TheGreatPlague(瘟疫)ofLondonin1665wasthelastinalongseries...

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The Great Plague(瘟疫)of London in 1665 was the last in a long series ofplague that first began in London inJune 1499. It killed between 75,000 and 100,000. First suspected in late 1664,it began to spread eastwards in April 1665 from the poor suburb of St. Giles to the crowded and dirty communities on its way to the walled City of London.

The Great Plague at Its Peak

By September 1665, the death rate had reached 8,000 per week. Helpless city authorities began to abandon quarantine(隔离) measures. Houses containing the dead and dying were no longer locked. London's mournful silence was broken by the noise ofcarts carrying the dead for burial in churches or public plague pits.

Well-off residents soon fled to the countryside, leaving the poor behind in poor old communities. Thousands of dogs and cats were killed to remove a feared source of contagion（传染）, and piles of rotting garbage were burned. Doctors cut swellings and bled black spots in attempts to cure plague victims.

    Plague Orders prohibited churches from keeping dead bodies in their buildings during public assemblies or services, and carriers of the dead had to identify themselves and could not mix with the public.

Samuel Pepys:   Eyewitness Accounts

   In his famous diary, Samuel Pepys, a member of Parliament, conveyed the sad image of desperate people wandering the streets in search of relief from the ruins of the plague. His notes during 1665 indicated the severity of London's Great Plague. In July, he mourned "the sad news of the death of so many in the community, forty last night, the bell always going ... either for deaths or burials." A month later, when London's death rate rose sharply, Pepys noted that survivors "are forced to carry the dead to be buried by daylight, the nights not enough to do it in."

The Plague Declines and the Government Reacts

   By February 1666, the Great Plague had nearly run its course. It died out during the Great Fire that same year and never returned. Central parts of London were rebuilt with wider streets to relieve crowding and better waste water systems to improve public cleanliness. New Plague Orders were issued in May 1666, which banned the burial of future plague victims in churches and small churchyards, enforced the use of quicklime(生石灰)at chosen burial sites, and strictly prohibited opening graves less than one year after burial as a safeguard against the spread ofinfection.

24. In the course of the Great Plague, it was a common practice to

  A. keep dead bodies in the church buildings

  B. burn piles ofrotting garbage in the streets

  C. carry the dead for church burials in the daytime

  D. unlock the houses containing the dead and dying

25. It can be inferred from the passage that _

  A. dogs and cats were certain to spread the plague

B. doctors' treatment ofplague victims was effective

  C. city authorities allowed rich residents to go to the countryside

  D. quarantine measures were powerless in preventing the plague

26. How did Samuel Pepys feel when the bell was going all the night during the Great Plague?

  A. Frightened.   B. Relieved.            C. Sorrowful.   D. Moody.

27. What's the main purpose of this writing?

  A. To blame poor public cleanliness for plague.

   B. To inform readers ofwhat happened in the Great Plague.

   C. To show that plague was closely related to church activities.

   D. To prove that plague could be controlled by humans.

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