[冲刺中考]英语阅读与填空：23-Wednesday 历史故事 267词

23-Wednesday 历史故事 267词

题材： 历史故事　 词数： 267　 建议阅读时间： 5.5分钟

阅读下面的短文，回答问题。

Very recently，the state of Arkansas decided to keep its history alive by teaching children stories about the past．One of the stories is a sad one about a steamboat called the Sultana．

Here is a newspaper report dated 27th April 1995 that will tell you the story too．

Today，the Mississippi River is flowing silently and peacefully through our state．What a difference to this day，27th April，130 years ago！

The Sultana was built to carry about 380 people，but on that fateful journey as many as 2,000 were aboard．Why？Well，the Civil War had just ended and many soldiers had been told they could travel home on the Sultana．Some said that the boat was too full，but，of course，the homesick soldiers wanted to be home．“We will see our wives and children again in less than two weeks！”they said．So they all went aboard and were willing to accept the crowded conditions．

Sadly，at about 2 a．m．on the 27th April，1865，the three boilers on the steamboat suddenly exploded．Flames went up so high into the sky that they could be seen 10 kilometers away．Loud screams could be heard coming from the boat but little could be done to help those on board．

A few of them were able to jump into the cold，dark river and swim to safety．And small boats along the river looked for hours to try to find survivors．But as the sun rose in the sky a few hours later，it was obvious that most of the 2,000 had died．

The wreck of the Sultana was found about 20 years ago and this has made people in the region keep alive the sad story of that miserable night.

生词

keep alive 　将……持续下去，使……流传下去：The argument was kept alive by the politicians．那些政治家使争论持续下去。

date　v． 标明……的日期：His letter is dated from Shanghai，1 July．他信上写的日期是7月1日，发自上海。

fateful　adj． 对未来有重大影响的，决定性的：the fateful day of President Kennedy's assassination肯尼迪总统遇刺那灾难性的一天

boiler　n． 锅炉：A boiler cracked．锅炉开裂。

wreck　n． 遇难的船，失事的船：The divers found a wreck on the sea-bed．潜水员在海底发现一条沉船。

1．Why did so many people die in the Sultana disaster？

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2．What caused the accident？

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3．How did people along the River help？

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4．Did more people die than survived？

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5．How did people several kilometers away know that a terrible disaster had happened？

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6．Why are people interested today in the disaster？

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参考译文

就在最近，阿肯色州决定把过去的事情告诉孩子们，以使本州的历史流传下去。其中的一个悲惨故事讲的是一艘叫做苏尔塔纳号的汽船。

下面是1995年4月27日的一篇新闻报道，这篇报道将告诉你故事的经过。

今天，密西西比河平静而安详地流过我州，但130年前的今天，也就是4月27日，是多么不同啊！

苏尔塔纳号建造时的设计容量为380人左右，但在那次灾难性的旅程中，有多达2000人上了船。这是为什么呢？原来内战刚刚结束，许多士兵被告知可以乘坐苏尔塔纳号回家。有些人说，船超载得太厉害，但思乡心切的士兵们当然想回家。“用不了两周，我们又将看到妻子和孩子！”他们说。所以他们全都上了船，甘心接受拥挤的状况。

不幸的是，在1865年4月27日凌晨2点左右，汽船上的3个锅炉突然爆炸。烈焰冲上高空，10公里之外都能看到。人们可以听到船上传来的高声尖叫，但却几乎没有办法帮助他们。

少数人跳进冰冷漆黑的河中，游到了安全地带。沿河的小船搜寻了数个小时，想寻找幸存者。但等到太阳升起时，大多数人显然已经死亡。

大约20年前，苏尔塔纳号的遗骸被找到了，这使该地区的人们重新回忆起那个悲惨的夜晚所发生的不幸故事。

参考答案

Wednesday 1．The boat had too many people on board．　2．The three boilers exploded．　3．They used small boats to find survivors．　4．Yes，more people died than survived.　5．They could see flames in the sky．　6．The wreck of the boat was found recently.