Question

    Franz Kafka wrote that "a book must be the ax(斧子) for the frozen sea inside us". I once shared this sentence with a class of seventh graders, when we'd just finished John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. Reading the end together out loud in class, my toughest boy, a star basketball player, wept a little. They understood. When George shoots Lennie, the tragedy is that they realize it was always going to happen. In my 14 years of teaching in a New York City public middle school, I've taught kids with imprisoned parents, abusive parents, irresponsible parents; kids who are parents themselves; kids who are homeless: kids who grew up in violent neighborhoods. 1.

For the last seven years, I have worked as a reading enrichment teacher, reading classic works of literature with small groups of students from grades six to eight. I originally proposed this idea to my headmaster after learning that a former excellent student of mine had transferred out of a selective high school-one that often attracts the literary-minded children of Manhattan's upper classes-into a less competitive setting. The daughter of immigrants, with a father in prison, she perhaps felt uncomfortable with her new classmates, who came from homes lined with bookshelves, whose parents had earned Ph. D.'s. 2.

Along with Of Mice and Men, my groups read: Sounder, The Red Pony, Lord of the Flies, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth. 3. About The Red Pony, one student said, "it's about being a man, it's about manliness." I had never before seen the parallels between Scarface and Macbeth, nor had I heard Lady Macbeth's soliloquies(独白) read as raps, but both made sense; the interpretations were playful, but serious. Once introduced to Steinbeck's writing, one boy went on to read The Grapes of Wrath and told me repeatedly how amazing it was that "all these people hate each other, and they're all white." 4.Year after year, former students visited and told me how prepared they had felt in thein first year in college as a result of the classes.

A.We taught students to read increasingly complex texts for emotional punch (碰撞).

B.I thought additional "cultural capital" could help such students develop better in high school.

C.His historical view was broadened, his sense of his own country deepened and outlook improved.

D.They understand, better than I, the novel's terrible logic-the giving way of dreams to fate.

E.The students didn't always read from the expected point of view.

F.They learnt that words do not only confuse but also amaze people.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.E

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇记叙文。本文通过作者的教书经历指出教文学一定要触及心灵，不要只停留于文字表面。

1.前一句提到了我教过的各种各样的孩子，以及第一段前面提到“We’d just finished John Steinbeck’s novel Of Mice and Men.”，D选项的主语they指代孩子们，novel指代前文提到的书。故D选项“他们比我更能理解小说中可怕的逻辑——把梦想交给命运”切题。故选D项。

2.前面一句提到了作为一个移民的女儿，她的父亲被关进了监狱，她可能对她的新同学感到不舒服，他们来自书香门第，他们的父母获得了博士学位。B选项中的“such students”一词表示前面提到过这类孩子。故B选项“我认为额外的“文化资本”可以帮助这些学生在高中更好地发展。”切题。故选B项。

3.前一句提到“我”带领孩子们看了很多书，后一句提到一个孩子说了一句排比句，这是“我”从未听过的，而且本段的后半部分还提到了一个学生对于《愤怒的葡萄》一书的独特观点，说明学生们有时会从不同角度和观点来看书。故E选项“学生们并不总是从预期的角度来阅读”切题。故选E。

4.后一句提到之前的学生来看“我”时说“我”的课程让他们进入大学做好了准备，说明学生们从课程中受益良多，前面一句提到的学生也是如此，C选项His historical view was broadened, his sense of his own country deepened and outlook improved.“他拓展了自己的历史观点，加深了对自己国家的情感以及提升了自己的观点。”都是课程这个孩子带来的益处。故选C项。