Question

    A group of schools in Minnesota recently made a big change. They took some famous books off their reading list. One book was Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” The other was Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird.” The schools in Minnesota decided that some words in the books were racist and can be hurtful to students.

This is a step in the right direction. But the harmful words in the stories are just the beginning. There are other reasons why these books should no longer be in classrooms.

Many people think the book, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, for example, one of the best books of all time. That is not true. In the book, there is a white lawyer named Atticus Finch. He defends Tom Robinson, a black man, in court. Tom exists only to be saved by Atticus. He does not make decisions for himself. He does not have a full life. He is in the story only to teach the white community about racism. The character is not complete and the white savior (救世主) idea shows poor writing skills.

Students do not learn as much from flat characters like Tom. They should read more authors of color. They should read stories where people of color are important. There are books about people of color that show joy and success. These books give students a fuller understanding of racism. Students of color must be able to see their real lives reflected in books so that they can change to become more accepting of others.

1.What caused the change in some schools’ reading list according to paragraph 1?

A.Efforts to lessen students study burden.

B.Intention to focus students’ attention on certain books.

C.Dissatisfaction with some writers’ choice of words.

D.Disrespect for some writers like Mark Twain.

2.According to the passage, “To Kill a Mockingbird” ________.

A.is the best book of all time

B.depicts all characters in detail

C.shows preference for the white

D.advocates harmony between races

3.What do we know about books about people of color?

A.They may disappoint their readers.

B.They fail to show joy and success.

C.They get in the way of readers’ understanding of racism.

D.They encourage readers’ acceptance of others.

4.What’s the best title of this passage?

A.Classroom reading lists change.

B.Two famous books lose appeal.

C.Different races conflict.

D.Words in books hurt.

Answer

1.C

2.C

3.D

4.A

【解析】

本文是一篇议论文。明尼苏达州的一些学校最近从读物清单上删除了一些著名的书。他们认为这些书带有种族主义色彩，学生应该多阅读有关有色人种的成功事迹，知道他们的重要性，从而能对种族主义有更全面的了解，更容易接受他人。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中的“The schools in Minnesota decided that some words in the books were racist and can be hurtful to students.”可知，明尼苏达州的一些学校认为书中的一些词语带有种族主义色彩，这可能会对学生造成伤害，故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中的“He is in the story only to teach the white community about racism. The character is not complete and the white savior (救世主) idea shows poor writing skills.” 和第四段中的“Students do not learn as much from flat characters like Tom. They should read more authors of color. They should read stories where people of color are important.”可知，黑人汤姆在这个故事中只起到了向白人传递种族主义的作用，这个角色的刻画并不完整，而对白人救世主的构思显示出糟糕的写作技巧。学生们从像汤姆这样平淡的人物身上学到的东西不多。学生应该多阅读有关有色人种的成功事迹，知道他们的重要性，这样才能传递种族平等的观念，故选C。

3.细节理解题。根据第四段中的“Students of color must be able to see their real lives reflected in books so that they can change to become more accepting of others.”可知，有色人种的学生必须能够看到他们的真实生活反映在书籍中，这样他们才能改变自己变得更能接受他人，故选D。

4.主旨大意题。根据第一段中的“A group of schools in Minnesota recently made a big change. They took some famous books off their reading list.”可知，明尼苏达州的一些学校最近做出了很大的改变。他们从读物清单上删除了一些著名的书，接下来文章围绕着这个举措分析该做法的好处。故选A。