It is the summer of 1776. Thomas Jefferson is not happy. He'd rather be home in Virginia than attending
Philadelphia's Continental Congress(大陆会议)
     Thomas Jefferson knew he had a job to do. Important men throughout the American colonies (殖民地)
were meeting in Philadelphis to discuss and debate the war with Great Briain. The colony of Virginia sent
Thomas Jefferson to Philadelphia. But Jefferson wasn't happy. Jefferson wanted to be home that hot summer
of 1776. he missed his wife, Martha. She hadn't been feeling well when he left, and he worried about her.
     On June 7, 1776, Richard Henry Lee from Virginia stood up at the Congress and announced that "these
American colonies ought to be free and independent states." Jefferson probably knew what was coming next.
Here was another resolution (决议)to debate. And whenever there was a resolution, there was a declaration.
     The American colonies had been at war with Great Britain for more than a year, but surprisingly. The
colonies had not formally announced their independence. So the Congress appointed a five-man committee to
crate a document declaring America's independence. And the committee chose Thomas Jefferson to write it.
     Jefferson knew he was to list the unfair things Great Britain had done to the colonies. For days and days,
Jefferson wrote and rewrote about the king and his unfair laws. About independence. About freedom. He
borrowed ideas from other political writers, but he wrote these thoughts in words that all people could
understand. He wanted his ideas to be shared with everyone.
     And they were. The Continental Congress voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
on July 8, it was read out loud to a cheering crowd. No one knew who the author was, but they knew what
the Declaration stood for-independence and freedom for all.
     Still, Thomas Jefferson dreamed of home. In late July he begged Richard Henry Lee to replace him in the
Congress. In September, Jefferson's dream finally came true, and he traveled home.
      Since then, the words Thomas Jefferson wrote during that hot Philadelphia summer have inspired people
throughout the world. Thank goodness Jefferson didn't go home.

1. Why didn't Thomas Jefferson want to go to Philadelphia?

A. He was not a good debater
B. He found a new job in Virginia
C. It was extremely hot in Philadelphia
D. He was concerned about his wife's health

2. The Continental Congress set up a committee to write a document to _____.

A. officially declare war on Britain
B. announce the American colonies were free
C. inspire soldiers fighting against Britain
D. revise the Declaration of Independence

3. The underlined word "they" in Paragraph 6 refers to _____.

A. people in the colonies
B. members of the Congress
C. Jefferson 's ideas
D. ideas of other writes

4. What do we know about the Declaration of Independence?

A. It was written in quite simple words
B. It took Jefferson about one year to write it
C. Jefferson finished it with the help of Richard Henry Lee
D. It won Jefferson great honors immediately it was announced.

5. We can learn from the passage that _____.

A. Jefferson was a very caring husband
B. Jefferson was not really interested in politics
C. Jefferson was unwilling to borrow other writers' ideas
D. Jefferson finished his job in the Congress before going home