Question

Robert Owen was born in Wales in 1771. At the age of ten he went to work. His employer had a large private library so Owen was able to educate himself. He read a lot in his spare time and at nineteen he was given the job of superintendent(監(jiān)工) at a Manchester cotton mill. He was so successful there that he persuaded his employer to buy the New Lanark mill in Scotland.

When he arrived at New Lanark it was a dirty little town with a population of 2,000 people. Nobody paid any attention to the workers' houses or their children's education. The conditions in the factories were very bad. There was a lot of crime and the men spent most of their wages on alcoholic drinks.

Owen improved the houses. He encouraged people to be clean and save money. He opened a shop and sold the workers cheap, well-made goods to help them. He limited the sale of alcoholic drinks. Above all, he fixed his mind on the children's education. In 1816, he opened the first free primary school in Britain.

People came from all over the country to visit Owen's factory. They saw that the workers were healthier and more efficient than in other towns. Their children were better fed and better educated. Owen tried the same experiment in the United States. He bought some land there in 1825,but the community was too far away. He could not keep it under control and lost most of his money.

Owen never stopped fighting for his idea. Above all he believed that people are not born good or bad. He was a practical man and his ideas were practical. "If you give people good working conditions," he thought, "they will work well and, the most important thing of all, if you give them the chance to learn, they will be better people."

1.For Owen, his greatest achievement in New Lanark was _____________.

A. improving worker's houses

B. helping people to save money

C. preventing men from getting drunk

D. providing the children with a good education

2.From the passage we may infer that Owen was born ___________.

A. into a rich family B. into a noble family

C. into a poor family D. into a middle class family

3.Owen's experiment in the United States failed because _______.

A. he lost all his money

B. he did not buy enough land

C. people who visited it were not impressed

D. it was too far away for him to organize it properly

4.We may infer form the passage that no children in Britain could enjoy free education until ____.

A. 1771    B. 1816    C. 1825    D. 1860

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.D

2.C

3.D

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文敘述了1771年出生于威爾士的Robert Owen一生的經歷。他10歲開始工作，因為老板有一個大圖書館，是他有機會在業(yè)余時間讀許多書。在他當上監(jiān)工之后，他又成功地全服老板買了位于蘇格蘭的新拉納克工廠。在那里他通過改善住房條件，提供孩子教育，鼓勵人們攢錢等方式，使人們過上了好日子。后來Owen在美國也做了同樣的實驗，但沒有成功。Owen從未停止過實踐他的理想，他堅信如果人們有好的條件，他們會很好地工作，最重要的是如果你給他們機會學習，他們會成為更出色的人才。

1.細節(jié)理解題。根據“Above all, he fixed his mind on the children's education. In 1816, he opened the first free primary school in Britain.”可知選D。

2.推理判斷題。根據“At the age of ten he went to work. His employer had a large private library so Owen was able to educate himself.”他10歲就去工作了，并且是靠老板家的圖書館自學的，可見他家很窮。故選C。

3.細節(jié)理解題。根據“He bought some land there in 1825,but the community was too far away. He could not keep it under control and lost most of his money.[”可知是因為那個地方離他太遠了，他無法控制，導致他損失了很多錢而沒有成功。故選D。

4.細節(jié)理解題。根據“In 1816, he opened the first free primary school in Britain.”在1816年之前英國沒有免費的小學。故選B。

考點：人物傳記類閱讀。