📖 原文
(1) The growth of cities, the construction of hundreds of new factories, and the spread of railroads in the United States before 1850 had increased the need for better illumination. (2) But the lighting in American homes had improved very little over that of ancient times. (3) Through the colonial period, homes were lit with tallow candles or with a lamp of the (4) kind used in ancient Rome - a dish of fish oil or other animal or vegetable oil in which a (5) twisted rag served as a wick. Some people used lard, but they had to heat charcoal (6) underneath to keep it soft and burnable. The sperm whale provided a superior burning (7) oil, but this was expensive. In 1830 a new substance called "camphene" was patented (8) and it proved to be an excellent illuminant. But while camphene gave a bright light it too (9) remained expensive, had an unpleasant odor, and also was dangerously explosive. (10) Between 1830 and 1850 it seemed that the only hope for cheaper illumination in the (11) United States was in the wider use of gas. In the 1840's American gas manufacturers (12) adopted improved British techniques for producing illuminating gas from coal. But the (13) expense of piping gas to the consumer remained so high that until midcentury gaslight (14) was feasible only in urban areas, and only for public buildings or for the wealthy. (15) In 1854 a Canadian doctor, Abraham Gesner, patented a process for distilling a pitch- (16) like mineral found in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia that produced illumination gas (17) and an oil that he called "kerosene" (from "keros," the Greek word for wax, and "ene" (18) because it resembled camphene). Kerosene, though cheaper than camphene, had an (19) unpleasant odor, and Gesner never made his fortune from it. But Gesner had aroused a (20) new hope for making an illuminating oil from a product coming out of North American (21) mines.
❓ 试题解析
问题 1： Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a reason why better lighting had become necessary by the mid-nineteenth century?
A. Development of railroads
B. Demand for better medical facilities
C. Increases in the number of new factories
D. Growth of cities
✅ 正确答案： B）Demand for better medical facilities
📝 解析： 第一句提到城市发展（growth of cities）、工厂增加（construction of new factories）、铁路扩展（spread of railroads），未提到医疗设施需求。
💡 解题技巧： ；“NOT”题定位首句列举的三个原因。
问题 2： The phrase “served as” in line 6 is closest in meaning to
A. differed from
B. functioned as
C. rested upon
D. reacted to
✅ 正确答案： B）functioned as
📝 解析： “a twisted rag served as a wick” — served as = 充当/用作。
💡 解题技巧： 短语题：serve as = function as = act as。
问题 3： The word “this” in line 8 refers to
A. lard
B. charcoal
C. wick
D. oil
✅ 正确答案： D）oil
📝 解析： “The sperm whale provided a superior burning oil, but this was expensive” — this 指 oil。
💡 解题技巧： 代词题找前一个名词短语（oil）。
问题 4： Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a disadvantage of camphene?
A. High cost
B. Bad smell
C. Potential to explode
D. Greasy texture
✅ 正确答案： D）Greasy texture
📝 解析： 文中提到 expensive, unpleasant odor, dangerously explosive，未提到 greasy texture。
💡 解题技巧： “NOT”题逐项核对 camphene 的缺点。
问题 5： What can be inferred about the illuminating gas described in the second paragraph?
A. It was first developed in the United States.
B. It was not allowed to be used in public buildings.
C. It was not widely available until midcentury.
D. It had an unpleasant smell.
✅ 正确答案： C）It was not widely available until midcentury.
📝 解析： “until midcentury gaslight was feasible only in urban areas, and only for public buildings or for the wealthy” — 到世纪中叶才在有限范围内可用。
💡 解题技巧： 推理题定位“until midcentury”和“only”。
问题 6： The word “resembled” in lines 19-20 is closest in meaning to
A. was similar to
B. cost the same as
C. was made from
D. sounded like
✅ 正确答案： A）was similar to
📝 解析： “because it resembled camphene” — resembled = 相似/像。
💡 解题技巧： 词汇题：resemble = be similar to = look like。
问题 7： According to the passage, what advantage did the kerosene patented by Gesner have over camphene?
A. Kerosene had a more pleasant smell.
B. Kerosene was less expensive.
C. Kerosene burned more brightly.
D. Kerosene was safer to use.
✅ 正确答案： B）Kerosene was less expensive.
📝 解析： “Kerosene, though cheaper than camphene” — 煤油更便宜。
💡 解题技巧： 细节题定位“cheaper than”。
问题 8： The word “it” in line 20 refers to
A. fortune
B. odor
C. camphene
D. kerosene
✅ 正确答案： D）kerosene
📝 解析： “Gesner never made his fortune from it” — it 指 kerosene。
💡 解题技巧： 代词题找前一个名词短语（kerosene）。
问题 9： Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?
A. A description of events in chronological order
B. A comparison of two events
C. The statement of a theory and possible explanations
D. An analysis of scientific findings
✅ 正确答案： A）A description of events in chronological order
📝 解析： 按时间顺序：殖民时期→1830 camphene→1830-1850 gas→1854 kerosene。
💡 解题技巧： 组织结构题找时间标记词（colonial, 1830, 1840's, 1854）。
问题 10： Where in the passage does the author mention the origin of a word?
A. Lines 4-6
B. Lines 7-8
C. Lines 12-13
D. Lines 16-19
✅ 正确答案： D）Lines 16-19
📝 解析： “kerosene (from ‘keros,’ the Greek word for wax, and ‘ene’ because it resembled camphene)” — 词源解释。
💡 解题技巧： 定位题找括号内的词源说明。
🌐 中文翻译
1850年以前美国城市的发展、数百家新工厂的建造以及铁路的扩展增加了对更好照明的需求。但美国家庭的照明与古代相比几乎没有改进。在整个殖民时期，家庭用牛油蜡烛或古罗马使用的那种灯照明——一盘鱼油或其他动物或植物油，里面放一根扭曲的破布作为灯芯。有些人用猪油，但他们必须在下面加热木炭以保持其柔软和可燃。抹香鲸提供了优质的燃烧油，但这很昂贵。1830年，一种叫做“camphene”的新物质获得专利，并被证明是一种极好的照明剂。但尽管 camphene 提供明亮的光线，它仍然昂贵，有难闻的气味，而且危险地易爆。 1830年到1850年间，在美国，更廉价照明的唯一希望似乎是更广泛地使用煤气。在19世纪40年代，美国煤气制造商采用了改进的英国技术，从煤中生产照明煤气。但将煤气输送给消费者的费用仍然很高，以至于直到世纪中叶，煤气灯仅在 urban 地区可行，而且只用于公共建筑或富人。 1854年，加拿大医生 Abraham Gesner 为一个蒸馏在新不伦瑞克省和新斯科舍省发现的一种沥青状矿物的过程申请了专利，该过程产生照明煤气和一种他称之为“煤油”的油（来自希腊语中表示蜡的“keros”，以及“ene”，因为它类似于 camphene）。煤油虽然比 camphene 便宜，但有难闻的气味，Gesner 从未从中发财。但 Gesner 激发了从北美矿山产出的产品中制造照明油的新希望。
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