Question

【题目】Walt Disney is credited for creating such wonderful things as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse. However, he cannot take the credit for creating other well-loved characters, such as Cinderella and Snow White. They are almost automatically associated with Disney because Disney turned old fables(寓言) into cartoon movies.

The original Cinderella varies very much from the Disney version we know today. It started off with the girl mourning her mother’s death and going to her tomb three times a day. In addition, there were only birds that helped Cinderella; there was no such thing as a fairy godmother or helpful mice, nor was there mention of a horse and carriage.

The stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella’s food into the ashes of the fire and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence（因此）her name.

In the original story, the king’s ball actually lasted for three days. With the help of the birds, the girl, beautifully dressed, danced with the prince on all three nights and the prince fell in love with her. However, she broke away from him to rush back home each night. On the last night, the prince placed soothing sticky on the stairs; as Cinderella made her escape, a shoe got stuck on it.

Here now is where the story becomes unpleasant: when the prince went to the house looking for the girl whose foot fit the shoe, the wicked(邪恶的) stepmother told one of her two daughters to cut off her big toe to fit into the shoe. The daughter did as told. So the prince took her away to be his bride. But when they passed the tomb of Cinderella’s mother, the birds called out to the prince,

“Turn and peep, there’s blood in the shoe;

the shoe is too small, the true bride waits for you.”

Realizing he had been tricked, the prince returned the daughter to her mother. The other then had to cut off part of her heel in order to fit into the shoe, with the same result. Only Cinderella’s foot fit perfectly and so the prince chose to marry her. The story ends with the wedding day: as Cinderella’s two stepsisters followed her, pretending to be devoted to her so that they could enjoy the king’s riches, two birds flew by and plucked(啄) out their eyes. Because of their wickedness and falsehood, they had to spend the rest of their days blind.

The original Cinderella is so different from the Disney version. Thank goodness Disney made such changes; it indeed was a wise move.

【1】 What dose the underlined word “They” in the first paragraph refer to?

A. Such wonderful things.

B. Other well-loved characters.

C. Old fables.

D. Cartoon movies.

【2】 How did Cinderella get her name?

A. The Birds came up with it.

B. It was given by Disney.

C. It came from the word “ash”.

D. She got it from her mother.

【3】 Which of the following is TRUE according to the original story?

A. Helpful mice got Cinderella a beautiful dress.

B. The ball was held to celebrate the prince’s wedding.

C. Cinderella left her shoe on the stairs on purpose.

D. The birds told the prince that he had been cheated.

【4】 What does the author think of the Disney version?

A. Excellent.

B. Ordinary

C. Dull.

D. Ridiculous.

Answer 1

【答案】【1】 B

【2】 C

【3】 D

【4】 A

【解析】【1】 猜词题：前一句提到其他一些深受喜爱的角色不能归功于迪斯尼，所以“they”指的是其他一些深受喜爱的角色，故选B。

【2】细节题：根据 the stepsisters were cruel: they always threw Cinderella’s food into the ashes of the fire ,and made her sleep on the ashes on the floor, hence her name。可知选C。

【3】 细节题：根据第五段最后一句话the birds called out to the prince可知是小鸟们告诉王子，他被欺骗了，故选D。

【4】 推断题：根据全文最后一句话可知，作者认为迪斯尼版本的灰姑娘非常好，故选A。