Today the Nobel Prize in Literature awarded journalist Svetlana Alexievich approximately $970,000 in recognition of a lifetime of excellence. The 67-year-old author of Voices From Chernobyl and War's Unwomanly Face was praised by the Swedish Academy “for her polyphonic(复调式的) writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time.”
Prizes like the Nobel inspire much expectations before the announcement. People give their best guesses as to who will win, look back on past winners, and even place bets as if spectators at a Derby(赛马会).
Literary prizes reward artistic brilliance. They help writers earn a decent living. But is the public’s fascination with prize-winning authors healthy? Our impulse seems to increasingly contribute to a culture of turning authors into celebrities, where readers follow the author instead of the book.
A story should stand on its own, as a considered, complete book, without biographical information from author. It’s an idea perhaps best conveyed in Roland Barthes’s 1968 essay The Death of the Author. “The image of literature to be found in contemporary culture is arbitrarily centered on the author, his person, his history, his tastes, his passions.”
Nearly 50 years later, a few still agree. “I believe that books, once they are written, have no need of their authors,” New York Times bestselling author Elena Ferrante once wrote. “If books have something to say, they will sooner or later find readers; if not, they won’t,”she continued. “True miracles are the ones whose makers will never be known.”
①But the rules for submission for the Man Booker International Prize, for example, strongly encourage authors to “make themselves available for publicity”. And the foundation behind the National Book Award requires finalists to participate in their “website-related publicity”.
② In 2007, a reporter who showed up uninvited at Doris Lessing’s house was the first to inform her that she had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Today the Twitterati came knocking on Alexievich’s digital door hour before the award was even official. To be considered for a prize is to be a public figure.
③ Harry Potter series author J. K. Rowling, with over 5.6 million Twitter followers, has actively addressed readers through public appearances and social media, revealing much more than we could have imagined when we closed the final Harry Potter book. We now know the house Harry's children will be sorted into, that Dumbledore is gay,“Voldemort” is actually pronounced with a silent “t”, and a whole host of the other minor and major details about the backstory of the characters.
The magical world Rowling created in her books—a relatively tight mystery with well-laid clues that led to a satisfying conclusion, which had to prove their merits to the reader based on an internal logic—is being unraveled by her own hand.
④ Of course, public attention also has very important benefits for authors. For three months after receiving the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in fiction, Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad sold about triple its print sales from before the prize, Publishers Weekly reports. On Oct. 5, 2010, in the first FT/Oppenheimer Funds Emerging Voices Awards, as Nigerian-born Chigozie Obioma accepted the prize for fiction with an easy smile, his excitement was appreciable. Given the cash prize of $40,000 for each winner, it’s hard to downplay the importance of such an honor. Such awards bring necessary visibility and funding to writers facing a literary landscape dominated by white men.
But our culture of celebrity is often too wrapped up in the way we read: How might the meaning of a work change if the author really didn’t grow up in a poor neighborhood, or if he or she was abused in childhood? Readers studied the author’s life as if it were the key to interpreting his or her novels.
Behind our fascination is the question that drives all such questions: What did the author intend? By all means, let us praise brilliant work and in doing so trust that the author has already told us enough, and that the story he or she meant to tell ended with the final page.
1.What can we learn from the passage?
A.People wait for the Nobel Prize announcement calmly and patiently.
B.Roland Barthes thinks it necessary to read literature centered on authors.
C.Elena Ferrante holds that books should be read independently of authors' life.
D.The Man Booker International Prize discourages authors from publicity.
2.What does the underlined word “unraveled” in Paragraph 9 probably mean?
A.Underlined. B.Unfolded. C.Updated. D.United.
3.Which of the following is NOT the benefit of prize winning for authors?
A.It reveals more details about the characters in the book.
B.It dramatically increases the sales of the book.
C.It brings in necessary funding to authors.
D.It brings about changes in dominance in literary landscape.
4.Where can the sentence “Some authors satisfy, even encourage their fans. ” be best put in the passage?
A.① B.② C.③ D.④
5.What is the author's attitude towards our fascination with prize-winning authors?
A.Approval. B.Critical. C.Indifferent. D.Neutral.
6.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.To be awarded a prize is to be a public figure.
B.Public fascination with authors brings benefits.
C.Turning authors into celebrities is a bad culture.
D.There are big challenges for prize-winning authors.
All around the world, lawyers generate more hostility(敌视) than the members of any other profession-with the possible exception of journalism. But there are few places where clients have more grounds for complaint than America.
During the decade before the economic crisis, spending on legal services in America grew twice as fast as inflation. The best lawyers made skyscrapers-full of money, tempting ever more students to pile into law schools. But most law graduates never get a big-firm job. Many of them instead become the kind of nuisance-lawsuit filer that makes the tort system a costly nightmare.
There are many reasons for this. One is the excessive costs of a legal education. There is just one path for a lawyer in most American states: a four-year undergraduate degree in some unrelated subjects, then a three-year law degree at one of 200 law schools authorized by the American Bar Association and an expensive preparation for the bar exam. This leaves today’s average law-school graduate with $100,000 of debt on top of undergraduate debts. Law-school debt means that they have to work extremely hard.
Reforming the system would help both lawyers and their customers. Sensible ideas have been around for a long time, but the state-level bodies that govern the profession have been too conservative to implement(实施)them. One idea is to allow people to study law as an undergraduate degree. Another is to let students sit for the bar after only two years of law school. If the bar exam is truly a strict enough test for a would-be lawyer, those who can sit it earlier should be allowed to do so. Students who do not need the extra training could cut their debt mountain by a third. The other reason why costs are so high is the restrictive guild-like(行会) ownership structure of the business. Except in the District of Columbia, non-lawyers may not own any share of a law firm. This keeps fees high and innovation slow. There is pressure for change from within the profession, but opponents of change among the regulators insist that keeping outsiders out of a law firm isolates lawyers from the pressure to make money rather than serve clients ethically.
In fact, allowing non-lawyers to own shares in law firms would reduce costs and improve services to customers, by encouraging law firms to use technology and to employ professional managers to focus on improving firms’ efficiency. After all, other countries, such as Australia and Britain, have started liberalizing their legal professions. America should follow.
1.A lot of students take up law as their profession due to________
A.the growing demand from clients. B.the increasing pressure of inflation.
C.the prospect of working in big firms. D.the attraction of financial rewards.
2.Which of the following adds to the costs of legal education in most American states?
A.Higher tuition fees for undergraduate studies.
B.Admissions approval from the bar association.
C.Pursuing a bachelor’s degree in another major.
D.Receiving training by professional associations.
3.The obstacle to the reform of the legal system originates from_______
A.Lawyers’ and clients’ strong resistance.
B.the rigid bodies governing the profession.
C.the stern exam for would-be lawyers.
D.non-professionals’ sharp criticism.
4.In this text, the author mainly discusses____
A.wrong ownership of America’s law firms and causes.
B.the factors that help make a successful lawyer in American.
C.a problem in America’s legal profession and solutions to it.
D.the role of undergraduate studies in America’s legal education.
Retired jet engines could help clear the smog that smothered big cities.
To land at Indira Gandhi Airport is to descend from clear skies to brown ones. New Delhi's air is poisonous. According to the World Health Organization, India's capital has the most polluted atmosphere of all the world's big cities. The government is trying to introduce rules that will curb emissions-allowing private cars to be driven only on alternate days, for example, and enforcing better emissions standards for all vehicles.
But implementing these ideas, even if that can be done successfully, will change things only slowly. A quick fix would help. And Moshe Alamaro, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, thinks he has one. His idea is to take a jet engine, put it next to one of India's dirty coal-fired power plants, point its exhaust nozzle at the sky and then switch it on. His hope is that the jet's exhaust will disrupt a meteorological phenomenon known as "inversion", in which a layer of warm air settles over cooler air, trapping it, and that the rising stream of exhaust will carry off the tiny particles of matter that smog is composed of. Inversion exacerbates air pollution in Delhi and in many other cities, from Los Angeles to Tehran. A particularly intense example caused the Great Smog of London in 1952, when four days of air pollution contributed to 12,000 deaths.
Dr Alamaro thinks a jet engine could punch through the inversion layer to create a "virtual chimney" which would carry the trapped pollution above it, so that it could be dispersed in the wider atmosphere. He calculates that all the emissions from a gigawatt coal-fired power plant could be lifted away using a single engine with a nozzle speed of 460 metres a second.
However, he has not calculated whether a jet engine could disrupt the inversion layer and allow the pollution to escape the city-so he is now going to test that hypothesis. Within eight months, Dr Alamaro plans to put one of his updrafters next to a coal-fired power plant and monitor what happens using a fleet of drones. He is in discussions with Tata Group, a conglomerate with an electricity-generating arm, to run it next to one of the firm's power stations.
1.The second paragraph serves as _______.
A.a hook to raise reader’s interest in the topic
B.an introduction of the seriousness of pollution in India
C.an example of slow progress of smog control in India
D.a background to make the idea sound worthwhile
2.The idea of applying retired jet engines is most probably inspired by the fact that ______ .
A.New Delhi is suffering the most serious smog worldwide
B.a retired jet engine has a nozzle speed of 460 metres a second
C.the inversion layer prevent the pollutants from getting away
D.conventional ways to deal with air pollution are too slow
3.Which might be the best title of the passage?
A.New Delhi, the capital of Smog
B.Air Pollution, a Global Challenge
C.Air Pollution in Delhi
D.Air Pollution: Blown Away
Situated in the heart of Beijing, the Forbidden City－now called the Palace Museum－covers an area of 1,120,000 square meters. During nearly six hundred years, the palace served as the residence and court of twenty-four emperors. It consists of various structures built in accordance with the traditional Chinese architectural hierarchy（层次、结构）and designed to reflect imperial power and authority.
Entering from the south, visitors will see a succession of halls and palaces spreading out on either side of the central axis. The magnificent architectural complex and the vast holdings of paintings, calligraphy, ceramics, and antiquities of the imperial collections make it one of the most prestigious museums in China and the world. In 1987 it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Palace Museum can be approached through the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Immediately to the north of the Palace Museum is Prospect Hill, while on the east and west are the Wangfujing and Zhongnanhai neighborhoods. Visitors will be excited to find various historic sites, scenic parks, shopping malls, museums, and theatres in the vicinity of the Forbidden City. Conveniently located bus stops and subway stations provide easy access to transportation.
*Free admission for children under 1.2 meters in height.
*Concessions (减价票) for elementary, middle school, and undergraduate students on production of valid student I.D. or certified letter from the school administrator (excluding graduate and adult or continuing education students): 20 yuan.
*50% discount on concessions for seniors 60 years old and older with valid certificate or proof of age (passport, etc.)
*Women’s Day: Half-price admission for female visitors.
*Children’s Day: Free admission for children 14 years old and younger; 50% discount on admission for one accompanying parent, legal guardian, or adult.
Regulations & Suggestions:
*The online booking system (http://gugong.228.com.cn) allows visitors to purchase tickets 10 days beforehand.
*Receipts will be available for pickup at a designated office in the quadrangle （四方形院）between the Gate of Correct Deportment and the Meridian Gate（午门） within thirty days from the date of intended visit (including date of visit).
* Photography is permitted for private, non-commercial use outdoors throughout the Forbidden City, except for sites or areas with “No Photography”signs. For special photography, please contact the Director's Office (Fax: (8610)8500-7415, gugong@dpm.org.cn).
1.According to the passage, which of the following is true?
A.Photos can be taken as long as kept for private and non-commercial purposes.
B.The Palace Museum ranks No. 1 globally due to its architecture and collections.
C.Convenient transportation and medical assistance are accessible if necessary.
D.A man visiting the Palace Museum on National Day can get the receipt before December 1.
2.If a man takes his father who is retired and his 10 year-old son to the Palace Museum on
June 1, how much will they pay at least?
A.40 yuan . B.60 yuan.
C.90 yuan. D.110 yuan.
Since finishing my studies at Harvard and Oxford, I’ve watched one friend after another land high-ranking, high-paying Wall Street jobs. As executives (高级管理人员) with banks, consulting firms, established law firms, and major corporations, many are now ____ on their way to impressive careers. By society’s ____, they seem to have it made.
On the surface, these people seem to be very lucky in life. As they left student life behind, many had a ____ drink at their cheap but friendly local bar, shook hands with longtime roommates, and ____ out of small apartments into high buildings. They made reservations at restaurants where the cost of a bottle of wine ____ a college year’s monthly rent. They replaced their beloved old cars with expensive new sports cars.
The thing is, a number of them have ____ that despite their success, they aren’t happy. Some ____ of unfriendly coworkers and feel sad for eight-hour workweeks devoted to tasks they ____. Some do not respect the companies they work for and talk of feeling tired and ____. However, instead of devoting themselves to their work, they find themselves working to support the ____ to which they have so quickly become ____.
People often speak of trying a more satisfying path, and ____ in the end the idea of leaving their jobs to work for something they ____ or finding a position that would give them more time with their families almost always leads them to the same conclusion: it’s ____. They have loans, bills, a mortgage (抵押贷款) to ____, retirement to save for. They recognize there’s something ____ in their lives, but it’s ____ to step off the track.
In a society that tends to ____ everything in terms of dollars and cents, we learn from a young age to consider the costs of our ____ in financial terms. But what about the personal and social costs ____ in pursuing money over meaning? These are exactly the kinds of costs many of us tend to ignore — and the very ones we need to consider most.
1.A.much B.never C.seldom D.well
2.A.policies B.standards C.experiments D.regulations
3.A.last B.least C.second D.best
4.A.cycled B.moved C.slid D.looked
5.A.shared B.paid C.equaled D.collected
6.A.advertised B.witnessed C.admitted D.demanded
7.A.complain B.dream C.hear D.approve
8.A.distribute B.hate C.applaud D.neglect
9.A.calm B.guilty C.warm D.empty
10.A.family B.government C.lifestyle D.project
11.A.accustomed B.appointed C.unique D.available
12.A.yet B.also C.instead D.rather
13.A.let out B.turn in C.give up D.believe in
14.A.fundamental B.practical C.impossible D.unforgettable
15.A.take off B.drop off C.put off D.pay off
16.A.missing B.inspiring C.sinking D.shining
17.A.harmful B.hard C.useful D.normal
18.A.measure B.suffer C.digest D.deliver
19.A.disasters B.motivations C.campaigns D.decisions
20.A.assessed B.involved C.covered D.reduced
–– Can you believe Kim’s got fired from work?
–– . She was always late or calling in sick. But I hope she will find a new job.
A.God bless her B.It can’t hurt C.It serves her right D.No worries
