D
The valley known as Sleepy Hollow hides from the world in the high hills of New York State. There are many stories told about the valley, but the story that people believe most is about a man who rides a horse at night. The story says the man died many years ago during the American Revolutionary War. His head was shot off. Every night he rises from his burial place, jumps on his horse and rides through the valley looking for his lost head.
Near Sleepy Hollow is a village called Tarry Town. The village had a small school, where there was a teacher named Ichabod Crane which was a good name for him because he was tall and thin like a crane.
Ichabod didn’t make much money as a teacher. To pay for his food he earned extra money by teaching young people to sing. Every Sunday after church Ichabod taught singing.
Among the ladies Ichabod taught was one Katrina Van Tassel, who was the only daughter of a rich Dutch farmer, a girl in bloom much like a round red rosy apple. Ichabod had a soft and foolish heart for the ladies and soon found himself interested in Miss Van Tassel.
However, there were many problems blocking the road to Katrina’s heart. One was a strong young man named Brom Van Brunt, who was a hero to all the young ladies. His shoulders were big. His back was wide. He always won the horse races in Tarry Town and earned many prizes. Such was the enemy Ichabod had to defeat for Katrina’s heart.
Stronger and wiser men would not have tried, but Ichabod had a plan. He couldn’t fight with his enemy in the open, so he did it silently and secretly. He made many visits to Katrina’s farm and made her think he was helping her to sing better.
Time passed and the town’s people thought Ichabod was winning. Brom’s horse wasn’t seen at Katrina’s house on Sunday nights anymore.
One day in autumn, Ichabod was asked to go to a big party at Katrina’s home. He dressed himself in his best clothes. A farmer loaned him an old horse for the long trip to the party.
The house was filled with farmers, their wives, daughters and sons. Brom Van Brunt rode to the party on his fastest horse called Daredevil. All the young ladies smiled happily when they saw him. Soon music filled the rooms and everyone began to dance and sing.
Ichabod was happy dancing with Katrina as Brom looked at them with a jealous heart.
Ichabod seemed very happy until he said goodnight to Katrina. Was she ending their romance? He left feeling very sad. Had Katrina been seeing Ichabod just to make Brom Van Brunt jealous so he would marry her?
Well, Ichabod began his long ride home on the hills that surrounded Tarry Town. He began to whistle as he came close to the tree where a man was killed years ago by rebels.
There, in the dark woods on the side of the river, where the bushes grew low, stood an ugly thing, big and black. It didn’t move but seemed ready to jump like a giant monster.
Ichabod’s hair stood straight up. It was too late to run, and in fear of it, he did the only thing he could. His shaking voice asking “Who are you?” broke the silent valley.
The thing didn’t answer. Ichabod asked again. Still no answer. Ichabod’s old horse began to move forward. The black thing began to move along the side of Ichabod’s horse in the dark. For a moment the moon shone down and to Ichabod’s horror he saw it was a horse with a rider whose head was not on his body. It was in front of the rider, resting on the horse.
“Only if I can get there first, I am safe,” thought Ichabod, kicking his horse. He looked back to see if the headless man had stopped. He saw the man pick up his head and throw it with powerful force. The head hit Ichabod in the face and knocked him off his horse to the dirt below.
People found Ichabod’s horse the next day peacefully eating grass. They could not find Ichabod. The only other thing they found was lying near Ichabod’s hat. It was the broken pieces of a round orange pumpkin.
People talked about Ichabod for many weeks. Much later an old farmer returned from a visit to New York City. He said he was sure he saw Ichabod there. He thought Ichabod silently left Sleepy Hollow because he had lost Katrina.
As for Katrina, her mother and father gave her a big wedding when she married Brom Van Brunt. Many people who went to the wedding saw that Brom smiled whenever Ichabod’s name was spoken. And they wondered why he laughed out loud when anyone talked about the broken orange pumpkin found lying near Ichabod’s old dusty hat.
What tone did the author use to describe Ichabod?

A．Appreciative.	B．Sympathetic.
C．Ironic.	D．Scolding.

What does the underlined part in Paragraph 6 mean?

A．Ichabod did the foolish thing.

B．Ichabod was a wise man.

C．Ichabod made a careful plan.

D．Ichabod should try harder.

What probably happened to Ichabod in the end?

A．He was killed in Sleepy Hollow.

B．He left Sleepy Hollow in shame.

C．He lived a good life in another place.

D．He was missing for no reason.

Why were broken pieces of a round orange pumpkin found near Ichabod’s hat?

A．Ichabod carried a pumpkin with him.

B．Pumpkins were grown in Sleepy Hollow.

C．Brom had made use of the pumpkin.

D．Someone had dropped a pumpkin there.

Which of the following can be used to describe Brom?

A．Clever but cruel.	B．Rude and greedy.
C．Brave but selfish.	D．Generous and kind.

What is the passage mainly about?

A．Horrible stories about Sleepy Hollow.

B．The love of a village teacher.

C．A horse rider without head.

D．The competition between two men for a woman.

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