阅读短文，选择正确答案。
Today Newtown is a very clean place. Many years ago, however, there were millions of rats (老鼠)
in Newtown. They attacked the cats and dogs. Sometimes a great number of them knocked down a man
or woman walking home at night. The rats were very large and they harmed many people.
The Government (政府) ordered everybody to kill rats. Most people were very lazy, so they did not
kill them. Then the Government promised to pay some money for each dead rat. That made people very
happy. A Government officer put all the dead rats in a big pile. Sometimes a man brought hundreds in a
day.
After two weeks there were not many rats in the city, but people still brought rats to the Government
officer. The Government officer thought that people were stealing dead rats from the pile. He ordered his
men to dig a deep hole and put the rats in it. Soon there were no more rats, and the Government did not
pay any more money.
1. The underlined phrase "A great number of" means .
A. a great deal
B. a good many of
C. a great amount of
D. a good much of
2. According to (根据) the passage, which of the following is true?
A. In Newtown, anyone who was riding home at night could be knocked down by rats.
B. In Newtown, anyone who was at home at night could be knocked could be knocked down by rats.
C. In Newtown, anyone who was going home on foot at night could be knocked down by rats.
D. No matter when the people in Newtown were walking home, they could be knocked down by rats.
3. Why were the people stealing the rats from the pile?
A. Because they thought the dead rats should be put in a deep hole.
B. Because they thought it was a good way to get more money from the Government.
C. Because they thought they were not lazy.
D. Because they thought they were all poor and were forced to do so.
4. Which of the following is the correct one?
A. The officer ordered his men to dig a deep hole and put the dead rats in it just only to save money for
the Government.
B. Soon the Government did not pay any more money, and there were no more rats.
C. The officer wanted to teach the lazy people a lesson, so he ordered his men to put the dead rats in
deep hole.
D. The officer and his men put the dead rats in a deep hole in order to prevent the dead rats from being
stolen and get rid of all the rats in the city.
5. The best title (标题) for this passage should be _______.
A. How Newtown became a very clean place
B. How the people in Newtown became rich
C. How to dill rats in a city
D. Newtown — a rat city
