A
Samuel Morse was born in Massachusetts USA. He started off his career as an inventor after being a painter and sculptor (雕塑家). He even earned a gold medal from the famous Adelphi Society of Arts for his first effort in sculpture, the “Dying Hercules”. He became the first president of the National Academy of Design, and was made Professor of the Arts of Design in the University of the City of New York.
Yet, this painter turned to inventing to make his fortune during a sea voyage. On this journey, Samuel Morse heard about many attempts to create usable telegraphs. He was fascinated by this problem and began to study books on physics for two years to gain more scientific knowledge. He realized that pulses (脉冲) of electrical current could carry information over wires.
Thus the world's first working model of a telegraph was born. His signaling device was quite simple. It consisted of a transmitter (containing a battery and a key), a small buzzer (蜂鸣器) as a receiver and a pair of wires connecting the_two. Samuel Morse improved it by adding a switch and a second buzzer to allow transmission (传播) in the opposite direction as well.
On May 24, 1844 Samuel Morse sent the first electronic message between Baltimore and Washington, “Look what God has enabled us to build, and benefit by.”
Seventeen years later, the two coasts of the United States were linked by telegraph. The telegraph continued to enjoy the position of being the fastest and most reliable means of communication for almost 140 years since its invention.
这是一篇记叙文。记叙了塞缪尔·莫尔斯发明了世界上第一个电报模型的经过。
1．From the passage we learn that Samuel Morse ________.
A．was a famous sculptor at one time
B．was president of New York University
C．first discovered pulses of electrical current
D．became a millionaire after inventing the telegraph
解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中He started off his career as an inventor after being a painter and sculptor(雕塑家). He even earned a gold medal from the famous Adelphi Society of Arts for his first effort in sculpture, the “Dying Hercules”．(在成为画家和雕塑家之后，他开始了自己的发明家生涯。他甚至还获得了著名的阿德尔菲艺术学会的金牌，因为他在雕塑方面的第一次努力——《垂死的大力神》。)可知，塞缪尔·莫尔斯曾是一位著名的雕塑家。故选A。
答案：A
2．Samuel Morse wanted to invent a telegraph because ________.
A．he was very interested in it
B．he thought he was a talented inventor
C．he thought he could make a fortune
D．he thought he would be famous
解析：推理判断题。根据第二段中On this journey, Samuel Morse heard about many attempts to create usable telegraphs. He was fascinated by this problem and began to study books on physics for two years to gain more scientific knowledge.(在这次旅行中，塞缪尔·莫尔斯听说了许多创造可用电报的尝试。他对这个问题很感兴趣，为了获得更多的科学知识，他开始研究两年的物理书籍。)可知，塞缪尔·莫尔斯想发明电报，因为他对电报很感兴趣。故选A。
答案：A
3．The underlined words “the two” in Paragraph 3 refer to ______.
A．the battery and the key
B．the transmitter and the buzzer
C．the wires and the battery
D．the receiver and the key
解析：词义猜测题。根据It consisted of a transmitter (containing a battery and a key), a small buzzer (蜂鸣器) as a receiver and a pair of wires connecting the_two 可知，它由一个发射器(包括一个电池和一个按键)，一个作为接收器的小型蜂鸣器和一对连接这两个的金属线组成。所以，画线部分单词指代上文的发射器和蜂鸣器。故选B。
答案：B
