As a palace, the Tower of London．was a great place to live．As a prison, it, wasn

As a palace, the Tower of London．wasa great place to live．As a prison, it, wasn't so nice ——especiallysince so many prisoners lost their heads．Today tourists canexplore 5the Tower in the

United Kingdom．Here are somereasons why the Tower was and still is a cool place．

Ravens（渡鸦） are likesuperheroes．

Well, sort of．Legend says if theravens that live on the Tower grounds ever leave, the Tower will fall apart．Noone knows when the ravens first showed up, but Charles II took the legend soseriously that in the 1670s he gave an official order that six ravens be keptthere all the time．Today

there are still always six．

You might have lived at a zoo．

In 1204, King John kept a collection of animals,including lions and elephants．About 50 years later, King Henry III received apolar bear．the bear was kept on a piece of rope so it couldfish from the Thames River that flows by the Tower．

         Ifyou lived at the Tower today, your mom or dad might be in charge．

The 35 Yeoman Warders（伦敦塔卫士）and their families are among the few still allowed to liveat the Tower．Established in 1509 a;? bodyguards! for theking, today they give tours and  manage the day-to-day details of theTower．They're called "beefeaters," possibly becausetheir job once allowed them to eat beef from the king's; table．

         Youneed a secret password at night．

Called the "Word," the passwordchanges every 24 hours and is a must-have to enter the Tower

after hours．It's written on apiece of paper and delivered to the Yeoman on duty for, the night．

You could find buried gold．

         In1662, a goldsmith（金匠） named John Barfcstead supposedly hid more than$40,000 worth of stolen gold somewhere on．the Tower grounds．Manyhave searched for the gold, but it has never

been found．

1.CharlesII decided to keep six ravens in the Tower probably because ____,．        ;

         A．heloved animals a lot          

         B．hebelieved ravens helped protect the Tower

         C．hewanted to train the ravens to watch the prisoners  

         D．hethought the Tower was a cool place for the ravens to live                        

2.Accordingto the passage, the Yeoman Warders ______． 

         A．haveto part from their families to work at theTower            

         B．are currently working as bodyguards for theking                                

         C．sometimesserve as tourguides          

         D．arefond of eatingbeef                            

3.Whichof the following is TRUE about the Tower of London?   

         A．KingHenry III kept lions and elephants in it．        

         B．Itstands on the bank of the Thames River．

         C．Nobodyis allowed to enter it at night．           

         D．Itis also used as a prison nowadays．

试题答案

【答案】

1.B

2.C

3.B

【解析】略