Question

Mark Twain has been called the inventor of the American novel. And he surely deserves additional praise: the man who popularized the clever literary attack on racism.

I say clever because anti-slavery fiction had been the important part of the literature in the years before the Civil War. H. B. Stowe’s Uncle Toms Cabin is only the most famous example. These early stories dealt directly with slavery. With minor exceptions, Twain planted his attacks on slavery and prejudice into tales that were on the surface about something else entirely. He drew his readers into the argument by drawing them into the story.

Again and again, in the postwar years, Twain seemed forced to deal with the challenge of race. Consider the most controversial, at least today, of Twain’s novels, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Only a few books have been kicked off the shelves as often as Huckleberry Finn, Twain’s most widely read tale. Once upon a time, people hated the book because it struck them as rude. Twain himself wrote that those who banned the book considered the novel “ trash and suitable only for the slums (贫民窟).” More recently the book has been attacked because of the character Jim, the escaped slave, and many occurences of the word nigger. (The term Nigger Jim, for which the novel is often severely criticized, never appears in it.)

But the attacks were and are silly—and miss the point. The novel is strongly anti-slavery. Jim’s search through the slave states for the family from whom he has been forcibly parted is heroic. As J. Chadwick has pointed out, the character of Jim was a first in American fiction—a recognition that the slave had two personalities, “the voice of survival within a white slave culture and the voice of the individual: Jim, the father and the man.”

There is much more. Twain’s mystery novel Pudd’nhead Wilson stood as a challenge to the racial beliefs of even many of the liberals of his day. Written at a time when the accepted wisdom held Negroes to be inferior (低等的) to whites, especially in intelligence, Twain’s tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth. A slave gave birth to her master’s baby and, for fear that the child should be sold South, switched him for the master’s baby by his wife. The slave’s lightskinned child was taken to be white and grew up with both the attitudes and the education of the slave-holding class. The master’s wife’s baby was taken for black and grew up with the attitudes and intonations of the slave.

The point was difficult to miss: nurture (养育),not nature, was the key to social status. The features of the black man that provided the stuff of prejudice—manner of speech, for example— were, to Twain, indicative of nothing other than the conditioning that slavery forced on its victims.

Twain’s racial tone was not perfect. One is left uneasy, for example, by the lengthy passage in his autobiography (自传)about how much he loved what were called “nigger shows” in his youth—mostly with white men performing in black-face—and his delight in getting his mother to laugh at them. Yet there is no reason to think Twain saw the shows as representing reality. His frequent attacks on slavery and prejudice suggest his keen awareness that they did not.

Was Twain a racist? Asking the question in the 21st century is as wise as asking the same of Lincoln. If we read the words and attitudes of the past through the “wisdom” of the considered moral judgments of the present, we will find nothing but error. Lincoln, who believed the black man the inferior of the white, fought and won a war to free him. And Twain, raised in a slave state, briefly a soldier, and inventor of Jim, may have done more to anger the nation over racial injustice and awaken its collective conscience than any other novelist in the past century.

65. How do Twain’s novels on slavery differ from Stowe’s?

A. Twain was more willing to deal with racism.

B. Twain’s attack on racism was much less open.

C. Twain’s themes seemed to agree with plots.

D. Twain was openly concerned with racism.

66. Recent criticism of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn arose partly from its ______.

A. target readers at the bottom

B. anti-slavery attitude

C. rather impolite language

D. frequent use of “nigger”

67. What best proves Twain’s anti-slavery stand according to the author?

A. Jim’s search for his family was described in detail.

B. The slave’s voice was first heard in American novels.

C. Jim grew up into a man and a father in the white culture.

D. Twain suspected that the slaves were less intelligent.

68. The story of two babies switched mainly indicates that ______.

A. slaves were forced to give up their babies to their masters

B. slaves’ babies could pick up slave-holders’ way of speaking

C. blacks’ social position was shaped by how they were brought up

D. blacks were born with certain features of prejudice

69. What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 7 refer to?

A. The attacks.                                        B. Slavery and prejudice.

C. White men.                                          D. The shows.

70. What does the author mainly argue for?

A. Twain had done more than his contemporary writers to attack racism.

B. Twain was an admirable figure comparable to Abraham Lincoln.

C. Twain’s works had been banned on unreasonable grounds.

D. Twain’s works should be read from a historical point of view.

Answer 1

语篇解读：本篇为说明文，谈到马克吐温的小说是不是对奴隶制和偏见进行了反抗，以及它受到了不同人士的批评情况。

段落	关键词、句	大意概括
第一部分 （Para. 1）	Mark Twain; the clever literary attack on racism	马克吐温；对种族歧视聪明的文学攻击
第二部分 （Para. 2-末段）	on the surface about something else；people hated the book；rude；nigger；the voice of survival；the voice of the individual；nurture was the key to social status；Twain’s racial tone was not perfect. Was Twain a racist?	他的作品关注表层其它事情；人们恨这本书；认为它粗鲁；用了nigger这个词；社会地方的关键是抚养；吐温的种族观并非完美；吐温是种族主义者吗？

65. B。推理判断题。由第二段的Twain planted his attacks on slavery and prejudice into tales that were on the surface about something else entirely可见马克吐温是在小说的表层而且还是完全谈及其它事情中植入了对奴隶制和偏见的攻击。其它早期小说是直接攻击方式（dealt directly with slavery）。因此B项说他的小说对种族主义制度的攻击非常不明显是恰当的。A项文章没有提及；C项与题干无关，答非所问；D项文章没有提及。

66. D。推理判断题。根据关键词Adventures of Huckleberry Finn定位到第三段。由More recently the book has been attacked because of …many occurrences of the word nigger.可知答案。A项中的target readers错了，文章没有说到；由下一段的But the attacks were and are silly—and miss the point. The novel is strongly anti-slavery.可知B项错；C项中的impolite language范围过广，文章只是说到批评者对nigger一词的出现感到不满。

67. C。细节理解题。由第四段的末句the character of Jim was a first in American fiction—a recognition that the slave had two personalities…可知答案。A项中的in detail文章没有提及；B项中的The slave’s voice错了，与文章的the character of Jim不一致；D项文章没有提及。

68. C。推理判断题。根据第五段的内容可知，举马克吐温举这个例子是为了说明前面的Twain’s mystery novel…as a challenge to the racial beliefs，而下一段的The point was difficult to miss: nurture, not nature, was the key to social status是对a challenge to the racial beliefs进一步解释。故只有C项符合。其它各项都是对例子的字面意思的理解。

69. D。词义猜测题。由划线句的前面一句可知：没有理由认为吐温把这些表演当作现实，后句紧接着解释到：吐温对奴隶制和偏见的不断攻击说明了他敏锐的意识——它们不是现实。可见they应该就是指代shows。

70. A。推理判断题。末段首先提出一个疑问，然后通过论据否定了这个观点，最后总结了一下作者的观点：Twain…may have done more to anger the nation over racial injustice …than any other novelist in the past century。可见作者要反驳的是末段首句所表达的疑问，只有A项符合，其他各项只是对具体例子的说明。

【难句学习】

1. As J. Chadwick has pointed out, the character of Jim was a first in American fiction—a recognition that the slave had two personalities, “the voice of survival within a white slave culture and the voice of the individual: Jim, the father and the man.”

翻译：正如J. Chadwick指出的那样，吉姆的角色在美国小说中首次出现——一个拥有双重人格的奴隶的承认，“在白人奴隶文化中生存的声音和个体的声音：吉姆，他的父亲和那个男士。”

分析：本句主干是he character of Jim was a first in American fiction。as引导定语从句，that the slave…是同位语。

2. Written at a time when the accepted wisdom held Negroes to be inferior (低等的) to whites, especially in intelligence, Twain’s tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth.

翻译：马克吐温的小说写于这样的一个时期，人们公认黑人比白人低等，特别在智力上，他的小说的中心部分围绕两个在出生就被调换的婴儿身上。

分析：本句的主干是Twain’s tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth。written…是过去分词短语作状语，when引导定语从句，修饰time。