1. A cowboy refers to a man who takes care of cattle on horseback.

2. Cows had to be taken to the market and killed there, because there were no buyers on ranges and no lorries to carry the meat.

3. On the way to the market, the herd had to be made to move quickly, because the journey was very long.

4. Though life on the journey was very hard for cowboys, still they had a lot of time to play.

5. The greatest danger on the journey to the market was that the cows would stampede and cowboys might be hurt.

6. Railways took the place of cowboys to bring the cattle to town.

1. Cowboys used to live on the huge grassland because .

A) there were no big modern cities in those days

B) that was the place leading directly to big cities

C) they were born and brought up there

D) that was the place which had plenty of grass and water for the cows

2. Cows had to be driven along to market .

A) to provide meat for people hundreds of miles away

B) to keep them fresh and fat

C) to save the cost in carrying them by lorries or railways

D) to get closer to towns and cities

3. The main task of cowboys on the trail was .

A) to move round and round the cattle

B) to sing and whistle softly to the cattle

C) to take care of the cattle

D) to make sure that the cattle could feed themselves

4. Which of the following choices does not explain that the life of cowboys was hard?

A) They had hundreds or maybe thousands, of cattle to take care of.

B) They were fed on a chuck waggon.

C) They worked in the saddle and slept on the hard ground.

D) They worked on horseback for many hours everyday.

5. Which of the following choices does not explain that their life was dull?

A) Their journey to market usually took many weeks.

B) They moved along very slowly.

C) They could only sing cowboy songs when they had a rest.

D) They had to do the same thing day after day.

6. Which of the following does not explain that their life was dangerous?

A) Cows might die because of sickness.

B) Indians sometimes attacked.

C) The herd sometimes would stampede.

D) A cowboy could be trampled to death in a stampede.

7. Which of the following is the greatest advantage of using the railways to move cattle?

A) It saves many cowboys.

B) It can prevent Indian attacks.

C) The cattle will not stampede.

D) The cattle are worth more money when they arrive fresh and fat.

1. It was no good killing them on the ranges.

2. If they rushed along they would get thin and not be worth much at market.

3. The tail board of the waggon made a good shelf.

4. Many things could go wrong on the trail.

5. The cattle will also arrive fresh and fat where they would have become tired and thin.