is not improved.

Wildlife belongs to everyone and not to the gunners alone. Although most people do not shoot, they seem to forgive shooting for sport because they know little or nothing about it. The only answer, then, is to bring the truth about sport shooting to the great majority of people.

Now, it is time to realize that animals have the same right to life as we do and that there is nothing fair or right about a person with a gun shooting the harmless and beautiful creatures. The gunners like to describe what they do as character-building, but we know that to wound an animal and watch it go through the agony of dying can make nobody happy. If, as they would have you believe, gun-carrying and killing improve human-character, then perhaps we should encourage war.

72. According to the text, most people do not seem to be against hunting because_______.

A. they have little knowledge of it

B. it helps to build human character

C. it is too costly to stop killing wildlife

D. they want to keep wildlife under control

73. The underlined word “agony” in the last paragraph probably means______.

A. form                 B. condition               C. pain                  D. sadness

74. According to the text, the films children watch at school actually______.

A. teach them how to deal with guns safely                         

B. praise hunting as character-building

C. describe hunting as an exercise  

D. encourage them to have guns of their own

75. It can be inferred from the text that the author seems to _______.

A. blame the majority of people

B. worry about the existence of wildlife

C. be in favour of war

D. be in support of character-building