In 1909 an English newspaper offered ￡1,000 to the first man to fly across the English Channel in an aeroplane. Today, modern jets cross it __1__minutes. But at that time it still seemed a good__2__. The race to

　　__3__the money soon became a race between two men. Both were very colourful.

　　One was Louis Bleriot, who owned a factory in France that__4__motor car lamps. He was already well__5__as a pilot because he had had accidents several times. Some people__6__at him. One man said, "He may not be the first to fly across the Channel, but he will__7__be the first to die in an accident!" But Bleriot was really a good and__8__pilot. He also had many good __9__ about aeroplane

　　design.

　　__10__man was Hubert Latham. He was half French and half English. He__11__ flying when his doctors told he had only a year to live. "Oh, well," he said,"if I'm going to __12__soon, I think I shall have one dangerous and exciting__13__now." Hubert Latham was the first to try the__14__across the Channel. Ten kilometers off the French coast, his plane had some

　　__15__. It fell down into the water and began to __16__. A boat reached Latham just in time. He was sitting

　　__17__on the wing and was coolly lighting a cigarette.

　　Bleriot took off six days later. He__18__into some very bad weather and very low cloud. He somehow got to the English side and__19__in a farmer's field.A customs officer rushed up to his plane and__20__, "Have you anything to declare?"

　　1. A. with B. after C. before D. in

　　2. A. time B. distance C. journey D. try

　　3. A. offer B. refuse C. win D. accept

　　4. A. produced B. sold C. bought D. invented

　　5. A. known B. trained C. paid D. thought

　　6. A. admired B. envied C. praised D. laughed

　　7. A. never B. certainly C. generally D. hardly

　　8. A. brave B. lucky C. unsuccessful D. smart

　　9. A. ideas B.companies C. successes D. records

　　10. A. One B. Another C. The other D. Either

　　11. A. kept up B. took up C. gave up D. set up

　　12. A. fly B. stay C. die D. recover

　　13. A. adventure B. operation C. death D. rest

　　14. A. tour B. flight C. voyage D. life

　　15. A. hope B. petrol C. danger D. trouble

　　16. A. burn B. explode C. sink D. fly

　　17. A. anxiously B. worriedly C. hopelessly D. calmly

　　18. A. flew B. ran C. dived D. walked

　　19. A. entered B. landed C. arrived D. escaped

　　20. A. demanded B. persuaded C. suggested D. ordered

　　【答案与解析】

　　1. D 2. B。现代的飞机用几分钟的时间就能飞越英吉利海峡,但在当时看来似乎是很远的距离。 3. C。win the money指赢得这一千英镑奖金。 4. A 5. A 。Louis Bleriot在法国拥有一个生产汽车灯的工厂,他因多次飞行失事而出名。6. D 7. B。有些人嘲笑他,说他不可能是第一个飞越英吉利海峡的人,但是他肯定是第一个在飞机失事中丧生的第一个人。 8. A 9. A。Bleriot确实是一位优秀而又勇敢的飞行员,关于飞机设计他也有很多好的想法。10. C。第一段倒数第二句提到最后竞争此项奖金的就剩下两个人,第二段提到的第一个人是Louis Bleriot, 第三段提到两者中的另一个人。 11. B。take up意为"从事"。 12. C 13. A。如果我将不久于人世的话,我将要进行一次危险而又刺激的冒险。14. B。Hubert Latham曾是第一个试飞英吉利海峡的人。 15. D。trouble意为"故障"。16.C。飞机掉进水里,开始下沉。17. D。他正平静地坐在机翼上,沉着地点着了一支烟。 18. A。Bleriot六天后又起飞了,他飞入很糟糕的云层中。19. B。不知什么原因,他飞到了英国一侧,降落在一个农民的地里。 20. A。一个海关人员跑到飞机前责问道:"你有什么要申报的吗?"

　　(文/张荣；英语辅导报高三版2003-2004学年第42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。)