1 . Railroads and Literature

Nineteenth-century writers in the United States, whether they wrote novels, short stories, poems or plays, were powerfully drawn to the railroad in its golden years.    1    By the 1850’s, the railroad was a major presence in the life of the nation. Writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau saw the railroad both as a sign to development and as an object of suspicion. The railroad could be and was a despoiler of nature. Furthermore, because of speed and noise, it might be a despoiler of human nature as well.

    2     Deeply philosophical historians such as Henry Adams hated the role that the new craze for business was playing in destroying traditional values. A distrust of industry and business continued among writers throughout the rest of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.

    3     One thinks of melodramas, boy’s books, thrillers, romances and the like rather than novels of the first rank. In the railroads’ best years, between 1890 and 1920, there were a few individuals in the United States, most of them with solid railroading experience behind them, who made a profession of writing about railroading-works offering the ambience of stations yards and locomotive cabs.     4     But anyone who takes the time to consult their fertile writings will still find much information about the place of the railroad in the life of the United States.

A．These writers who can genuinely be said to have created the “railroad novel” are now mostly forgotten, their names having faded from memory.

B．By the 1850’s and 1860’s, there was a great distrust among writers and intellectuals of the rapid industrialization of which the railroad was a leading force.

C．The “railroad novels” are good examples of the effects industry and business had on the literature of the United States.

D．For the most part, the literature in which the railroad plays an important role belongs to popular culture rather than to serious art.

E．In fact, writers responded to the railroads as soon as the first were built in the 1830’s.

F．Many writers had the experience of working on railroads.

2 . Joseph Conrad, a famous English novelist, said that his goal as a writer was “to make you hear, to make you feel, and above all, to make you see. That, and no more, is everything.”     1     Often it leaves a single sharp impression to be turned over and over in the mind. After finishing the story, the reader should have something to think about: the humor of life, its ironies, or the unpredictability of human behavior.

    2     The first and most obvious level is conveyed through the plot. Plot refers to the sequence of events, to the actions of the characters and the situations in which they are involved. To explain the plot, then, is to tell what happened in the story and to whom. In some short stories, plot is the dominating element. In other short stories, plot plays a very minor role.

In Hemingway’s story, The Old Man and the Sea, however, we must approach the content on another level.     3     To understand and appreciate the story, the reader must be able to identify its general topic or theme. The next step is to identify the device by which the author comments on this theme.     4    

Readers cannot appreciate a short story fully unless they react not only to what has been said but also to how it has been said.     5     Style grows out of the writer’s own personality and can be seen in the choice of words and phrases, the arrangement of sentences, the rhythm and tone. Structure refers to the architecture of the story, the way in which the details are selected and arranged to produce the desired effect.

A．They must look for style and structure.

B．In complex stories, careful readers may not always agree with the author.

C．The impact on the reader comes from the sudden and unexpected response.

D．A good short story tries to give the reader a sense of the actual experience.

E．Finally, the reader should be able to explain the insights which the author has given into the theme.

F．The impact of the story comes from the insight it gives us into the needs and desires of youth and old age.

G．In order to read a short story with full understanding, the reader must approach the content on two levels.

3 . Suddenly we heard the sound of a carriage. It was the two Lintons, Hindley, Frances and Catherine. They all ran into the house and stood in front of the large fire in the sitting room to get warm.

I told Heathcliff to go and join them. He opened the kitchen door as Hindley was coming out of the sitting room. When Hindley saw him, he pushed him back into the kitchen saying, “Joseph! Keep him away from the sitting room!”

Then he noticed Heathcliff’s nice clothes. “Look at you!” he said sneering. “Who do you want to impress? Get out or I’ll pull your hair until it’s longer than it is now!”

“It’s long enough already,” observed Edgar Linton. He was standing at the sitting room door. “It hangs over his eyes like a horse’s mane!” Edgar didn’t say this to insult Heathcliff but Heathcliff became violent immediately. He suddenly picked up a pan of hot apple sauce and threw the contents in Edgar’s face. Edgar screamed. Hearing her brother’s cries, Isabella, followed by Catherine, came running out. Hindley caught Heathcliff by the arm, took him to his room and gave him a beating.

I didn’t have much pity for Edgar but I cleaned his face. His sister was crying and wanted to go home. Catherine was confused and embarrassed and didn’t say anything.

Hindley came back and told the children to return to the sitting room and have their dinner. As soon as they saw the food on the table they forgot everything because they were hungry. I looked at Catherine. Her eyes were dry as she cut her meat.

“What an insensitive child,” I thought. “She doesn’t really care about Heathcliff.”

I watched her lift the meat to her mouth and then suddenly her eyes filled with tears. To hide her feelings, she dropped her fork on the floor and bent down to pick it up. So she wasn’t as insensitive as I thought!

Some musicians came to play for us in the evening. While everyone was listening to them, Catherine escaped and climbed the stairs to Heathcliff’s room. She called him but there was no answer so she climbed along the roof and into his room through a small window. Later they came downstairs to the kitchen together. I gave Heathcliff some supper but he didn’t eat it.

“I don’t care how long I have to wait, Nelly,” he said, “but I’m going to take my revenge on Hindley. I only hope he doesn’t die first!”

“Heathcliff!” I said. “You should learn to forgive.”

“No! I must have satisfaction,” he replied. “I’m going to think of a good way to take my revenge. If I think about that, I won’t feel the pain.”

1. What do we know about Hindley from the text?

A．He assumed Heathcliff would hurt the kids.

B．He hated Heathcliff as he had nicer clothes.

C．He didn’t see Heathcliff as a family member.

D．He pushed Edgar Linton to insult Heathcliff.

2. What does the underlined word “insensitive” in paragraph 7 mean?

A．Not able to tell right from wrong.

B．Not caring about other peopled feelings.

C．Not affected by physical effects of changes.

D．Not clever enough to make quick responses.

3. Why did Catherine bend down during dinner?

A．She dropped her fork on the floor by accident.

B．She was trying to wipe away her tears secretly.

C．She felt rather bored to eat with those children.

D．She knew she was being observed by someone.

4. What can we infer from the text?

A．Heathcliff occupied an important place in Catherine’s heart.

B．Heathcliff used to being laughed at by other kids.

C．Isabella was very angry to see his brother badly injured.

D．Nelly took pity on Heathcliff and supported his revenge.

4 . From the ancient Chinese stories, to the stories in the medieval cathedrals（中世纪的教堂）in the west, it is perfectly clear that there is strong pleasure and meaning to gain from stories told through images or pictures. People are lucky enough to have had books with both pictures and words when they were children.    1    .

After the world wars, the cheap books without pictures were everywhere and it made reading books illustrated with pictures for adults a very luxurious thing. Somehow, pictures had also come to seem childish or strange.    2    Just as the ever-increasing popularity of the graphic novel（连环画小说）suggests, works both words and pictures are regarded as classics.

    3    In fact the former develops from the latter. Early writing systems such as those in Egypt and China: things in the world were expressed in written form by drawing special pictures.       4    In some languages, the sound associated with an image are separated from its original meaning.

What is the use of a book without pictures? Very little, it turns out, particularly if we consider that pictures are buried within the very symbols used to write words. As for a picture book for adults, author Tokarczuk sweeps away all doubts. She adores the picture book.    5    This kind of story is able to get through to anyone – regardless of age, cultural differences or level of education. It’s hard to disagree.

A．Because it is hard to read books with pictures.

B．And yet readers love stories told through pictures.

C．However, words and pictures are not always connected.

D．Text and picture, after all, are not so far apart.

E．For her it is a powerful, old way of telling a story.

F．Adults are thought foolish to read such books.

G．They often remember the pictures as clearly as the words.