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On February 3rd，1949，New York Harbor（港） was an exciting place．Many people were there to greet a ship from France．On the ship were 49 French railroad boxcars（火車車箱） filled with gifts from the people of France to the people of America．These boxcars were from the famous Merci Train（Merci：a French word meaning "thank you"）．

After World War II （二戰(zhàn)），a lot of factories，roads and farms in France had been destroyed．Many French people had no jobs or money and had little to wear and little to eat．In the winter of 1947，a train was sent across the United States，stopping in cities and towns along the way．At every stop，people gave whatever they could．Factories gave clothing and medicine．Farmers gave food．Families gave money．Even school children gave away their pocket money（零用錢）．All the things were then taken to France by ship．

By 1949，the French had begun to recover（恢復(fù)） from the war．The Merci Train was their way of saying "thank you" to America．French people had filled the boxcars with gifts．Most of them were personal，like hand-made toys，children's drawings，or postcards．But the boxcars  themselves were perhaps  the most meaningful of the gifts．On each car，the French people had painted the pictures of all their 40 provinces，with an American eagle on the front．The boxcars were taken to each state of America，where they were warmly greeted．

Now many of the states still keep their boxcars．Gifts sent by the French people can still be seen in some museums．The Merci Train came out of the war，but it now reminds the world that countries can also work together in peace（和平）．

1．Many people crowded at New York Harbor on February 3rd，1949 to______

A．welcome the Merci Train                 B．meet their families

C．have a big party                         D．start a trip by ship

2．In 1947，a train stopped in cities across America in order to______

A．give away clothing and food                     B．get more soldiers for the war

C．collect things to help French people                     D．show exhibitions from the museums

3．The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 3 refers to（指）______

A．the American people                     B．the French people   

Co the boxcars                           D．the gifts

4．The French people painted their 40 provinces and an American eagle on each boxcar because______

A．they thought France was stronger than America

B．it could show the friendship between the two countries

C．the boxcars would be more beautiful

D．they were very good at painting pictures

5．The passage is mainly about______

A．the story of the Merci Train

B．American museums where the boxcars are kept

C．gifts that American people liked

D．World War II