After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has reached a conclusion on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at a few in his list:
The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Banyan (1678)
A story of a man in search of truth told with the simple clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s prose makes this an English classic.
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
By the end of the 19th century, no book in English literary history had enjoyed more editions and translations. This world-famous novel is a complex literature that one cannot resist.
Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)
A great work that’s been repeatedly printed, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels comes third in our list of the best novels written in English.
Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1748)
Clarissa is a tragic heroine, pressured by her dishonorable family to marry a wealthy man she dislikes, in the book that Samuel Johnson described as “the first book in the world that shows the knowledge about the human heart”.
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749)
Tom Jones is a classic English novel that gets the spirit of its age and whose characters are well-known since they have come to represent the society at that time.
Emma by Jane Austen (1816)
Jane Austen’s Emma is her most outstanding work, mixing the best parts of her early books with a deep sense of feelings.
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1838)
Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel—a classic adventure story with supernatural elements—has fascinated and influenced generations of writers.
1.Which English book has got the most translations before the 20th century?
A. Robinson Crusoe. B. Gulliver’s Travels.
C. Tom Jones. D. Emma.
2.What does Samuel Johnson think we can learn about from the book Clarissa?
A. A love story. B. Quarrels in a family.
C. The human heart. D. The spirits of the lime.
3.What makes the characters in Tom Jones famous?
A. Their classic lifestyles.
B. Their different nationalities.
C. Their typical spirits of the age.
D. Their representation of the society.
请根据下列提示写一份通知
1.高二（1）班在本周五晚上要开高英语晚会。
2.晚饭后6:30 在教室集合，晚会7:00 开始。
3.每个学生都要表演有一个节目，内容不限。
4.欢迎老师和全班同学参加。
5.发出通知的时间是2013年10月15日。
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In Western countries, bread is one of the most important foods. When they get up in the morning many people eat toast (烤面包). They spread butter and jam on their toast. People eat bread at other times of the day too. For example, at main meals, they often eat bread with soup.
It's also very common to eat sandwiches. A sandwich is two pieces of bread with a filling inside - salad, cheese or fish. A hamburger is a kind of sandwich.
There are many different kinds of bread. Some are special to some countries. For example, the baguette (法国棍子面包) is a long, thin loaf that began in France.
There is also white bread and whole-wheat (全麦面) bread. What's the difference? White bread is refined (精制的). It has things taken out of it to make it softer and easier to eat. The trouble is, white bread also has lots of goodness taken out. Although some people dislike the taste of whole-wheat bread, it is much healthier.
Some kinds of bread have additives (添加剂). They are put into the bread for many reasons. Some additives are good for you - for example vitamin C. Others are there to make the bread last longer. Still others to make it taste better - but they do not necessarily make the bread healthier to eat!
1.People in the west have as their main food.
A. butter B. bread
C. cheese D. fish
2.The fourth paragraph tells us
A. how to make white bread
B. how to make whole-wheat bread
C. the difference between white bread and whole-wheat bread
D. people dislike the taste of whole-wheat bread
3.Which of the statements about additives(添加剂) is WRONG?
A. Not all the additives are good for our health.
B. Vitamin C makes the bread last longer.
C. Some additives are put into bread to make bread healthier.
D. To make bread taste better, some additives can be put into bread.
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first woman doctor in the United States. Her success opened the way for other women who wanted to do more than nursing. She was born in England in 1821 and her family moved to America when she was eleven years old.
The Blackwell girls received the same education as their brothers. This was most unusual in those days. Their father died young and they had very little money to live on. Elizabeth and her sisters taught at school. Then a woman dying of cancer urged Elizabeth to study medicine, saying that a woman doctor would have saved her from her worst sufferings. Nearly everyone said a girl should not go to medical school, but she managed to enter Geneva College in New York State. She graduated in 1849 at the head of her class and received the first medical degree ever given to a woman.
Next, Dr. Blackwell went to Paris. Her only chance of training was in a hospital where women came to have their babies. Four months later, while she was working in the French hospital, her left eye became dangerously infected (感染). She lost the eye. She was very disappointed. But she was soon back at work again, this time in London, England. There she met many famous scientists.
In 18
59, Elizabeth Blackwell was officially recognized as a doctor in Great Britain — the first woman to be honored. She was the inspiration of Elizabeth Garrett, who began the women’s medical movement in England. Florence Nightingale, founder of the practice of nursing by women, was another of her friends.
Dr. Blackwell died in 1910 at the age of 89.
1.Elizabeth and her sisters taught at school probably to .
A. help support the family B. become women doctors
C. get practical experience D. earn money for their education
2.What made Elizabeth decide to study medicine?
A. The education she received. B. The death of her father.
C. The sufferings of a cancer patient. D. The encouragement from a patient.
3.Which of the following is the correct order of events according to the passage?
a. Elizabeth Blackwell lost one eye.
b. Elizabeth Blackwell received a doctor’s degree.
c. Elizabeth Blackwell entered Geneva College.
d. Elizabeth Blackwell was recognized as a doctor.
e. Elizabeth Blackwell went to work in London.
A. cabed B. cbaed
C. acbed D. bcade
4.What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?
A. Elizabeth Blackwell was more famous in Britain.
B. Elizabeth Blackwell learned from other women.
C. Elizabeth Garrett gave Elizabeth Blackwell much help.
D. Florence Nightingale was encouraged by Elizabeth Blackwell.
Two men were sitting together in a plane. They were on a long journey. One of the men was a businessman. The other was a farmer. They sat without talking for a while, then the farmer said, “Let’s do something to pass the time.”
“What do you want to do?” the businessman asked. “We can ask each other riddles.” The farmer said, “You start.” “Let’s make the rules first,” the businessman said. “That’s not fair. You are a businessman with much knowledge. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer.”
“That’s true.” The businessman said. “What do you want we should do?” “If you don’t know the answer to a riddle, you pay me $100. And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $50.” The farmer said. The businessman thought about this, then he said, “OK. That’s fair. Who will go first?”
“I will,” The farmer said. “Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” The business man repeated the riddle, “What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that’s a good one. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer.” He gave the farmer $100, then said, “Tell me the answer. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” “I don’t know.” The farmer said and gave him $50.
1.The story happened ____________.
A. on a farm B. in a shop
C. before a long plane journey D. between two passengers
2.What does the word “riddle” mean in this story?
A. A difficult question to find the answer to.
B. Something to help to make rules.
C. Something to win money.
D. a kind of game in doing business.
3.Why did the businessman agree to give more money if he lost?
A. He made much more money than the farmer.
B. He thought he knew more than the farmer.
C. He was interested in making riddles.
D. He was better at playing riddle games.
4.The farmer _________.
A. enjoyed himself on his long journey.
B. didn’t want to pay even one dollar
C. spent all his money on the plane ticket.
D. won fifty dollars by playing the riddle game
5.Which of the following is NOT true?
A. The two men made rules for their riddle.
B. The farmer was much cleverer than the businessman.
C. The two men made their riddle game more interesting by paying it for money.
D. The businessman knew the answer to his riddle.
Each year the Pritzker Architecture Prize (普立兹克建筑奖) goes to a star designer with a long list of attractive buildings around the world. This year’s winner is a little different.
Shigeru Ban has designed museums, homes and concert halls. But Ban is best known for a more simple kind of work: the temporary (暂时的) buildings for people who became homeless after disasters.
Ban may be the only designer in the world who makes buildings out of paper — cardboard paper tubes (管). Ban actually tested the strength of cardboard tubes, and said he was surprised by what he had discovered. He has used them to build temporary buildings in Japan, Haiti, China and elsewhere.
“After a disaster, the building material is going to be more expensive,” Ban explains. “But the paper tube is actually not a building material. It is cheap and plentiful. We can get the material easily anywhere. And unlike costs for traditional building materials, the price of paper tubes doesn’t jump after an earthquake or flood. The tubes are also lightweight, so you don’t need heavy machines to work with
them.”
Ban started using cardboard paper tubes in the 1980s. At that time he had just graduated from the architecture school, and he was looking for a cheap substitute for wood. So he started reusing the paper cardboard tubes that were left over from rolls of paper in his office.
Ban was born in Tokyo and studied architecture in the U.S. before moving back to Japan to start his practice. Some of Ban’s temporary buildings have become permanent (永久的), like the paper church he built after the 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan.
1.The author uses the first paragraph to .
A. raise an argument B. give an introduction
C. give an example D. offer a description
2.What is special about Shigeru Ban?
A. He failed to get this year’s architecture prize.
B. He graduated from the best architecture school in the U.S.
C. He is good at building houses for homeless people.
D. He builds special houses for special groups of people.
3.Why did Shigeru Ban choose cardboard paper tubes?
A. Because they are cheap and easy to take away.
B. Because they are strong and last for a long time.
C. Because they are plentiful and look very beautiful.
D. Because they are common and hard to break.
4.What does the underlined word “substitute” probably refer to?
A. A new way of building houses by using wood.
B. A new method of producing cardboard paper tubes.
C. A new kind of building material to take the place of wood.
D. A new machine to produce a new kind of building material.
