A Race Against Death

It was a cold January in 1925 in Nome Alaska. The town was cut off from the rest of the world due to heavy snow.

On the 20th of that month, Dr. Welch__36__a Sick boy, Billy, and knew he had diphtheria, a deadly infectious(传染的)disease mainly affecting children. The children of Nome would be__37__if it struck the town. Dr. Welch needed medicine as soon as possible to stop other kids from getting sick. __38__, the closest supply was over 1,000 miles away, in Anchorage.

How could the medicine get to Nome? The town`s__39__was already full of ice, so it couldn’t come by ship. Cars and horses couldn’t travel on the __40__roads. Jet airplanes and big trucks didn’t exist yet.

__41__January 26, Billy and three other children had died. Twenty more were__42__.  Nome`s town officials came up with a(n)__43__. They would have the medicine sent by__44__from Anchorage to Nenana. From there, dogsled(狗拉雪橇)drivers---known as “mushers”---would__45__it to Nome in a relay(接力).

The race began on January 27. The first musher, Shannon, picked up the medicine from the train at Nenana and rode all night.__46__he handed the medicine to the next musher, Shannon`s face was black from the extreme cold.

On January 31,a musher named Seppala had to__47__a frozen body of water called Norton Sound .It was the most__48__part of the journey. Norton Sound was covered with ice, which could sometimes break up without warning. If that happened, Seppala might fall into the icy water below. He would__49 __, and so would the sick children of  Nome. But  Seppala made it across.

A huge snowstorm hit on February 1. Amusher named Kaasen had to brave this storm. At one point, huge piles of sonw blocked his__50__. He had to leave the trail (雪橇痕迹)to get around them. Conditions were so bad that it was impossible for him to__51__the trail again. The only hope was Balto, Kaasen’s lead dog. Balto put his nose to the ground,__52__to find the smell of other dogs that had traveled on the trail. If Balto failed, it would mean disaster for Nome. The minutes passed by. Suddenly, Balto began to__53__. He had found the trail.

At 5:30 am on February 2, Kaasen and his dog__54__in Nome. Within minutes, Dr.Welch had the medicine. He quickly gave it to the sick children. All of them recovered.

Nome had been__55__.

36.A.examined      B.warned      C.interviewed     D.cured

37.A.harmless        B.helpless      C. fearless        D.careless

38.A.Moreover       B.Therefore      C.Otherwise   D.However

39.A.airport         B.station       C. harbor         D.border

40.A.narrow          B. snowy       C.busy           D.dirty

41.A.From           B.On          C.By            D.After

42.A.tired           B.upset         C. pale           D.sick

43.A.plan           B.excuse        C.message         D.topic

44.A.air           B.rail         C. sea           D.road

45.A.carry          B.return        C. mail          D.give

46.A.Though         B.Since        C. When           D.If

47.A.enter           B.move         C. visit          D.cross

48.A.shameful        B.boring        C.dangerous        D.foolish

49.A.escape          B.bleed        C. swim          D.die

50.A.memory          B.exit         C.way            D.destination

51.A.find           B.fix         C. pass          D.change

52.A.pretending       B.trying       C. asking         D.learning

53.A.run            B.leave        C. bite           D.play

54.A.gathered        B.stayed       C. camped        D.arrived

55.A.controlled       B.saved        C.founded         D.developed

【答案】

36.A   37.B   38.D   39.C   40.B

41.C  42.D    43.A    44.B    45.A

46.C   47.D    48.C    49.D    50.C

51.A   52.B    53.A    54.D    55.B

45. A考查动词辨析。A.carry运送，携带；B.return返回，归还；C. mail邮寄；D.give给。然后再由乘坐狗拉的雪橇的人把药物接力送到诺姆，故选A。

46. C考查时间状语从句。A.Though虽然；B.Since因为，自从；C. When当；D.If如果。当他把药物交给下一个人时，他的脸已经被冻得乌青，故选C。

47. D考查动词辨析。A.enter进入；B.move移动；C. visit拜访；D.cross穿过。根据“Norton Sound was covered with ice”可知，Norton Sound是一片冰冻的水域，Seppala必须穿过这片水域，故选D。

48. C考查形容词辨析。A.shameful惭愧的；B.boring令人厌烦的；C.dangerous危险的；D.foolish愚蠢的。根据“which could sometimes break up without warning”可知，这是旅途最难的一部分，故选C。

49. D考查动词辨析。A.escape逃跑；B.bleed流血；C. swim游泳；D.die死亡。如果掉进寒冷的水中，Seppala会被冻死，诺姆的病童们也会去世，故选D。

50. C考查名词辨析。A.memory记忆；B.exit出口；C.way道路；D.destination目的地。根据下一句可知，有的地方被大雪挡住了去路，Seppala不得不绕道行驶，故选C。

考点：人物故事类短文阅读

【名师点睛】

完型填空题的命题特点及答题方法：

1.侧重基础知识，考查学生语言知识的能力

完型填空以文入手，结合文章的内容考查学生的基础知识，主要是词语搭配、固定句型、近义词辨析、辨析句子结构、掌握语法规则的能力，其中考查实词居多。

2.上下文对照，考查学生捕捉关键词的能力

解完型填空题时，单独看一句话是找不到正确答案的，需要注意句子间的关系及句子与段落的关系。所谓上下对照，即在上文和下文中找到与正确答案相同的关键词。因此，在做题时要边读边在大脑中储存上下文信息的能力，捕捉关键词。例如第39空：A.airport机场； B.station车站；C. harbor 港口；D.border边境。根据“so it couldn’t come by ship”可知，这里指港口结冰，故选C。

3.设置语境，考查学生的分析推理能力

旨在考查学生在选项都符合语法及句子结构的情况下能否利用前后语境去推断出正确答案。

4.结合生活，考查学生利用常识题的能力

目的考查学生的生活常识，看看学生是否善于观察生活，积累生活常识，能否利用常识去做恰当的选择。

5.关注连词，考查学生对行文逻辑、句子关联的理解能力此项用来考查学生在缺少连词的情况下，通过阅读能否理解句子的与句子的关系，是否了解行文逻辑的要求，能否掌握表示因果、转折、并列、条件、让步等的连词的用法。例如第46空：A.Though虽然；B.Since因为，自从；C. When当；D.If如果。当他把药物交给下一个人时，他的脸已经被冻得乌青，故选C。

Alaska [əˈlæskə]   n.    美国阿拉斯加州

diphtheria 英 [dɪfˈθɪəriə] 美 [dɪfˈθɪriə]                  n.    白喉

Anchorage [ˈæŋkəridʒ]     安克雷奇（美国阿拉斯加州南部的港口城市）

dogsled      英 [ˈdɒgsled]             美 [ˈdɔ:gsled]                    狗拉的雪撬

relay      英 [ˈri:leɪ]

musher      英 [ˈmʌʃə(r)]                     赶狗拉雪橇的人