2017年职称英语《综合类》阅读理解练习题(1)

　　The Beginning of American Literature

　　American has always been a land of beginnings. After Europeans “ discovered” America in the fifteenth century, the mysterious New World became for many people a genuine hope of a new life, an escape from poverty and persecution, a chance to start again. We can say that, as nation, America begins with that hope. When, however, does American literature begin?

　　American literature begins with American experiences. Long before the first colonists arrived, before Christopher Columbus, before the Northmen who found America about year 1,000, Native Americans lived here. Each tribe's literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land. Another kind of experience, one filled with fear and excitement, found its expression in the reports that Columbus and other explorers sent home in Spain, French and English. In addition, the journals of the people who lived and died in the New England wilderness' tell unforgettable tales of hard end sometimes heartbreaking experiences of those early years.

　　Experience, then, is the key to early American literature. The New World provided a great variety of experiences, and experiences demanded a wide variety of expressions by an even wider variety of early American writers. These writers included John Smith, who spent only two-and-a-half year: on the American, continent. They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd，who thought of themselves as British subjects, never suspecting a revolution that would create a United States of America with a literature of its own. American Indians, explorers,

　　Puritan ministers, frontier wives, plantation owner一they are all the creators of the first American literature.

　　词汇：

　　colonist 殖民者 subject 臣民 Puritan 清教徒的

　　注释：

　　1.Christopher Columbus：克里斯托弗·哥伦布，美洲新大陆的发现者

　　2.Each tribe's literature was tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land：每个部落的文学都紧密地交织到日常生活的架构中去，反映了和土地密切相连的确凿无疑的美洲生活经历。

　　3.New England wilderness：新英格兰的荒原，新英格兰指如今美国东北部的几个州，为来自欧洲的殖民者最早定居的地区。

　　练习：

　　1) What does “that hope”in the first paragraph refer to?

　　A)The hope that America would be discovered.

　　B) The hope to start a life.

　　C) The hope to see the mysteries of the New World.

　　D) The hope to find poverty here.

　　2. When did American literature begin?

　　A) Before the American natives lived there.

　　B) When Columbus and other explorers gent reports back home..

　　C) When tire Northmen found America in about 1,000.

　　D) Long before the year 1,000.

　　3. What can we learn from the literature of the tribes of the native Americans?

　　A) About the everyday fife of the native Americans.

　　B) About the arrival of Columbus

　　C) About the experience of the first European settlers

　　D) About the experience of those who died in the New England wilderness.

　　4. The main purpose of the last paragraph is to tell the readers that

　　A) in the early days most American writers were from Great Britain.

　　B) people with rich life experience became writers.

　　C) there were many writers in the early days of American history

　　D) early-day experience provided the foundation for American literature.

　　5. According to the last paragraph, which of the following statements is true about America literature?

　　A) Some British writers started American literature.，

　　B) Early-day American literature is a reflection of the boring life then.

　　C) Some British writers had doubts about the future of American literature.

　　D) Some British writers had great confidence in the future of American literature.

　　参考答案：

　　1.B.这里的that hope就是指上一句中的 a genuine hope of a new life。

　　2.D. 答案在第二段的第二句。早在1000年北欧人声称发现了美洲大陆之前，这块土地上就有美洲印第安人居住，美洲文学早在那时就已经产生。

　　3.A.答案在第二段的第三句。从美洲土著部落的文学中，我们可以找到他们日常生活的写照。

　　4.D.这一段的第一句是本段的主题句，而D则是主题句的释义。

　　5.D. 本题答案的依据是下面的这句话：They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd，who thought of themselves as British subjects, never suspecting a revolution that would create a United States of America with a literature of its own.这两位自认为是大英帝国臣民的英国作家对一场将会创造出一个拥有自己文学的美利坚合众国的革命从来没有任何怀疑。

　　译文：美洲文学的开端

　　美洲一直是一个充满新开端的地方。15世纪欧洲发现美洲之后这个神奇的新世界给很多人提供了真正的新生活的希望，让他们远离贫穷和迫害，开始一次新生。我们可以说美国是在这种对新生活的美好愿望中诞生的。那么美洲文学是何时开始的呢?

　　美洲文学是在美洲生活经历中产生的。早在第一个殖民者踏上美洲大陆之前，在哥伦布到达这里之前，甚至1 000年北欧人声称发现了美洲之前，这块土地上就有美洲印第安人居住。每个部落的文学都紧密地交织到日常生活的构架中去，反映了和土地密切相连的确凿无疑的美洲生活经历。另一种美洲经历是充满恐惧又令人兴奋的哥伦布及其他探险家带回家乡的用西班牙语，法语和英语成的报告。另外还有一些新英格兰荒原-上生活的人在日记中记载了早时那难忘的困苦以及有时让人心痛的经历。

　　美洲的生活经历是美洲早期文学产生的关键因素。这个新世界给人们提供了各种各样的生活经历，这就需要大量的美洲早期文学家用各种各样的方式来描述美洲生活。这些文学家包括仅在美洲居住两年半的约翰?史密斯，还有约翰逊?爱德华和维廉姆?白伊德。这两位自认为是大英帝国臣民的英国作家对一场将会创造出一个拥有自己文学的美利坚合众国的革命从来没有任何怀疑。不管是美洲印第安人，探险家，还是清教徒，新派妻子，农场主等等，他们都是最初美洲文学的创造者。