In 1916, two girls of wealthy families, best friends from Auburn, N. Y. — Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood — traveled to a settlement in the Rocky Mountains to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. The girls had gone to Smith College. They wore expensive clothes. So for them to move to Elkhead, Colo. to instruct the children whose shoes were held together with string was a surprise. Their stay in Elkhead is the subject of Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, who is a magazine editor and Dorothy Woodruff’s granddaughter.
Why did they go then? Well, they wanted to do something useful. Soon, however, they realized what they had undertaken.
They moved in with a local family, the Harrisons, and, like them, had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow on their quilt when they woke up in the morning. Some mornings, Rosamond and Dorothy would arrive at the schoolhouse to find the children weeping from the cold. In spring, the snow was replaced by mud over ice.
In Wickenden’s book, she expanded on the history of the West and also on feminism, which of course influenced the girls’ decision to go to Elkhead. A hair-raising section concerns the building of the railroads, which entailed ( 牵涉 ) drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding snowstorms. The book ends with Rosamond and Dorothy’s return to Auburn.
Wickenden is a very good storyteller. The sweep of the land and the stoicism ( 坚忍 ) of the people move her to some beautiful writing. Here is a picture of Dorothy Woodruff, on her horse, looking down from a hill top: “When the sun slipped behind the mountains, it shed a rosy glow all around them. Then a full moon rose. The snow was marked only by small animals: foxes, coyotes, mice, and varying hares, which turned white in the winter.”
24 ． Why did Dorothy and Rosamond go to the Rocky Mountains?
A ． To teach in a school. B ． To study American history.
C ． To write a book. D ． To do sightseeing.
25 ． What can we learn about the girls from paragraph 3?
A ． They enjoyed much respect. B ． They had a room with a bathtub.
C ． They lived with the local kids. D ． They suffered severe hardships.
26 ． Which part of Wickenden’s writing is hair-raising?
A ． The extreme climate of Auburn. B ． The living conditions in Elkhead.
C ． The railroad building in the Rockies. D ． The natural beauty of the West.
27 ． What is the text?
A ． A news report. B ． A book review. C ． A children’s story. D ． A diary entry.
A 25 ． D 26 ． C 27 ． B
【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章是一则书评，简要介绍了 Dorothy Wickenden 的书籍并对其进行了评价。
24 ．细节理解题。根据第一段 “In 1916, two girls of wealthy families, best friends from Auburn, N.Y.-Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood -traveled to a settlement in the Rocky Mountains to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. (1916 年，来自纽约奥本市的两个富裕家庭的女孩 ——Dorothy Woodruff 和 Rosamond Underwood—— 来到落基山脉的一个定居点，在一间只有一个房间的学校教书 )” 可知， Dorothy 和 Rosamond 去落基山脉是为了去学校里教书。故选 A 项。
25 ．推理判断题。根据第三段 “They moved in with a local family, the Harrisons, and like them, had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow on their quilt when they woke up in the morning.( 他们和一个当地家庭，哈里森一家一起搬进去，和他们一样，几乎没有隐私，很少洗澡，早上醒来时被子上覆盖着一层雪 )” 以及 “In spring, the snow was replaced by mud over ice.( 在春天，雪被泥替代覆盖在冰上 )” 可推知，女孩们的生活条件非常艰苦，她们的生活饱受磨难。故选 D 项。
26 ．细节理解题。根据倒数第二段 “A hair-raising section concerns the building of the railroads, which entailed drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding snowstorms.( 令人毛骨悚然的一段与铁路建设有关，这涉及到在令人眩目的暴风雪中钻穿落基山脉 )” 可知， Wickenden 的作品中涉及落基山脉的铁路建设这一部分是令人毛骨悚然的。故选 C 项。
27 ．推理判断题。根据倒数第二段 “The book ends with Rosamond and Dorothy’s return to Auburn.( 这本书以 Rosamond 和 Dorothy 回到奥本结束 )” 以及最后一段 “Wickenden is a very good storyteller. The sweep of the land and the stoicism of the people move her to some beautiful writing.( Wickenden 是个很好的讲故事的人。大地的辽阔和人们的坚忍使她创作出了一些美丽的作品 )” 可知，本文简要介绍了 Wickenden 的书籍内容，并对其进行了评价，所以文本是一篇书评。故选 B 项。
【点睛】
