Question

When the seventeenth-century settlers brought the English language to America, they immediately and necessarily began to adapt (使适应) it to their new environment. These changes were early and criticized by some people on both sides of the Atlantic. However, after the Revolution, Americans began to be proud of their own form of English. Noah Webster was the major early supporter of American meanings and spellings over British ones and published the earliest American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. During the years since Webster, language differences have continued to develop, proving (证明) the truth of George Bernard Shaw’s often-repeated words that the two nations are “divided by a common language”.

Like the American language, the earliest American literature (文学) copied English models. However, after the Revolution and the War of 1812, writers began to create a clear American literature. However, in 1820, Sydney Smith asked the famous question “Who reads an American book?”

Answering to this and similar taunts (讽刺) with creative anger, American writers soon produced works that plenty of British people read. Works by Washing-ton Irving, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain had been acclaimed greatly in Britain by the end of the nineteenth century.

Even as American writers got respect in Britain, British writers continued to have great influence in America. Charles Dickens went to America twice, in 1842 and 1867-68. Other major British writers who traveled and lived in the United States include D.H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. British best works continue to be widely read. The works of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen became popular films.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, many books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (继承) of the shared language.

1.The author of this passage seems to think ______.

A. British English is better than American English

B. American English is better than British English

C. the same language has divided the two nations

D. the same language has connected the two nations

2.From the question asked by Sydney Smith, we can infer ______.

A. the British looked down upon American books at first

B. the British found American books difficult to understand

C. the British thought highly of books written by Americans

D. the British had to translate American books into English ones

3.The underlined word “acclaimed” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.

A. sold      B. discussed

C. welcomed  D. refused

4.What made it possible for books and writers to cross the Atlantic in both directions?

A. The War of 1812.             B. The American Revolution.

C. The language differences.    D. The common language.

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.D

【解析】

试题解析：这是一篇说明文。文章讲的是自从十七世纪一些居民将英语带到美洲后，很快适应了美洲的环境，但是美国在独立战争之后，试图逐渐脱离英国语言文化的影响，开始形成了自己有特色的语言和文学，但是英语文化始终对美洲的语言产生有很大的影响，现在两者之间相互交流，共同发展。

1.推断分析题。Seem是推理题的标志词，考查对文章主旨的把握，从“the two nations are “divided by a common language”意为“这两个国家被同一种语言分开，可以选出答案D。

2.nfer也是推理题的标志词。从文章二段“Who reads an American book?”（谁会读美国的书？）这一反问句，由此可推测出答案为A.

3.从第四段第一句Even as American writers got respect in Britain反推，把单词放到句子中理解可以看出应该是“受到赞扬的，很受欢迎的”意思，美国作家受到英国人的尊重，经过对比，可以选出正确选项。A“卖”B“讨论”C“欢迎”D“拒绝”所以答案应该为C

4. books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (继承) of the shared”意为“很多作品和作者仍不断从各个方面穿越大西洋进行交流，使共享的文化得以继承而变得可能”可以看出。

考点：考察说明文阅读。