Robert Burns, the son of a hard-working and intelligent farmer, was the oldest of seven children. Although always hard pressed financially, their father encouraged his sons with their education. As a result, Burns not only read the Scottish poetry of Ramsay and the collections by Hailes and Herd, but also the works of Pope, Locke, and Shakespeare.
By 1781, Burns had tried his hand at several agricultural jobs without success. Although he had begun writing, and his poems were spread widely in manuscript (手稿), none were published until 1786, when Burns published Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), which was an immediate success. Later Burns brought out a second edition of his poems at Edinburgh in 1787, and for two winters he was socially active in the Scottish city. In 1788 he retired to a farm at Ellis land. By 1791 Burns had failed as a farmer, and he moved to Dumfries, where he held a position as a tax collector. He died of illness at 37.
Burns’s art is at its best in songs such as My Heart’s in the Highlands. Some of his songs, such as Auld Lang Syne and Comin’ thro’ the Rye, are among the most familiar and best-loved songs in the English language. But his talent was not limited to songs; two descriptive pieces, Tam o’ Shanter and The Jolly Beggars, are among his masterpieces.
Burns had a fine sense of humor, which was reflected in his satirical (讽刺的), descriptive, and playful poems. His great popularity with the Scots lay in his ability to describe the life of his fellow rural Scots. His use of dialect brought an energetic, much-needed freshness into English poetry.
【小题1】 What can we learn from the first paragraph?

The Canadian people are made up of different national races.The first ____ settlers of the country were the Indians.

It was said that the Indians entered this continent ___ the Bering Strait(白令海峡) and Sea from eastern Asia at most 10,000 years ____.When Europeans first? ____ the country，Indians were living in most of areas ___ forests.There were only ____ Indians in the provinces near the Atlantic Ocean.

The second group of people to enter Canada ____ the Eskimos.They ____ the Bering Strait from Asia less than 3,000 years ago.There are few __ of their early movements.The first white settlers in Canada were the ____.They came in greatest ____ to Quebec，but also to Nova Scotia，____ they cleared farms on the southern side of the Bay of Fundy.The French built their castles at Quebec City，and cleared farms out of the forests in the area.____ the time of the British conquest(征服) in 1763，there had been about 60,000 Frenchmen in Canada，____ chiefly between Quebec and Montreal.There were not many British in Canada ____ American Revolution drove large numbers northward.

Throughout the 19th century，____ British people came to Canada.The descendants(后代) of these people ____ England，Scotland and Ireland now make ____ about half of the population.Around the ____ of the century people came in increasing numbers from Europe and the largest numbers came ____ Central and Eastern?Germans，Czechs，Poles，Rumanians and Ukrainians.

1.A.famous? B．well?known

C．known? D．news

2.A.through? B．into

C．on? D．across

3.A.early? B．more

C．ago? D．long

4.A.reached? B．left

C．flew to? D．shipped

5.A.protected? B．covered by

C．like? D．covering

6.A.few? B．packs of

C．a number of? D．a few

7.A.are? B．is

C．were? D．was

8.A.crossed? B．walked

C．passed? D．swam

9.A.notes? B．records

C．signs? D．speeches

10.A.British? B．Indians

C．French? D．American

11.A.deal? B．members

C．areas? D．numbers

12.A.who? B．which

C．whom? D．where

13.A.By? B．In

C．At? D．On

14.A.to live? B．living

C．lived? D．live

15.A.when? B．after

C．until? D．since

16.A.thousand of? B．thousands of

C．thousands? D．thousand

17.A.in? B．to

C．near? D．from

18.A.up? B．of

C．from? D．by

19.A.year? B．change

C．turn? D．day

20.A.from? B．in

C．over? D．up

Robert Burns, the son of a hard-working and intelligent farmer, was the oldest of seven children. Although always hard pressed financially, their father encouraged his sons with their education. As a result, Burns not only read the Scottish poetry of Ramsay and the collections by Hailes and Herd, but also the works of Pope, Locke, and Shakespeare.

By 1781, Burns had tried his hand at several agricultural jobs without success. Although he had begun writing, and his poems were spread widely in manuscript (手稿), none were published until 1786, when Burns published Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), which was an immediate success. Later Burns brought out a second edition of his poems at Edinburgh in 1787, and for two winters he was socially active in the Scottish city. In 1788 he retired to a farm at Ellis land. By 1791 Burns had failed as a farmer, and he moved to Dumfries, where he held a position as a tax collector. He died of illness at 37.

Burns’s art is at its best in songs such as My Heart’s in the Highlands. Some of his songs, such as Auld Lang Syne and Comin’ thro’ the Rye, are among the most familiar and best-loved songs in the English language. But his talent was not limited to songs; two descriptive pieces, Tam o’ Shanter and The Jolly Beggars, are among his masterpieces.

Burns had a fine sense of humor, which was reflected in his satirical (讽刺的), descriptive, and playful poems. His great popularity with the Scots lay in his ability to describe the life of his fellow rural Scots. His use of dialect brought an energetic, much-needed freshness into English poetry.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．Burn had a wealthy childhood.

B．Burns was best loved by his parents.

C．Burns’s father cared more about his kids’ education.

D．Burns wanted to be a poet when he grew up.

2.Robert was not officially accepted by readers until______.

A．1781             B．1786             C．1787             D．1791

3. Robert made his best achievement in art by writing _______.

A．songs            B．poems            C．stories            D．humors

4. What was Robert’s biggest contribution to English poetry?

A．His satirical style.                        B．His descriptiveness.

C．His fine sense of humor.                  D．His use of Scottish dialect.

5. We can conclude from the passage that Robert _______.

A．majored in agriculture when he was a student

B．earned a lot of money by publishing his poems

C．was a failure in managing farms but a success in art

D．showed much interest in collecting tax before he died

Robert Burns, the son of a hard-working and intelligent farmer, was the oldest of seven children. Although always hard pressed financially, their father encouraged his sons with their education. As a result, Burns not only read the Scottish poetry of Ramsay and the collections by Hailes and Herd, but also the works of Pope, Locke, and Shakespeare.
By 1781, Burns had tried his hand at several agricultural jobs without success. Although he had begun writing, and his poems were spread widely in manuscript (手稿), none were published until 1786, when Burns published Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1786), which was an immediate success. Later Burns brought out a second edition of his poems at Edinburgh in 1787, and for two winters he was socially active in the Scottish city. In 1788 he retired to a farm at Ellis land. By 1791 Burns had failed as a farmer, and he moved to Dumfries, where he held a position as a tax collector. He died of illness at 37.
Burns’s art is at its best in songs such as My Heart’s in the Highlands. Some of his songs, such as Auld Lang Syne and Comin’ thro’ the Rye, are among the most familiar and best-loved songs in the English language. But his talent was not limited to songs; two descriptive pieces, Tam o’ Shanter and The Jolly Beggars, are among his masterpieces.
Burns had a fine sense of humor, which was reflected in his satirical (讽刺的), descriptive, and playful poems. His great popularity with the Scots lay in his ability to describe the life of his fellow rural Scots. His use of dialect brought an energetic, much-needed freshness into English poetry

1. 1.

   What can we learn from the first paragraph?

   1. A.
      Burn had a wealthy childhood
   2. B.
      Burns was best loved by his parents
   3. C.
      Burns’s father cared more about his kids’ education
   4. D.
      Burns wanted to be a poet when he grew up
2. 2.

   Robert was not officially accepted by readers until______

   1. A.
      1781
   2. B.
      1786
   3. C.
      1787
   4. D.
      1791
3. 3.

   Robert made his best achievement in art by writing _______

   1. A.
      songs
   2. B.
      poems
   3. C.
      stories
   4. D.
      humors
4. 4.

   What was Robert’s biggest contribution to English poetry?

   1. A.
      His satirical style
   2. B.
      His descriptiveness
   3. C.
      His fine sense of humor
   4. D.
      His use of Scottish dialect
5. 5.

   We can conclude from the passage that Robert _______

   1. A.
      majored in agriculture when he was a student
   2. B.
      earned a lot of money by publishing his poems
   3. C.
      was a failure in managing farms but a success in art
   4. D.
      showed much interest in collecting tax before he died