高中英语阅读理解专项练习及答案
A "dark horse "is one that shows unexpected racing speed and comes in first, 1 the experts said he had little chance of winning.
In politics, an 2 candidate (候选人) for office who 3 a nomination(提名)or election is called a "dark horse".
British Prime Minister Benjamin Disrael is believed to 4 the first to use the phrase. In his novel, "The Young Duke ", published in 1831, Disrael described a horse race and told how the two top choices fell 5 ,while "a dark horse "which had never been thought of rushing past the grandstand (看台)in a sweeping triumph.
From racing to politics was a short step. As a political phrase, “dark horse ” 6 for the first time in the national Democratic Party congress of 1844. The "dark horse" was James Knox Polk who became the llth President of the United States. Polk had been the leader of the House of Representatives from 1835 to 1839. He had 7 been Governor of the state of Tennessee. But as a national leader, he was considered a political 8 .
Nevertheless, he 9 won the Democratic nomination and was elected 10 .Martin Van Buren of New York, A former President, seemed sure of getting the nomination. But he opposed making the territory of Texas part of the United States as mother state. He was 11 it because there was slavery in Texas. Van Buren did not want another slave state in the Union. As a result, he 12 support among those Democrats who supported slavery.
At the 1884 congress, Van Buren could not get enough votes to win the nomination. The congress got into 13 . Therefore, the Democratic leaders decided that the only wise thing would be to run a "dark horse ", 14 who could unite the party.
And so, one of the party leaders, George Bancroft, proposed the name of James Knox Polk. He won, and the party 15 behind him, And he defeated his opponent , Henry Clay of the Whig Party.
16 the 1844 congress, the "dark horse "candidates became an established fact of national political life. One historian said, "The invention of the dark horse was 17 a remarkable product of our professional politics. "This made 18 possible for party leaders to choose candidates who were not tied to certain ideas. Therefore, they represented 19 and had developed 20 enemies.