Question

When the seventeenth-century settlers brought the English language to America, they immediately and necessarily began to adapt (使適應(yīng)) it to their new environment. These changes were clear early and criticized by some people on both sides of the Atlantic. However, after the Revolution, Americans began to be proud of their own form of English. Noah Webster was the major early supporter of American meanings and spellings over British ones and published the earliest American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. During the years since Webster, language differences have continued to develop, proving (證明) the truth of George Bernard Shaw’s often-repeated words that the two nations are divided by a common language.

Like the American language, the earliest American literature (文學(xué)) copied English models. However, after the Revolution and the War of 1812, writers began to create a clear American literature. However, in 1820, Sydney Smith asked the famous question “Who reads an American book?”

Answering to this and similar taunts (諷刺) with creative anger, American writers soon produced works that plenty of British people read. Works by Washing-ton Irving, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain had been acclaimed greatly in Britain by the end of the nineteenth century.

Even as American writers got respect in Britain, British writers continued to have great influence in America. Charles Dickens went to America twice, in 1842 and 1867-68. Other major British writers who traveled and lived in the United States include D.H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. British best works continue to be widely read. The works of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen became popular films.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, many books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (繼承) of the shared language.

1.The author of this passage seems to think ______.

A. British English is better than American English

B. American English is better than British English

C. the same language has divided the two nations

D. the same language has connected the two nations

2.From the question asked by Sydney Smith, we can infer ______.

A. the British had to translate American books into English ones

B. the British found American books difficult to understand

C. the British thought highly of books written by Americans

D. the British looked down upon American books at first

3.The underlined word “acclaimed” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.

A. sold B. discussed

C. welcomed D. refused

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.D

3.C

【解析】

試題分析：美國人和英國人使用相同語言。起初英國人看不起美國人寫的書，后來美國獨(dú)立后，一些美國作家寫的文學(xué)作品深受英國人你的歡迎，同時(shí)英國一些作家的作品也在美國人中廣泛閱讀。作者認(rèn)為兩個(gè)國家的作家和書籍由于有共同語言使得互相聯(lián)系交流起來。

1.推理判斷題。由最后一段“made possible by the proud heritage (繼承) of the shared language”可知，美國人和英國人因?yàn)檎Z言相同使得兩國聯(lián)系起來互相交流。故選D。

2.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。由第二段“Answering to this and similar taunts (諷刺) with creative anger”可知，英國人起初看不起美國人編寫的書。故選D。

3.詞義理解題。根據(jù)“American writers soon produced works that plenty of British people read.”可知，美國作家很快創(chuàng)作出英國人閱讀的作品。后面列舉了Washing-ton Irving, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain等名人的作品，很顯然受英國人歡迎的。故選C。

考點(diǎn)：歷史文化類閱讀