单选题 Hugh Troy, a well-known artist, was a very interesting and clever person who spent most of his life playing tricks for the joy of it.
One winter, while a student at Cornell University in New York, Troy got hold of a very old and ugly wastebasket with a real rhinoceros (犀牛) foot as its base. He filled it with metal weights and tied 30 feet of clothes-line to either side. Later one night he and a friend carried it out onto campus, pulling the lines straight between them. Every few feet they would lower it into the snow, their own footprints so far away as to raise no suspicions (怀疑).
The next morning someone noticed the prints and invited learned professors to come and have a look. Excitedly, they followed the rhinoceros tracks. Then they were led onto the ice covering Beeb Lake, which connected to where the school got its drinking water. There the tracks ended in a huge hole.
It was said that half the population of Cornell stopped drinking tap water. Those who continued to drink it insisted that it tasted like rhinoceros.

单选题 What was Troy doing when the story began?

A.He was working as an artist.
B.He was studying in the university.
C.He was examining a rhinoceros foot.
D.He was doing rhinoceros experiments.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 从文章的第二段第一句话“One winter, while a student at Cornell University in New York,...”可知，特洛伊当时是纽约克奈尔大学的一名学生。故正确的答案为B。

单选题 Why did Troy fill the basket with metal weights?

A.Make it easy to tie the lines.
B.Get rid of these useless things.
C.Make it heavy enough for prints.
D.Support the base of the old basket.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 文章的第二段说他用金属码装满了这个废纸篓，并在两边系上了30英尺的凉衣绳，读者可以从上下文的句子“Every few feet, they would lower it into the snow”推断出金属的作用是为了更好的印痕迹。故正确的答案为C。

单选题 Why did someone ask learned professors to examine the prints?

A.They knew where the rhinoceros existed in winter.
B.They might be able to explain what had happened.
C.They were looking for this animal just then.
D.They enjoyed following animal tracks.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 从文章的第三段内容“The next morning someone noticed the prints and invited learned professors to come and have a look.”可知，人们在看到了印迹后不得其解，所以请来教授来解释原因。故正确的答案为B。

单选题 Troy wanted people to believe that a rhinoceros ______.

A.might appear on campus again
B.might exist in this area all the time
C.had dug a hole for its winter home
D.had fallen into the lake through a hole

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 从文章的内容“There the tracks ended in a huge hole.”可知，特洛伊让这些脚印在一个窟窿旁边消失了。文章最后说一半的居民不再饮用自来水了，可见人们认为犀牛掉进水源了。故正确的答案为D。