单选题 The first time I heard the actual London Bridge was in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, I thought it was a joke. A stupid joke at that. I mean, what sort of {{U}}moron{{/U}} would take a perfectly good, perfectly famous bridge and move it halfway around the world to some no-name town in northwest Arizona? Back in 1962 when all this started, Lake Havasu City was nothing. A couple of shops, a couple of homes, and no tourism at all.
It turns out Robert McCulloch is the moron in question, and he wasn't quite the moron I thought he was. His 2.45 million dollar investment(投资) in the 130-year-old bridge—which the British government was selling because it was about to fall into the Thames(晤士河)—ended up being the investment of a lifetime. You see McCulloch was a real businessman, among other things, and his money paid off big. He turned Lake Havasu into one of the most visited tourist attractions in Arizona.
It took nine long years to take down the bridge, ship it brick by brick to the middle of nowhere, and build it up again. When it finally did open up in 1971, it was a huge deal covered by the international press.
The bridge is now a popular tourist attraction, and there's even a mini "English Village" at the foot of the bridge with souvenirs(纪念品) and real British food so you can have a good old time.
Nowadays Lake Havasu is a busy town with a population of about 56,000 citizens and another 2.5 million visitors each year. Most of that is during spring break when the town overflows with energetic boys and girls. Even MTV and the Girls Gone Wild people get in on the action. All thanks to that little bridge.
I don't know about you, but I'm saving my pennies. When the French get sick of that Eiffel Tower, I'll be the first to put money on it. It'll look great in my backyard.
单选题 The underlined word "moron" in the first paragraph means ______.
  • A. a brave person
  • B. a foolish person
  • C. a famous person
  • D. a strange person
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 语义题。题干意为“在第一段中,加下划线的单词moron是什么意思?”。根据上下文和常识,我们知道伦敦塔桥是属于英国的,怎么可能在美国的亚利桑那州出现呢,这是多么傻的一个人。故B正确。
单选题 Why did the British government put the London Bridge up for sale?
  • A. It polluted the Thames.
  • B. It was no longer popular.
  • C. It was going to fall down.
  • D. It could bring them the needed money.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“为什么英国政府要出售伦敦塔桥?”。根据第二段第二句中间部分表述:英国政府因为伦敦塔桥沉陷,所以出售。在文中可以找到原句。故C正确。
单选题 What was Lake Havasu City like before 1962?
  • A. It was a good place for investment.
  • B. It was known for its English Village.
  • C. It was a small town with no tourism.
  • D. It had a population of 56,000 citizens.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“1962年前哈瓦索湖城是什么样子的?”。根据第一段的最后一句话可以得知,当时只有几家商店、几户人家,没有旅游业。故C正确。
单选题 In the last paragraph, the author tries to be ______.
  • A. polite
  • B. friendly
  • C. practical
  • D. humorous
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为“最后一段作者试图表现得______。”。根据最后一段,我们可以看出作者非常幽默,法国人不可能对菲尔铁塔厌烦,还有个人也没有那么多钱去购买埃菲尔铁塔,这一切都是作者的想象和幽默。故D正确。