(A)

　　Boxing was long viewed sickly. Generally forbidden by law in earlier days, the fighting was usually done with bare fists, and matches often lasted forty or fifty rounds.

　　In 1882 John L. Sullivan, a fighter of great power, won the world heavyweight championship from Paddy Ryan in a bare-fisted battle marked by hitting, scratching, and hitting without any rule. Five years later, while fighting Patsy Cardiff at Minneapolis, Sullivan broke his right arm in the third round, but he continued fighting to the sixth round and won. In 1889, Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain with his bare fists in another championship fight, winning twenty thousand dollars and a diamond prize medal. His admirers then talked of running him for the next governor, but he traveled to Australia for a boxing tour instead, coming back only to lose his title in a twenty-one-round match with a young Californian named James J. Corbett.

　　"Gentleman James" victory in this match marked a turning point, for it showed scientific boxing was over strength. But Corbett's title ended in 1897, when another boxer, Bob Fitzsimmons, in less than three seconds, achieved his feats and then Fitzsimmons knocked out an Irishman, won the heavyweight champion-

　　ship of the world, and invented the terrible"solar plexus punch".

　　1. Boxing matches in the early days were______.

　　A. short and bloody

　　B. usually spare-time competitions

　　C. cruelD. governed by strict rules

　　2. Sullivan's fight with Kilrain was______.

　　A. the first boxing championship match

　　B. a bare-fisted championship fight

　　C. the last boxing match to be fought bare-fisted

　　D. a six-round match

　　3. Sullivan was so popular that his admirers______.

　　A. encouraged him to be a governor

　　B. raised twenty thousand dollars for him

　　C. advised him to take boxing tour of Australia

　　D. refused to believe he could be defeated

　　(B)

　　Why was the Bastille important to the citizens of Paris? The building of the Bastille was started in 1370 under Charles V. By the seventeenth century it had ceased to be important for defence. Cardinal Richelieu turned it into a prison. It was not an ordinary prison to punish common crimes. Its huge doors closed only on enemies of the King. The Bastille's workings were secret. Prisoners were taken to it in closed carriages. Soldiers on guard duty had to stand with their faces to the wall. No talking was allowed. Worst of all, a prisoner never knew if he would be there a day, a week, a year, or forever. Only the King's letter could set him free.

　　Over the years the number of arrests by the King's letter had become fewer. By the time of its fall, most of the prisoners were writers who had written against the corrupt deeds of the government. Voltaire, the famous French writer, spent a year in 1717-1718, and another 12 days in 1726.

　　For those who believed in free speech and free thinking, the Bastille stood for everything evil. The day it was captured, the "Conquerors of the Bastille" found only seven prisoners inside. Nonetheless, the Bastille was hated by the people. It was a symbol of the King's complete power.

　　4. The Bastille had been a prison______.

　　A. since the time of Charles V

　　B. since 1370

　　C. before the seventeenth century

　　D. since the time of Cardinal Richelieu

　　5. The main purpose of the passage is to______.

　　A. tell a story

　　B. tell about interesting characters

　　C. show the inner workings of the Bastille

　　D. try to prove a point

　　[答案与解析]

　　1. C。由第一段和第二段第一句可知,早期的拳击经常持续四、五十个回合,没有任何规则,可以打、抓、咬,可谓残酷。

　　2. B。第二段倒数第二句即本题答案出处。

　　3. A。根据第二段最后一句His admirers then talked of running him for the next governor可得出此答案。

　　4. D。第一段第四句即本题答案出处。

　　5. D。本题是归纳短文主旨大意题,短文从巴士底狱的建立和毁灭的过程,得出短文的最后一句话,证明它是国王强权的象征。

　　(文/文玉荣；英语辅导报高三版2003-2004学年第37期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)