Among the more colorful characters of Leadville’s golden age were H. A. W. Tabor and his wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as “Baby Doe”. Their history is fast being one of the legends of the Old West.
Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. Then he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. “Great deposits of lead are sure to be found here.” he said.
As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadville’s fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. It was his custom to “grubstake” prospective miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or “grub”, while they looked for ore（矿石）, in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.
Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for “grub”. Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way. These were persistent, however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. “Oh help yourself. One more time won’t make any difference,” He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They picked a barren place on the mountain side and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the “Pittsburgh Mine,” made $1,300,000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.
Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117,000. This turned out to be even more fabulous than the Pittsburgh, yielding $35,000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became lieutenant governor of the state.
【小题1】Leadville got its name for the following reasons EXCEPT thatA．Tabor became its leading citizen.B．great deposits of lead is expected to be found there.C．it could bring good fortune to TaborD．it was renamed【小题2】The underlined word “grubstake” in Paragraph 3 meansA．to supply miners with food and suppliesB．to open a general storesC．to do one's contribution to the development of the mineD．to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine, if one was discovered【小题3】We can infer that Tabor’s life career is.A．purely luckyB．based on his managing theory of “grubstake’C．through the help from his wifeD．because he planned well and acplished targets step by step【小题4】Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?A．Tabor’s Life.B．A legend of the Old WestC．Lead Makes Leadville’s FortuneD．The Best InvestmentC
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(答案→)C
解析：本文主要讲述霍塞斯·奥斯汀·沃纳·泰勃发家的故事。先买下匹兹堡矿，后又买下Matchless矿，最后成为市长，代理州长的传奇故事。
【小题1】细节题。因为Leadville可以为Tabor带来巨富。这一点不是Leadville得名的原因，因为在文章第二段中，讲到这一点时，提及三个原因：A.因为Tabor成为当地的居民代表人物，B.因为在Leadville有丰富的铅的储藏量。D.因为Leadville是因为Tabor重要而起的名，唯独C没有，因为到后来发现是银矿才给他带来巨富。选C
【小题2】猜词题：第二段中, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or “grub”, while they looked for ore（矿石）, in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered.，可知grubstake的词义与D所述内容是相同的，即“供给探矿者资金，衣物，食品以及其他物品”。此处还补充地讲，作为回报，供给者可以获得矿中资源一定份额。选D
【小题3】推断题。由原文可知泰勃的财产来源是有一定偶然性的，但是毕竟也是基于他开创的“grubstake”模式，因为A、D都不对，C更是没有根据，因为他还没有娶第二位夫人这一切就发生了。选B
【小题4】主旨题：文章都在讲述有关H.A.W.Tabor发家致富的历史，如先买下匹兹堡矿，后又买下Matchless矿，最后成为市长，代理州长，等等，所以涉及到的全是男主人公，从第一段的句子：Their history is fast being one of the legends of the Old West. 可知A legend of the Old West是最贴切的标题。选B。