题目内容
Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy(遗产) was far greater that just “great-literature”. February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A White Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas” - not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today. In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day-unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off. Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth-“home enjoyments, affections and hopes”. In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickens” poverty
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian London. He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy(官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about poverty in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”.
63. The article is mainly about .
A. a brief introduction to Charles Dickens’
B. the characters in Charles Dickens’ stories
C. Charles Dickens’ impact(影响力) on the world
D. Charles Dickens’ achievements in literature
64. Why is Dickens’ called “the man who invented Christmas”?
A. Because he created both religious and culture festival.
B. Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations.
C. Because his novels have something to do with Christmas.
D. Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas.
65. We can learn from the passage that .
A. Charles Dickens’ novels reflect(反映) the true life at his age
B. Dickensian is widely used to describe the Christmas
C. Every person can take three days off for Christmas
D. The theme of Charles Dickens’ stories is about poverty
66. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Dickens gave the modern world six things.
B. Dickens is still popular today in Britain.
C. Dickens invented Christmas
D. Agreements made by the underclass of society
CBAB
Common sense would tell us that physically active children may be more likely to become active and healthy adults.
In the United States, elementary and middle schools are advised to give students two and a half hours of physical activity a week. That is what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Heart Association recommend. They say high schools should provide about four hours of physical activity each week.
Yet many schools across the country have reduced their physical education programs. Just this week, a study reported that life expectancy has fallen or is no longer increasing in some parts of the United States. The situation is worst among poor people in the southern states, and especially women. Public health researchers say it is largely the result of increases in fatness, smoking and high blood pressure. They also blame differences in health services around the country.
In 2006, a study found that only four percent of primary schools provided daily physical education all year for all grades. This was true of eight percent of middle schools and two percent of high schools. The study also found that twenty-two percent of all schools did not require students to take any P.E.
Charlene Burgeson , a health expert says one problem for P.E. teachers is that schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects. Also, parents may agree that children need exercise in school. Yet many parents today still have bad memories of being chosen last for teams because teachers favored the good athletes in class.
But experts say P.E. classes have changed. They say the goal has moved away from competition and toward personal performance, as a way to build a lifetime of activity. These days, teachers often lead activities like weight training and yoga.
Some parents like the idea of avoiding competitive sports in P.E. class. Yet others surely dislike that idea. In the end, schools may find themselves in a no-win situation.
1. The underlined word “expectancy” in Paragraph 3 probably means “ ”
A.quality |
B.length |
C.exception |
D.depth |
2.According to the passage which of the following may not lead to poor health?
A.Fatness. |
B.Smoking |
C.High blood pressure. |
D.Health service |
3. What can be inferred after you read this passage?
A.Physical activities are becoming more and more popular in American schools. |
B.All the schools provided daily physical education all year for all students. |
C.Parents think children need physical education for their bad memories. |
D.Students spent less time on physical education for academic pressure. |
4. What is the main idea about this passage?
A.P.E. is the most important subject for all students. |
B.P.E has changed its goal for some reasons in America. |
C.It introduces us the present situation of P.E in American schools and its cause. |
D.P.E can help students improve their academic subjects. |