Theendoftheyearisdrawingnear,andwinterisinfullswing....

問題詳情：

    The end of the year is drawing near, and winter is in full swing. The season brings along with it strong winds and snow — an environment that’s never comfortable to be in.

This unpleasant and even frightening aspect of winter can often be seen in literature. In Shakespeare’s King Lear (1606), the king has given away his kingdom and been rejected by his two ungrateful daughters. He is out in the winter cold，suffering things that are usually reserved for the poorest and most unfortunate human beings.

The winter is bad enough for Lear，but being abandoned by his family is worse. A song from another Shakespeare play, As You Like It(1599), is fitting for this poor old man's situation: "Blow，blow，thou winter wind/Thou art not so unkind /As ma's ingratitude (忘恩負義)". Here, winter is used to bring out the ugliness of inhumanity (無人*). There aren't many things that are worse than winter, according to Shakespeare.

Once winter became less of a threat to human beings, literary works featuring it became more positive. Since Charles Dickens, the representation of the season in literature has often featured happy Christmas celebrations.

The cold of the winter weather provides a contrast to the fun going on indoors.

Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843) was the start of this, but Christmas is still a common, cheery element (元素)in stories that feature winter scenes today. Consider the joy felt by Harry Potter and his friends in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997) as they sit down for their festive meal：

"Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat，roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce".

It is almost as much a pleasure to read about the meal as it might have been to eat it.

Although winter still isn’t the most cheerful season in novels and poems, it’s safe to say that writers have certainly "warmed up" since Shakespeare’s days.

81．What’s the author’s main purpose in writing this article?

A．To recommend some winter stories in literature.

B．To explain what winter is like in literary works.

C．To describe certain customs that are related to winter.

D．To tell us why winter is described as unpleasant in literature.

82．What can we learn from Shakespeare’s works?

A．Shakespeare didn’t like winter for its bad weather.

B．King Lear was forced to give up being a king in a cold winter.

C．It’s in winter when King Lear drove his two daughters off.

D．Winter is compared with the ugly side of humanity.

83．Why does the author mention Charles Dickens in the passage?

A．Because a lot of his works are related to winter.

B．Because he is the most popular author of winter stories.

C．Because he started a new way of representing winter.

D．Because his works make people feel cheerful in winter.

84．The example of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is used mainly to show      .

A．traditional Christmas food makes the winter cheery

B．Christmas is still a symbol of joy in modern stories

C．it’s a pleasure to read Christmas-related books in winter

D．winter has become the happiest season in literary works

【回答】

81．B

82．D

83．C

84．B

【分析】

本文是一篇說明文。介紹了冬季的令人不快甚至是令人恐懼的方面經常在文學作品中看到，但隨著時間的推移，文學作品中冬天的含義也在發生變化。

81．推理判斷題。根據文章第二段第一句"This unpleasant and even frightening aspect of winter can often be seen in literature"可知，人們經常可以在文學中看到冬季的令人不快甚至是令人恐懼的方面。隨後，作者描述了冬天在不同作家的作品中的不同方面。由此推知，作者寫本文是為了解釋文學作品中的冬天是什麼樣子的。故選B。

82．細節理解題。由文章第三段最後兩句話“Here, winter is used to bring out the ugliness of inhumanity (無人*). There aren't many things that are worse than winter, according to Shakespeare.”可知，在莎士比亞的戲劇《皆大歡喜》中，冬天被用來展現人*的醜陋。莎士比亞認為，沒有什麼比冬天更糟糕的了。故選D。

83．推理判斷題。由文章第四段內容可知，自狄更斯以來，在文學中這個季節的表現常常是聖誕快樂的慶祝活動。由此可知，作者在文中提到查爾斯·狄更斯是因為他開啟了一種描寫冬天的新方式。故選C。

84．推理判斷題。由文章第五段內容可知，寒冷的冬季天氣與室內的樂趣形成了對比。再根據第六段第二句話可知，在J. K. Rowling的《哈利•波特與魔法石》中，哈利•波特和他的朋友們在享用聖誕大餐時是快樂的。作者通過這個例子說明在現代故事中聖誕仍然是快樂的象徵。故選B。

知識點：文學藝術

題型：閱讀理解