There were four Hiram Binghams, each more exceptional than the last. The first two were among the earliest Hawaiian missionaries. Hiram Bingham II had a son, Hiram III, who went to the mainland for his education. He was teaching South American history at Yale when he traveled to Peru and, with the help of locals, rediscovered the lost city of Machu Picchu. He later became governor of Connecticut for a single day, for he was also elected senator to fill a vacancy just a month after the November election. He married a Tiffany heiress, and they had seven sons. The first son, Hiram IV, would be a hero of World War II, secretly helping Jewish refugees to escape from Nazi-occupied France in his position as vice-consul in Marseille.

单选题 In the first sentence of the passage, what does the word exceptional most precisely mean?

【正确答案】 E

【答案解析】Although exceptional may have several of the meanings listed, the best shade of meaning for the context is extraordinary (choice E).

单选题 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about Hiram Bingham I?

A、 His son and grandson were educated in the United States.
B、 He traveled widely in South America in the late 1800s.
C、 He helped introduce Christianity to the Hawaiian Islands.
D、 His son served as a junior senator from Connecticut.
E、 He was born around the time of the Civil War.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】Like his son, Hiram I was a Hawaiian missionary. Choices A and D are true of Hiram II; choice B is true of Hiram III. Working backward, you can infer that choice E is more likely true of Hiram II or Hiram III than of Hiram I, who was, in fact, born in 1789.

单选题 Which of these sentences could most appropriately conclude the paragraph?

A、 Hiram"s brother Jonathan served in Congress for nearly twenty years.
B、 Hiram and his wife, Rose—a drama teacher—had eleven children.
C、 Hiram Bingham III is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
D、 The four Hirams spanned and influenced critical eras in American history.
E、 A World War II ship was christened the SS Hiram Bingham.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】A final sentence would be more likely to summarize what came before, as choice D does, than to add extraneous or out-of-sequence facts, as the other choices do.