He was an old man with a white beard and huge nose and hands. Long before the time during which we will know him, he was a doctor and drove a jaded white horse from house to house through the streets of Winesburg. Later he married a girl who had money. She had been left a large fertile farm when her father died. The girl was quiet, tall, and dark, and to many people she seemed very beautiful. Everyone in Winesburg wondered why she married the doctor. Within a year after the marriage she died.
The knuckles of the doctor's hands were extraordinarily large. When the hands were closed they looked like clusters of unpainted wooden balls as large as walnuts fastened together by steel rods. He smoked a cob pipe and after his wife's death sat all day in his empty office close by a window that was covered with cobwebs. He never opened the window. Once on a hot day in August he tried but found it stuck fast and after that he forgot all about it.
Winesburg had forgotten the old man, but in Doctor Reefy there were the seeds of something very fine. Alone in his musty office in the Heffner Block above the Paris Dry Goods Company's store, he worked ceaselessly, building up something that he himself destroyed. Little pyramids of truth he erected and after erecting knocked them down again that he might have the truths to erect other pyramids.
Doctor Reefy was a tall man who had worn one suit of clothes for ten years. It was frayed at the sleeves and little holes had appeared at the knees and elbows. In the office he wore also a linen duster with huge pockets into which he continually stuffed scraps of paper. After some weeks the scraps of paper became little hard round balls, and when the pockets were filled he dumped them out upon the floor. For ten years he had but one friend, another old man named John Spaniard who owned a tree nursery. Sometimes, in a playful mood, old Doctor Reefy took from his pockets a handful of the paper balls and threw them at the nursery man. "'That is to confound you, you blithering old sentimentalist," he cried, shaking with laughter.
The story of Doctor Reefy and his courtship of the tall dark girl who became his wife and left her money to him is a very curious story. It is delicious, like the twisted little apples that grow in the orchards of Winesburg. In the fall one walks in the orchards and the ground is hard with frost underfoot. The apples have been taken from the trees by the pickers. They have been put in barrels and shipped to the cities where they will be eaten in apartments that are filled with books, magazines, furniture, and people. On the trees are only a few gnarled apples that the pickers have rejected. They look like the knuckles of Doctor Reefy’ s hands. One nibbles at them
and they are delicious. Into a little round place at the side of the apple has been gathered all of its sweetness. One runs from tree to tree over the frosted ground picking the gnarled, twisted apples and filling his pockets with them. Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples.
The girl and Doctor Reefy began their courtship on a summer afternoon. He was forty-five then and already he had begun the practice of filling his pockets with the scraps of paper that became hard balls and were thrown away. The habit had been formed as he sat in his buggy behind the jaded grey horse and went slowly along country roads. On the papers were written thoughts, ends of thoughts, beginnings of thoughts.
One by one the mind of Doctor Reefy had made the thoughts. Out of many of them he formed a truth that arose gigantic in his mind. The truth clouded the world. It became terrible and then faded away and the little thoughts began again.
The tall dark girl came to see Doctor Reefy because she was in the family way and had become frightened. She was in that condition because of a series of circumstances also curious.
The death of her father and mother and the rich acres of land that had come down to her had set a train of suitors on her heels. For two years she saw suitors almost every evening. Except two they were all alike. They talked to her of passion and there was a strained eager quality in their voices and in their eyes when they looked at her. The two who were different were much unlike each other. One of them, a slender young man with white hands, the son of a jeweler in Winesburg, talked continually of virginity. When he was with her he was never off the subject. The other, a black-haired boy with large ears, said nothing at all but always managed to get her into the darkness, where he began to kiss her.
For a time the tall dark girl thought she would marry the jeweler's son. For hours she sat in silence listening as he talked to her and then she began to be afraid of something. Beneath his talk of virginity she began to think there was a lust greater than in all the others. At times it seemed to her that as he talked he was holding her body in his hands. She imagined him turning it slowly about in the white hands and staring at it. At night she dreamed that he had bitten into her body and that his jaws were dripping. She had the dream three times, then she became in the family way to the one who said nothing at all but who in the moment of his passion actually did bite her shoulder so that for days the marks of his teeth showed...-..-.
After the tall dark girl came to know Doctor Reefy it seemed to her that she never wanted to leave him again. She went into his office one morning and without her saying anything he seemed to know what had happened to her.
In the office of the doctor there was a woman, the wife of the man who kept the bookstore in Winesburg. Like all old-fashioned country practitioners, Doctor Reefy pulled teeth, and the woman who waited held a handkerchief to her teeth and groaned. Her husband was with her and when the tooth was taken out they both screamed and blood ran down on the woman's white dress. The tall dark girl did not pay any attention. When the woman and the man had gone the doctor smiled. "I will take you driving into the country with me," he said.
For several weeks the tall dark girl and the doctor were together almost every day. The condition that had brought her to him passed in an illness, but she was like one who has discovered the sweetness of the twisted apples, she could not get her mind fixed again upon the round perfect fruit that is eaten in the city apartments. In the fall after the beginning of her acquaintanceship with him she married Doctor Reefy and in the following spring she died. During the winter he read to her all of the odds and ends of thoughts he had scribbled on the bits of paper. After he had read them he laughed and stuffed them away in his pockets to become round hard balls.
1.According to the story Doctor Reefy’s life seems very ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿.
A. eccentric
B. normal
C. enjoyable
D. optimistic
2.The story tells us that the tall dark girl was in the family way. The phrase “in the family way” means＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿.
A. troubled
B. Pregnant
C. twisted
D. cheated
3.Doctor Reef lives a ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ life.
A. happy
B. miserable
C. easy-going
D. reckless
4. The tall dark girl’s ma rriage to Doctor Reef proves to be a ＿＿＿＿＿ one.
A. transient
B. understandable
C. perfect
D. funny
5. Doctor Reef’s paper balls probably symbolize his ＿＿＿＿＿＿.
A eagerness to shut himself away from society
B suppressed desire to communicate with people
C optimism about life
D cynical attitude towards life
参考答案：
A B B A B
初二英语阅读理解精选题(一) My class will put on a short play in English at the end of the year. Yesterday our English teacher gave us copies of the play. “Choose a character in the play whom you’d like to be, ”she told us. “This afternoon learn a few lines of this part for homework. Then tomorrow you can say those lines in front of the class. I’ll decide who play each part.” I wanted to have one of the bigger parts in the play, so I choose the part of the king. He has a lot of lines to say. I learned them by heart. This morning in our English lesson we had to say our lines. I acted the part of the king. When I said my lines, I put a lot of expression into my acting. I thought I acted really well. Everyone in the class read a part and then the teacher who would play each part. Many of the students in my class couldn’t act at all. They couldn’t even read without making lots of mistakes. I was sure that I would get a big part in the play. However, the teacher gave me the part of a soldier. He has only one line. It is, “Yes, sir!” I was very disappointed. At the end of the lesson I went up to her and asked her why I had such a small part. “You put too much expression in your acting,” she said. “Good acting is not big acting. It is acting the audience can believe in.” I think I know what she means. 48. What did the boy want to do in the play? A. To get an important part B. To organize the play C. To get a large acting part. D. To work the lights. 49. How did the boy feel when the teacher told the class they would put on a play? A. Bored. B. Sad. C. Excited. D. Unhappy.
TEM 8 阅读理解 A What we know of prenatal development makes all this attempt made by a mother to mold the character of her unborn child by studying poetry, art, or mathematics during pregnancy seem utterly impossible. How could such extremely complex influences pass from the mother to the child? There is no connection between their nervous systems. Even the blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly. An emotional shock to the mother will affect her child, because it changes the activity of her glands and so the chemistry her blood. Any chemical change in the mother’s blood will affect the child for better or worse. But we can not see how a looking for mathematics or poetic genius can be dissolved in blood and produce a similar liking or genius in the child. In our discussion of instincts we saw that there was reason to believe that whatever we inherit must be of some very simple sort rather than any complicated or very definite kind of behavior. It is certain that no one inherits a knowledge of mathematics. It may be, however, that children inherit more or less of a rather general ability that we may call intelligence. If very intelligent children become deeply interested in mathematics, they will probably make a success of that study. As for musical ability, it may be that what is inherited is an especially sensitive ear, a peculiar structure of the hands or the vocal organs connections between nerves and muscles that make it comparatively easy to learn the movements a musician must execute, and particularly vigorous emotions. If these factors are all organized around music, the child may become a musician. The same factors, in other circumstance might be organized about some other center of interest. The rich emotional equipment might find expression in poetry. The capable fingers might develop skill in surgery. It is not the knowledge of music that is inherited, then nor even the love of it, but a certain bodily structure that makes it comparatively easy to acquire musical knowledge and skill. Whether that ability shall be directed toward music or some other undertaking may be decided entirely by forces in the environment in which a child grows up. 1. Which of the following statements is not true? A. Some mothers try to influence their unborn children by studying art and other subjects during their pregnancy. B. It is utterly impossible for us to learn anything about prenatal development. C. The blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly. D. There are no connection between mother’s nervous systems and her unborn child’s. 2. A mother will affect her unborn baby on the condition that ____. A. she is emotionally shocked B. she has a good knowledge of inheritance C. she takes part in all kind of activities D. she sticks to studying 3. According to the passage, a child may inherit____.
passage One (Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice) In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences, that it is not even questioned．There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging．Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence – as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other．What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch, we have made no actual progress at all．We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged．The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing．We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute．The sheer horror, the bloodshed, the suffering mean nothing．No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us． The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and herder to get a hearing．They are despised, mistrusted and even persecuted by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement．If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving living-standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution．Our strength is sapped by having to mop up the mess that violence leaves in its wake．In a well-directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme．The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us．Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law． Before we can even begin to contemplate peaceful co-existence between the races, we must appreciate each other’s problems．And to do this, we must learn about them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchanging information．'Talk, talk, talk,’the advocates of violence say,‘all you ever do is talk, and we are none the wiser．’It’s rather like the story of the famous barrister who painstakingly explained his case to the judge．After listening to a lengthy argument the judge complained that after all this talk, he was none the wiser．‘Possible, my lord,’the barrister replied,‘none the wiser, but surely far better informed．’Knowledge
A More and more people like bicycling and it is no surprise. It is fun, healthy and good for the environment. Maybe that’s why there are 1.4 billion bicycles and only 400 million cars on roads worldwide today. Bikes can take you almost anywhere, and there is no oil cost! Get on a bicycle and ride around your neighbourhood. You may discover something new all around you. Stopping and getting off a bike is easier than stopping and getting out of your car. You can bike to work and benefit (受益) from the enjoyable exercise without polluting the environment. You don’t even have to ride all the way. Folding (折叠) bikes work well for people who ride the train. Just fold the bike and take it with you. You can do the same on an airplane. A folding bike can be packed in a suitcase. You can also take a common bike with you when you fly. But be sure to look for information by getting on airline websites. Not all airlines are bicycle-friendly to travellers. Health Benefits of Bicycling: It helps to prevent heart diseases. Bicycling helps to control your weight. A 15-minute bike ride to and from work three times a week burns off five kilos of fat in a year. Bicycling can improve your mood (心情). Exercise like bicycling has been shown to make people feel better, more relaxed and self-confident. Bicycling is healthier than driving. ( )1. From the passage, we know that bicycling is becoming very___________. A. surprising B. exciting C. expensive D. popular ( )2. When you are riding your bicycle around your neighbourhood, you may . A. pollute the environment around B. find something you didn’t notice C. go everywhere and use a little oil D. get off your bike and begin to work ( )3. If you travel with a folding bike, you can fold it and . A. get out of the car B. take it onto a train C. put it in your purse D. go on airline websites ( )4. One of the benefits from bicycling is that . A. you can fold the bicycle B. you will be friendly to others C. you will be more relaxed D. you may get fatter and fatter ( )5. Which is TRUE according to the passage? A. Bicycling is enjoyable exercise for people. B. Driving cars is healthier than riding bikes. C. Riding a bike pollutes your neighbourhood. D. Common bikes are welcomed by all airlines. B Feeling left out? A reader wrote in to say that she was feeling lonely at break because her best friend wasn’t around.Here’s our advice to her and to all kids who feel lonely sometimes. It’s hard when a best friend isn’t around maybe because she moved to a different school or a different class.You may feel lonely at break or lunchtime.You want to have new friends.but how do you make them? Maybe it seems like everybody else already has their friends.But remembe r, there’s always room for more friends. Start by looking around your classroom think about which kids you’d like to play with at break.Look for chances to say hi to them，smile，and be friendly.Offer to share something or express your appreciation(欣赏)to them.Invite someone to play with you or say “Do you want to sit here?” in the lunchroom.When you’re at break，walk over to kids you want to play with.act friendly，and say “Hi，can l play, too?” or just join in.
2018 英语专八阅读练习题及答案 英语专业八级针对的对象是英语及相关专业大四学生。非英语及相 关专业与非在校生无法参加考试。英语专业八级考试(TEM-8),全称为 全国高校英语专业八级考试。应届毕业生网小编为大家整理了2018 英 语专八阅读练习题及答案汇总，供各位考生参考。 Exploration of the Titanic After resting on the ocean floor, split asunder and rusting, for nearly three-quarters of a century, a great ship seemed to cone alive again. The saga of the White Star liner Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank on its maiden voyage in 1912, carrying more than 1,500 passengers to their death, has been celebrated in print and on film, in poetry and song. But last week what had been legendary suddenly became real. As they viewed videotapes and photographs of the sunken leviathan, millions of people around the world could sense her mass, her eerie quiet and the ruined splendor of a lost age. Watching on television, they vicariously joined the undersea craft Alvin and Jason Jr. (J.J.) as they toured the wreckage of the luxury liner, wandering across the decks past corroded bollards, peering into the officers quarters and through rust-curtained portholes. Views of the railings where doomed passengers and crewmembers stood evoked images of the moonless night 74years ago when the great ship slipped beneath the waves. The two-minute videotape and nine photographs, all in color and shot 12,500ft.under the North Atlantic, were a tiny sample of 60 hours of video and 60,000 stills garnered during the twelve-day exploration. They are released at a Washington press conference conducted by Marine Geologist Robert Ballard, 44, who led the teams from the Wood Hole Oceanographic
阅读理解训练 I. Where is Love? How can we find Love? Once a little boy wanted to meet Love. He knew it was a long trip to where Love lived, so he got his things ready with some pizzas and drinks and started off. When he passed three streets, he saw an old woman sitting in the park and watching some birds. She looked very hungry. The boy gave her a pizza. She took it and smiled at him. The smile was so beautiful that he wanted to see it again, so he gave her a Coke. She smiled once again. The boy was very happy. They sat there all the afternoon, eating and smiling, but they said nothing. When it grew dark, the boy decided to leave. But before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug. The woman gave him her biggest smile ever. When the boy opened the door of his house, his mother was surprised by the look of joy(快乐)on his face and asked what had made him so happy. “I had lunch with Love. She has got the ,s son was also surprised at his At the same time, the old womanmost beautiful smile in the world.”,s pleasure and asked why. mother“I ate a pizza in the park with Love,”she said, “and he is much younger than I expected.” If the world is full of love, we can enjoy a better life. 1.When the little boy saw the old woman, she was . A. looking for a seat in the park B. passing the street C. looking at some birds D. having a pizza 2.The little boy gave the old woman a Coke because . A. the old woman still felt hungry B. he wanted to see the smile again ,t like the drink C. he didnD. the old woman paid him for it 3.The old woman gave the little boy the biggest smile . A. after the little boy went home B. before it grew dark C. when she was drinking Coke D. after the little boy hugged her ,s mother was surprised to see her son was very 4.The boywhen the door opened. A. pleased B. sad C. unhappy D. angry 5.Which of the following is TRUE? A. The little boy failed to find Love. B. Both the little boy and the old woman found what they wanted at last. C. The little boy decided never to go home. D. The old woman gave the little boy a hug to thank him. II. Dick was born in a poor family. His father had a small boat and went fishing in the morning
历年专八短文改错试题 2014年英语专八改错真题答案 There is widespread consensus among scholars that second language acquisition (SLA) emerged as a distinct field of research from the late 1950s to early 1960s. There is a high level of agreement that the following questions ( a 前面加also) have possessed the most attention of researchers in this area: (possessed 改为captured) Is it possible to acquire an additional language in the same sense one acquires a first language? (one前面加as ) What is the explanation for the fact adults have (fact后面加that) more difficulty in acquiring additional languages than children have? What motivates people to acquire additional languages? What is the role of the language teaching in the (language前面去掉the) acquisition of an additional language? What socio-cultural factors, if any, are relevant in studying the learning of additional languages? From a check of the literature of the field it is clear that all (去掉the) the approaches adopted to study the phenomena of SLA so far have one thing in common: The perspective adopted to view the acquiring of an additional language is that of an individual attempts to do (attempts改为attempting) so. W hether one labels it “learning” or “acquiring” an additional language, it is an individual accomplishment or what is under (or 改为and) focus is the cognitive, psychological, and institutional status of an individual. That is, the spotlight is on what mental capabilities are involving, what psychological factors play a role in the learning (involving改为involved) or acquisition, and whether the target language is learnt in the classroom or acquired through social touch with native speakers. (touch改为contact) 2013英语专八改错真题答案 Psycho-linguistics is the name given to the study of the psychological processes involved in language. Psycholinguistics study understanding, production and remembering language, and hence are concerned with (1) _____ listening, reading, speaking, writing, and memory for language. One reason why we take the language for granted is that it usually (2) ______ happens so effortlessly, and most of time, so accurately. (3) ______ Indeed, when you listen to someone to speaking, or looking at this page, (4) ______ you normally cannot help but understand it. It is only in exceptional circumstances we might become aware of the complexity (5) ______
此文档下载后即可编辑 八年级英语阅读理解专练【方法介绍】：做阅读理解部分时还要考虑段际关系，即段落与段落之间的关系。段际关系可能是顺接关系、转折关系、例证关系或对比与对照关系。段际关系的理解是理解过渡句使用的前提条件。还有一种特殊的段际关系，即过渡关系，两个段落之间有一个过渡段起承上启下的作用。中考英语阅读理解解题技巧阅读理解是中考英语试卷中的重头戏,是初中英语教学大纲的集中体现,而且占分比例较大,是应该极为重视的题型之一,英语要想拿高分,对阅读理解题目就一定不能忽视。 抓住文章的首段与末段及段落的首句和末句文章的首段与末段,段落的首句和末句,一般表达文章的主题和段落的中心思想,其它段落及句子只起补充,说明,解释或引申的作用.因此,首先要搜索目标,找出文章及段落中的主题句.了解了它们的含义,就可以顺着提供的主要线索去捕捉文章的相关信息,从而获得解决问题的答案 2.进行合理推断 对文章有了详细而全面的理解之后,就要按照文章内容,上下文的逻辑关系,作出推理判断.阅读理解涉及词汇,语法,句型,段落结构,文化背景等各方面知识.答题时,要领会句子之间的逻辑关系,特别是相邻句子之间的关系,这样有利于理解全文.表示逻辑关系的标志词是连接词,副词,代词,介词短语,关系词,插入语等,通读时应特别注意.如:if,because,though,as,which,it, 3.用常识解题,熟记常用的缩略词语.多了解一些常识性知识有利于阅读理解.如果对文章的相关背景有所了解,读起文章一定既省时又省力.因此,在学习过程中,了解各方面的背景知识是十分重要的. 1
Look at the light and beautiful snowflakes(雪花)falling.Ever wanted to hold them in your hands?They are always lost when they meet your hands. Well,this isn’t just a problem for you.It was a problem for Wilson Bentley,too.In the 1870s,Wilson Bentley was just a teenager.His family lived in a small town in northeast America.Winters there were long and hard.Bentley’s mother was once a school teacher. She taught him at home. Bentley didn’t go to school until he was 14. He was a quiet boy, and loved reading his mother’s books.But it was his mother’s microscope (显微镜) that interested him. When the other boys were playing with balls, little Bentley was studying things like drops of water, flowers and snowflakes. Bentley loved watching snowflakes. For the next two years young Bentley spent many winter days in a cold room watching these ice crystals (晶体) under his microscope.The boy thought they were so beautiful that he started to draw pictures of them. But there were so many snowflakes that he couldn’t draw them all. How could he keep their beauty forever? Bentley thought of buying a camera. The boy and his mother asked his father to buy one. But, his father didn’t agree. He thought the whole thing was a bad idea. He thought the only thing a farmer should do was farming. But finally Bentley did get a camera. For more than a year he tried to take pictures of snowflakes. On January 15, 1885, during a snowstorm, Bentley took the first ever photo of an ice crystal with his camera. “It was the greatest moment of my life,”Bentley said later. For 13 years, Bentley worked quietly and took thousands of photos of ice crystals. Later he became known as “Snowflake”