四、阅读理解(共15小题;每题2分，共30分。)

　　阅读下列短文，然后根据短文的内容从每小题的四个选择项中选出最佳的一项，并把它前面的大写字母填入左边的括弧里。

　　A

　　It was January 1848. A man was digging near the small village of San Francisco， California， Suddenly， he saw something shiny—gold.

　　By the next year the California gold rush had begun. Thousands of men came to California. They were called “forty-miners” after the year 1849. The forty-miners came from all around the USA. They even came from other countries， including Mexico， Australia， China， France， and England. They left their families and jobs， and made the difficult trip to California. They all shared a dream. They all wanted to make a fortune in gold.

　　Towns and camps grew quickly wherever gold was found. These towns were rough places. There was almost always a saloon， where the men drank whiskey and gambled at cards. In mining towns， men stole and sometimes killed for gold.

　　Did the miners make their fortune? Some did， especially those who came early were lucky. In 1848， miners usually made about twenty dollars a day. In 1852 miners made about six dollars a day. Many other people came to California to make money from the miners. Prices were very high. A loaf of bread， which cost five cents in New York， cost almost a dollar in San Francisco.

　　In 1848 San Francisco had been a village. Six years later it was a city with a population of 50，000. In 1850 California had enough people to become a state.

　　( )51. In 1849 thousands of men came to California because _______.

　　A. they were forty-miners B. they wanted to find gold

　　C. they had families D. California was a beautiful place

　　( )52. Towns and camps _________.

　　A. grew quickly B. grew where there was a saloon

　　C. grew where there was no gold D. grew fast wherever there was gold

　　( )53. Some of the miners who were lucky _________.

　　A. made twenty dollars B. made their fortune

　　C. made bread D. became poor

　　( )54. The towns of the old West were rough places ________.

　　A. where people fought a lot B. where there are mountains

　　C. where there is no water D. with irregular land

　　B

　　Baseball is America‘s most popular sport. In a baseball game there are two teams of nine players. Players must hit ball with a bat and then run around four bases. A player who goes around all the bases scores a run for his team. The team that finishes with more runs wins the game.

　　Where did baseball come from? No one knows for sure. Many people believe that the idea came from a game played by children in England. Other people believe that a man named Abner Doubleday invented the game in Cooperstown， New York， in 1839. But the first real rules of baseball were written in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright. Two teams from New York played a game following Cartwright‘s rules. The rules worked well. Soon there were many teams.

　　These early teams were not professional. They played only for fun， not money. But baseball was very popular from the start. Businessmen saw that they could make money with professional baseball teams.

　　The first professional team was started in 1869. This team was the Red Stockings of Cincinati. Within a few years there were professional teams in other cities. In 1876， these teams came together in a league， or group， called the National League. The teams in the National League played one another.

　　In 1901， a new league， called the American League， was formed. To create some excitement， in 1903， the two leagues decided to have their first-place teams play each other. This event was called the World Series.

　　Each year since then the National League winner and the American League winner play in the World Series. And， each year， millions of people look forward to this exciting sports event.

　　( )55. A group of people that play together is _________.

　　A. a team B. a league C. a game D. a player

　　( )56. A wooden stick used to hit a ball in baseball is called ________.

　　A. a ball B. a sport C. a bat D. a stick

　　( )57. When a player runs around all four bases he makes ________.

　　A. a four B. a winner C. a run D. a game

　　( )58. When teams play sports for money they are ________.

　　A. businessmen B. fun C. professional D. amateur