2018年全国卷三
B
Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river. People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade. New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River. Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million. But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight. In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness(荒野). But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of 30,000.
Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London or Paris. People went there for gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed hundreds of miles up icy rivers. The path to Dawson was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming. An avalanche(雪崩) once closed the path, killing 63 people. For many who made it to Dawson, however, the rewards were worth the difficult trip. Of the first 20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed rich men for the rest of their lives.
But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food and wood were very expensive. But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found. The city was crowded with disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when they heard there were new gold discoveries in Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come. Today, people still come and go — to see where the Canadian gold rush happened. Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City — its present population is 762.
24. What attracted the early settlers to New York City?
A. Its business culture.
B. Its small population.
C. Its geographical position.
D. Its favourable climate.
25. What do we know about those who first dug for gold in Dawson?
A. Two-thirds of them stayed there.
B. One out of five people got rich.
C. Almost everyone gave up.
D. Half of them died.
26. What was the main reason for many people to leave Dawson?
A. They found the city too crowded.
B. They wanted to try their luck elsewhere.
C. They were unable to stand the winter.
D. They were short of food.
27. What is the text mainly about?
A. The rise and fall of a city.
B. The gold rush in Canada.
C. Journeys into the wilderness.
D. Tourism in Dawson.
答案解析：
24. C 根据第一段的信息，城市通常因为某些地理优势而建立，比如附近的港口或河流。纽约市就是一个例子，它靠近哈德逊河河口的一个大港口。因此，吸引早期定居者到纽约市的是其地理位置。选项C是正确的。
25. B 根据第二段的信息，第一批在Dawson挖掘黄金的人中，大约有4,000人致富，而总共大约有20,000人参与了挖掘。计算得出，大约五分之一的人致富了。选项B是正确的。
26. B 根据第三段的信息，当Dawson依赖的黄金被发现完后，人们失去了兴趣，并且当他们在阿拉斯加听到有新的黄金发现时，他们迅速离开了Dawson。这表明许多人离开Dawson的主要原因是想去其他地方试试运气。选项B是正确的。
27. A 整篇文章讲述了Dawson这个城市的兴起和衰落，从发现黄金时的迅速增长到黄金耗尽后的衰退，以及现在成为旅游业的现状。因此，文章主要是关于一个城市的兴衰。选项A是正确的。
