The Iditarod

李毅

In 1925 in the seaside city of Nome， Alaska， there was a terrible disaster. Nome is in the far north of Alaska. It is isolated from other cities. There were no railroads， highways， or airplanes. It was difficult to travel to Nome. In the winter， there is lots of snow， and it is very cold. In 1925， a doctor discovered that some of the people were sick with a disease called diphtheria. There was no serum for diphtheria in Nome. He could not vaccinate the people. In the city of Anchorage， people heard about the problem and sent the serum to the doctor. First the medicine was carried on the train to the small town of Tanana. Then the serum was wrapped in fur to protect it from the cold. It went by dogsled across the frozen land. It took 170 hours for the serum to reach Nome.  Nine teams of dogs pulled the sled at different times. One of the men who drove the sled was Leonhard Seppala. The serum reached Nome in time to save the lives of many people. When people heard about this race to save lives， they decided to have another race. Two people who wanted to start the race again were Leonhard Seppala and his wife. In 1967 they began a race that is called the Iditarod. In this race， dog teams pull sleds. Their drivers called mushers， run behind the sled or ride on it. The race is from Anchorage to Nome. The distance is 1，159 miles or 1，932 kilometers. The race takes about eleven days.

Many mushers and their dogs start the race， but only a few finish it.

Mushers take very good care of their dogs because they want to win. Healthy dogs are an important part of winning the last great race. The race goes through valleys and over mountains. It crosses frozen rivers. Sometimes snow and high winds cause problems. Women as well as men are mushers. In fact， a woman named Susan Butcher has won the race. Because of a historical event， today the challenging Iditarod is part of Alaskan culture.

1. Nome is ___.

A. the beginning of the Iditarod

B. a city in Alaska

C. high in the mountains

2. A musher is ___.

A. a dog team  B. a kind of serum

C. a dogsled driver

3. In 1925， people in Nome ___.

A. had the serum that they needed

B. had the disease diphtheria.

C. went to Anchorage to live

4. One of the mushers who carried the serum in 1925 was ___.

A. Susan Butcher     B. Tanana

C. Leonhard Seppala

5. The serum was carried to Nome by ___.

A. rallroad and airplane

B. railroad and dogsled

C. dogsled and mushers

6. The race to carry the serum took ___.

A. more  than 10 days

B. about 100 hours  C. 170 hours

7. The weather during the Iditarod is usually ___.

A. warm， sunny， and dry

B. cold with rain

C. cold with snow and wind

8. The distance between Anchorage and Nome is ___.

A. 170 miles    B. 1，159 miles

C. 1，932 miles

9. What is the main idea of the passage？

A. The Iditarod is a dogsled race across frozen rivers and mountain.

B. The Iditarod is a dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome.

C. The Iditarod began because of a historical event.