Question

I call my story the story of a bad boy, partly to distinguish myself from those faultless young gentlemen, and partly because I really was not an angle. I may truthfully say I was a friendly, impulsive(易冲动的)teenager. I didn’t want to be an angel. In short, I was a real human boy, such as you may meet anywhere in New England.

Whenever a new scholar came to our school, I used to ask him “ My name’s Tom Bailey; what’s your name?” If the name struck me favorably, I shook hands with the new pupil cordially, but if it didn’t, I would turn and walk away, for I was particular on this point.

I was born in Rivermouth almost fifty years ago, but, before I became very well acquainted with that pretty New England town, my parents moved to New Orleans. I was only eighteen months old at the time of the move, and it didn’t make much difference to me where I was, because several years later, when my father proposed to take me North to be educated, I had my own view on the subject. I instantly kicked over the little boy, Sam, who happened to be standing by me at the moment, and declared that I would not be taken away to live among a lot of Yankees! You see I was what is called “ a Northern man with Southern principles,” I had no recollection of New England: my earliest memories were connected with the South. I knew I was born in the North, but hoped nobody would find it out. I never told my schoolmates I was a Yankee, because they talked about Yankees in a scornful way which made me feel that it was quite a shame not to be born in the South.

And this impression was strengthened by Aunt Chloe, who said, “There wasn’t no gentlemen in the North no way.”

With this picture of Northern civilization in my eye, the readers will easily understand my terror at the bare thought of being transported to Rivermouth to school, and possibly will forgive me for kicking over little Sam, when my father announced this to me. As for kicking little Sam, I always did that, more or less gently, when anything went wrong with me.

My father was greatly troubled by this violent behavior. As little Sam picked himself up, my father took my hand in his and led me thoughtfully to the library. He appeared strangely puzzled on learning the nature of my objections to going North.

“Who on earth, Tom, has filled your brain with those silly stories?” asked my father calmly.

“Aunt Chloe, sir, she told me.”

My father devoted that evening and several evenings to giving me a clear account of New England: its early struggles, its progress, and its present condition. I was no longer unwilling to go North; on the contrary, the proposed journey to a new world full of wonders kept me awake nights. Long before the moving day arrived I was eager to be off. My impatience was increased by the fact that my father had purchased for me a fine little Mustang pony, and shipped it to Rivermouth two weeks before the date set for our own journey. The pony completely resigned me to the situation. The pony’s name was Gitana, which is the Spanish for “gypsy”, so I always called her Gypsy.

Finally the time came to leave the vine-covered mansion among the orange-trees, to say goodbye to little Sam(I am convince he was heartily glad to get rid of me), and to part with Aunt Chloe. I imagine them standing by the open garden gate; the tears are rolling down Aunt Chloe’s cheeks; they and the old home fade away. I am never to see them again!

1.The underlined word “cordially” in Paragraph 2 most probably means “________”.

A. sincerely         B. unbelievably

C. officially          D. closely

2.The second paragraph is intended to _______.

A. support Tom’s opinion that he is a “faultless young gentlemen”

B. show just how much confidence Tom possesses

C. contradict other people’s belief that Tom is not a well-behaved, friendly boy

D. provide an example that Tom is friendly and not an angel

3.Tom Bailey’s feeling on moving to Rivermouth can best be described as _______.

A. cold, as he was too young to know any better

B. unwilling until his father corrected his misunderstandings about life in the North

C. angry because he would be forced to leave his pony, Gypsy, behind

D. excited until he realized that he would have to part with Aunt Chloe and little Sam

4. It can be inferred from “a Northern man with Southern principles” that ______.

A. Tom is a Yankee, unwilling adapting to a Southern lifestyle

B. even though Tom now lives in the South, he is proud of his Northern heritage

C. Tom has successfully subscribed to some Northern values and some Southern values

D. although Tom was born in New England he liked the way of life and culture in the South

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：本文是一篇自我介绍。讲了一个坏男孩的故事。其实坏男孩并不坏。

1.A词义猜测题。根据第一段最后一句If the name struck me favorably, I shook hands with the new pupil cordially, but if it didn’t, I would turn and walk away, for I was particular on this point如果新来的学生的名字让我很喜欢，我就会与他真诚握手(欢迎他)，但是如果他的名字让我厌恶，我就会拍拍屁股走人。我对名字就是这么刻薄。故选A。

2.D推理判断题。根据第一段第一、二、三句I really was not an angle. I may truthfully say I was a friendly, impulsive(易冲动的)teenager. I didn’t want to be an angel.我真的不是一个天使。我可以诚实地说我是一个友好冲动的少年。我不想成为天使。故选D。

3.B推理判断题。根据倒数第二段第一、二句My father devoted that evening and several evenings to giving me a clear account of New England: its early struggles, its progress, and its present condition. I was no longer unwilling to go North;父亲花了那天晚上以及后来的几个晚上给我清晰讲述新英格兰的事情：它的早期奋斗历程，它的前进过程和它现在的状况。我非常愿意去北方。这段话说明：直到父亲帮助他消除了对北方生活的误解，他才愿意回到北方去。故选B。

4.对新英格兰没有多少回忆：我最早的记忆是和南方联系在一起的。我知道我出生在北方，但我希望没人发现这个秘密。故选D。题目中的“a Northern man with Southern principles”意为“带有南方情节的北方人”，说明：他虽然出生在北方，但是他喜欢南方的生活和文化。

【名师点睛】

做词义猜测题时一定要先把划线单词前后的句意弄清楚，特别是近义词、同义词、反义词、词的前缀、后缀，另外一些关键词的词性的变化也非常重要。比如choose选择(动词)---chose(过去式)---chosen(过去分词)---choice(名词)。根据第一段最后一句If the name struck me favorably, I shook hands with the new pupil cordially, but if it didn’t, I would turn and walk away, 如果名字让我非常赞成，我就和新学生亲切握手；但如果没有，我会转过身走开。故选A。favorably赞成，在选项中A. sincerely真诚地，前后关联，可知划线单词的意思是“真诚地”。

考点：考查人物故事类阅读