Jack London, one of America's great writers of adventure stories, was born in California in 1876. During his life, London did many jobs. His broad life experiences would become the background for his writing.
London loved to read. As a teenager, he spent many hours educating himself at the Oakland Public Library. He attended college at the University of California at Berkeley in 1896, but he stayed for only six months. He thought Berkeley was "not lively enough" and wanted to do something more exciting.
London wrote stories about working people and the hard times they had making a living. He knew their problems at first hand. He worked as a sailor, factory worker, and gold rusher, to name but a few of his many jobs.
Like many people of the time, London caught the Klondike Gold Rush Fever. In 1897, he headed for Alaska. He didn't find gold, but he discovered something even more valuable. He discovered that people enjoyed listening to the stories he made up. London entertained (使……快乐) the miners with story after story. Later, using his experiences during the Gold Rush, he created many more colorful stories. London decided to live a full, exciting life. Each day, he pushed himself. Once London made up his mind to be a writer, nothing could stop him. His goal was to write at least one thousand words every day. He refused to stop even when he was sick. In eighteen years, the writer published fifty-one books and hundreds of articles. He was the best-selling and highest-paid author of his day. Many people also considered him to be the best writer.
White Fang and The Call of the Wild are his must famous stories and are about surviving in the Alaskan wilderness.
Readers can enjoy Jack London's talent for telling wonderful stories each time they open one of his novels.
1. Which statement is true about Jack London?| A．He is famous for his learning ability. | B．He studied in many universities. |
| C．He was taught by the librarians. | D．His life experiences benefited him. |
| A．It was not very easy. | B．It was not very busy. |
| C．It was not very interesting. | D．It was not very comfortable. |
| A．When he was a teenager. | B．When he was in Alaska. |
| C．When he went to college. | D．When he worked as a sailor. |
| A．To describe Jack London's life during the gold rush. |
| B．To introduce several books written by Jack London. |
| C．To show how Jack London became a great writer. |
| D．To require readers to read Jack London's books. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. We both got tired of each other.
War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened, I saw my shoes flying at me. I jumped to my feet and started yelling. She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬) under her covers, sobbing.
Obviously, that was something she should not go through phone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart. Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn’t noticed Kate had sat up.
She was watching, her tears dried and her expression one of disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, “Thanks.”
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the key to living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.
1. How is Paragraph l mainly developed?| A．By showing differences. | B．By analyzing causes. |
| C．By describing a process. | D．By following time order. |
| A．coughing | B．moaning | C．whispering | D．weeping |
| A．she wanted to show her care | B．she was asked by Kate to do so |
| C．she was scared by Kate’s anger | D．she hated herself for being so messy |
| A．How to Make Friends | B．Hard Work Pays Off |
| C．Learning to Be Roommates | D．How to Be Organized |
【推荐2】When Arsh was a young boy, his parents, Divya Pal and Sanjeev, signed him up for extracurricular activities such as piano, karate (空手道) and gymnastics, but he preferred art. When Arsh turned 8, he received a watercolor paint set as a birthday gift. He spent all his spare time painting. That’s how he started painting.
Around the same time, Arsh often visited a local nursing home, where his mother works. Spending time there inspired him to start selling his art for a good cause. “I want to help people in need through my paintings,” he said.
And so began his fundraising (筹款) program, which he called “Art by Arsh”. He sold his paintings at local art shows, restaurants and libraries, as well as on his Instagram account and Facebook page. He donated his first $1,000 to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2018, and has since reached various other charities.
Arsh, now 12, mostly makes commissioned (委托创作的) pieces, and several of his customers have come back wanting more. That includes his neighbor, Jolene Schaver, who has five of Arsh’s creations hanging in her home and has bought many more for friends and family. “I was amazed at how talented he was at such a young age, without any formal training,” said Schaver.
Along with selling his paintings to benefit nonprofit organizations, Arsh now also teaches art lessons at the local nursing home. And he thought about accessibility, and realized not all people have the resources (资源) to make art—which has the capacity to comfort and heal (治愈). “One of my future goals is to make art accessible for kids who want to express themselves,” Arsh said. He has already started offering free art lessons to local children, and he hopes to expand (扩展) his classes further in the future.
1. What do we know about the young Arsh according to the first paragraph?| A．He received a painting as a birthday gift. | B．He made a living through painting. |
| C．He showed a lively interest in art. | D．He got a place at an art school. |
| A．To raise money by selling his paintings. | B．To introduce his paintings to more people. |
| C．To donate some of his paintings to charities. | D．To decorate local libraries with his paintings. |
| A．Warm-hearted and humorous. | B．Hard-working and honest. |
| C．Gifted and generous. | D．Kind and brave. |
| A．Form more nonprofit organizations. | B．Learn more about the healing power of art. |
| C．Do more voluntary work at the nursing home. | D．Create more opportunities for kids to make art. |
【推荐3】200,000 miles from Earth, the crew of the third manned mission to the Moon faced an astronaut’s worst nightmare: an explosion on the spacecraft. It’s what happened in the Oscar-winning film Apollo 13, but it’s also a true story.
The lift-off of Apollo 13 took place on 11th April 1970. Two days into the mission, the three-man crew were in big trouble. They had been carrying out routine checks when there was a loud bang. Warning lights were starting to flash. Looking out into space, they could see a trail of gas — the spacecraft was leaking oxygen. They sent out a short message to the scientists back on Earth: “Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” At first, they thought that a meteor (流星) had hit them, but they later found out that a short circuit had caused an oxygen container to explode. Whatever the cause, they knew there was no time to lose. Their electricity supply in the command module (指令舱) depended on that oxygen and pretty soon they would run out of both.
The only solution was to move into the lunar module — the section of the spacecraft that would have landed on the Moon. Now though, they were using it as a kind of lifeboat. With its own power supply, oxygen and water, the three men could survive in the lunar module and return to Earth. There was another problem though. In an enclosed space like a lunar module, the carbon dioxide the crew was breathing out was dangerous. The equipment to clear the air of carbon dioxide was only built for two people. Now it had to deal with three. Amazingly, the crew managed to build an adapter out of materials onboard to reduce the carbon dioxide to a safe level.
There was one final hindrance. The lunar module wasn’t strong enough to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere so the crew had to go back into the damaged command module. To everyone’s relief, the crew of Apollo 13 arrived safely in the South Pacific Ocean on April 17th. Although the crew didn’t land on the Moon, NASA still considered the mission a success.
1. What was the astronauts’ first reaction to the explosion?| A．They went out to land on the Moon. | B．They informed scientists on Earth. |
| C．They moved into the lunar module. | D．They looked into the cause of the explosion. |
| A．By moving back to the command module. | B．By lowering the carbon dioxide level. |
| C．By creating a new oxygen supply. | D．By limiting the oxygen use. |
| A．Surprise. | B．Mission. | C．Obstacle. | D．Circumstance. |
| A．A Successful Mission | B．An Amazing Adventure |
| C．Deep Space Exploration | D．Life-and-Death Drama in Space |
【推荐1】Born in Detroit, Michigan, on January 10th, 1928. Philip Levine was formally educated in the Detroit public school system. After graduation from university, Levine worked a number of industrial jobs, including the night work in factories, reading and writing poems in his off hours. In 1953, he studied at the University of Iowa. There, Levine met Robert Lowell and John Berryman, whom Levine called his “one great guide”.
About writing poems, Levine wrote: I believed even then that if I could change my experience into poems I would give it the value and honor that it did not begin to have on its own. I thought too that if I could write about it, I could come to understand it: I believed that if I could understand my life — or at least the part my work played in it — I could write it with some degree of joy, something obviously missing from my life.”
Levine published his first collection of poems, On the Edge in 1961, followed by Not This Pig in 1968. Throughout his life Levine published many books of poems, winning many prizes. A review said, “Levine writes poems about the bravery of men, physical labor, simple pleasures and strong feelings, often set in working-class Detroit or in central California, where he worked or lived.”
He taught for many years at California State University, Fresno and served as Distinguished Poet in Residence for the Creative Writing Program at New York University. After retiring from teaching, Levine divided his time between Brooklyn, New York, and Fresno, California, until his death on February 14th, 2015. His final poem collection, The Last Shift, as well as a collection of essays and other writings, My Lost Poets: A Life in Poetry, were published in 2016.
1. How did Levine make a living right after graduation?| A．He worked as a full-time writer. | B．He worked as a worker in factories. |
| C．He worked as a teacher in university. | D．He worked as a great guide in writing. |
| A．He had lived the life he wanted. | B．Poems made him misunderstand life. |
| C．His life was valueless and dishonorable. | D．Poems could give him much pleasure. |
| A．The Last Shift. | B．Not This Pig. |
| C．My Lost Poets: A Life in Poetry. | D．On the Edge. |
【推荐2】So proclaims Scrooge’s nephew Fred as he thinks about the hopelessly hardened heart of his uncle in Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol (赞歌). A concern for the “least among us” spread through Dickens’ life and filled his novels. It shines with particular clarity in “A Christmas Carol,” beloved by generations.
Charles Dickens grew up in industrializing London of the early nineteenth century. As a young boy, he knew both well-being and poverty. When his father ended up in prison, so did the rest of the family — except Charles. Twelve-year-old Charles was sent into the London workforce and labored ten hour days at a shoe blacking factory to help make ends meet. Dickens never forgot the degrading conditions and the scorn (蔑视) for the poor that he experienced. He also came to know first-hand the miserable life in London’s slums (贫民窟).
Later, Charles was fortunate enough to be left a modest inheritance by his grandmother, and receive an education. But his concern for the poor, for those who lived in his city’s slums never left him. He fought for the poor and abandoned with what became his sharpest weapon — the pen. His novels, from Oliver Twist (1839) to Great Expectations (1861) artfully memorialized many of the characters and situations he had lived as a boy. Some of his books were responsible for lawmaking and action to improve conditions for the poor.
The lesson of Charles Dickens’ life for children is indeed a Christmas carol: that generosity, charity and service can be practiced in many ways and should depend on one’s talents. Some may go into the slums and attempt to improve lives through better education, housing or nutrition. Others may donate funds. Still others should pick up their pens. But all should be attentive to the needs of fellow passengers on the journey of life. To that end, we can think of no better hero than Dickens.
1. What is Dickens’ lifelong concern?| A．Poor people. | B．His family. | C．His novels. | D．Life in the slums. |
| A．Persistent and caring. | B．Heroic and modest. |
| C．Attentive and generous. | D．Loving and humorous. |
| A．They changed the poor’s conditions. |
| B．They were responsible for legislation. |
| C．They were based on his early experiences. |
| D．They memorialized the miserable life in slums. |
| A．Charles Dickens’ life in slums. |
| B．Charles Dickens’ influence on people. |
| C．What Charles Dickens did for the poor. |
| D．Charles Dickens’ masterpieces in his life. |
Herschel’s first major discoveries were to show that Mars and Jupiter exhibit axial rotation(绕轴自转). Herschel struck fame in 1781,when on March 13th he discovered the planet Uranus(天王星) while engaged in work aimed at determining stellar parallax(恒星视差).This being the first new planet discovered since ancient times, Herschel, until then a mere amateur astronomer relatively unknown even in England, became world-famous. Adopting a historically proven strategy, Herschel named the new planet Georgium Sidum,in honor of the then ruling English king GeorgeⅢ. The trick worked once again, as King GeorgeⅢ gave William and Caroline the titles of“The King’s Astronomer”and“Assistant to the King’s Astronomer”, an honor which came with a life’s pension for both. In 1782 they moved to Bath, and shortly thereafter to Slough, and from this point on William and Caroline could devote themselves entirely to astronomy. The Herschels went on to discover two moons of Uranus in 1787.
While Caroline became increasingly occupied with the search for comets at which she was quite successful, William became for a time interested in the Sun. Inspired by Wilson’s 1774 work, he put forth the theory of sunspots(太阳黑子),an opinion that continued to exist well into the nineteenth century. In 1800,he became interested in the solar spectrum(太阳光谱),and uncovered the first evidence for solar energy output outside of the visible spectrum, in what is now known as the infrared(红外线).In 1801, he published two papers that effectively started the field of solar influences on Earth’s weather.
1. Herschel made himself known to the world mainly by .
| A．discovering the planet Uranus |
| B．determining stellar parallax |
| C．discovering two moons of Uranus |
| D．uncovering the evidence for the infrared |
| A．liked science and technology |
| B．liked Herschel’s naming of the new planet |
| C．was interested in astronomy |
| D．gave Herschel a lot of useful suggestions |
| A．She was successful in music. |
| B．She was given the title of“The King’s Astronomer”. |
| C．She died later than her brother. |
| D．She published two papers. |
| A．some information about Herschel and his sister |
| B．how Herschel and his sister discovered the planet Uranus |
| C．Herschel and Caroline got along well with each other |
| D．Herschel and Caroline’s major scientific publications |
