A Book Review—The Snake-Stone by Berlie Doherty
The setting: Urban England (the cities), but also rural England (the countryside) including remote English villages.
The theme: The main theme is a teenage research of self-discovery, in this case the search for a mother from whom the hero was separated at an early age.Its other concerns are love, getting on with others, being persistent and courageous and trying to deal with doubts, troubles and worries.As the book moves to a close, James’ swimming coach says to him: “You are not like a kid obeying instructions any more.You are diving like a young man who knows where he is going.”
The characters: James is the hero of the story.He is a championship diver, and has a comfortable life with his foster parents (养父母).Yet he also has the qualities to take him on a long journey to find his birth mother.The other characters in The Snake-Stone, James’ parents, his diving instructor, best friend, the villagers, people he meets on his journey, are pictured realistically.
The turning point: The turning point in the story comes while James’ foster parents are away in London, and he wonders about the identity of his birth mother.The only clue he has is a fossil, “the snake stone” which she left behind along with a note on which she had written: “Take good care of Sammie.It was written on a torn envelope with parts of an address still there.
The journey: Instead of going to London, James decides to find his birth mother.With help from his geography teacher, James sets out for the remote country village where his mother might be found.James has painful, challenging, but also humorous and happy travels.The mother he finally meets, Anne, has a minor yet powerful voice in the novel.He comes to understand why she left him at a stranger’s door fifteen years before.Although the meeting is not long, it leaves him with a feeling of completeness.As a journey of self-discovery The Snake-Stone also provides its readers with a happy ending.Its hero says, on returning to his foster parents, “I was home.”
【小题1】What is the main theme of the novel?

A.A journey of self-discovery.
B.Life in the world of diving.
C.Life with foster parents.
D.A travel around the country.
【小题2】 What do the coach’s words in Paragraph 2 suggest?
A.James is a successful diver.
B.James is an independent young man.
C.James is an outgoing young man.
D.James is a hopeful swimmer.
【小题3】 The snake stone in the novel is        
A.a stone with an address on it
B.a gift from the swimming coach
C.a clue left by the birth mother
D.a fossil left by the foster parents
【小题4】Which of the following is true about the novel?
A.The story has a sad ending.
B.The story takes place in the city of London.
C.The characters are vividly described.
D.The turning point comes after the hero meets his birth mother.
【小题5】It can be concluded that James’ journey is _________.
A.disappointingB.boring
C.comfortableD.worthwhile

My husband and son took a New York-to-Milwaukee flight that was supposed to leave Friday at 11:29 am. The flight boarded after 4 pm and didn’t leave the gate until 4:40, and half an hour later the pilot announced it would be another hour until takeoff. At that point a Jewish family, worried about violating the Sabbath (安息日), asked to get off. Going back to the gate cost the plane its place in line for takeoff, and the flight was eventually cancelled. Was the airline right to grant that request?
M. W, Norwalk, CONN.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Situations like that can bring out the worst in people. But despite the increasing resentment(怨恨) of a plane full of people, the pilot tried to do the right thing. He went out of his way to satisfy one family’s urgent need. He should not have done so.
Passengers bought tickets in the belief that the airline’s primary goal was to get them to their destination as close to the schedule as possible. Once they got on the plane and the doors are locked, it’s not correct to announce that the rules have changed and that a personal (as opposed to medical) emergency —no matter how urgent — might take precedence(优先).
That would be just as true if turning back to the gate had merely cost a few minutes rather than doomed the flight entirely, since on a plane, even a slight delay can spread outward, from the people in the cabin to those meeting them to the passengers waiting to board the plane for the next leg of its journey and so on. It would also be true if the personal emergency were not religious — if someone suddenly realized she’d made a professional mistake that might cost her millions, and she had to race back to the office to fix it.
If a religious practice does nothing to harm others, then airlines should make a reasonable effort to accommodate it. Though that family has every right to observe the Sabbath, it has no right to enlist an airplane full of captive bystanders to help them do so. By boarding a flight on a Friday afternoon, the family knowingly risked running into trouble. The risk was theirs alone to bear.
【小题1】M. W. wrote the letter to ask whether ______.

A.Any religious passenger has the right to ask the pilot to take off
B.The airline has the right to cancel the flight without any reason
C.A flight should meet any passenger’s need despite others’ benefit
D.A plane which has left the gate should give up taking off
【小题2】What do we know from the reply letter?
A.The pilot did the right thing in spite of the fierce resentment.
B.The plane should turn back if anyone aboard is seriously ill.
C.Anybody who has boarded has no chance to get off the plane.
D.Any flight shouldn’t change its schedule no matter what has happened.
【小题3】What does the underlined part in Paragraph 4 mean?
A.Turning back to the gate usually takes a plane quite a long time.
B.Nobody should take precedence to require the plane to turn back to the gate.
C.Even if it had taken a few minutes it was not right to turn back to the gate.
D.It was OK if turning back to the gate hadn’t caused the flight to be cancelled.
【小题4】The author of the reply letter thinks that _________.
A.It’s right for the plane to turn back to the gate to save a passenger’s treasure
B.The Jewish family should give up observing the Sabbath after boarding
C.The biggest problem of turning back is to bring trouble to the pilot
D.The Jewish family had better avoid boarding on Friday afternoon

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网