Characters in novels don’t always do what the writer wants them to do. Sometimes they cause trouble, take on lives of their own, or even work against the writer. It’s not just a problem for inexperienced authors: famed children’s novelist Roald Dahl said he got the main character in his book Matilda so “wrong”that when he’d finished his first version, he threw it away and started again.
Of course it’s not the characters’ fault. The problem lies with the author. Take Stephen King, who admitted that writing working-class characters is more difficult nowadays because his own circumstances have changed. “It is definitely harder,”King said.“When I wrote Carrie many years ago, I was one step away from physical labour.”
This is also true for characters’ ages, added King.“When you have small children, it is easy to write young characters because you observe them and you have them in your life all the time. But your kids grow up, it’s been harder for me to write about this little 12-year-old girl in my new book because my models are gone.”
For other authors, such as Karen Fowler, there’s one quality that can stop a character in its tracks: boredom.“I had particular problems with the main character in my historical novel Sister Noon,”she says.“She had attitudes about race and religion that seemed appropriate to me for her time and class, but they were not attitudes I liked. Eventually I grew quite bored with her. You can write a book about a character you dislike or a character you disagree with, but I don’t think you can write a book about a character who bores you.”
According to Neel Mukherjee, it was Adinath, a character in The Lives of Others, who made him work the hardest.“I think I struggled because it’s difficult to write a character whose most prominent personal feature is weakness, as Adinath’s is, without making that feature define him,”Mukherjee says. But a troublesome character is far from an unwelcome guest, he continues, arguing that “when characters work against the author they come alive and become unpredictable”.
“That is a fantastic thing to happen,”Mukherjee says.“I celebrate it. It is one of the great, lucky gifts given to a writer.”
1.What can we infer about Stephen King’s book Carrie?
A.It was his most difficult book to write.
B.It was the first successful novel King wrote.
C.There were few children featured in the story.
D.Some of its main characters were working class.
2.Why did Karen Fowler have trouble writing the main character in her novel Sister Noon?
A.She disagreed with the character’s attitudes.
B.The age difference between the two was too large.
C.She found the character very uninteresting.
D.The historical setting made accuracy difficult.
3.What does Neel Mukherjee think of his difficult-to-write characters?
A.They are a sign that the story is not realistic.
B.They are often the most interesting.
C.They should be praised by all authors.
D.They need to be researched more thoroughly.
4.In which part of the newspaper would you expect to find the passage?
A. Careers. B. Culture.
C. Entertainment. D. Lifestyle.
When men get together, they seldom talk about their feelings or inner thoughts. However, they talk about a lot, like their newest computer, how to repair their car, or even business.
Talk might move to the best place to find fish or women, jump to computer games, then continue to the sport of the season. They also like to tell jokes each other and spend a fair amount of time playing one-up and boasting (吹牛). Men seldom call each other to chat.
When man meets woman, he usually wants to make a good impression. Many single man try hard to carry on amusing, fun, and pleasant conversations. They use conversation to discover her interests and feelings in order to learn how to be attractive to her.
Some men, either out of nervousness or ignorance, spend most of the time talking about themselves, often appearing to brag about their achievements or talk endlessly about their problems or work. Even the quietest man talks to his woman when love is new.
When women get together, they talk about feelings and relationships, their work, and their family. They enjoy talking but also want the give and take of talk, then listen. Women often call each other to chat. Conversation is an important part of most women’s lives.
As relationship progress, however, many turns on the television and forgets how to talk. This raises anger and cry from his woman partner who says,“You never talk to me any more.”Some man start talking. Many, however, mainly discuss their own achievements and problems.
When the woman starts talking about her favorite subjects: feelings, family, relationships, friends and her work, many men lose interest or bring the conversation back to themselves, pretty soon, the man is back to starting at the television each night, wondering where his relationship has gone. The woman is talking to her friends, mom, sister or neighbor, often about that very relationship and how she is hurting.
1.What can we know about men from the first two paragraphs?
A. They like to talk about practical matters.
B. They are willing to expose their inner thoughts.
C. They prefer to take adventurous travels.
D. They often call each other to chat about work.
2.Which of the following can replace the underlined part“brag about”in Paragraph 4?
A. Show off. B. Dream about.
C. Put forward. D. Care for.
3.What is the same topic in both men’s and women’s talk?
A. Family. B. Work. C. Friends. D. Jokes.
4.What is the best title of this passage?
A. How a man makes a good impression to a woman
B. Good relationship between men and women
C. Talking, the women’s main tool in communication
D. Men talk; women talk; do they talk together?
A glass a day keeps obesity at bay. Alcohol has always been thought to cause weight gain because of its high sugar content, but new research suggests a glass a day could form part of a diet. Looking at past studies they found that, while heavy drinkers do put on weight, those who drink in moderation can actually lose weight.
A spokesman for the research team at Navarro University in Spain says,“Light to moderate alcohol intake, especially of wine, may be more likely to protect against, rather than promote, weight gain.”The Inter national Scientific Forum on Alcohol reviewed the findings and agreed with most of the conclusions, particularly that current data do not clearly indicate if moderate drinking increases weight.
Boston University’s Dr. Harvey Finkel found that the biologic mechanisms (生物学机制) relating alcohol to changes in body weight are not properly understood. His team pointed out the strong protective effects of moderate drinking on the risk of getting conditions like diabetes (糖尿病), which related to increasing obesity. Some studies suggest that even very obese people may be at lower risk of diabetes if they are moderate drinkers.
The group says alcohol provides calories that are quickly absorbed into the body and are not stores in fat, and that this process could explain the differences in its effects from those of other foods. They agree that future research should be directed towards assessing the roles of different types of alcoholic drinks, taking into consideration drinking patterns and including the past tendency of participants to gain weight.
For now there is little evidence that consuming small to moderate amounts of alcohol on a regular basis increases one’s risk of becoming obese. What’s more, a study three years ago suggested that resveratrol, a compound present in grapes and red wine, destroy fat cells.
1.Who is the passage intended for?
A. Those who produce wine.
B. Those who have drinking habit.
C. Those who sell alcohol.
D. Those who wish to quit drinking.
2.What does the phrase“in moderation”in the first paragraph refer to?
A. Excitedly. B. Carefully. C. Properly. D. Frequently.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Current data clearly show that moderate drinking increase weight.
B. Resveratrol is proved to increase the risk of becoming fat.
C. The specific roles of different types of alcoholic drinks are very clear.
D. The research found moderate drinking has a strong protective effect.
4.What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
A. How to do some easy experiments.
B. How to reduce the calories contained in wine.
C. How to make wine in a healthy way.
D. How to prove the finding mentioned above.
Plan on traveling around the USA? There are a number of outstanding websites that can make your American dream come true.
www.101usaholidays.co.uk
This is the latest offering that features 101 holiday ideas to the USA. It’s a diverse selection, ranging from touring in the footsteps of Martin Luther King to a golfing break in Arizona and a cycling and wine-tasting trip in California’s Napa Vailey. Narrow down what you’re looking for—whether by price, region, theme and who will be traveling—and then just the photos of the relevant holidays remain on view. It’s a really clever design.
http://byways.Org
The National Scenic Byways Program covers 150 memorable roads. Some are natural scenic routes, such as Route 1 along the California coast. Others focus on history (such as Route 66) or man-made attractions (the Las Vegas Strip). Or each, you’re provided with a map telling the route’s length and how long is allowed.
www.oyster.com
This is the best website for reviews of hotels in US cities and tourist sites. There are photos of each hotel. Importantly, these are not promotional photos provided by the hotels, but more honest and revealing ones taken by inspectors. From the 243 hotels reviewed in New York, you can narrow down what you are looking for by locations, facilities and styles, or just pick out a selection of the best.
http://seawoldparks.com
Sea World in San Diego can make dreams come true, but the price are not affordable for the majority of people. So turn to long-established, giving big discounts on tickets, hotel and dining at Sea World.
1.Where is the text probably from?
A. A science report.
B. A news article.
C. A travel brochure.
D. A book review.
2.At which website are travel ideas for wine lovers are available?
A. www.101usaholidays.co.uk
B. http://byways.Org
D. http://seawoldparks.com
3.What can be inferred from the text?
A. You can see some man-made attractions driving along Route 66.
B. The National Scenic Byways Program covers all American roads.
C. Photos on www.oyster.com can be trusted by tourists.
D. http://seawoldparks.com is a newly established website.
假如你是新华中学的高三学生李华， 你在某网站上看到美国网友John的帖子(post), 帖子上 说John 对中国的 文化感兴趣， 想结识一位中国的高中生朋友， 帮助他了解中国的传统节日， 请你根据下面提示给他回信。
要点如下：
1.你的简介；
2.中国节日（春节） 简介;
3.邀请来中国。
注意：1. 词数：100左右 （开头已给出，不计入总词数）；
2．可适当增加细节，使行文连贯。
3.开头语和结尾已为你写好。
Dear John,
I’m glad to read the post on the Internet. ___________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意： 1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Yesterday we invited Mr. Li to give a speech to our Senior 3 students. All of us felt deep touched by his interested lecture.
Mr. Li once studies in his same school many years before and later he went to a famous university in the North. After graduation, he devoted his life to teach in the rural areas of our country for more than over 30 years. Her devotion and selflessness are highly thought of by all his student as well as by the society.
As senior high school student, I’m determined to learn from Mr. Li and become a worthwhile schoolmate of our school.
