For years considered as a foxy politician, Thomas Cromwell has been greatly rehabilitated (恢复……的名誉) by Hilary Mantel’s prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall (2009) and Bring Up the Bodies (2012). It’s true that he planned Anne Boleyn’s fall, and made a large fortune in a dishonest way, but he was also a good husband and father, charming and modest, a self-made man.
Certainly, he is one of the outstanding figures from Henry VIII’s court. Extremely hard-working, he was a productive reporter. It was not unusual for him to start work as early as 5 am and finish well after midnight.
Yet in researching the biography of Cromwell, I have discovered frustrating gaps in sources, particularly in relation to his early life.
The man who would one day become the most powerful in England was raised from such humble (卑微的) origins that nobody knows when or where he was born. As the son of a blacksmith, he suffered a miserable childhood.
I had the portrait (肖像), which now hangs in the Frick Collection in New York, of a thoughtful but rather bad-tempered official in mind. It seems to describe a cruel man of business, which was what I thought before I read Wolf Hall. But Mantel’s portrait of a rude but intelligent man who was as loyal to his family and friends as he was cruel to his enemies is really convincing.
His last letter to Henry VIII, written from the Tower in June 1540, is desperately moving. “Most gracious Prince,” he wrote with his trembling hand, “I cry for mercy, mercy, mercy !” Henry was said to have read the letter three times. But it was not enough to save Cromwell from the axe.
Within weeks of Cromwell’s death, his royal master was regretting the loss of “the most faithful servant”. But Henry’s daughter Mary destroyed all of that. Debate has taken place ever since — among historians, novelists and film-makers alike — as to who was the real Cromwell.
1. Why are there few sources of Cromwell’s early life according to the passage?A.He was a mysterious man. | B.He wanted to be a dark horse. |
C.He was a man of humble birth. | D.He was misunderstood by the public. |
A.had only a limited understanding of Cromwell |
B.had his doubts about Mantel’s portrait of Cromwell |
C.thought highly of the portrait hanging in the Frick Collection |
D.considered Cromwell a popular guy among his family and friends |
A.felt great sympathy for Cromwell |
B.blamed Mary for Cromwell’s death |
C.seemed a bit hesitant about killing Cromwell |
D.was the main reason for the debate about Cromwell |
A.Why Cromwell got successful in his career | B.How people debate on Cromwell |
C.What the book Wolf Hall is about | D.What sort of man Cromwell really was |
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【推荐1】After drawing blood and running a CT scan, the doctor had questions for me. “What is a typical day like for you?” “I am a graduate student with a tight schedule that usually keeps me at work late into the night,” I replied. Next, he turned to diet. I paused when this question came, embarrassed by my answer. “I only have coffee for breakfast. For lunch and dinner, I usually grab something from a fast-food stand on campus.” The doctor seemed shocked. As more questions followed about my stress levels and lifestyle, my unhealthy state began to sink in.
In graduate school, I was fully focused on my project and doing what I could to become a successful scientist. I didn’t feel I had the time or energy to shop for groceries and cook. I stopped exercising and didn’t spend as much time socializing. When I was sluggish, instead of giving my mind and body a rest, I drank energy boosters to maintain my strength and continued to work long hours. As I progressed through my PhD Program, I gained an unhealthy amount of weight. I got tired easily and I often caught colds or the flu. Eventually, my stomachache was so bad that it drove me to the emergency room.
After hearing the doctor’s warning, I knew I had no choice. I stopped working late into the night, which gave me more time to relax, sleep, and prepare my own meals. I read up on dietary recommendations and began to choose nutritious and healthy food. I also gave up energy drinks and switched to tea. Many times, I was tempted to go back to my old routine. I placed sticky notes in my office and at home to remind myself that if I didn’t make healthy choices, I’d suffer consequences.
It’s been 4 years now and, to my surprise, I have not only noticed gains in my health, but also found it easier to be productive at work.
1. What was the problem with the author?A.He did poorly in his studies. | B.He wasn’t good at socializing. |
C.He ignored the doctor’s advice. | D.He had a very unhealthy lifestyle. |
A.cast down | B.worn out | C.carried away | D.left behind |
A.Creativity. | B.Optimism. | C.Self-control. | D.Co-operation. |
【推荐2】My mother enters her ninth decade. Thankfully, she is blessed with good health.
I still remember ten years ago when she turned 80, she surprised my brother and me with what she described as “independent birthday”.
One day she informed us she'd booked a seven-night trip to Turkey. Alone. Because she had never been. Of course, that was absurd. There was no way my brother and I could allow that. A weak, little old lady wandering the streets of Istanbul on her own, not speaking a word of Turkish, with no knowledge of the laws and customs of the land—it was out of the question!
She paid no attention to us. Off she went. When she returned, she told us it had been a wonderful success. As it turned out, she had barely spent any time alone, after hiring a taxi driver to show her around Istanbul for some days. He took her to all the sites—the markets, churches and restaurants. He introduced her to a blanket seller, “a lovely fellow,” and she bought some blankets. The seller took her address details and promised to ship them to Canada. They would be arriving in three or four weeks. My mother beamed (眉开眼笑) as she told this story. The blanket seller and my mother apparently built a friendship and she told him to drop by if he were ever in Canada.
To our great shock, her blankets did arrive some weeks later, along with a lovely note from the seller Mustafa. To our even greater surprise, the following year Mustafa himself arrived in Canada. He called our mother to inform her be was in Ottawa.
“I invited him over and he came by for a cup of tea. They drink a lot of tea in Turkey,” my mother told my horrified brother and me.
Her trip of independence seems to be thoughtfully based on a realization that life is to be lived. It reminded me of the line from The Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy living or get busy dying.”
1. Why did the author's mother go to Turkey alone?A.To make the author and the brother surprised. |
B.To celebrate her 80th birthday independently. |
C.To prepare herself to enter het ninth decade. |
D.To inform the author that she needed independence. |
A.Colorful. | B.Boring. |
C.Dangerous. | D.Challenging. |
A.He is poor but generous. | B.He is reliable and cautious. |
C.He is rich but selfish. | D.He is friendly and trustworthy. |
A.It's never too old to learn. | B.East or West, home is best. |
C.Life deserves to be well lived. | D.Time and tide wait for no man. |
【推荐3】The children in my class quietly worked on their projects. “Nah, nah, nah...” The noise got louder. I knew before I looked up which child was causing the trouble. Stephen had been displaying attention-seeking behavior since he joined our class after his family had moved to town. I’d had enough.
“Stephen, I can’t have these constant interruptions. Please go sit in the hall until you think you can be quiet in my classroom.” His hurt look made me regret my words. I knew how hard it was to start over in a new place. I should have been showing sympathy (同情), not punishing the child.
How can I encourage this unhappy little boy? An idea popped into my head. I put the plan into action the very next morning. When Stephen took his seat, I placed five nickels (硬币) in front of him. “The nickels are yours to keep—but each time you disturb the class, I’ll have to take one nickel back,” I said.
When Stephen acted out halfway through class, I dropped one of his nickels into my pocket. He lost three nickels that day The next day, only two. His behavior continued to improve. I could see he was adjusting to his new life, making friends and happier for it.
Then one day, Stephen surprised me. “Teacher, you don’t have to give me nickels anymore,” he said. Someone in my class had learned an important lesson—and it wasn’t only Stephen.
1. What can we learn from the first two paragraphs?A.Stephen had a mental problem for long. | B.The students didn’t care about each other. |
C.The teacher regretted having punished Stephen. | D.The class content was not interesting for Stephen. |
A.He got distracted by his classmates. | B.He felt confused when making noises. |
C.He had trouble collecting his memories. | D.He expected a sense of belonging in class. |
A.Stephen’s determination. | B.Parents’ engagement. |
C.The teacher’s commitment. | D.Classmates’ encouragement. |
A.The Sympathy of a Teacher. | B.No Punishment on Students. |
C.Annoying Noises in the Class. | D.Five Nickels Works Wonders. |
【推荐1】You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson.Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams (1860~1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson (1907~1964)
If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O’Connor (1930~present)
When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the U.S. Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks (1913~2005)
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.
1. What is Jane Addams noted for in history?A.Her social work. |
B.Her lack of proper training in law. |
C.Her efforts to win a prize. |
D.Her community background. |
A.The poor financial conditions. |
B.The discrimination against women. |
C.Her little work experience in court. |
D.Her lack of proper training in law. |
A.They are pioneers. |
B.They are truly creative. |
C.They are highly educated. |
D.They are peace-lovers. |
【推荐2】Even though it’s only even odds that 2022 turned out to be less of a disaster than 2021 (or 2020), at least 2022 was the best recent year for compiling(汇编) a list of science anniversaries.
Louis Pasteur, 200th birthday
Louis Pasteur was born in France in December 1822. His interests tended toward art, but later some inspiring lectures shifted his attention to chemistry, and he became one of the greatest chemists of all time, also one of the greatest biologists. Although he received no medical education, he provided the foundation for modern medicine’s ability to fight disease.
Gregor Mendel, 200th birthday
Born on July 22, 1822 to a family of farmers, Mendel preferred higher education to farming, enrolling in a philosophy programme properly complemented(补充) with maths and physics. When the time came to return home and take charge of the family farm, he chose instead to enter a monastery. He did not particularly enjoy his priestly duties, though, so he got a job as a teacher, which required him to enter the University of Vienna for advanced science education. There, in addition to more maths and physics, he encountered botany.
Aage Niels Bohr, 100th birthday
Aage Niels Bohr was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics in 1922, the same year as the birth of his son Aage. Aage grew up surrounded by physicists and so naturally became a physicist himself. During World War Ⅱ, Aage accompanied his father to the United States to work on the Manhattan Project, afterwards returning to his native Denmark to earn his Ph. D. at the University of Copenhagen.
Invention of mathematical weather forecasting, 100th anniversary
Lewis Fry Richardson, a mathematician who later turned to psychology, worked early in his career at England’s National Peat Industries. He was given the task of calculating optimal designs of drainage systems for peat moss subjected to different amounts of rain. He worked out the equations and then realized they could be applied to other problems, such as predicting the weather.
1. Who wants to know about Louis Pasteur more probably?A.A mathematician. | B.A physicist. |
C.An artist. | D.A medical student. |
A.He is the only one related to physics. |
B.He is the only one awarded the Nobel Prize. |
C.He is the only one who ever changed his subject. |
D.He is the only one who entered the university. |
A.Louis Pasteur. | B.Gregor Mendel. |
C.Aage Bohr. | D.Lewis Fry Richardson. |
【推荐3】If a person lost an arm, how could he or she still play basketball, or even dribble(运球) like Kyrie Irving does? Zhang Jiacheng, a l3-year-old Chinese boy, did it and impressed everyone.
After a short video of the teenage basketball player playing a one-on-one competition was recently shared online, Zhang's dribbling skills and the story behind it, became a hot topic on Weibo in China, with more than 35 million views as of Tuesday.
NBA star Stephen Curry said on Thursday that he wanted to find this one-armed Chinese boy."Who is this kid? Help me find him! Keep being yourself and don't let anyone tell you that you can't," the famous player wrote to his 4.5 million followers on Weibo.
Born in southern Chinese province of Guangdong, Zhang lost his right arm in an accident at just five years old, which was a tragedy for a little kid. But Zhang has never given in to fate (命运) as his love for basketball grows stronger.
"The heart, is always the strongest part of the body," said Yi Jianlian, current Chinese Basketball Association (CBA)'s all-time leading scorer, after watching the teenager's short video. Zhang has also been invited to visit Chinese Basketball Association champions Guangdong Southern Tigers. "This is the best kid I have ever seen playing basketball," Zhu Fangyu, general manager of defending champions the Guangdong Southern Tigers said.
Zhang is a fan of Kyrie Irving and he uses a poster of the dribbling master as the cover image of his Douyin account (账号). The one-armed teenager dreams of being a basketball player.
"Give it a try, or give it up," he wrote when sharing a short video.
1. After his video was shared online, Zhang ________.A.lost his right arm |
B.became an Internet hit |
C.met Kyrie Irving personally |
D.won a one-on-one competition |
A.He liked playing basketball when he was five. |
B.He used to be interested in sharing videos. |
C.He became disabled because of an accident. |
D.He is now more physically active than before. |
A.They showed their appreciation of Zhang. |
B.They are willing to help Zhang. |
C.They inspired Zhang to play basketball. |
D.They were moved by Zhang's misfortune. |
A.Hope Is Brought Back To Sports With Disabilities |
B.The Disabled Are Supposed To Get Back To The Field |
C.A Teenager Dreams Of Being A Famous Basketball Player |
D.One-armed Teen Shocks People With His Basketball Skills |