3 . The end of the year is drawing near, and winter is in full swing. The season brings along with it strong winds and snow — an environment that’s never comfortable to be in.
This unpleasant and even frightening aspect of winter can often be seen in literature. In Shakespeare’s King Lear (1606), the king has given away his kingdom and been rejected by his two ungrateful daughters. He is out in the winter cold，suffering things that are usually reserved for the poorest and most unfortunate human beings.
The winter is bad enough for Lear，but being abandoned by his family is worse. A song from another Shakespeare play, As You Like It(1599), is fitting for this poor old man's situation: "Blow，blow，thou winter wind/Thou art not so unkind /As ma's ingratitude (忘恩负义)". Here, winter is used to bring out the ugliness of inhumanity (无人性). There aren't many things that are worse than winter, according to Shakespeare.
Once winter became less of a threat to human beings, literary works featuring it became more positive. Since Charles Dickens, the representation of the season in literature has often featured happy Christmas celebrations.
The cold of the winter weather provides a contrast to the fun going on indoors.
Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843) was the start of this, but Christmas is still a common, cheery element (元素)in stories that feature winter scenes today. Consider the joy felt by Harry Potter and his friends in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) as they sit down for their festive meal：
"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat，roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce".
It is almost as much a pleasure to read about the meal as it might have been to eat it.
Although winter still isn’t the most cheerful season in novels and poems, it’s safe to say that writers have certainly "warmed up" since Shakespeare’s days.
1. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing this article?
| A．To recommend some winter stories in literature. |
| B．To explain what winter is like in literary works. |
| C．To describe certain customs that are related to winter. |
| D．To tell us why winter is described as unpleasant in literature. |
2. What can we learn from Shakespeare’s works?
| A．Shakespeare didn’t like winter for its bad weather. |
| B．King Lear was forced to give up being a king in a cold winter. |
| C．It’s in winter when King Lear drove his two daughters off. |
| D．Winter is compared with the ugly side of humanity. |
3. Why does the author mention Charles Dickens in the passage?
| A．Because a lot of his works are related to winter. |
| B．Because he is the most popular author of winter stories. |
| C．Because he started a new way of representing winter. |
| D．Because his works make people feel cheerful in winter. |
4. The example of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is used mainly to show
.
| A．traditional Christmas food makes the winter cheery |
| B．Christmas is still a symbol of joy in modern stories |
| C．it’s a pleasure to read Christmas-related books in winter |
| D．winter has become the happiest season in literary works |
