The literary world has a new star. Novelist Abdulrazak Gurnah is this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in recognition of his “compassionate penetration (揭示) of the effects of colonialism (殖民主义)and the fate of the refugee (难民)”.
Gurnah grew up in Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania. In 1964, Gurnah was forced to leave for England as a refugee, where he began to reflect on his experiences in a diary and then through stories. Through the years, he wrote 10 novels and stories that explore the suffering caused by war and colonialism.“The thing that motivated the whole experience of writing for me was this idea of losing your place in the world,” Gurnah told The New York Times.
His 1994 novel Paradise, which tells the story of a boy growing up in early 20th century Tanzania, marked his breakthrough as a novelist and won the Booker Prize. Afterlives, his most recent work, continues the narrative of Paradise and takes place during the period of German colonialism in Tanzania.
Before he retired, Gurnah,73, was a professor of English and Postcolonial Literatures at the University of Kent in England. Although Gurnah’s first language is Swahili, he adopted English as his literary language. His writing often contains traces of Arabic, Swahili and German, as well.
Anders Olsson, the chair of the Nobel committee, said that Gurnah “is widely recognized as one of the world’s more preeminent post-colonial writers”.
Ethiopian-American novelist Maaza Mengiste described Gunah’s writings as being “like a gentle blade (刀刃) slowly moving in”.“He has written work that is absolutely unfearing and yet at the same time completely compassionate and full of heart for people of East Africa,” Mengiste said. “He is writing stories that are often quiet stories of people who aren’t heard, but there’s an insistence there that we listen.”
1. What are Gurnah’s works mainly about?| A．The life of the people in Tanzania. | B．Effects of war and colonialism. |
| C．Experiences of living abroad. | D．Growth in an underdeveloped nation. |
| A．He was inspired to write by his refugee experience. |
| B．He used to be a professor of law and literature. |
| C．He publishes his works in Arabic and Swahili. |
| D．He was not well-known until he won the Nobel Prize. |
| A．It is elegantly written in his native language. |
| B．It is widely welcomed by people around the world. |
| C．It is powerful and employs sharp language. |
| D．It calls for attention to the life of the underclass. |
| A．Awful. | B．Potential. | C．Outstanding. | D．Particular. |
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【推荐1】John Farish, an engineer who was staying at the St. Francis, one of the city’s finest hotels, remembered the very early morning of Wednesday, April 18, 1906: I was awakened by a loud noise, which might be compared to the mixed sounds of a strong wind flowing through a forest and the breaking of waves against a rock. In less time than it takes to tell, a shake, similar to that caused by a nearby explosion (爆炸), shook the building to its bases and it began a series of the most lively movements. Together with a frightening sound, it was followed by big crashes (碰撞) as the neighboring buildings and chimneys fell to the ground.
A few blocks away, in a comfortable room in the Palace Hotel, the world’s greatest singer, Enrico Caruso, was asleep after a good performance at the Opera House the night before. He awoke to find: Everything in the room was going round and round. The light was trying to touch the ceiling and the chairs were all chasing each other. Crash — crash — crash! It was a terrible scene. Everywhere the walls were falling and clouds of yellow dust were rising. My God, I thought it would never stop!
And at the same moment, in another part of the city, Jesse Cook, a policeman, reported: The whole street was undulating (起伏波动). It was as if the waves of the ocean were coming toward me, and waving as they came.
It was, of course, an earthquake, one of the largest ever to hit North America, and the first of 27 separate quakes that day. The first shock — at 5:12:05 a.m. — lasted more than 40 seconds. It was by far the largest, about 8.3 on the Richter scale; its epicenter (震源) was just off the coast, around the Pacific.
1. When the earthquake happened, Caruso was _____.| A．looking at the waves rushing against the rock |
| B．giving a performance at the Opera House |
| C．listening to the sounds of wind flowing |
| D．sleeping in the comfortable Palace Hotel |
| A．The street was flooded with ocean water. |
| B．The street was dancing like ocean waves. |
| C．The chairs in the room were chasing each other. |
| D．The light was falling to the ground heavily. |
| A．It was followed by 26 quakes that day. |
| B．It caused the most deaths in history. |
| C．It came from the center of the Pacific. |
| D．It struck the place at midnight. |
| A．teach us how to protect ourselves in an earth-quake |
| B．find out why the earthquake happened |
| C．describe the happenings of a strong earthquake |
| D．introduce what harm the earthquake did to people |
【推荐2】About six months ago, a young couple moved in together. The 27-year-old girlfriend only made about £12,000 a year at her lower-paying job, so the 29-year-old man paid most of the bills. This arrangement worked and the man didn’t mind contributing that much.
“However, four months ago, I lost my job. We have no savings. This was a devastating blow and I still can’t get new employment,” he said.
The couple were struggling to come up with enough money to cover their rent after missing their regular payment when they were served a 30-day eviction (驱逐) notice. The girlfriend’s response to this was to shut herself away and her anxiety became worrying. So he had to hunt for an apartment alone. And he had to do this on a very restrictive budget, within a limited time as well.
The man doesn’t have any family as he was raised in the foster care system and his girlfriend’s family couldn’t help them because of unfortunate personal circumstances. He eventually came across an apartment within their budget but it didn’t allow dogs. This meant that he would have to find a home for their dog Auggie. He asked his friends to take it in but no one could adopt Auggie.
Knowing what had to be done to keep a roof over their heads, he sold Auggie to a couple with children without his girlfriend’s knowledge or approval. He visited their house to make sure it was a good fit. The meeting went wonderful. They have a backyard and a dog park down the street. The family even agreed to let them visit whenever they wanted. So he traveled to their house multiple times over the next few days to get Auggie adjusted.
“This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I was in as much pain as her and I was just able to manage it better. She broke down instantly when I got home and broke the news to her, ” he said, adding that maybe letting go is to love better.
1. Where was the young couple’s income mainly from four months ago?| A．The girlfriend’s job. | B．Their parents’ help. |
| C．The foster care system’s help. | D．The 29-year-old man’s job. |
| A．She lost her job. | B．They couldn’t find a home for their dog. |
| C．Their economic state changed a lot. | D．The man’s family refused to offer help. |
| A．He sold Auggie to his friends. |
| B．He checked the environment of Auggie’s new home. |
| C．He kept contact with an animal shelter. |
| D．He rented a house with a dog park nearby. |
| A．It will soon be abandoned. | B．It may meet visitors often. |
| C．It leaves for adaptation. | D．It has a difficult life there. |
【推荐3】When my boss started talking about pension (退休金) arrangements, it suddenly dawned on me: I was going to be stuck working in an office job for the next 40 years. I’d always dreamed of working outdoors but I ended up doing a law degree at the University of the West of England in Bristol, thinking that this would bring me a better job.
After graduating, I became an adviser. I enjoyed the work, but knew it wasn’t the right career for me. At this point, my 98-year-old grandma died, leaving me enough money to pay for an agricultural course. I decided to study agriculture at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester.
I loved the programme. I spent my holidays from milking cows to helping in farm shops. I spent time lambing (照料母羊产羔) on a beautiful hill farm in Wales. I’d get up at 5 am in the morning, go out to care for the lambs that had been born over night.
In my old job, getting up early to go to the office was a struggle. It’s easier on a farm, where you know there are animals that rely on you. They’re living things, and if you don’t turn up something serious might happen to them.
I’ve also been fortunate enough to find a job as industry communications manager with Red Tractor, the largest food assurance scheme (保障计划) in the UK. The role is very varied: one day I might talk at an agricultural show, educating children about where their food comes from; the next day I could be managing the design of the new food and farming standards.
My advice to anyone wanting a career change is to seize (抓住) the moment. To those interested in working in agriculture, try to get as much work experience as you can.
1. What does the underlined part “dawned on” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Hit. | B．Moved. | C．Excited. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．Busy. | B．Tiring. | C．Difficult. | D．Enjoyable. |
| A．She milked cows. | B．She helped in farm shops. |
| C．She took care of lambs on the farm. | D．She gave speeches on agriculture to children. |
| A．Work as a volunteer on a farm. | B．Make a career change as soon as possible. |
| C．Take the chance to do what you want to do. | D．Get enough work experience before looking for a job. |
【推荐1】Do you know J. K. Rowling, the famous writer of Harry Potter?
J. K. Rowling was called Jo when she was little From an early age, Jo was very interested in writing stories. But she knew that being a writer would not be easy.
What if no one wanted to buy her stories? So after she finished school in her twenties, she got a job as a secretary in London. Every day she worked on office papers. The next day was always the same as the last day. But in her heart, she was sill a writer. She wrote stories in her free time. Sometimes she even wrote in cafes. The stories didn’t earn her any money. Still, she couldn’t stop writing them.
One weekend, Jo took a trip to Manchester, a city in northern England. She was going to move there, and she needed a place to live in. She had a long train ride back to London. She looked out of the window, thinking of nothing.
Suddenly, a picture of a boy came into her mind. He had round glasses and a scar. Jo reached into her bag. She wanted to write down everything about him. But she didn’t have a pen. She turned back to the window and thought more about the boy. He was a wizard (男巫), but he didn’t know it. He lived with some people who was not his real family. As the train traveled through the English countryside, more people crowded into Jo’s mind. They were people the boy knew. By the time Jo reached London, she had had a whole new world in her mind. She hoped one day, she could write a book about it. When she got home, she found a pen. She pulled out a notebook. On the first page she wrote the name of the boy with the scar. His name was Harry Potter...
That is how the novel first came into being.
1. How did J. K. Rowling feel about being a writer in paragraph 2?| A．Easy. | B．Hard. | C．Confused. | D．Bored. |
| A．A writer. | B．A wizard. |
| C．A secretary. | D．A photographer. |
| A．Why she went to London. | B．When she moved to Manchester. |
| C．What she saw and heard in the office. | D．How she got the idea of Harry Potter. |
| A．Old habits die hard, | B．Two heads are better than one. |
| C．Where there is a will, there is a way. | D．When in Rome, do as the Romans do. |
【推荐2】Jiang Shumei learned her first Chinese character at the age of 60. Now, the 87-year-old grandmother from Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province is the proud author of six books.
“I wasn’t educated as a child. I never imagined, even in my wildest dreams, that I would publish a book one day,” says the resident of Suihua city. Her books detail the chaos of wartime and the hardship during the famine, and vividly retell anecdotes over the decades.
The elderly woman had her own way of learning. She composed lyrics for songs, and asked children to write them down, so that she could read each character as she sang the songs again and again. Whenever she came across characters she didn’t know on pamphlets (小册子), bus stops, or shop signs, she found someone to ask.
She first put pen to paper in 2012, at the age of 75. It was not easy. Sometimes, completing a single sentence could take a day. As a college teacher and a writer herself, Zhang Ailing, Jiang Shumei’s daughter, gave her mother a lot of encouragement and help. She told her that while writing, she should imagine herself telling stories to an audience, so that they would be easier to understand and be full of interesting details.
Zhang was also her first editor. Every time her mother finished writing something, she would discuss the manuscript (手稿) with her and check it over before typing it on the computer. Zhang began publishing her mother’s stories on social media platforms in 2013. When they drew the attention of her writer friends, the pair made the decision to publish them.
The first book, Time of Trouble, Time of Poverty, was published later that year, and proved to be a success. The book earned Jiang a lot of fans and sympathy. So far, the elderly woman has published six books, totaling more than 600,000 characters in length. In her spare time, she is also learning painting and calligraphy. “I would like to be a writer, a painter and a calligrapher,” she says, adding that her dream now is to have her own art exhibition when she is 90.
1. How did Jiang Shumei learn characters?| A．By reading books with her children. |
| B．By asking questions whenever she was free. |
| C．By going to a college to get herself educated. |
| D．By singing lyrics and memorizing characters around her. |
| A．Her hard-work and Zhang’s support. |
| B．The care and attention from the public. |
| C．The help from her friends and editors. |
| D．The popularity of social media platforms. |
| A．At the age of 60. | B．In the year 2012. |
| C．At her 87-year-old. | D．In the year 2013. |
| A．Adversity makes a man wise. | B．Practice makes perfect. |
| C．It is never too old to learn. | D．Still water runs deep. |
【推荐3】Mark Twain, the famous American writer and a great master of humor, liked to play jokes on others. But once a joke was played on him. One day Mark Twain was invited to give a talk in a small town. At lunch he met a young man,one of his friends.
The young man said that he had an uncle with him. He told Mark Twain that his uncle never laughed or smiled, and that nobody and nothing was able to make his uncle smile or laugh.
“You bring your uncle to my talk this evening,” said Mark Twain. “I’m sure I can make him laugh.”
That evening the young man and his uncle sat in the front. Mark Twain began to speak. He told several funny stories and made everyone in the room laugh. But the man never even smiled. Mark Twain told more funny stories, but the old man still kept quiet. Mark Twain continued to tell his funny stories. Finally he stopped. He was tired and quite disappointed.
Some days later, Mark Twain told another friend what had happened. “Oh,” said his friend,“I know that man. He’s been deaf for years.”
1. The writer wrote the passage mainly to________.| A．tell readers Mark Twain liked playing jokes |
| B．tell readers a joke played on Mark Twain |
| C．tell readers Mark Twain was a great writer |
| D．tell readers how to tell a funny story |
| A．a friend | B．his brother |
| C．his teacher | D．a young girl |
| A．disappointed | B．sorry |
| C．ill | D．sleepy |
| A．his jokes were not funny |
| B．the old man wasn’t interested in the jokes |
| C．the old man could tell more funny jokes |
| D．the old man was deaf |
【推荐1】April is National Poetry Month and naturally a great time to explore the powers of poetry. Reading and writing poetry engage our senses along with our emotions. Both have highly therapeutic (治疗的) effects on the mind.
The structure of a poem favors brief language yet the best poems also capture brief detail, making them powerful in getting a message across to the reader. Writing poetry requires extremely disciplined choice of words and the number of words, to create a sharp and accurate snapshot of the poet’s feeling. This combination of conciseness and detail gives the reader open access to the poet’s mind and enables the reader to truly connect with him.
Writing poetry requires us to be open and honest about our feelings so that we can voice them through pen and paper. This acknowledgement of our innermost thoughts allows us to be true to ourselves and boosts our self-respect.
The best poetry is written when we are truly in the midst of our emotions. This is when the release of emotions to pen and then paper as an outlet calms us and enables us to move forward.
Poetry’s powerful healing qualities have been documented during both world wars and the American civil war: poems were read to soldiers to help them cope with sufferings and the cruelty of war. Doctors would write poems for patients, emotionally connecting with them. A good example of this is John Keats who also trained as a doctor.
Poetry has also been used by modern-day doctors and physicians at Yale University School of Medicine and University College London School of Medicine. Yale actually has a committee that maintains a required literary reading list which includes poetry. Poetry allows both the doctor and the patient to understand the emotions that the patient might be going through.
The use of poetry continues to grow as a recognized form of therapy. More psychotherapists across the US, UK and Europe continue to use poetry therapy as part of their practice. Globally the International Federation for Poetry Therapy sets standards of excellence in the training of practitioners in the field of poetry therapy, qualifying them to practice.
1. What contributes to the highly therapeutic power of reading and writing poetry?| A．The close link in emotions between readers and poets. |
| B．The accurate snapshot of poets’ feeling. |
| C．The deliberate choice of words. |
| D．The brief structure of poetry. |
| A．A poem applying effective writing techniques. |
| B．A poem describing the beauty of nature by imagination. |
| C．A poem borrowing ideas from other poets’ masterpieces. |
| D．A poem conveying one’s real thoughts and true feelings. |
| A．analyzing causes | B．giving examples |
| C．making a comparison | D．presenting research findings |
| A．Poetry is an opening to let out your emotions. |
| B．Poetry is a good medicine to cure a variety of diseases. |
| C．Poetry’s healing qualities can make a difference to a reader’s mind. |
| D．Poetry’s unique art form makes poems gain wide popularity in history. |
【推荐2】Literature reminds us of stories, fictions and classical works of ancient and modern times. Literature is defined as written works of a language or culture, produced by scholars and researchers.
Literature is not only a description of reality; it is rather a value addition. Literary works describe thinking ways and social norms. They show different aspects of common men’s life. Classical literary works serve as a food for thought and a medicine for imagination and creativity. Exposing(使暴露) an individual to good literary works is equal to providing him with the finest educational opportunities.
Some literary works like the Bible provide us with the guiding rules of life.
Some ancient poetic works by poets like Homer and Shakespeare’s sonnets are timeless. Some literary works are best-selling all the time. And there are also some greatest works in children’s literature. It is through reading great literary works that one understands life. They help a person take a closer look at different aspects of life. In many ways, they can change one’s attitude towards life. Lives of great people who have made a valuable contribution( 贡 献 ) to society are included in their biographies. These works give readers an insight into their lives.
Literature serves as a great information base. Research works by famous inventors and literary works by famous scientists often state stories of their creative discoveries and conclusions. Developments in the fields of science and technology are documented so that the world can know about them. Several ancient works connected with stories of human evolution(进化) and human life in those times have been of huge help to the human race.
1. Usually literature is considered as________.| A．language works | B．cultural works |
| C．written works | D．stories, fictions and classical works |
| A．best-selling | B．a guide to our lives |
| C．children’s great literature | D．never old-fashioned |
| A．add our contribution to our biography |
| B．write biographies for great people |
| C．improve our understanding of our lives |
| D．improve our writing ability |
| A．Literary works can be the source of some important information. |
| B．Many research works are related to human evolution and human life. |
| C．The stories of human evolution are considered as creative discoveries. |
| D．Developments of science and technology make us know more about human evolution. |
【推荐3】Two hundred years ago the English poet William Wordsworth wrote “I wander ‘d Lonely as a Cloud”, a poem that expresses a basic spirit of early English Romanticism.
What makes this poem an example of Romantic thinking? It isn’t just that Wordsworth chooses to write about natural scene：it is the way he describes the scene as if it had human emotions. For him, nature is not only a neutral (无感情色彩的) mixture of scenery, colours, plants, rocks, soil, water and air. It is a living force that feels joy and sadness, shares human pain and even tries to educate us human beings by showing us the beauty of life.
Wordsworth’s home, Dove Cottage, is now one of the most popular destinations in the Lake District. You can go on a tour of the garden which William planted with wild flowers and which survived in his backyard even after they disappeared from the area “He always said that if he hadn’t been a poet, he would have been a wonderful scenery gardener,” says Allan King of the Wordsworth Trust.
The place near Ullswater, where Wordsworth saw the daffodils(水仙花), is at the southernmost end of the lake. The lake is wide and calm at this turning point. There’s a bay where the trees have had their soil eroded(侵蚀)by lake water so that their roots are shockingly exposed. You walk along from tree to tree, hardly daring to breathe, because you are walking in the footprints of William from two centuries ago. The first group of daffodils appear, but they aren’t tall yellow trumpets(小号状的花)proudly swinging in the gentle wind. They’re tiny wild daffodils, most of them still green and unopened, in groups of six or seven. They’re grouped around individual trees rather than collecting together.
But as you look north, from beside a huge ancient oak, you realize this is what delighted Wordsworth:group after group of the things, spread out to left and right but coming together in your sight so that they form a beautiful, pale-yellow carpet. What you’re seeing at last is nature transformed by human sight and imagination.
1. What was Wordsworth’s attitude to nature?| A．Nature had a character of its own. | B．Nature could talk to people. |
| C．Man could influence nature. | D．Nature was human-like. |
| A．has gardens designed by a scenery gardener | B．has a wide range of flowers in its garden |
| C．receives a lot of visitors every year | D．is famous for an actor |
| A．The daffodils are fewer and smaller. | B．All the daffodils are green and small. |
| C．There are no daffodils around trees. | D．There are no daffodils by the lake. |
| A．exactly what Wordsworth saw in detail |
| B．the effect the daffodils had on Wordsworth |
| C．what Wordsworth saw around an ancient oak |
| D．groups of daffodils on the left and on the right |
