1 . A speech in a play by Shakespeare can be as short as a word or as long as several hundred. But what is the most common length?
Staying away from Shakespeare himself for a moment, we can take Ben Jonson’s play Volpone (1606) and count the number of speeches and their lengths. The most common length is four words. The next most common length is five words. Of the other 16 Jonson’s plays, 12 also have a speech length mode (模式) of four. It was not just Jonson; it was everybody. After 1602, four-word speeches were the most common kind across all the early modern plays that survived.
The London theatre industry took off in the late 1580s and early 1590s and we see a concentration of speech length modes of nine or ten. After 1602, the mode of four predominated. If we look just at Shakespeare’s plays, we find him doing what everyone else did: changing from favoring nine-word speeches to favouring four-word speeches around 1597-1602 and never going back.
Our suggestion is that the playwrights (剧作家) learned progressively from one another how to represent more closely the speech lengths of everyday exchanges and found that audiences responded well to these. They started to focus less on strict writing rules and more on the liveliness of everyday speech.
Another way to think of this is offered by the Russian literary scholar Boris Yarkho. He put forward an “index (指数) of liveliness” — the ratio of the number of speeches to the total number of lines in a play. He researched the works of the 17th-century French playwright Pierre Corneille and found that his comedies have a higher index because of their shorter speeches. The move from a mode of nine words to a mode of four represents the shortened average speech, and thus a move to livelier drama in Yarkho’s terms.
Nevertheless, we have no record of any dramatist or playgoer reflecting on the shortening of average speech lengths; our only knowledge of it comes from counting the words in the plays for ourselves.
1. What happened in English plays around the 1600s?| A．Their storylines were about famous writers. | B．They were influenced by a poetic writing style. |
| C．They featured different storytelling techniques. | D．Their speeches were generally shorter in length. |
| A．Remained unique. | B．Took the leading position. |
| C．Disappeared slowly. | D．Played an educational role. |
| A．To challenge traditional writing rules. | B．To stand out by applying their unique style. |
| C．To avoid being affected by social values. | D．To create realistic and acceptable speeches. |
| A．It saved actors the trouble of memorizing their lines. |
| B．It reflected people's preference for serious dialogues. |
| C．It helped present dramas in an active and pleasant way. |
| D．It made the characters express their feelings effectively. |
I will share the kind act that I met with all of you. We had dozens of restaurant options within a short distance, so we often took advantage of this luxury. On one occasion, I ran out to get some food. I saw the clouds in the distance and decided I could make it there and come back in time, but I was wrong. I was about to leave the restaurant when the rain just poured. The street was flooded within minutes.
But I had my little girl and husband waiting for me back at home, and they were hungry, so I knew I had to make a run for it. The owner of the restaurant tried to encourage me to wait inside, but I insisted that I should go. At this point, he grabbed his umbrella and said, “Okay, let’s go.” Of course I tried to convince him that it wasn’t necessary for him to walk me home, but I knew I wouldn’t prevent him from doing so. So off we went. We quickly realized that the umbrella wouldn’t help much in keeping us dry. He walked me all the way to my apartment building, where he said goodbye and ran back to the restaurant.
Again I encountered this act of kindness when I was making my way to the bus. As I waited at the crosswalk (人行道), it began to rain lightly. Nothing was too bad, but a young guy nearby felt like it was heavy enough to make him step next to me and hold his umbrella above both of us. After a while, the lights turned green. I thanked him and walked across the street.
Getting around the city when you are six months pregnant (怀孕的) and have a two-year-old kid can be challenging sometimes. One spring afternoon, I realized I needed something from the store to finish preparing for dinner. The weather seemed a bit questionable but the store was around the corner so I decided to risk it.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
It wasn’t raining when we left so we didn’t carry my umbrella.
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As we crossed the street the woman offered me her umbrella.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Dora Kellert was the school’s spelling bee champion, winner of the reading contest at the public library three summers in a row and the playground grand champion in chess. She was a straight-A student.
Though Dora was talented, she was no good at sports. She could not figure out in which direction to kick the soccer ball. She was no good at baseball or basketball either. It wasn’t until last year, when she was eleven years old, that she learned how to ride a bike. And even then she had to use training wheels.
“I’ll never be good at sports,” she thought one day as she lay on her bed staring at the shelf her father had made to hold her trophies (奖杯). “How I wish I could win something, anything, even marbles (弹珠).”
At the word “marbles,” she sat up, “That’s it. Maybe I could be good at playing marbles.” She jumped out of bed and found a can full of her brother’s marbles. “Yes,” she thought. “I could play marbles, and marbles is a sport.” At that moment she realized that she had only three weeks to practice. The playground championship was coming up. She had a lot to do.
To strengthen her wrists (腕关节), she decided to do twenty push-ups on her fingertips, five at a time. By the end of the first set she was breathing hard. She did one more set and decided that was enough push-ups for the first day. She squeezed (握) a rubber eraser one hundred times, hoping it would strengthen her thumb (大拇指). This seemed to work because the next day her thumb was painful. She could hardly hold a marble in her hand, so Dora rested that day and listened to her brother’s tips on how to shoot.
After school the next day she practiced three hours straight. After practice, she squeezed the eraser for an hour. Practice, practice, practice. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Dora got better and even beat her brother for the first time.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Time flew and soon came the big day.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Dancing home, she placed the trophy on the middle of the shelf.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________By the time we reached the airport, my mother was angry. “We’re going to be late,”she said as she pulled into the newly opened parking area.
My husband David and I had come to pick up my oldest son, who had flown to spend theNew Year with the family. As always, Mom had insisted on driving us to the airport.
We picked a lane (车道) that didn’t look too busy. When our turn came, Mom rolled down her window to grab the parking ticket from the machine. We watched and waited for the gate to lift so we could drive through. Instead, we heard a voice,“Please take the ticket.”“Give me a minute,”Mom answered.
It’s a well-known fact that I often talk to myself. So does my mother. So at that time, Ididn’t think anything of my mother’s words.
The machine sounded again. “Please take the ticket.”
“I’m trying. I can’t reach it,”she said.
This time, my husband and I glanced at each other with our eyebrows raised. Certainly,Mom knew the voice was automated (自动化的) and not a real person speaking to her.
“Please take the ticket.”
“I’m trying. I’m trying. It’s too far away. Give me a minute.”
In fairness to my mother, automated machines had recently arrived in the world, and there weren’t many around yet. We had never run into one at the airport before. In the old days, the machine spit out a parking ticket, and if you couldn’t reach the ticket, you simply opened your door and grabbed it. Now, the new metal safety railings (护栏) on either side of the car made it impossible to open the door.
“Please take the ticket.”
“It’s too far. I’m trying. I’m trying.”
The traffic behind us grew impatient. I saw people trying to back their cars so they could find another lane. All the while, the machine continued,“Please take the ticket...”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mom was frustrated (沮丧的).
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I managed to reach for my mother’s safety belt and tried to unfasten (解开) it.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Jenny was the only child in her family. She had a quarrel (吵架) with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn’t help weeping sorrowfully when she thought of the scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat. She stood beside a stand (货摊) for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she gave a sigh and had to leave.
The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, “Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?”
“Oh, yes, but I don’t have money on me.” she replied.
“That’s nothing. I’ll treat you today,” said the man, “Come in.”
The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. As she was eating, Jenny cried silently.
“What is it?” asked the man kindly.
“Nothing. Actually, I was just touched by your kindness!” said Jenny as she wiped her tears. “Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so merciless compared to a stranger!”
Hearing the words, the seller smiled, “Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you remember the times she cooked for you? Have you expressed your gratitude to her?”
Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock: she remembered her mother’s familiar face and weathered hands. “Why didn’t I think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel grateful. Why haven’t I thanked my mum for what she has done for me?”
On the way home. Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Nearing the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At that time, her mother came back and touched her hair gently, which called her mind back.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The library was typically so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. But on this Wednesday afternoon, there was a roar of laughter that spread through the halls. It was coming from a table in the back. Books were piled so high that one could barely see the source of all the noise. Brian and Josie were hiding behind the mountain of history texts, their faces bright red from laughing.
Mrs Cane, the librarian, followed the laughter and then approached the table. As she cleared her throat and looked over the piles of books, Brian and Josie looked up to meet her gaze. Mrs Cane looked at the books, then at the kids. “And what is it you two are supposed to be working on?”
Brian hesitated a moment, and then answered, “We’re working on a paper for our history class.”
“I see,” Mrs Cane said harshly. “Perhaps one of the private reading rooms would be a better place for you to concentrate and study. Quietly.”
The kids collected their books and their backpacks and followed Mrs Cane down a long hallway until they got to a dark row of doors. Mrs Cane pulled out a ring of keys from her pocket and unlocked a door. She turned on the light, which shone brightly overhead. The kids placed their books on the dusty table and reluctantly (不情愿地) climbed into the chairs. Brian and Josie shrugged (耸肩) and opened their books, finally focusing on the project at hand.
Time was ticking away. After what seemed like hours, Brian and Josie decided to take a break and when Josie opened the door of the room, Brian’s eyes opened wide. The library was completely dark. Looking at his watch, he let out a gasp. “It’s 9:30! The library closed an hour ago!”
Paragraph 1:Brian looked through his backpack for his cellphone.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
They heard a noise that sounded like a telephone ringing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. Where did George park his car?
| A．On a narrow street. | B．At a parking lot. | C．At a square. |
| A．At 5:00 pm. | B．At 4:40 pm. | C．At 4:20 pm. |
| A．In his pocket. | B．In his car. | C．On the bench. |
| A．Someone stole it. | B．It was behind another car. | C．He went to a wrong place. |
8 . Adaptations are the currency of the movie industry. It’s common to see that the latest hit movie or thrilling drama is inspired by a novel, video game, or perhaps even a comic book. The journey of the page being adapted to the screen has been covered a lot. But little is the process spoken about in reverse.
The most well-known version of a film making its way into the publishing industry is through the classic novelization. Movie novelizations went through a popular period before the Internet existed. Fans wanted to keep learning more about the fictional worlds they had stepped. into and needed to experience the story again in a new way. They couldn’t simply google it, nor could they immediately get the production on tape. Therefore, the novelization was a great solution.
Novelizations were usually written by authors who were not in the movie-making process. Instead, they would receive the most complete version of the screenplay to hand and would begin to write their adaptation based on that document. Although changes could be made, there were times where a novelization didn’t actually reflect what happened on the screen because scenes could be cut or replaced and the novelizations were left outdated. But there’s also an advantage. The novelizations were a small piece of movie-making history in their own right. Massive films like Star Wars, ET, Back To The Future, and Alien all received their own page adaptation. It was a completely unique experience before the films were even available to watch. For a time, they were everything for cinema lovers.
Regardless of the influences on the tales, movie adaptations provide a creative outlet for new concepts to be developed. That’s a wonderful idea. which should be encouraged for those movies that never got a chance to continue on their path.
1. What does the underlined phrase “in reverse” in paragraph 1 mean?
| A．Equally. | B．Oppositely. | C．Similarly. | D．Completely. |
| A．They took the place of productions on tape. |
| B．They were adapted from up-to-date novels. |
| C．They satisfied fans’ curiosity in a different way. |
| D．They created a fictional world for people to first step in. |
| A．Its choosing the wrong story. |
| B．Its missing the point of the screenplay. |
| C．Its cutting and replacing movie scenes. |
| D．Its failing to match the original movie. |
| A．Novel-based Movies. | B．Fast-developing Industries. |
| C．Film-to-book Adaptations. | D．Well-known novelizations. |
“No matter how hard we try, some things are just not meant to be,” Andrew thought bitterly. He looked down at the hospital bills in his hands and tears filled his eyes. His poor mom had been so ill, and here he was complaining and feeling sorry for himself! He should be praying for her recovery, not crying over a lost, childish dream.
Andrew was nineteen, and as far back as he could remember, he’d wanted to become a software engineer. That dream had become harder to reach after his dad died when Andrew was twelve. His mom had been left to raise him on her own, and it was hard to make ends meet. So Andrew started doing part-time jobs.
Every cent he earned he put away for college. When he was sixteen, he got himself a summer job at a local IT company, where his insight and intelligence caught the owner’s eye. Mr. Lewis, the CEO, made Andrew the assistant of his best and most innovative developer, and the boy thrived (不断成长) on the challenge. He couldn’t wait to go to college!
Unfortunately, when Andrew was in his senior year in high school, his mother became very ill. The usually energetic woman was constantly tired and in pain. She went from doctor to doctor, but no one knew exactly what was wrong with her. They sent her off to do dozens of expensive tests, then shook their heads over the results. Andrew’s mom started getting weaker and weaker, and thinner and thinner until she could barely walk.
Andrew added up the medical bills and was shocked. They owed over $23,000! Andrew pulled out his bank book. He had close to $30,000 in his savings account. He’d painstakingly (艰苦地) saved up for YEARS, so he’d be able to go to college, but his mom’s health was more important.
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。The next day, Andrew went to see Mr. Lewis.
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That night, Mr. Lewis appeared on Andrew’s home with a great idea.
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I was in my room, feeling unwilling to head to the community theatre with “my brother” Henry. He had recently been adopted (收养) by my parents and I was not in the mood for being onstage with him.
“Kirstie, come here,” my mom called. Following her voice, I found her outside the bathroom, holding a wet book. She gave the book a shake. “Henry’s book was in the bathtub. Did you put it there?” She looked at me angrily, something she had never done before Henry came to our home. I hadn’t wet his book on purpose. Raindrops fell from my eyes. To make matters worse, she promised to buy him a new copy. My heart ached. Henry was stealing my mother’s love. He was ruining my life.
Meanwhile, Henry was nearby, concentrating on working on a complicated rope knot (绳结),something he liked to do. Why did a boy like him like doing girl y work? It seemed far from manly (男子汉气概).
Soon, it was time to set off to the community theatre. As Henry walked ahead of us to the car, my mom took me aside and said in a low voice, “It will be Henry’s first time onstage. Be kind to him, honey.” I nodded but sighed (叹气). I hadn’t always found it so difficult to be kind. But since Henry had moved in, everything felt different. The theatre used to be a special place for my parents and me. With Henry along, it didn’t seem so special any more.
Finally, it was our stage time. My heart beat wildly. I forgot my annoyance at Henry for a while. As we kids lined up, ready to act out our short play, I realized how loosely (松散地) I had tied the drawstring (拉绳) on my skirt. Sure enough, my skirt began to drop. I could hear the audience laughing. Even though I was wearing shorts under my skirt, I could feel my face burst into flames. However, my hands were full. If only someone could help me out.
续写要求：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Right then, Henry sensed my embarrassing situation.
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After the performance, I found Henry and patted him on the arm thankfully.
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