题目内容
In Twain, many people know what a “motorpool” means．It is 1 known as a place for the maintenance of official business and government cars． 2 it is a place for vehicle maintenance.
More than ten years ago I came to America on business and I took advantage of the 3 to visit my friend．My friend drove a car to 4 me at the airport, and took me to his home．Out of the 5 , my friend drove his car into the innermost 6 , which had a sign “carpool only”．I 7 what “carpool” meant．I felt doubted whether he was going to a motorpool． 8 I thought myself clever in asking:
“Is there anything wrong with the car?”
“Nothing． 9 ?”said he.
“Well then, why are you going to carpool?” I 10 .
My friend couldn’t help 11 and told me that “carpool” refers to the lane that only the cars with two or more 12 can drive in．I felt rather 13 on hearing that.
After dinner, my friend’s neighbour came over to ask whether he 14 “carpool” the next day．“ 15 ，”my friend said “I will accompany my friend to go shopping tomorrow.” I was 16 again, wondering why he could not “carpool” with him since we had “carpooled” today．My friend explained to me again that the “carpool” that his neighbour 17 meant they in turn drove the car to work so as to save 18 ．The first “carpool” is a noun, 19 the second “carpool” is a verb．It is really 20 for newcomers in America to understand it in a short time.
1．A．commonly B．probably C．partly D．simply
2．A．In general B．In particular C．After all D．Above all
3．A．break B．time C．chance D．place
4．A．watch B．help C．meet D．catch
5．A．sight B．airport C．kindness D．plane
6．A．line B．lane C．range D．route
7．A．wondered B．knew C．understood D．learned
8．A．For B．Thus C．Then D．Though
9．A．How B．What C．Why D．Where
10．A．reminded B．responded C．explained D．judged
11．A．thinking B．talking C．laughing D．showing
12．A．passengers B．drivers C．kids D．ladies
13．A．surprised B．excited C．annoyed D．embarrassed
14．A．needed B．could C．should D．would
15．A．Sure B．Sorry C．Pardon D．Good
16．A．upset B．doubtful C．confused D．worried
17．A．used B．insisted C．learned D．provided
18． A．energy B．time C．money D．gas
19．A．as B．so C．while D．for
20．A．interesting B．difficult C．important D．necessary
1—5 AACCB 6—10 BABCB 11—15 CADBB 16—20 CAACB
Mark Twain is a name not usually connected with Broadway(百老汇), but now his play “Is He Dead” will receive its first public performance on November 29.
“Is He Dead” was written by Mark Twain in 1898 but was never performed. It was rediscovered in 2002 by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, an English professor and director of the American Studies Program at Stanford University. It was published the following year by the University of California Press.
The story is about a group of poor artists who fake the death of their friend in order to increase the value of his work.
“Is He Dead” is set in France in the 1840s and centers on the French painter Jean-Francois Millet. “Millet was probably the most popular European painter in the United States in Twain’s lifetime,” Fishkin said in a telephone interview. “Americans greatly admired him because he focused on the life of the common man and the common woman.”
According to Fishkin, “Is He Dead” is a satire(讽刺) about how value is created in the art world. Twain wrote the play when he was coming out of the hardest time of his life.
【小题1】What’s “Is He Dead” about?
| A．The death of a poor artist in the 1840s. |
| B．A trick played by a group of poor artists. |
| C．A story about the French painter Jean-Francois Millet. |
| D．An experience Mark Twain had gone through. |
| A．the play was one of Mark Twain’s early works |
| B．no one knew the play until 2002 |
| C．Fishkin is an expert on Mark Twain’s works |
| D．the play was published in 2002 |
| A．he was a famous French painter at that time |
| B．he focused on the life of ordinary Americans |
| C．his works showed respect for ordinary people |
| D．Mark Twain agreed on his thoughts |
| A．had experienced several difficult times for no money |
| B．was a good novelist but a bad playwright(剧作家) |
| C．was a writer who only cared about ordinary people’s life |
| D．was dissatisfied with some methods of creating the value of art work |
Many of the stories written by Mark Twain take place in Hannibal, Missouri. The small wooden house where he lived as a boy still stands there. Next to the house is a wooden fence. It is the kind described in Twain's book, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," published in1876.
In that story, Tom has been told to paint the fence. He does not want to do it. But he acts as if the job is great fun. He tricks other boys into believing this. His trick is so successful that they agree to pay him money to let them finish his work. "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" is considered one of the best books about an American boy's life in THE the1800s.
Tom Sawyer's good friend is Huckleberry, or "Huck," Finn. Mark Twain tells this boy's story in "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Huck is a poor child, without a mother or home. His father drinks too much alcohol and beats him.
Huck's situation has freed him from the restrictions of society. He explores in the woods and goes fishing. He stays out all night and does not go to school. He smokes tobacco.
Huck runs away from home. He meets Jim, a black man who has escaped from slavery. They travel together on a raft made of wood down the Mississippi River. Huck describes the trip: "It was lovely to live on the raft. Other places seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft... Sometimes we'd have that whole river to ourselves for the longest time... We had the sky up there, all speckled with stars, and we used to lay on our backs and look up at them---. “
【小题1】From the second paragraph we learn Tom Sawyer is a ______ boy.
| A．kind | B．smart | C．clumsy | D．honest |
| A．his family is poor | B．he wants to find a friend live with |
| C．there’s no warn in his home | D．he loves nature and likes to adventure |
| A．limits | B．prohibition | C．forces | D．rules |
| A．Huck made the raft by himself | B．Huck could eat fresh food here |
| C．Huck could have the river there | D．Huck likes to be free |
| A．completely imaginary | B．according Mark Twain’s experiences |
| C．Mark Twain’s autobiography(自传) | D．records from his last generation |