四、閱讀：（30分）
A
Robert Spring, a 19th century forger (偽造者), was so good at his profession that hs was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of famous Americans. Spring was born in England in 1838 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he prospered(繁榮)by selling his small but genuine collection of early US autographs (親筆簽名). Discovering his ability at copying handwriting he began imitating the signatures of George Washington and Benjimin Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection (被發現). He sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale, Forgers have a hard time selling products. A forger cannot approach a respectable buyer but must deal with people who don’t have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways of making their works look real. For example, they buy old books and use the aged paper of the title page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemicals
In Spring’s time, right after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the southern states, so Spring invented a respectable young lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny’s financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters and manuscripts (手稿) belonging to her famous father. Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. However, all this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty, leaving sharp-eyed experts the difficult task of separating his forgeries from the originals.
56. Robert Spring spent 15 years ________.
A. running a bookstore in Philadelphia B. as owners of old books
C. selling real signatures of famous Americans D. as a forger
57. Why did Spring sell his false autographs in England and Canada?
A. There was less chance that his forgeries would be discovered there.
B. The prices were much higher in England and Canada.
C. There was a greater demand there than in America
D. Britan was Spring’s birthplace.
58. After the Civil War there was a great demand in Britain for ________
A. Civil War battle plans B. southern manuscripts and letters
C. the signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin D. southern money
59. Which of the following about Miss Fanny Jackson is TRUE?
A. She was Robert Spring’s customer.
B. She was an imaginary person created by Spring.
C. She was a little-known girl who sold her father’s papers to make money.
D. She was the only daughter of General Stonewall Jackson.
