Question

My Favourite Travel Books

The Old Patagonian Express by Paul Theroux

Choosing my favorite Paul Theroux book is like picking my favorite place in the world: It’s impossible to settle on just one. But The Old Patagonian Express, which is about a train journey Theroux made from Boston, USA to southern Argentina, is right up there at the top of my list. Theroux has a wicked sense of humor. He brings so much wisdom and experience to his travels.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

If he were alive today, Thoreau would probably frown if he heard someone refer to Walden as a travel book. But I regard it as a travel-writing masterpiece. “I went into the woods,” he writes, “because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” That’s the same spirit of discovery that defines so many great contemporary travel records.

The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac

Like so many people, I fell in love with Kerouac’s novels in my late teens and early 20s. On the Road gets all the press, but I always love The Dharma Bums. Kerouac beautifully captures the romance of California trains, Berkeley, and backpacking in the Sierras. It’s hard to read this book without wanting to leave for the mountains to brainstorm bad haikus on the trail and cook canned macaroni and cheese over a crackling campfire.

Confucius Lives Next Door by T.R. Reid

This is sort of A Year in Provence in Japan, only the cross-cultural differences are much greater. Reid and his family moved to Tokyo when he became the chief for The Washington Post, enabling him to uncover truths about the country. Among the highlights are his observations about Japanese schools, including Yodobashi No. 6 Elementary School, where his daughters were greeted by the whole school staff.

1.Which book enables readers to experience great cross-cultural differences?

A. The Old Patagonian Express    B. Confucius Lives Next Door

C. On the Road    D. Walden

2.What will people feel after reading Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums?

A. A strong desire to follow    B. A love for novels

C. A wish to learn cooking    D. An excitement to write poems

3.Which writer based his book on a train journey from home to abroad?

A. T.R. Reid    B. Henry David Thoreau

C. Paul Theroux    D. Jack Kerouac

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

【解析】本文作者为大家推荐了几本书。

1.细节理解题。根据Confucius Lives Next Door by T.R. Reid.This is sort of A Year in Provence in Japan, only the cross-cultural differences are much greater.可知选B。

2.推理判断题。根据Like so many people, I fell in love with Kerouac’s novels in my late teens and early 20s. On the Road gets all the press, but I always love The Dharma Bums. Kerouac beautifully captures the romance of California trains, Berkeley, and backpacking in the Sierras. It’s hard to read this book without wanting to leave for the mountains to brainstorm bad haikus on the trail and cook canned macaroni and cheese over a crackling campfire.可知读了小说The Dharma Bums，人们有一种想要追随的强烈渴望，所以选A。

3.细节理解题。根据But The Old Patagonian Express, which is about a train journey Theroux made from Boston, USA to southern Argentina, is right up there at the top of my list.可知选C。