AmongthemorecolorfulcharactersofLeadville’sgoldenagewereH.A.W.Taborandhissecondwife,ElizabethMcCourt,betterknownas“BabyDoe”.TheirhistoryisfastbecomingoneofthelegendsoftheOldWest.HoraceAustinWarnerTaborwasaschoolteacherinVermont.WithhisfirstwifeandtwochildrenheleftVermontbycoveredwagonin1855tohomesteadinKansas.Perhapshedidnotfindfarmingtohisliking,orperhapshewasluredbyrumorsoffortunestobemadeinColoradomines.Atanyrate,afewyearslaterhemovedwesttothesmallColoradominingcampknownasCaliforniaGulch,whichhelaterrenamedLeadvillewhenhebecameitsleadingcitizen.“Greatdepositsofleadaresuretobefoundhere.”hesaid.
Asitturnedout,itwassilver,notlead,thatwastomakeLeadville’sfortuneandwealth.Taborknewlittleaboutmininghimself,soheopenedageneralstore,whichsoldeverythingfrombootstosalt,flour,andtobacco.『Itwashiscustomto“grubstake”prospectiveminers,inotherwords,tosupplythemwithfoodandsupplies,or“grub”,whiletheylookedforore,inreturnforwhichhewouldgetashareinthemineifonewasdiscovered.』①Hedidthisforanumberofyears,butnoonethatheaidedeverfoundanythingofvalue.
Finallyonedayintheyear1878,sothestorygoes,twominerscameinandaskedfor“grub”.Taborhaddecidedtoquitsupplyingitbecausehehadlosttoomuchmoneythatway.Thesewerepersistent,however,andTaborwastoobusytoarguewiththem.“Ohhelpyourself.Onemoretimewon’tmakeanydifference,”Hesaidandwentonsellingshoesandhatstoothercustomers.Thetwominerstook$17worthofsupplies,inreturnforwhichtheygaveTaboraone-thirdinterestintheirfindings.Theypickedabarrenplaceonthemountainsideandbegantodig.Afterninedaystheystruckarichveinofsilver.Taborboughtthesharesoftheothertwomen,andsotheminebelongedtohimalone.Thismine,knownasthe“PittsburghMine,”made1300000forTaborinreturnforhis$17investment.
LaterTaborboughttheMatchlessMineonanotherbarrenhillsidejustoutsidethetownfor$117000.ThisturnedouttobeevenmorefabulousthanthePittsburgh,yielding$35000worthofsilverperdayatonetime.Leadvillegrew.Taborbecameitsfirstmayor,andlaterbecamelieutenantgovernorofthestate.
1.LeadvillegotitsnameforthefollowingreasonsEXCEPT______.
A.becauseTaborbecameitsleadingcitizen
B.becausegreatdepositsofleadisexpectedtobefoundthere
C.becauseitcouldbringgoodfortunetoTabor
2.Theword“grubstake”inparagraph2means______.
A.tosupplyminerswithfoodandsupplies
C.todoone’scontributiontothedevelopmentofthemine
D.tosupplyminerswithfoodandsuppliesandinreturngetashareinthemine,ifonewasdiscovered
3.Tabormadehisfirstfortune______.
A.bysupplyingtwoprospectiveminersandgettinginreturnaone-thirdinterestinthefindings
B.becausehewaspersuadedbythetwominerstoquitsupplying
C.bybuyingthesharesoftheother
4.TheunderlyingreasonforTabor’slifecareeris______.
B.basedontheanalysisofminer’sbeingverypoorandtheirpossibilityofdiscoveringprofitableminingsite
C.throughthehelpfromhissecondwife
D.heplannedwellandaccomplishedtargetsstepbystep
5.Ifthispassageisthefirstpartofanarticle,whomightbeintroducedinthefollowingpart?
B.Tabor’ssecondwife,ElizabethMcCourt.
C.Othercolorfulcharacters.
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