Question

Imagine landing in a foreign country where you cannot speak the language, understand the culture and don’t know anybody. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friend who could help you out?

    John Smith, an English explorer who landed in America in 1607, found the best friend ever. She was a Native American named Pocahontas (1595-1617). And she did more than teach Smith the language: she saved his life, twice.

   Smith was captured by members of Pocahontas’s tribe (部落) and was going to be killed. But for some reason, the Chief’s daughter, Pocahontas, felt sorry for Smith (who was probably the first white man she had ever seen) and threw her body over his to protect him. Smith returned safely to the small village he was living in.

   During the winter the English settlers did not know how to get food from nature. Pocahontas often brought food for Smith and his friends.

   A year later Pocahontas’s father tried to kill Smith again because the Native Americans were very scared the English would try to take over their land. Pocahontas warned him and he was able to escape.

   Later she became a Christian and eventually married an Englishman named John Rolfe.

   She spent the last year of her life in London.

   Pocahontas has become an American legend(傳奇). Her life story has been re-created in many books and films, including Disney’s 1995 film, Pocahontas.

   One of the reasons she is so popular is that many Europeans look at Pocahontas as an excellent example of how a minority can adjust into the majority. Pocahontas is also respected because of her selfless love. She proved that people can be kind and loving even to people of a different race or culture. John Smith was very different from Pocahontas but she could see he was a good man and that was all that mattered. No race or country owns goodness, love and loyalty.

41. What difficulties might early European settlers meet in America EXCEPT ________?

   A. the fierce conflict with Native Americans

   B. bad-tempered natives who enjoyed killing

   C. unfamiliarity with a foreign land

   D. lack of food in winter

42. Pocahontas saved John Smith twice because ______.

A. he was the first white man she had ever seen in her life

B. she wanted to become a Christian and marry an Englishman

C. she believed in general kindness even to people of a different race

D. she was on the settlers’ side and against her cruel father

43. Which is NOT an element to make Pocahontas a legend?

A. Her tribal background and her marriage to a white settler.

B. Her selfless help to people regarded as enemy of her tribe.

C. Her complicated life story different from common people’s.

D. The recreation of her life story in the 1995 Disney film.

44. According to the text, Europeans think Pocahontas _____.

A. was brave to break away from her own tribe

B. set a good example for other natives to accept the white settlers

C. was a selfless Christian who can love her enemy

D. was open to a more advanced culture

45. What can we infer from the passage?

A. The battles between early settlers and Native Americans resulted from their     fighting for land.

B. The Europeans think the early settlers should have learned to adjust to the local  cultures.

C. The creation of America is based on the settlers’ victory over the Native  Americans.

Answer 1

41. B. 42．C. 43. D. 44. B. 45. A.

解析:

41. B. 本題總結(jié)了諸如John Smith這樣的早期殖民者在北美大陸所遇到的困難，需要概括和推論的閱讀技巧。從第1段內(nèi)容可推出C，第4段和選項D有關(guān)，從Smith的經(jīng)歷可知殖民者和土著居民的激烈沖突，唯有選項B說土著嗜好殺戮，是對文章關(guān)于土著描述的誤解，因此選B。

42．C. 文章最后一段在談到Pocahontas救John Smith時，就提到Pocahontas的“selfless love”，她救人沒有其它企圖，只是做了她認為的“the right thing”，而她的“right thing”就是 “people can be kind and loving even to people of a different race or culture.”。文章并沒有把土著人放在邪惡的一邊，殖民者也不代表正義，Pocahontas代表的是種族間的包容和融合，所以只有C正確。

43. D.  Pocahontas作為部落酋長的女兒，卻和白人殖民者結(jié)婚，無私幫助被視為部落仇人的殖民者，她的生活經(jīng)歷復(fù)雜與常人不同，這些都是構(gòu)成她的傳奇人生的要素。而95年版的Disney電影是記錄她的傳奇人生的產(chǎn)物，不是原因。

44. B. 歐洲人對Pocahontas的看法在最后一段提到。原句為：…many Europeans look at Pocahontas as an excellent example of how a minority can adjust into the majority.從這句可以看出很多歐洲人還是有偏見的，把土著人看成少數(shù)民族，認為別人應(yīng)該都像Pocahontas那樣為他們做出調(diào)整，向他們靠近。所以B正確。但是文中并沒有說歐洲人認為自己的文化更高級，所以D錯誤。

45. A. 文章第5段談到Pocahontas的父親想殺John Smith的原因是“the Native Americans were very scared the English would try to take over their land”，說明土著人和殖民者的矛盾沖突的原因是對土地的爭奪。所以A正確。Pocahontas受到白人推崇的一個原因就是她作為minority的一員很好地適應(yīng)了白人這樣的majority，可以看出白人在心理上的優(yōu)勢，認為土著該適應(yīng)和融入歐洲文化，而不是B項中的白人適應(yīng)當(dāng)?shù)赝林�文化。全文最后一句“This selfless attitude led to the successful creation of America.”可以判斷C項的錯誤。