Question

When the seventeenth-century settlers brought the English language to America, they immediately and necessarily began to adapt (使適應(yīng)) it to their new environment. These changes were early and criticized by some people on both sides of the Atlantic. However, after the Revolution, Americans began to be proud of their own form of English. Noah Webster was the major early supporter of American meanings and spellings over British ones and published the earliest American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. During the years since Webster, language differences have continued to develop, proving (證明) the truth of George Bernard Shaw’s often-repeated words that the two nations are “divided by a common language”.

Like the American language, the earliest American literature (文學(xué)) copied English models. However, after the Revolution and the War of 1812, writers began to create a clear American literature. However, in 1820, Sydney Smith asked the famous question “Who reads an American book?”

Answering to this and similar taunts (諷刺) with creative anger, American writers soon produced works that plenty of British people read. Works by Washing-ton Irving, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain had been acclaimed greatly in Britain by the end of the nineteenth century.

Even as American writers got respect in Britain, British writers continued to have great influence in America. Charles Dickens went to America twice, in 1842 and 1867-68. Other major British writers who traveled and lived in the United States include D.H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. British best works continue to be widely read. The works of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen became popular films.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, many books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (繼承) of the shared language.

1.The author of this passage seems to think ______.

A. British English is better than American English

B. American English is better than British English

C. the same language has divided the two nations

D. the same language has connected the two nations

2.From the question asked by Sydney Smith, we can infer ______.

A. the British looked down upon American books at first

B. the British found American books difficult to understand

C. the British thought highly of books written by Americans

D. the British had to translate American books into English ones

3.The underlined word “acclaimed” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.

A. sold B. discussed

C. welcomed D. refused

4.What made it possible for books and writers to cross the Atlantic in both directions?

A. The War of 1812. B. The American Revolution.

C. The language differences. D. The common language.

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.D

【解析】

試題解析：這是一篇說明文。文章講的是自從十七世紀(jì)一些居民將英語帶到美洲后，很快適應(yīng)了美洲的環(huán)境，但是美國在獨立戰(zhàn)爭之后，試圖逐漸脫離英國語言文化的影響，開始形成了自己有特色的語言和文學(xué)，但是英語文化始終對美洲的語言產(chǎn)生有很大的影響，現(xiàn)在兩者之間相互交流，共同發(fā)展。

1.推斷分析題。Seem是推理題的標(biāo)志詞，考查對文章主旨的把握，從“the two nations are “divided by a common language”意為“這兩個國家被同一種語言分開，可以選出答案D。

2.nfer也是推理題的標(biāo)志詞。從文章二段“Who reads an American book?”（誰會讀美國的書？）這一反問句，由此可推測出答案為A.

3.從第四段第一句Even as American writers got respect in Britain反推，把單詞放到句子中理解可以看出應(yīng)該是“受到贊揚的，很受歡迎的”意思，美國作家受到英國人的尊重，經(jīng)過對比，可以選出正確選項。A“賣”B“討論”C“歡迎”D“拒絕”所以答案應(yīng)該為C

4. books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (繼承) of the shared”意為“很多作品和作者仍不斷從各個方面穿越大西洋進(jìn)行交流，使共享的文化得以繼承而變得可能”可以看出。

考點：考察說明文閱讀。