2016年湖北武汉市高考英语阅读理解二轮基础训练（51）（含答案）

　　【2016高考训练】阅读理解—词义猜测题、观点态度题。

　　Carrier Pigeons

　　People have used pigeons to carry messages to one another for hundreds of years. In fact, pigeons were a common way to send messages right up through World War Ⅱ.

　　In 1815 an English banker named Nathan Rothschild made his fortune by relying on messages sent to him by carrier pigeons. English troops were fighting Napoleon's forces in France, and the English were believed to be losing. A financial panic gripped London. Government bonds were offered at low prices. Few people noticed that Rothschild was snapping up these bonds when everyone else was desperately trying to sell them. A few days later, London learned the truth; the Duke of Wellington had defeated Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. The value of the bonds went up, and Rothschild became extremely wealthy-all because his pigeons had brought him news of the victory before anyone else knew of it.

　　Most of the time, however, carrier pigeons were used to benefit an entire country, not just one individual. The United States, England, France, Germany, and Italy, in both World War I and World War , used carrier pigeons. Not only were the birds often the fastest, most reliable way to send messages, they could also be used to reach soldiers far behind enemy lines, where radios and field telephone lines were useless. Since they could easily be released from airplanes or ships, every branch of the armed services used the birds. In World War Ⅱ, more than 3,000 soldiers and 150 officers were needed to care for and train the tens of thousands of birds in the US Pigeon Service.

【2016届湖北武汉市高考英语阅读理解二轮基础训练（51）（含答案）】相关文章：

★ 湖南省汝城二中2014届高考英语一轮复习阅读训练 (75)

★ 盘点最新2016高考二轮复习英语阅读理解的八种能力

★ 贵州省贵阳市2014高考英语（新人教版）一轮阅读训练（13）附答案

★ 2017届高考英语二轮复习大题冲关秘籍阅读理解七选五：考纲解读（含解析）

★ 湖南省岳阳市2014高考英语一轮单项选择训练题（8）及答案

★ 2014届高考英语一轮复习课时作业(三十五)选修6Module 5《Cloning》（外研版）

★ 重庆市2014高考英语阅读理解一轮（精品）训练题（18）附答案

★ 重庆市2014高考英语阅读理解一轮（精品）训练题（8）附答案

★ 河南省三门峡市2014高考英语一轮（暑假）基础训练（13）附答案

★ 贵州省贵阳市2014高考英语（新人教版）一轮阅读训练（10）附答案