In 1916, two girls of wealthy families, best friends from Auburn, N. Y.—Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood—traveled to a settlement in the Rocky Mountains to teach in a one-room schoolhouse. The girls had gone to Smith College. They wore expensive clothes. So for them to move to Elkhead, Colo. to instruct the children whose shoes were held together with string was a surprise. Their stay in Elkhead is the subject of Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, who is a magazine editor and Dorothy Woodruff’s granddaughter.

Why did they go then? Well, they wanted to do something useful. Soon, however, they realized what they had undertaken.

They moved in with a local family, the Harrisons, and, like them, had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow on their quilt when they woke up in the morning. Some mornings, Rosamond and Dorothy would arrive at the schoolhouse to find the children weeping from the cold. In spring, the snow was replaced by mud over ice.

In Wickenden’s book, she expanded on the history of the West and also on feminism, which of course influenced the girls’ decision to go to Elkhead. A hair-raising section concerns the building of the railroads, which entailed(牵涉) drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding snowstorms. The book ends with Rosamond and Dorothy’s return to Auburn.

Wickenden is a very good storyteller. The sweep of the land and the stoicism(坚忍) of the people move her to some beautiful writing. Here is a picture of Dorothy Woodruff, on her horse, looking down from a hill top: “When the sun slipped behind the mountains, it shed a rosy glow all around them. Then a full moon rose. The snow was marked only by small animals: foxes, coyotes, mice, and varying hares, which turned white in the winter.” 

1.Why did Dorothy and Rosamond go to the Rocky Mountains?

A To teach in a school.

B To study American history.

C To write a book.

D To do sightseeing.

解析：选A。A细节理解题。根据第一段“In 1916, two girls of wealthy families...traveled to a settlement in the Rocky Mountains to teach in a one-room schoolhouse.”可知，Dorothy和Rosamond去落基山脉是为了去学校里教书。故选A。

2.What can we learn about the girls from paragraph 3?

A They enjoyed much respect.

B They had a room with a bathtub.

C They lived with the local kids.

D They suffered severe hardships.

解析：选D。D推理判断题。根据第三段“They moved in with a local family, the Harrisons, and like them, had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow on their quilt when they woke up in the morning.”以及“In spring, the snow was replaced by mud over ice.”可知，女孩们的生活条件非常艰苦，她们饱受磨难。故选D。

3.Which part of Wickenden’s writing is hair-raising?

A The extreme climate of Auburn.

B The living conditions in Elkhead.

C The railroad building in the Rockies.

D The natural beauty of the West.

解析：选C。C细节理解题。根据倒数第二段“A hair-raising section concerns the building of the railroads, which entailed drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding snowstorms. (令人毛骨悚然的一段与铁路建设有关，这涉及到在令人眩目的暴风雪中钻穿落基山脉。)”可知，Wickenden的作品中涉及落基山脉的铁路建设这一部分是令人毛骨悚然的。故选C。

4.What is the text?

A A news report.

B A book review.

C A children’s story.

D A diary entry.

解析：选B。B推理判断题。根据倒数第二段“The book ends with Rosamond and Dorothy’s return to Auburn.”以及最后一段“Wickenden is a very good storyteller. The sweep of the land and the stoicism of the people move her to some beautiful writing. ( Wickenden是个很好的故事讲述者。大地的辽阔和人们的坚忍使她创作出了一些美丽的作品。)”可知，本文简要介绍了Wickenden的书籍内容，并对其进行了评价，所以文本是一篇书评。故选B。