Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens" stories opened his readers" eyes t
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Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens" stories opened his readers" eyes to the most important themes of his age．Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens" legacy （遗产） was far greater than just "great literature"．
February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer"s birthday．To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world．Let"s take a look at two of them．
A while Christmas
Dickens is described as "the man who invented Christmas" -not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive （喜庆的） season today．
In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt．The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day - unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone, but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off．
Many people believe that Dickens" popular depictions（描绘） of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come．In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas,but also painted a picture of glowing warmth-“home enjoyments, affections and hopes"．
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote, "Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas．"
"Dickensian" poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian （the period during British Queen Victoria"s reign from 1837 to 1901） London．
He helped popularize the term "red tape" to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy （官僚作风） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society．
"Dickensian" has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty．In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas, of Britain, she did not use words like "terrible" or "horrific", but rather described it as "life mirroring the times of Dickens"．
小题1:What is the main idea of the article?| A．Charles Dickens" impact on the world． | | B．An introduction to Charles Dickens" classic novels． | | C．Charles Dickens" amazing characters． | | D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world． |
小题2:Why is Dickens called "the man who invented Christmas"?| A．Because he created the religious festival. | | B．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations． | | C．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas． | | D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas． |
小题3:According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to __.| A．rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task | | B．a situation in which poor members of society are hurt | | C．conflict between people in power and weaker people | | D．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures |
小题4:What can we infer from the passage?| A．Dickens is still popular today in Britain． | | B．everyone takes at least three days off at Christmas． | | C．Dickens invented Christmas | | D．Dickens gave the modern world six things． |
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答案
小题1:A
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:A |
解析
试题分析：文章介绍了狄更斯对现代社会的两个重要影响。
小题1:主旨题：从第二段第二句：To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world.为纪念这个日子，BBC作家亚历克斯·哈德逊列举了狄更斯带给现代世界的六件事，可知主要讲的是狄更斯对整个世界的影响，故选A。
小题2:细节题：由第五段“he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth – “home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.”他不仅提出了圣诞节雪的想法，还描绘出一幅温暖发光的图画“家庭中的生活、感情和希望”以及第六段“Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”狄更斯可以说一手创造了现代圣诞节。故选B。
小题3:推断题：由倒数第二段“He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy (官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.”可知red tape的意思是官方办事时的繁文缛节，故选D。
小题4:推断题：由Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy（遗产） was far greater that just “great-literature”两百年过去了，他的故事仍在世界范围内意义深远，证明了狄更斯的遗产不仅仅只是伟大文学而已.故选A。 |
举一反三
A towering South American plant that is believed to kill animals with its spikes(尖刺) and use their rotting bodies as fertilizer is about to bloom(开花) in England. A rare Puya chilensis was planted at a greenhouse in Surrey, a county in the southeast of England about 15 years ago. However, despite its frightening description, the tall, spiked plant is considered a threatened species.
The Royal Horticultural Society has been feeding the plant a diet of liquid fertilizer. “In its natural habitat in the Andes it uses its razor sharp spikes to snare and trap sheep and other animals, which slowly starve to death and rot at the base of the plant, providing it with a bag of fertilizer,” reads a description on the RHS website, which adds that the plant gives off a “gruesome scent.”
But does the plant actually trap and eat sheep? Other sources have simply said it is “believed” that the plant traps small animals with its spikes. After the animals die of starvation, the plant is "believed" to then use their rotting bodies as fertilizer to feed itself.
"I"m really pleased that we"ve finally persuaded our Puya chilensis into producing flower," horticulturalist Cara Smith said in a press release on the RHS site. Regardless of whether it actually traps sheep, the plant does have sharp spikes that can grow up to 12 feet high and 5 feet wide. However, it’s not all death and danger for this plant. Its flowery blooms reportedly provide nectar(花蜜) for bees and birds.
The Puya chilensis blooms annually in its native land of Chile, but this is the first time it has done so after more than a decade of cultivation efforts from the RHS. "We keep it well fed with liquid fertilizer as feeding it on its natural diet might prove a bit problematic,” Smith said. "It"s growing in the dry section of our glasshouse with its deadly spines well out of reach of both children and sheep alike."
小题1:From the passage we learn that in England the Puya chilensis _____.| A．feeds on man-made liquid fertilizer | | B．often kills sheep and other animals | | C．has once bloomed 15 years before | | D．uses animals" rotting bodies as fertilizer |
小题2:The underlined word “snare” in the second paragraph probably means“_________”.| A．catch | B．stop | C．fight | D．kill |
小题3:We can infer from the passage that _____.| A．it"s dangerous to feed the plant | | B．it"s certain that the plant kills sheep | | C．it"s difficult for the plant to bloom in England | | D．it"s rare for the plant to bloom in South American |
小题4:What does the writer mainly tell us?| A．A new plant is discovered in Chile. | | B．How a rare plant is fed in England. | | C．A rare plant is going to bloom in England. | | D．How a plant traps animals in South America. |
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The environmental group 350.org has launched a new campaign called Climate Name Change that proposes to revise to how hurricanes are named: call them after policymakers who say that humans are not to blame for global warming.
This will save the Katrinas and Sandys of the world from the injustice of having their names attached to major disaster, the group says. And, as a bonus, it will produce some peculiar weather reports.
“Rick Perry leaves trail of death,” appears under a broadcast titled “Rick Perry: The Tragedy.”
“Michelle Bachman is incredibly dangerous. If you value your life, please seek shelter from Michelle Bachman,” says an official while addressing a news conference.
The campaign is unlikely to influence the World Meteorological Organization, which has since 1954 named Atlantic tropical storms from an official list.
But the campaign’s goal seems less to actually name a hurricane after the speaker of the house, and more to call attention to an issue that this month has reached an alarming level of seriousness. The campaign comes just a month before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release its most recent report on the state of global warming and a week after a draft（草稿）of the report was given away to Reuters.
In the draft, scientists concluded with near certainty – about 95 percent sure – that humans are to blame for the worldwide temperature hikes over the last few decades. That was a revision from the 2007 report, which put scientific certainty that human activities were driving global climate change at about 90 percent.
And global warming, the report said, is not slowing down – it, actually, is accelerating. That means that sea levels could balloon upward as much as three feet by the end of the century, if emissions(排放量) continue at their current pace.
Still, as the Washington Post Climate notes, hurricanes are not the best sign of global warming. Though current data suggests that global warming will in the future stir up terrible super storms, there is still not enough evidence to support the idea that climate change strengthens the recent hurricanes that have torn at the US’s eastern coastline.
小题1:It can be inferred that__________ is one of the policymakers who believe that humans are not to blame for global warming.| A．Katrina | B．Rick Perry | C．Flossie | D．Sandy |
小题2:350.org has launched the campaign with the real purpose of _________________.| A．changing the ways of naming hurricanes | | B．introducing the methods of naming hurricanes | | C．reminding policymakers to change their attitudes | | D．calling attention to the coming report on global warming |
小题3:The draft of the global warming report tells us that _____________.| A．global warming is speeding up at the same rate | | B．it is human beings that have caused global warming | | C．the new report has a more accurate data than the one in 2007 | | D．human beings are not the only one to blame for global warming |
小题4:The writer of the passage seems to believe that______________. | A．policymakers should be blamed for the global warming | | B．the campaign will cause the change of naming hurricanes | | C．global warming has no necessary relation to terrible hurricanes | | D．global warming will surely cause terrible super storms in the future |
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The only survivor of one of the two Sandy Hook Elementary School first-grade classrooms where Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children tricked the gunman by playing dead，the girl’s pastor(牧师)said.
“She ran out of the school building covered from head to toe with blood and the first thing she said to her mom was,“Mommy，I’m OK but all my friends are dead” Pastor Jim Solomon told ABC News’ Lara Spencer this weekend
“Somehow，at that moment, by God’s grace，she was able to act as she was already dead.”he said.
The girl, a 6-year-old whose name is not being announced for privacy(隐私)reasons，was the first student to appear from the lockdown(封锁)at Sandy Hook，Solomon said．He said the young girl described the shooter to her mom in a way that only a young child can．
“Well, she saw someone who she felt was angry and someone she felt was very mad，”Solomon said. “I think it"s impossible without the help of God. She has wisdom beyond her years, for sure’’
Of the 20 children killed on Friday in the Newtown，Conn., school, eight were boys and l2 were girls Six staff members，all female, were also killed. The gunman,whose mother was also killed by him before he went to the schoo1 classrooms, was found dead at the present spot.
“The mom told me—and I thought this was very insightful(有深刻见解的)—that she was suffering from what she felt was survivor’s guilt because so many of her friends no longer have their children but she has hers,” Solomon said how the girl’s mother and father are handling the trauma(伤害)．“I don’t know whether l would have the type of faith that they have if the same thing happened to me.”
小题1:How did the girl manage to avoid being shot?| A．She pretended to be dead | | B．She hid herself under the desk | | C．She rushed out of the school building in time | | D．She persuaded the shooter into not shooting her． |
小题2:Which of the following best describes the girl ?| A．Talented and innocent | B．Serious and insightful | | C．Active and happy | D．Clever and brave |
小题3:The killing case which happened in Sandy Hook Elementary School .| A．ended up with the shooter being killed | | B．was a shooting by a group of people | | C．was due to the gunman getting angry with the pupils | | D．was not open to the public for the moment |
小题4:Which of the following is TRUE about the girl’s mom?| A．She was disappointed with the pastor | | B．She felt very dissatisfied with other parents | | C．She felt terribly sorry for those who had lost their children | | D．She strongly condemned the police． |
小题5:What can we know from the text?| A．It is not difficult for the parents to handle the trauma. | | B．The girl’s parents have asked for help from their pastor． | | C．The girl has helped the police in catching the gunman. | | D．The gunman has worked in the school. |
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In 2016, athletes from around the world will compete for gold medals in the Summer Olympics. Even though the games are three years away, Brazil’s residents already feel like winners.
The nation was named to host this important sporting event in October,2009. It will be the first Olympics held in South America.
The games will take place in Rio de Janeiro. The city beat out three other sites, Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago, to host the event. When the International Olympic Committee chose Rio de Janeiro, cheering people flooded the city’s streets. “This is huge for Rio and for the whole country,” says resident Sueli Ferreira.
The Olympics are expected to attract tens of thousands of people. Brazilian officials have already started to prepare for the crowds. “ We know what we need to do,” explains Brazil’s president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. “ The words from now on are work, work and work.”
Officials want to fix up local sports centers before Rio de Janeiro steps into the spotlight. They also want to reduce the amount of crime.
They hope hosting the games will improve life in Brazil. About 30 percent of people there live in poverty, or poor conditions. Tourism during the Olympics is expected to create more than 2 million jobs.
“ It’s going to be good for the economy, good for the people,” Ferreira says. “ This gives us hope that things will be better here.”
小题1:According to the passage, the 2016 Olympics will be held in ______.| A．Europe | B．Asia | C．North America | D．South America |
小题2:The feeling of Brazilians can be described as _________.| A．proud | B．surprised | C．worried | D．nervous |
小题3:The underlined word “flooded” in Para.3 means_______| A．crossed | B．filled | C．visited | D．cleaned |
小题4:According to Brazil’s president, we can know________.| A．the government needs help from the Brazilian public | | B．the government will begin to prepare for the Olympics soon | | C．Brazilian officials will try hard to prepare for the Olympics | | D．Brazilian official are now too busy to prepare for the Olympics |
小题5:We can learn from the last two paragraphs that___________.| A．Brazilians’ life will be better because of the Olympics | | B．not all Brazilians are interested in the Olympics | | C．most Brazilians are now living in poor conditions | | D．Brazilians worry about losing jobs during the Olympics |
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According to an English newspaper, scientists could begin cloning human embryos in Britain in 2001. It is understood that the government has already agreed to use Frankenstein’s technology, believing the benefits are more important than ethical （伦理的）concerns .Researchers think it will be possible to grow brain tissue to cure the diseases that are likely to get worse as time passes like Alzheimer’s , and produce “spare part” organs like hearts and kidneys for transplant （移植）.
Ministers are aware that the change in the law will be as controversial as the law which legalized abortion (堕胎）more than 30 years ago. Some politicians reacted angrily , arguing that the government had already made up its mind without discussion. Church leaders and anti-abortion campaigners have long expressed their horror at the plans, arguing that even the earliest embryos are forms of human life.They believe that getting an embryo from cells is morally unacceptable . And it will also cause arguments about how far scientists should interfere with nature and lead to accusations that they are “playing God”.
The cloning of human embryos to provide spare parts is regarded by most experts to be the most important step forward in the 21st century medicine. Scientists say treatment of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s will be the first application of cloning. The ability to clone embryos was first achieved by scientists in Scotland in the late 1990s and now the ability to grow stem cells into tissues and organs is being developed by American researchers. Combining the two technologies will mean an end to long waits for organs from donors and problems caused by rejection (排异反应） of transplanted tissues by the body.
Ian Wilmut, the man who cloned Dolly the sheep, has warned that British experts will go to America, where such work is legal, if the government does not permit it.
小题1:The government has decided to allow scientists to clone human embryos because they think that ____. | A．Frankenstein’s technology is advanced | | B．Its advantages are more important than its disadvantages | | C．Diseases like Alzheimer’s are a serious problem in their country | | D．They can make a lot of money from it |
小题2:The underlined word “they”in Paragraph 2 refers to ______. | A．Ministers | B．Scientists | | C．Church leaders | D．Anti-abortion campaigners |
小题3:Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?| A．Most experts think that the cloning of human embryos is beneficial. | | B．Politicians were in favour of the government’s decision. | | C．It is legal for scientists to clone embryos in America now. | | D．American researchers are developing the ability to grow stem cells into tissues and organs. |
小题4:What’s the best title for this passage ?| A．Science of cloning. | | B．Cloning and abortion | | C．Cloning human embryos | | D．the argument between politicians and scientists |
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