When Charles Stratton was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P. T. Barnum. Mr. Barnum thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles' parents along with him, and they traveled the world together.

He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a name, General Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.

During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall. Tom's act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty five.

Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a schoolteacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.

The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon just before going to live in Tom's house in Connecticut.

Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored(發(fā)起) "Tom Thumb" weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.

1.The underlined words "Talk of the town" means________.

A. it was in the newspaper

B. it was the most popular topic

C. people spread bad rumors about it

D. it was discussed in a city meeting

2.What does the author think about Tom's wedding?

A.Tom and Lavinia were stupid.

B. People gave it too much of their attention.

C. It was funny and ridiculous.

D. It helped people cheer up in a dark time.

3.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.

B. People are always disappointed during war time.

C. Entertainment can serve an important purpose.

D. People should be married when they are small children.

1.B

2.D

3.C

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述了“拇指人”Tom從參加藝術(shù)團表演獲得大眾的歡迎，并在25 歲時已經(jīng)是億萬富翁，后來又墜入愛河，成為了紐約的一段佳話，并講述了婚禮的壯觀以及其辛運躲過了美國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的危機。紐約城還因此提倡舉行"Tom Thumb" weddings.

1.理解題。從第五段中“They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about 2000 guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding marriage”中可以看出很多有錢人和名人來參加他們的婚禮，紐約街上都擠滿了人就是想一睹婚禮的風(fēng)采。故說明這個婚禮是最熱議的話題。故選B。

2.推斷分析題。從最后一段“Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored(發(fā)起) "Tom Thumb" weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.”，不愿讓戰(zhàn)爭中的一抹亮色淡去，社團發(fā)起了"Tom Thumb" weddings.人們在婚禮中享受樂趣，故作者是持支持態(tài)度。故選D。

3.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。很據(jù)最后一段分析，他們的婚禮是在內(nèi)戰(zhàn)時期舉行的，戰(zhàn)爭總是給人帶來傷痛，社團對類似Tom的婚禮進行提倡，作者自己在最后一句對婚禮給人帶來的樂趣進行肯定，所以推斷娛樂能起到重要的意義。

考點：故事類閱讀

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