Question

The Rainmaker

Can a person make it rain? Many people believed that Charles Hatfiled could. In the early 1900s, Mr. Hatfield traveled through the United States, Canada, and Mexico bringing rain to farms and cities that suffered from drought. For 30 years, people considered him the greatest rainmaker in North America. In order to make it rain, he used a secret mixture of chemicals that can おbe placed high on wooden towers in special trays. As the chemicals evaporated, they attracted rain clouds to the area. Over his career, Mr. Hatfield even offered to help clear the fog from London and to water the Sahara Desert.

　　 One of Mr. Hatfiled's most amazing rainmaking accomplishments happened in southern California in 1916. Because he knew that the city of San Diego did not have enough water, Mr. Hatfield offered to give the city a hand with its water problem. He planned to create enough rain to fill the lake behind Morena Dam near the city. Since the time the dam was built, the lake had never been more than half full, but the lake could hold 57 billion liters (15 billion gallons) of water if it were full. Filling the lake would help the city of San Diego with its constant water problems. Mr. Hatfield suggested that if he succeeded in filling the lake with rain water, the city would pay him $10,000. If no rain fell, the city would pay nothing. The city agreed because they had nothing to lose from the business deal, and only paying $10,000 for that much water seemed to be a steal.

On January 1, 1916, Mr. Hatfield began his rainmaking procedure. It began to rain four days later. The rain continued for the next five days. On January 10, it began to rain more heavily, and the rain continued for the next 10 days! The city of San Diego was flooded. Fifty people died. More than 200 bridges were washed away, and many miles of train tracks were destroyed. However, Mr. Hatfield did succeed in filling the lake. The water was within 12 centimeters of the top of the dam. Mr. Hatfield thought that he had completed his job, so he went to collect his money from the city. However, the city of San Diego backed out of the deal. They said that the rain was an "act of God" and not the work of the rainmaker. Mr. Hatfield tried to sue the city, but he never collected any money for his work.

Please answer the questions below.

1. Who was Charles Hatfield?
2. What "made" the rain?
3. What happened when it rained in San Diego in 1916?	① ② ③
4. How long did it rain in San Diego?
5. The city didn't pay Mr. Hatfield because they thought that...

 

Answer 1

答案：
解析：

<a man who made rain chemicals ①Bridges fell down. ②People died. ③The city flooded. 15 days the rain was an "act of God."

提示：

1.         從第一段就看得出，他是制造雨的人 2.         第一段第四行中提到，他用化學物質來制造雨 3.         第四段中可以看出，隨便舉三個例子即可 4.         四天后開始下雨，下了五天，后來又下了十天，一共十五天 5.         參看倒數第二行