Question

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Once upon a time ...

Once upon a time there lived in Germany two brothers. At school they met a wise man who led them to a treasure — a library of old books with tales more fascinating than any they had ever heard.  1.(inspire), the brothers began collecting their own stories, listening to the folktales people told them. Soon they produced their own treasure — a book of fairy tales that would charm millions in faraway lands for generations  2.(come).

The brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, named their story collection Children’s and Household Tales and published it in Germany in 1812. The collection 3.(translate) into more than 160 languages up to now. The stories and their characters continue to feature in virtually every media: theatre, opera, comic books, movies, paintings, rock music, advertising and fashion.

Such fame would have shocked the modest Grimms. During their lifetimes the collection 4.(sell) few copies in Germany. The early editions were not even aimed at children. They had no illustrations, and scholarly footnotes took up almost as much space as the tales 5.. Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm began their work at a time 6. Germany had been occupied by the French under Napoleon. The new rulers restricted local culture. As young scholars, the brothers Grimm began to work on the fairy tale collection in order to save the endangered oral storytelling tradition of Germany.

7. the brothers implied that they were just keeping records of tales, Wilhelm continued to polish and reshape the stories up to the final edition of 1857. In an effort to make them more acceptable to children and their parents, he stressed the moral of each tale and emphasized gender roles. To this day, parents still read them to their children because they approve of the lessons in the stories: keep your promises, don’t talk to strangers, work hard, obey your parents.

Yet 8. all Wilhelm’s additions, the most important part of these stories was left untouched. The cruel treatment of children and the violent punishments handed out to the stories’ bad guys are too much for some parents.

So what accounts for their popularity? Some have suggested that it is 9. the characters are always striving for happiness. But the truth probably lies in their origin. Grimms’ tales were born out of a storytelling tradition without boundaries (界限) of age or culture. The brothers’ skill was to translate these into a universal style of writing that seems to mirror 10. moods or interests we bring to our reading of them. And so it was that the Grimms’ fairy tales lived happily ever after.

Answer

1.Inspired

2.to come

3.has been translated

4.sold

5.themselves

6.when

7.Though/Although/While

8.despite

9.because

10.what/whatever

【解析】

这是一篇人物传记。文章记叙了格林兄弟的童话故事集《儿童和家庭故事》生成和发展的过程。

1.考查形容词做状语。句意：备受鼓舞，兄弟俩开始收集自己的故事，听人们告诉他们的民间故事。用副词做状语用来修饰谓语动词或整句话，形容词做状语用来修饰主语的状态，在此句中是需要用“备受鼓舞的”这一形容词形容主语“the brothers”的状态。故填Inspired。

2.考查动词不定式用法。句意：不久，他们产生了自己的宝藏——一本童话书，将吸引远地数百万人，为子孙后代带来魅力。generations后缺少一个定语，构成“世世代代”的意思，come是一个即将发生的动作，用动词不定式来表达。故填to come。

3.考查现在完成时。句意：到目前为止，该系列已被翻译成 160 多种语言。up to now一般与现在完成时连用，意为“到目前为止”，又因为括号里的translate和主语collection构成动宾关系，用现在完成时被动语态。故填has been translated。

4.考查动词用法。句意：这些藏品在德国几乎没有卖出几本。sell这里用作系动词（和smell,taste,look,touch,sound一样），是主系表结构，结合语境用一般过去式。故填sold。

5.考查反身代词。句意：他们没有插图，学术脚注占据了几乎和故事本身一样多的空间。这里强调的是故事本身，用反身代词做tales的同位语，故填themselves。

6.考查关系副词。句意：雅各布和威廉·格林是在拿破仑统治下德国被法国人占领的时候开始工作的。该句是定语从句，并且从句不缺主语或宾语，所以需要关系副词，先行词为“a time”。故填when。

7.考查连词。句意：虽然兄弟俩暗示他们只是保存着故事的记录，但威廉继续整理和重塑故事，直到最后一期于1857年。分析句意可知，逗号前为让步状语从句，可由Though/Although/While引导，as引导让步状语从句时需倒装。故填Though/Although/While。

8.考查介词。句意：尽管威廉增加了所有内容，这些故事中最重要的部分却未受影响。分析句意可知，空白处所缺单词的意思为“尽管”，又因为其后面是名词，所以需填入一个介词。故填despite。

9.考查连词。句意：那么是什么导致了他们的流行呢？有些人认为，这是因为人物总是在追求幸福。由前面的“accounts for ”可知，前一句话是在询问原因，后一句中包含suggest的宾语从句，宾语从句中又包含一个表语从句，横线上缺少表语从句的引导词，根据句意是表原因。故填“because”。

10.考查连词。句意：兄弟俩的技巧是把它们翻译成一种普遍的写作风格，似乎反映了我们在阅读他们时带来的情绪或兴趣。mirro后接宾语从句，从句缺少定语，包含bring sth.to sb.的结构，结合句子意思，故填what/whatever。