[解析]
(1)A.细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句话The value of the bonds soared (暴涨),and Rothschild became wealthy..all because his pigeons had brought him news of the victory before anyone else knew of it.(债券的价值飙升,罗斯柴尔德变得富有....。这一切都是因为他的鸽子在别人知道之前给他带来了胜利的消息。)可知Nathan Rothschild是依靠信鸽寄给他消息发财的,故选A。
(2)D.词义猜测题。根据第二段A financial panic swept over London.Govermment bonds (债券) were ofered at low prices.Few people noticed that Nathan Rothschild,an English banker,was snapping up these bonds when everyone else was trying to sell them.(金融恐慌席卷了伦敦。政府债券以低价发售。很少有人注意到英国银行家内森罗斯柴尔德在其他人都试图出售这些债券的时候snapping up这些债券。)可知,Nathan Rothschild发财的原因是别人卖债券的时候,他买入债券,战后,债券的价格暴涨,所以此处"snapping up"有"买"的意思。故选D。
(3)C.推理判断题。作者文中提及World War I and World War II.和194 American soldiers等是为了说明信鸽在一战和二战期间所起的重要作用,即展示信鸽在重要历史时刻的影响,故选C。
(4)C.推理判断题。从最后一段Today,modern communication methods can carry information from one place to another hundreds of times faster than a pigeon could do it.However,few people would argue with the fact that carrier pigeons一especially those that served in the military ﹣ have earned their place in history.(今天,现代通信方法可以把信息从一个地方传到另一个地方,比鸽子传播的速度快数百倍。然而,很少有人会质疑信鸽﹣﹣尤其是那些在军队服役的信鸽在历史上赢得了一席之地)可知,现代的信息技术虽然可以很快地传递信息,比信鸽快数百倍,但是仍不能动摇信鸽在历史上取得的一席之地,所以作者对信鸽的地位是肯定的,故选C。