"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book Angela's Ashes, released in 1996.
This Irish American author best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Angela's Ashes that recorded his poor upbringing, died of cancer on Sunday, The New York Times reported. He was 78.
Born in New York City, he was the eldest of the seven children born to Irish immigrant parents. Angela's Ashes was a memoir(回忆录)that captured an irresponsible, drunkard(酒鬼)father with a gift for story-telling. When not drunk, his father was absent, turning his back on a family so poor, McCourt wrote, that they were reduced to burning the furniture in their rented hut to keep warm. His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family.
In Angela's Ashes, he wrote of hunger, a home flooded with rainwater and the unbearable humiliation(耻辱)of seeking handouts from charities in the Irish city. But he told the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted.
Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of 19 to return to New York City where he was born. He earned a degree in English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years. After retiring in 1987, he decided to write about his childhood. "Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors. Millions of copies of the book were sold worldwide and it was adapted into a 1999 movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle.
【小题1】In the first paragraph, by saying "The happy childhood is hardly worth your while", the writer really means that ________.
| A．a lot of readers don't deserve happy childhood |
| B．his childhood is not worth of others' sympathy |
| C．his childhood is mixed with happiness and misery |
| D．smooth childhood surely will not draw readers' attention |
| A．humorous and trustworthy |
| B．alcohol-addicted but loves his family |
| C．poor but warm-hearted |
| D．irresponsible but gifted in telling stories |
| A．This book is intended to show respect to McCourt’s father. |
| B．The author wrote the book in a sad and serious tone(语调). |
| C．The book enjoyed great popularity after it came out. |
| D．The author got two awards because of the book. |
| A．A brief introduction to Frank McCourt and one of his works. |
| B．A literary review(评论) on Frank McCourt's book. |
| C．An account of Frank McCourt's miserable childhood. |
| D．A comment on Frank McCourt's life experience. |
【小题1】D
【小题2】D
【小题3】C
【小题4】A
解析试题分析：这篇文章主要介绍了著名作家的家庭和不幸的童年生活以及他的文学创造和文学成就，中间穿插介绍了他的畅销书"Angela's Ashes"。
【小题1】句意理解题：从第一段的内容：The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. 可知这句话是写在他的自传体小说的开头的，意味着顺利的童年不会吸引读者的注意力的，选D。
【小题2】细节题：从第三段的句子：Angela's Ashes was a memoir(回忆录)that captured an irresponsible, drunkard(酒鬼)father with a gift for story-telling. 可知Frank McCourt'的爸爸是不负责任的，但是擅长讲故事，选D。
【小题3】推理题：从最后一段的句子："Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors. Millions of copies of the book were sold worldwide and it was adapted into a 1999 movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle. 可知"Angela's Ashes"一出版就大受欢迎，选C。
【小题4】主旨题：纵观全文可知这篇文章主要介绍了著名作家的不幸的童年生活和他的文学创造和文学成就，中间穿插介绍了他的畅销书"Angela's Ashes" ，选A
考点：考查人物传记类短文
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Nanjing-style paper cutting is an important part of Chinese paper cutting. It is known for its different designs, simplistic but graceful shapes, finely cut lines and unique skills. Zhang Fanglin is a leading figure in the Nanjing-style paper cutting. Zhang was born in a paper-cutting family. He is the fourth generation to continue the family’s paper-cutting skills. Taught by his father, he began to learn paper cutting in his childhood. In 1963 when he was only 14 years old, he started his artistic career in a local folk handicraft factory. Over the past decades, Zhang has created many works and developed excellent skills. In 1985, Zhang was admitted into Nanjing Municipal Fine Arts Company, creating and designing paper cuts. Throughout his artistic career, Zhang has absorbed characteristics and elements（元素）of various styles of paper cutting and created a large number of creative paper-cutting works. Thanks to his great contributions, he won many national prizes and was awarded the title of “National Master Artist in Handicraft Art”.
As a leading figure, Zhang Fanglin has been invited to more than 30 countries and regions around the world, showcasing his paper-cutting skills. In the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, Zhang showcased his new creations of gold foil-embedded paper cutting works.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Chinese paper cutting. | B．Nanjing-style paper cutting. |
| C．A paper cutting family. | D．A paper cutting artist. |
| A．36. | B．14. | C．22. | D．18. |
| A．Nanjing-style paper cutting is the most important part of Chinese paper cutting. |
| B．Zhang is a creative artist who knows different styles of paper cutting well. |
| C．Zhang won many international prizes because of his great contributions. |
| D．All the members of the family taught Zhang how to design paper cuts. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The centenary（百年）of the birth of William Faulkner, one of the great modern novelists, was celebrated in September 1997. Faulkner wrote about the southern states of the United States of America where he grew up, and where his family had an important part to play in the history of that region. His work became a touchstone for insights into the troubled issues of southern American identity, race relations, and the family interrelationships of the old time southern gentry(贵族).
Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi on September 25, 1897. Despite his interest in writing, he left Oxford High School, Mississippi, without graduating. After World War I, he entered the University of Mississippi as a special student, a right to study which was granted to retired soldiers, although Faulkner had only finished training with the Air Force in Canada, and not entered combat(战斗).
Faulkner began to write poems, a verse play, short stories and finished his first novel Sartoris in 1928. His fiction was centered for 14 of the 19 novels published during his lifetime in a fictional region called Yoknapatawpha County. The name is said to come from the Indian Chickasaw word meaning split land.
In December 1950, Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. When he accepted it in Stockholm, his speech emphasized that he wished to continue writing, but in a positive way that affirmed the power of humanity to prevail over adverse circumstances. As he said in his speech, he still felt that, despite the threat of nuclear war then hanging over the world, the central concern of the writer should be “the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself”. He wanted the tensions and problems that he had cast the spotlight on in the southern states of America to be resolved by the life-affirming attitudes and action of his characters. Like playwright Tennessee Williams, Faulkner was a major voice who spoke for the troubled heart of the southern states of America. His achievement is all the more remarkable because, as a schoolboy, he was not only a frequent absentee but also reportedly failed to reach pass grades in English class. His collected short stories, novels, poems, and other writings form a legacy( 遗产) of literature which casts profound illumination(启发) on the special culture of the South, a culture which developed from a history and social circumstances that were always unique.
From the focus on a fictional county, and by remaining true to his view of a close-knit but real society that reflected the greater world around him, Faulkner in the end fashioned a legend of the Deep South that is one of the major achievements of the 20th century literature.
【小题1】Which of the following statements about William Faulkner is NOT true？
| A．William Faulkner’s work focuses on several troubled problems of southern America. |
| B．William Faulkner died one hundred years ago. |
| C．Although William Faulkner did not graduate from high school, he had great interests in writing. |
| D．William Faulkner once took part in the army when he was young. |
| A．They were the place where he grew up and his family took an important role in the history of that region. |
| B．His work became a touchstone. |
| C．He cared about the troubled issues of southern America. |
| D．He felt sympathy for the poor in southern America. |
| A．Both Tennessee William and William Faulkner are playwrights. |
| B．Tennessee William was a major voice who spoke for the troubled people in southern America. |
| C．Like Faulkner, he once won Nobel Prize for literature. |
| D．Tennessee William had to pursue his writing career through difficult times. |
| A．He reflected them by writing and criticized them. |
| B．He intended to call on the troubled people to rebel. |
| C．The troubled issues of southern America just provided many elements for his novels. |
| D．He advocated resolving them in positive attitudes and actions. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 am. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.
I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak and elderly voice. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly towards the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It's nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”
“Oh, you are such a good man.” She said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“It's not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“Oh, I'm in no hurry,” she said. “I'm on my way to a hospice (临终医院). I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter (计价器).
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she'd ask me to slow down in front of a special building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
At dawn, she suddenly said, “I'm tired. Let's go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I owe you?” she asked.
“Nothing.” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers.” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”
【小题1】Why did the man help the old woman so much?
| A．He wanted to get more money from the old woman. |
| B．He was out of patience with the woman and wanted to leave quicker. |
| C．The old woman asked him to help. |
| D．He hoped others could also treated his old mother as well as he did. |
| A．show she was familiar with the city |
| B．see some places for the last time |
| C．let the driver earn more money |
| D．reach the destination on time |
| A．Excited. | B．Shocked. |
| C．Grateful. | D．Upset. |
| A．Giving is always a pleasure. |
| B．People should respect each other. |
| C．An act of kindness can bring people great joy. |
| D．People should learn to appreciate others' concern. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The worker I hired to repair my house had just finished a difficult first day on the job. A broken wheel made him an hour late; his ladder (梯子) fell down when he was painting the roof and now his old truck wouldn' t start. With each problem he shouted angrily, more at himself than at his things. As I drove him home, the man didn't say a word.
I tried talking to the man to kill time. I managed to find out that he had come up from Blue Hills in Victoria with his family six months ago to find a job. This was his first job since moving here. I now knew why his price was lower than any other worker I could find in the local newspaper. He really needed the job. His clothes told me as much.
On arriving, much to my surprise, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked through his front garden he suddenly stopped at a small tree and placed his hands on it. Then, when he opened the door he completely changed. Instead of his troubled face, there was now a warm smile, hugs for his two children and a kiss for his wife.
The following day, I asked him about the tree.
"That's my trouble tree," he answered. "Work troubles aren't welcome at home with my wife and the children. So I hang them on that tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again. "
"And you know what else?" he said smiling,"The next morning I find that there aren't as many as I remember hanging up the night before. "
【小题1】Which of the following things did NOT happen to the worker?
| A．His truck broke down. | B．He was late for work. |
| C．He fell onto the roof. | D．His ladder fell down. |
| A．Today. | B．Last night. |
| C．Six weeks ago. | D．Six months ago. |
| A．Through a newspaper. | B．Beside the trouble tree. |
| C．In his old house. | D．In Blue Hills, Victoria. |
| A．To get good luck, | B．To leave his trouble outside. |
| C．To send good wishes to his family. | D．To clean his hands. |
| A．Looking for a job can make trouble. |
| B．It is important to get to work on time. |
| C．Often our problems are worse than what we think. |
| D．A happy family can make many problems go away. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
By the age of almost four, Elijah Edney has never had a haircut in his life. But now he can ' t wait to visit the barber's - for two reasons: losing his two - foot - long golden hair will mean that strangers stop mistaking him for a girl; the hair will be donated to charity to provide a wig (假发) for a child with cancer.
Mrs. Edney, who works in a restaurant, says, "Elijah has always had beautiful hair, so I let him grow it as he w8nted. It' s like silk. But now it is at a stage where people mistake him for a girl and he wants it cut into a boy's haircut. "
Mrs. Edney and her husband want to collect enough money-£350-to process Elijah's hair for a sick child. She says, "I couldn't bear to see all Elijah's beautiful hair go to waste and my mum mentioned charities that have human hair made into wigs. "
Mrs. Edney says, "If we can raise the amount we want, it will mean a family will not have to pay for the wig and can receive it for free. When you've got children yourself, you hope that if they lost their hair someone would do the same for them by donating their hair. "
The two-foot-long hair will be donated to the Little Princess Trust (小公主信托基金) to make a wig for children suffering cancer. Elijah keeps telling people he is giving his hair to poor princesses and he is so excited about it.
A spokesman for the Little Princess Trust says, "We're very grateful to anyone who decides to have their hair cut to donate it to the Little Princess Trust. As a result of hair donations like this, the charity receives real-hair wigs for free to pass on to families whose children have sadly lost their own hair through cancer treatment. "
【小题1】Why has Mrs. Edney let Elijah's hair grow so long?
| A．Because Elijah has beautiful hair. |
| B．Because she likes long hair. |
| C．Because Elijah looks nice with long hair. |
| D．Because she wants to donate his hair to charity. |
| A． Elijah's father. | B． Elijah's mother. |
| C． Elijah himself. | D． Elijah's grandmother. |
| A．pay the barber for his work |
| B．process his hair into a wig |
| C．give the Little Princess Trust along with a wig |
| D．give a child who lost his hair through cancer treatment |
| A．He doesn't care about it. | B．He wants to keep it a secret. |
| C．He is excited about it. | D．He feels sad for poor children. |
| A．encourages people to cut their hair to donate it |
| B．welcomes and gives thanks for such donations |
| C．gives free wigs to children who have lost their hair |
| D．provides treatment for children with cancer |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
People think that writing short stories is easy because they are short. But in fact they are hard to write well. There are only a few writers of good short stories and the American writer O. Henry is one of them.
His real name was William Sydney Porter and he grew up in North Carolina. He was not very successful at school but he loved reading. When he was about twenty years old he left North Carolina and moved to Texas. He thought there would be more opportunities for work there. At first he worked on a newspaper but as this did not provide enough money he changed his job. He decided to work in a bank. All went well until some money went missing. William was believed to have stolen it and was sent to prison. Although this was a horrible experience it helped in one way because he realized that he could write well. William began writing short stories and O. Henry was born! When he left prison he began writing as a career and published many of his stories. They were mostly about the people that he met or he knew in New York and they had interesting or surprising endings. People enjoyed reading them. His life, however, was not a happy one. He drank too much and died in 1910 in New York but he left behind stories that are still read and enjoyed by millions of people.
【小题1】In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York. b. Worked in a bank.
c. Travelled to Texas. d. Was put in prison.
e. Had a newspaper job. f. Learned to write stories.
| A．e, c, f, b, d, a | B．c, e, b, d, f, a |
| C．e, b, d, c, a, f | D．c, b, e, d, a, f |
| A．they had surprise endings |
| B．they were easy to understand |
| C．they showed his love for the poor |
| D．they were about New York City |
| A．people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper |
| B．he broke the law by using violence |
| C．he wanted to write stories about prisoners |
| D．people thought he had taken money that was not his |
| A．He was well-educated. | B．He was not serious about his work. |
| C．He was devoted to the poor. | D．He loved reading. |
| A．His life inside the prison. |
| B．The newspaper articles he wrote. |
| C．The city and people of New York. |
| D．His exciting early life as a boy. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
When the Farnsworth family moved to their new farm in 1919, eleven-year-old Philo was surprised to find it wired for electricity. This unusual circumstance contributed to his fate — to become an important inventor of the twentieth century.
By thirteen, Farnsworth had become a self-taught electrical engineer. He was able to fix the farm’s generator（发电机）when none of the adults could. In 1922, he read an article about a new idea of John Baird, a Scottish scientist, who had been working with the cathode ray tube (阴极射线管) for the transmission of electronic pictures and wanted to attempt it himself.
Farnsworth studied everything he could find on the subject. Although many older engineers with money backers were already developing television, Farnsworth made a bold decision — he was going to perfect a working model of it before anybody else.
In college, Farnsworth continued his research with cathode ray and vacuum tubes, but the death of his father, the only money maker in the family, forced him to give up this research and find a job. His first job was for George Everson, with whom Farnsworth discussed his dream of television. While acknowledging the achievements of those who came before, Farnsworth thought that he could get closer. Everson agreed to risk $6,000 for the research.
Backers came in 1927 to see the first American television, one year after Baird’s. They were astonished to see the image of a single white line resolve itself on the screen before them, and agreed that this new invention was worth putting money into.
In 1930, Farnsworth won a patent (专利权) for his all-electronic TV. By the time he died, he had earned over 300 American and foreign patents for electronic and mechanical devices.
【小题1】When Farnsworth was at a young age, he _______
| A．had to drop out of school to help on the family farm |
| B．was sent to school to study electrical engineering |
| C．wanted to be the first person to invent the television |
| D．had shown a surprising ability in the electrical field |
| A．His parents didn’t support his work. |
| B．He didn’t have enough knowledge in this field. |
| C．He didn’t have enough money for his research. |
| D．No one was interested in this research. |
| A．11. | B．13. | C．19. | D．22. |
| A．the first person who worked for the transmission of electronic pictures |
| B．an inventor who improved on somebody else’s idea |
| C．an inventor who always came up with an original idea |
| D．a person who earned over 300 American patents for electronic devices |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Looking out of the window, my son saw a tree whose branches were strongly swaying back and forth. “How does the tree move its branches like that?” He asked.
Without rising from my chair, nor looking up from my book, I started to answer, “The tree is not moving the branches, son. The wind is…” But before the words were out, I caught myself. Instead I rose from my chair and moved to the window to join my son. I looked at the tree. From inside our room, from behind the window, I could neither feel nor hear the wind. I saw instead a tree with its branches silently moving and thought to myself, from inside this room, how could I possibly be sure that the branches were moving because of the wind rather than from the tree’s own willing?
As I stood there with my son watching the tree, I became struck by the movement of the branches, the shimmer of the leaves. My mind quieted and I became less sure myself of what was causing the branches to move. Was it the wind, or was it some expressive, independent movement of the tree? “I see what you mean,” I said to my son. “The movement of the tree is very beautiful.”
“Do you think the tree is dancing?” asked my son. “Why would it be dancing?” I asked. “Maybe it is happy because the sun is shining,” he said. “Perhaps,” I said. “Or because it’s spring,” he added, “and it’s not cold any more.” “Perhaps,” I said.
As we continued to watch the tree together, I, too, began to appreciate the dance of the tree. I enjoyed the movement and sway of the branches, seeing little nuances(微妙之处) that I hadn’t noticed before. There seemed to be a rhythm to the movement, first strong and forceful, then light and gentle, then more vigorous, sometimes nearly violent.
“Are trees alive?” my son asked. “Yes, they are alive. Why do you ask?” “Because this tree looks happy,” he answered. “Can a tree be happy or sad?” “What do you mean?” I asked.
“In the winter, trees seem sad,” he said. “Their branches hang down, and they look cold and lonely. But now with the leaves on the tree and the sun shining and the birds flying, it looks happy.”
【小题1】What is the meaning of the underlined word “caught” in Para 2?
| A．stopped | B．grasped | C．seized | D．held |
| A．The tree itself felt happy and was dancing. |
| B．The tree was too sad to sway as if to get rid of all trouble. |
| C．It was the warm spring. |
| D．The wind did so. |
| A．Naughty. | B．Imaginative. | C．Clever. | D．Foolish. |
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