Question

The clearing of my parents’ home has made me think about the importance, even centrality of books to the house’s life and soul. The house, and our lives in it, would not have been the same without books. The force of the statement comes home to me as I see what happens when shelves are emptied. The rooms suddenly look uncomfortably bare.

I always rather took it for granted that books furnished a room. The only rooms in our house without books were the dining-room and the bathrooms. Otherwise there were books everywhere: in all the bedrooms, in the drawing-room and in the piano room which became my parents’ comfortable winter study.

I couldn’t help feeling that books were rather like people: some more formal and boring, others more entertaining; some simply for show, others with unpromising outsides but rich interiors. They did more, in fact, than furnish a room; they were companions who could offer insights, good advice.

Now the books are being contributed (not all, to be sure, but very many), and I fear for their future, almost as if they were refugees (难民). “Habent sua fata libelli”, goes as the old Latin saying, originally written by Terentianus; it meant that the fate and future of books were determined by the capability of the reader. But the meaning of the phrase has been misunderstood by time and is now associated with the physical fate of particular books, how they have passed from owner to owner. This is how Walter Benjamin read the saying when he wrote his essay “Unpacking My Library”, which analyses the extraordinarily close relationship between a collector and his or her books.

When I deal with the books that many are going to charity shops, I hope they will find good homes, I can’t help wondering if my generation is the last that will oversee such a process. Books are disappearing, as more and more are bought in electronic form and exist only as bytes of information on e-books or other devices. Does this matter? Could books become more spiritual, as they lose their physicality?

1.When clearing the room, the author ________.

A. realized the influence of books on his past life

B. thought of the statement his parents once made

C. felt upset to leave his parents’ books behind

D. found some empty shelves left by his parents

2.The underlined word “interiors” in Paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A. pages    B. notes

C. covers    D. contents

3.According to Walter Benjamin, ________.

A. it’s important to pass books from one owner to another

B. the meaning of books is misunderstood by time

C. the fate of books is related to their collectors

D. the future of books depends on readers’ capability

4.From the passage we know that ________.

A. the author is attached to physical form of books

B. the author’s books are bound to find good homes

C. E-books have taken the place of traditional ones

D. the author’s parents used every room of theirs as a study

Answer

1. A

2. D

3. C

4. A

【解析】

清理父母房子时作者发现了书对这所房子和对作者生活的重要性。曾经作者认为书只是用来装饰房间的，但是现在作者认为书籍是可以提供见解和建议的伙伴。如果没有书，这个房子和作者的生活将是不一样的。

1.A 细节理解题 根据第一段The clearing of my parents’ home has made me think about the importance, even centrality of books to the house’s life and soul.可知清理房间时，作者意识到了书对自己过去生活的影响。故选A。

2.D 词义猜测题 分析句子others with unpromising outsides but rich interiors，此处but是表示转折的连词，前边讲的是平凡的外表，推断出后边是内在丰富。故interior的意思有“内在”之意，书的内在是内容，故选D。

3.D 细节理解题 第四段This is how Walter Benjamin read the saying when he wrote his essay Unpacking My Library, which analyses the extraordinarily close relationship between a collector and his or her books. Walter Benjamin分析了收藏家和书之间异乎寻常的紧密关系，可知Walter Benjamin认为书的命运和收藏者有关系。故选D。

4.A 推理判断题 文章最后一句话Does this matter? Could books become more spiritual, as they lose their physicality? 随着电子书的出现，书籍正在消失，但是作者认为这并不重要，因为书的内容不会因为形式的改变而更有灵性。可以推断出作者更喜欢印刷版的书籍。故选A。