New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact , they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States.
The cost of shoing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very storng. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses---for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and,as the puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”
【小題1】According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a______ man.
| A．clever | B．rich | C．strong | D．lucky |
【小題2】James Corbin became a blacksmith because he__________.
| A．was interested in horses | B．was needed by the policemen |
| C．drew a picture of the horseshoe | D．had a make a living |
【小題3】In the reading passage “to shape a shoe” is to__________.
| A．fit it on the horse’s foot |
| B．use it for two or three hours |
| C．make the from of a horseshoe from a piece of metal |
| D．draw a picture of the shoe |
【小題4】The best title for the passage is “__________”.
| A．Policemen on Horseback | B．Blacksmiths and Horseshoeing |
| C．James Corbin, a Blacksmith | D．Horseshoeing is a Good Way to Make a Living |
【小題5】Which of the following is true?
| A．Only a few large American cities have some policemen on horseback. |
| B．New York is the only city in America to have some policemen on horseback. |
| C．Policemen on horseback enjoy travelling around the United States. |
| D．Policemen on horseback are less expensive than those in cars. |
