Question

Brenda Linson never goes anywhere without an empty spectacles case. It is as vital to her as her purse. Yet, she doesn’t wear glasses. The reason she cannot do without it is that she cannot read and she cannot write. If ever she gets into any situation where she might be expected to do either of these things, she fishes around in her bag for the spectacles case, finds it’s empty, and asks the person concerned to do the reading for her. Until a few months ago hardly anybody knew about her problem. Her husband didn’t know and her children didn’t know. The children still don’t.

She had many tactics for hiding her difficult—for example, never lingering near a phone at work, in case she had to answer it and might be required to write something down.

It has never occurred to the children that their mother cannot read. She doesn’t read them stories, but then their father doesn’t either, so they find nothing surprising in the fact. Similarly they just accept that Dad is the one who writes the sick notes and reads the school reports. Now that the elder boy Tom is quite a proficient reader, Brenda can skillfully get him to read any notes brought home from school simply by asking,“What’s that all about, then?”

Brenda’s husband never guessed the truth in ten years of marriage. For one thing, he insists on handling all domestic correspondence and bills himself. A salesman for a large company, he travels a great deal and so is not around so much to spot the truth. While he’s away Brenda cores with any situations by explaining that she cannot do anything until she’s discussed it with her husband.

Brenda was very successful in her job until recently. For the last five years she had worked as waitress at an expensive restaurant, and had eventually been promoted to head waitress. She kept the thing a secret there too, and got over the practical difficulties somehow.

1. Brenda’s children have never found out about her problem as__________.

A. she isn’t often at home.

B. they are too young to guess the truth.

C. they find it normal to ask their father for everything.

D. they think it natural that short-sighted people like their mother don’t do much reading or writing.

2.What most probably made Brenda try hard to hide her difficulty?

A. Her desire to be successful in her job.          

B. Her fear of losing face.

C. Her deceitful nature.                        

D. Both A and B.

3.Of the following suggested titles, which is the most appropriate?

A. Brenda and Her Family                    

B. A Woman Who Doesn’t Wear Glasses

C. A Woman with an Empty Spectacles Case      

D. The Miserable Life of a Waitress

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.D

3.C

【解析】

試題分析：Brenda Linson 是一個(gè)很聰明的人，她不識(shí)字，所以不會(huì)看書，也不會(huì)寫字。但她確通過巧妙的辦法掩飾了過去。后面就將她如果掩飾。比如帶一個(gè)沒有眼鏡的眼鏡盒，如果自己想知道什么，或者被別人要求要看什么，讀什么。她就會(huì)說自己忘帶眼鏡了，讓自己的大兒子幫她給孩子讀東西。她的丈夫處理家里平常的賬單，和家里的所有來信。

1.細(xì)節(jié)題：從第三段的句子：It has never occurred to the children that their mother cannot read. She doesn’t read them stories, but then their father doesn’t either, so they find nothing surprising in the fact. Similarly they just accept that Dad is the one who writes the sick notes and reads the school reports. 可知孩子們沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)她的問題，因?yàn)樗麄冋J(rèn)為讓爸爸做這些事情很正常，選C

2.推理題：從第一段的句子：可知她隱瞞自己不識(shí)字的情況是怕失面子。從最后一段的句子：Brenda was very successful in her job until recently.可知她這么做是為了工作上的成功，所以答案是D

3.標(biāo)題確定題：從文章第一段的句子：Brenda Linson never goes anywhere without an empty spectacles case.可知Brenda Linson 是到任何地方都帶空眼鏡盒的婦女，這樣做是為了隱瞞她不識(shí)字的真相，所以用A Woman with an Empty Spectacles Case比較合適，而且有點(diǎn)懸念的意思，選C

考點(diǎn)：考查故事類短文