戴爾美語練功坊 英檢閱讀測驗(8/10日)
下面一篇閱讀測驗，大約在英檢中級程度，同學可試做看看，了解自己的實力。
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
原文及題目翻譯：
美國最讓人驚歎的成功故事之一就是喬治華盛頓卡佛的故事。卡佛於
1861年七月出生於密蘇里州的農莊，生下來就是奴隸，嬰兒時代就成了孤兒。
雖然南北戰爭結束時獲得解放，卡佛的早年都是在他的前任主人家度過。
他的啟蒙學校是只有一間教室，是為黑人孩童而設，距離他家十四點五公里。
他十歲時搬到堪薩斯州，半工半讀完成高中教育。1889年他進入愛荷華州的
辛浦森大學，藉著當廚師賺取每年十二元的學費。
儘管他的志向是要成為藝術家，他於1896年獲得園藝碩士學位，同年，
他受邀擔任阿拉巴馬州塔斯凱吉學院新成立的農業系系主任，他在這裡度過
餘生。在塔斯凱吉學院他慢慢地建立一間實驗室，並且研究如何恢復學院四週
枯竭的土地。卡佛發現，過去由於過度種植棉花和菸草以致遭破壞的土地，
可以恢復生機。他發現種植花生和甘藷也可以改善土壤。
為了推廣這些農作物，他發明超過三百種附帶產品，包括麥片、油、
染料、肥皂、新的食品。在此同時，他還成立了施聲譽卓著的以車輪帶動的學校，
那是一所流動教室，從那裡他教導阿拉巴馬的農民土壤施肥的基本知識。
1943年六月五日他去世時，已經是美國最受推崇的科學家之一，給美國南部
的廣大貧窮地區帶來財富。
1. 下列何者是關於卡佛童年的正確敘述？
(A) 他出生於密蘇里的富裕農家。
(B) 他很年輕時父母親就死了。
(C) 雖然他很年輕，卻在南北戰爭中奮力解放奴隸。
(D) 他被一為叫做卡佛的人所收養。
2. 從本文可以推知________________。
(A) 卡佛若沒有家人慷慨的支持，是無法成功的。
(B) 卡佛運用他多種的天賦來改善其他人的生活。
(C) 卡佛的實驗室技術建立起美國在工業方面的優勢。
(D) 卡佛藉著發明棉花和菸草的用途而發財。
3. 下列何者是可以最理所當然作為本文之後下一個段落的標題？
(A) 卡佛的細菌學實驗室。
(B) 卡佛改善棉花和菸草生產。
(C) 卡佛對美國南方人生活的改善。
(D) 卡佛在塔斯凱吉學院所面臨的挑戰。