Question

Section D

Directions：Read the following passage and answer the questions. Write the answers on the answer sheet.

In 1817 one of the most well-known hauntings in American history took place in the small town of Adams, Tennessee. Known as the Bell Witch, the strange activity that caused fear in the small farming community has remained unexplained for nearly 200 years. Like many stories, certain details of who or what the Bell Witch was vary from version to version. The prevailing account is that it was the ghost of a woman named Kate Batts, a mean old neighbour of John Bell. Batts believed Bell cheated her in a land purchase and on her deathbed she swore that she would haunt John Bell and his family.

News of the Bell Witch spread quickly. When word of the haunting reached Nashville, one of its most citizens, General Andrew Jackson, decided to gather a group of friends and go to Adams to investigate. The future president wanted to come face to face with the phenomenon and either expose it as a trick or send the spirit away. According to one account, Jackson and his men were traveling over a smooth section of road when suddenly the wagon stopped. The men pushed and pushed, but the wagon could not be moved. The wheels were even removed and inspected. The came the sound of a voice from the bushes saying, “I will see you tonight.” The astonished men could not find the source of the voice. The horses then unexpectedly started walking on their own and the wagon moved along again. Jackson indeed encountered the witch that night and left early the next morning, claiming he would rather fight the British than the Bell Witch！

The haunting of the Bell house continued for several years, ending with ghost’s final act of revenge. On the morning of December 19, he failed to awake at his regular time. When the family noticed he was sleeping unnaturally, they attempted to rouse him. They discovered Bell couldn’t be completely awakened. John’s son went to the medicine cupboard to get his father’s medicine and noticed it was gone but a strange small bottle was in its place. No one claimed to have replaced the medicine with the bottle. John Bell died on December 20 and “Kate” was quiet until after the funeral.

A few explanations of the Bell Witch phenomena have been offered over the years. One is that the haunting was a trick created by Richard Powell, the schoolteacher of Betsy Bell and Joshua Gardner, the boy with whom Betsy was in love. It seemed Powell was deeply in love with Betsy and would do anything to destroy her relationship with Gardner. Through a variety of tricks, and with the help of several friends, it is believed that Powell created all of the ghostly effects to scare Gardner away. In fact, Gardner eventually did break up with Betsy and left area and Powell did come out winner. In the end, he married Betsy Bell.

81.John Well’s mean old neighbor haunted them because ______.

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82.On Jackson’s way to investigate the ghost, the ghost ______ and later, Jackson encountered the witch and left early the next morning.

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83.How did the haunting eventually end？

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84.What was one explanation for the haunting given in the reading？

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Answer 1

解析:

81.Kate Batts believed that John Bell had cheated her in a land purchase

要回答这个问题必须仔细阅读文章第一段的最后一句话“Batts believed Bell cheated her in a land purchase and on her deathbed she swore that she would haunt John Bell and his family”。

82.stopped his group by bringing his horse and wagon to a stop

要回答这个问题必须仔细阅读文章第二段，然后对这些细节进行归纳。

83.The haunting finally ended when John Bell died.

这个问题的答案在文章的第三段讲得很清楚了，尤其是最后一句“John Bell died on December 20 and ‘Kate’ was quiet until after the funeral”。

84.The one explanation given was that Richard Powell, Betsy Bell’s schoolteacher, played tricks to scare away her lover and win her attention and love.

这个问题的答案在文章的最后一段，这里作者给出了人们的各种解释，需要考生对这些细节进行归纳，找出其中最重要的信息。