1、Week 11ThursdayTask 1：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。(2013江苏，D)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 antislavery fiction had been the important part
2、 of the literature in the years before the Civil War.H.B.Stowes 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
3、.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 Twains novels，Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Only a few books have been kicked off the s
4、helves as often as Huckleberry Finn，Twains 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 o
5、f the character Jim，the escaped slave，and many occurrences 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 sillyand miss the point.The novel is strongly antislavery.Jims search through the slave states for the
6、 family from whom he has been forcibly parted is heroic.As JChadwick has pointed out，the character of Jim was a first in American fictiona 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.”
7、There is much more.Twains mystery novel Puddnhead 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，Twains tale centered in part around two babies s
8、witched at birth.A slave gave birth to her masters baby and，for fear that the child should be sold South，switched him for the masters baby by his wife.The slaves lightskinned child was taken to be white and grew up with both the attitudes and the education of the slaveholding class.The masters wifes
9、 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 prejudicemanner of speech，for examplewere，to Twain，indicative of nothing
10、other than the conditioning that slavery forced on its victims.Twains 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 youthmostly with white men performing in blackfaceand his delig
11、ht 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
12、 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
13、，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.【语篇解读】文学艺术类文章。马克吐温是美国小说的创始人，在他的作品中智慧地体现出反对种族歧视的观点。1How do Twains novels on slavery differ from Stowes?ATwain was more willing to deal wit
14、h racism.BTwains attack on racism was much less open.CTwains themes seemed to agree with plots.DTwain was openly concerned with racism.答案B细节理解题。文章第二段提到斯托夫人的小说直接指向奴隶制，而马克吐温的小说则比较聪明地将这种观点编织到故事之中，因此可知马克吐温关于奴隶制的抨击较为含蓄。2Recent criticism of Adventures of Huckleberry Finnarose partly from its_Atarget reade
15、rs at the bottomBantislavery attitudeCrather impolite languageDfrequent use of “nigger”答案D细节理解题。从第三段倒数第二句More recently the book has been attacked because of the character Jim，.and many occurrences of the word nigger.可知这本书现在之所以受到抨击一是书中人物Jim，二是nigger单词频繁使用。3What best proves Twains antislavery stand ac
16、cording to the author?AJims search for his family was described in detail.BThe slaves voice was first heard in American novels.CJim grew up into a man and a father in the white culture.DTwain suspected that the slaves were less intelligent.答案C细节理解题。根据文章第四段和第六段可知，马克吐温反对奴隶制，他认为养育环境(nurture)而不是本性(natur
17、e)决定社会地位，因此Jim的故事一个黑人孩子在白人家庭成长的故事很好地揭示出他的立场，因此答案为C。4The story of two babies switched mainly indicates that_Aslaves were forced to give up their babies to their mastersBslaves babies could pick up slaveholders way of speakingCblacks social position was shaped by how they were brought upDblacks were b
18、orn with certain features of prejudice答案C推理判断题。根据文章第四段和第六段内容可知，Jim原本是个黑人的孩子，后被调换到白人家庭成长的故事标志养育环境(nurture)而不是本性(nature)决定社会地位。因此可以推断：Jim的故事表明黑人的社会地位是由生长环境造成的。5What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 7 refer to?AThe attacks. BSlavery and prejudice.CWhite men. DThe shows.答案D词义猜测题。此处they指代前句中的
19、复数名词“shows”。6What does the author mainly argue for?ATwain had done more than his contemporary writers to attack racism.BTwain was an admirable figure comparable to Abraham Lincoln.CTwains works had been banned on unreasonable grounds.DTwains works should be read from a historical point of view.答案A观点
20、态度题。从整篇文章可知，作者认为马克吐温在反对种族歧视方面做出了卓越贡献。Task 2：词汇积累1additional adj.附加的2literature n文学3exception n例外4argument n争论5again and again 反复地6occurrence n发生；事件7miss the point没抓住要领8survival n幸存9challenge n挑战10for fear that 唯恐11represent vt.代表12prejudice n偏见13injustice n不公正14conscience n良心Task 3：经典背诵1Again and again，in the postwar years，Twain seemed forced to deal with the challenge of race.在战后，马克吐温似乎不得不再三面对种族的挑战。2Once upon a time，people hated the book because it struck them as rude.从前，人们讨厌这本书因为它给他们留下粗鲁的印象。
