_______71_______ It is a very happy day for many boys and girls. Before the term ends in some schools, the children act a nativity (基督诞生) or "birth" play, showing how Jesus was born in a stable.（马棚）.
On the twenty-fourth of December, all children are very excited.______72____ The younger children think that Father Christmas will come down the chimney of fireplace, so they hang up a sock for him to put presents in. The greedy ones even hang up a pillowcase or a sack to try to get more presents.________73_____
On Christmas morning, the children wake up very early. Some even turn on the light at two o'clock, and most of them are awake by six o'clock although there is no light in England for another hour or two at this time of the year.
_____74______ At about one o'clock in the afternoon, the Christmas dinner is brought in._____75______ Children search in their Christmas pudding for new coins which are hidden in it. The rest of the day is full of games and eating until the happiness of all Christian holidays comes to an end.

_______71_______ It is a very happy day for many boys and girls. Before the term ends in some schools, the children act a nativity (基督诞生) or "birth" play, showing how Jesus was born in a stable.（马棚）.

On the twenty-fourth of December, all children are very excited.______72____ The younger children think that Father Christmas will come down the chimney of fireplace, so they hang up a sock for him to put presents in. The greedy ones even hang up a pillowcase or a sack to try to get more presents.________73_____

On Christmas morning, the children wake up very early. Some even turn on the light at two o'clock, and most of them are awake by six o'clock although there is no light in England for another hour or two at this time of the year.

_____74______ At about one o'clock in the afternoon, the Christmas dinner is brought in._____75______ Children search in their Christmas pudding for new coins which are hidden in it. The rest of the day is full of games and eating until the happiness of all Christian holidays comes to an end.

E. Later that night, Father or Mother will put presents in the sock, and leave others at the side of the bed.

F. Usually they are sent to bed early so that their parents can get the presents ready.

G. Christmas Day falls on the twenty-fifth of December.

Moreover, insofar as any interpretation of its author can be made from the five or six plays attributed to him, the Wake field Master is uniformly considered to be a man of sharp contemporary observation. He was, formally, perhaps clerically educated, as his Latin and music, his Biblical and patristic lore indicate. He is, still, celebrated mainly for his quick sympathy for the oppressed and forgotten man, his sharp eye for character, a ready ear for colloquial vernacular turns of speech and a humor alternately rude and boisterous, coarse and happy. Hence despite his conscious artistry as manifest in his feeling for intricate metrical and stanza forms, he is looked upon as a kind of medieval Steinbeck, indignantly angry at, uncompromisingly and even brutally realistic in presenting the plight of the agricultural poor.

Thus taking the play and the author together, it is mow fairly conventional to regard the former as a kind of ultimate point in the secularization of the medieval drama. Hence much emphasis on it as depicting realistically humble manners and pastoral life in the bleak hills of the West Riding of Yorkshire on a typically cold bight of December 24th. After what are often regarded as almost “documentaries” given in the three successive monologues of the three shepherds, critics go on to affirm that the realism is then intensified into a burlesque mock-treatment of the Nativity. Finally as a sort of epilogue or after-thought in deference to the Biblical origins of the materials, the play slides back into an atavistic mood of early innocent reverence. Actually, as we shall see, the final scene is not only the culminating scene but perhaps the raison d’etre of introductory “realism.”

There is much on the surface of the present play to support the conventional view of its mood of secular realism. All the same, the “realism” of the Wakefield Master is of a paradoxical turn. His wide knowledge of people, as well as books indicates no cloistered contemplative but one in close relation to his times. Still, that life was after all a predominantly religious one, a time which never neglected the belief that man was a rebellious and sinful creature in need of redemption, So deeply (one can hardly say “naively” of so sophisticated a writer) and implicitly religious is the Master that he is less able (or less willing) to present actual history realistically than is the author of the Brome “Abraham and Isaac”. His historical sense is even less realistic than that of Chaucer who just a few years before had done for his own time costume romances, such as The Knight’s Tale, Troilus and Cressida, etc. Moreover Chaucer had the excuse of highly romantic materials for taking liberties with history.

Which of the following statements about the Wakefield Master is NOT True?

[A]. He was Chaucer’s contemporary.

[B]. He is remembered as the author of five or six realistic plays.

[C]. He write like John Steinbeck.

[D]. HE was an accomplished artist.

By “patristic”, the author means

[A]. realistic. [B]. patriotic

[C]. superstitious. [C]. pertaining to the Christian Fathers.

The statement about the “secularization of the medieval drama” refers to the

[A]. introduction of mundane matters in religious plays.

[B]. presentation of erudite material.

[C]. use of contemporary introduction of religious themes in the early days.

In subsequent paragraphs, we may expect the writer of this passage to

[A]. justify his comparison with Steinbeck.

[B]. present a point of view which attack the thought of the second paragraph.

[C]. point out the anachronisms in the play.

[D]. discuss the works of Chaucer.

A boy walked along Carver Street, singing a sad song. He walked with his head down. Once he looked up and noticed the sign across the empty street, painted on the side of an old house. On the sign a big woman with yellow hair and a five-mile smile held out a big bottle. “Coca-Cola. Drink Coca-Cola.” the sign said.
“Boy!” The silence was cut by a sudden cry. He turned around quickly to see who had called.
An old woman was standing at her door.
“You boy! Come here this minute.”
Slowly the boy  1 onto the cold flat stones leading to the old woman's house. When he arrived at her house, she  2 out her hand and wrapped her  3 old fingers around his arm.
“Help me inside, boy,” she said. “Help me  4 to my bed. What's your name?”
“Joseph,” he said.
The old woman on the bed tried to  5 up, raising berselfon her elbow (肘) . Water  6 from her eyes and mouth. The sight of her made Joseph feel  7 .
“I'm   8 , Joseph. You can see that, can't you? I want you to write a will(遗嘱) for me. There's paper and pencil on the table there.”
Joseph looked down at the  9 , and then looked out of the window. He saw the sign again, “Coca-Cola. Drink Coca-Cola.  I want my silver pin to   10 to my daughter."
Joseph bent his small body over the table and  11 the pencil slowly across the paper.
“There's my Bible.(圣经)”The old woman said. “That's for my daughter, too. I want a  12  Christian burial (基督葬礼) with lots of singing. Write that down, too. That's the last - 13 of a poor old woman.”
The boy labored over the paper. Again he looked out of the window.
“Here. Bring it here so I can  14 it.”
Joseph found the Bible, and,  15  the paper inside, laid it next to the bed.
“  16 me now, boy,” she sighed(叹气).“I'm tired.”
He ran out of the house.
A cold wind blew through the  17 window, but the old woman on the bed
  18 nothing. She was dead. The paper in the Bible moved back and forth in the wind.  19 on the paper were some childish letters, which  20 the words, “Coca-Cola. Drink Coca-Cola.”

A boy walked along Carver Street, singing a sad song. He walked with his head down. Once he looked up and noticed the sign across the empty street, painted on the side of an old house. On the sign a big woman with yellow hair and a five-mile smile held out a big bottle. “Coca-Cola. Drink Coca-Cola,” the sign said.

“Boy!” the silence was cut by a sudden cry. He turned around quickly to see who had called.

An old woman was standing at her door.

“You boy! Come here this minute!”

Slowly the boy ___1___ onto the cold flat stones leading to the old woman’s house. When he arrived at her house, she ___2___ out her hand and wrapped(缠住) her ___3___ old fingers around his arm.

“Help me inside, boy”, she said, “Help me ___4___ to my bed. What’s your name?”

“Joseph,” he said.

The old woman on the bed tried to ___5___ up, raising herself on her elbow(肘). Water ___6___ from her eyes and mouth. The sight of her made Joseph feel ___7___.

“I am dying, Joseph. You can see that, can’t you? I want you to write a ___8___ for me. There’s paper and pencil on the table there.”

Joseph looked down at the ___9___, and then looked out the window. He saw the sign again: “Coca-Cola. Drink Coca-cola.”

“I want my silver pin to ___10___ to my daughter.”

Joseph bent his small body over the table and ___11___ the pencil slowly across the paper.

“There’s my Bible(圣经),” the old woman said. “That’s for my daughter, too. I want a ___12__ Christian burial(基督葬礼) with lots of singing. Write that down, too. That’s the last ___13__ of a poor old woman.”

The boy labored over the paper. Again he looked out the window.

“Here. Bring it here so I can ___14___ it.”

Joseph found the Bible, and ___15___the paper inside, laid it next to the bed.

“___16___ me now, boy,” she sighed. “I’m tired.”

He ran out of the house.

A cold wind blew through the ___17___ window, but the old woman on the bed ___18___ nothing. She was dead. The paper in the Bible moved back and forth in the wind. ___19___ on the paper were some childish letters. They ___20___ the words “Coca-Cola. Drink Coca-cola.”

1. A. rushed    B. struggled    C. hurried       D. stepped

2. A. reached  B. let      C. pushed       D. pointed

3. A. firm       B. smooth       C. dry     D. fresh

4. A. back       B. over    C. away   D. ahead

5. A. sit   B. get      C. stand   D. wake

6. A. rolled     B. burnt  C. burst   D. ran

7. A. ill   B. sick    C. unpleasant  D. funny

8. A. letter      B. note    C. will    D. message

9. A. table      B. pen     C. paper  D. woman

10. A. send     B. go      C. belong       D. come

11. A. moved  B. drew   C. used    D. pulled

12. A. great    B. merry C. splendid     D. real

13. A. hope     B. chance       C. opinion      D. wish

14. A. sign      B. read    C. remember   D. copy

15. A. setting  B. hiding C. placing       D. laying

16. A. Hold    B. Leave  C. Excuse       D. Pardon

17. A. large    B. open   C. small  D. pretty

18. A. did       B. saw     C. felt     D. knew

19. A. Described    B. Printed       C. Recorded    D. Written

20. A. formed B. spelled       C. organized   D. repeated