高级英语高级英语2练习12

Lesson 12

The Discovery of What It Means to Be an American

Ⅰ.Reading comprehension.

1. Baldwin left America because all of the following reason except ________ . them

D.He wanted to prevent himself from becoming merely a Negro or even just a Negro writer

2. In Baldwin’s eyes, America is mobile society and __________.

A. nothing is fixed

B. A land of unprecedented opportunities and unlimited C. The individual must fight for his identity D. All of the above-mentioned

A. He was afraid he might not able to survive the fury of the color B.He suffered a kind of nervous breakdown there

C.He wanted to find out how his special experience as a Negro problem

could help to connect him with other people instead of dividing him form

possibilities

3. It was in __________ that Baldwin realized that he was a very patriotic American.

A. Europe B. Switzerland C. Paris D. America

A. In Europe, the actor and the waiter can have a freer and more B. In Europe, everybody thinks that he has status and at the same

4. According to the text, which of the following statements is NOT true ? genuinely friendly relationship than they are likely to have in America time, everyone becomes uneasy as to just what his status is

C. Bessie Smith’s beautiful song would not help to reconcile the D. Very often an American writer has to leave his own country to

writer to being a nigger if he still stayed in America

achieve his first breakthrough in a dangerous, unending and unpredictable battle

5. “ The story of what can happen to an American Negro writer in Europe simply illustrates, in some relief, what can happen to any American writer there…” In this sentence, the underlined part means ________.

A. feeling relieved B. in some picture C. sharply D. briefly

Ⅱ.Determine whether the following statements are true or false. Put a “T”, if the statement is true and put a “F”, if false.

1. In Europe, both white and black would no longer need to adhere to the shame and bitterness which had divided them so long.

2. The European writers have a very deep- rooted distrust of real intellectual effort.

3. Though American society is less stable than Europe’s, it is easier to cut across social and occupational lines in America than it is in Europe. 4. An European can be as proud of being a good waiter as of being a good actor, and in both case feel threatened. always taken for granted.

5. Living in Europe forces the writer to reconsider many things he had 6. If writer were living in America as an European, he would be living on a different and for less attractive continent. nothing will efface his origins. society and having no interests in it.

7. The writer may be forced to leave the group that produced him, but 8. The American writers have been often charged of not describing 9. The mobile society in which nothing is fixed and in which the individual must fight for his identity creates for the American writer unprecedented opportunities.

10. Every society is really governed by hidden laws, by unspoken but profound assumptions on the part of people except our American. Ⅲ.Point out what figure of speech is used in each of the following sentences:

1. When it did, I like many a writer before me upon the discovery that his props have all been knocked out from under him, suffered a species of breakdown and was carried off to the mountains of Switzerland. 2. A writer, when he has made his first breakthrough, has simply won a crucial skirmish in a dangerous, unending and unpredictable battle. 3. It is not until he is released from the habit of flexing his muscles and proving that he is just a “regular guy” that he realizes how crippling this habit has been.

4. An American writer fights his way to one of the lowest rungs on the American social ladder by means of pure bullheadedness and indescribable series of odd jobs.

5. He probably has been a “regular fellow” for much of his adult life, and it is not easy for him to step out of that lukewarm bath. beneath the open sky.

8. In this endeavor to wed the vision of the Old World with that of the New, it is the writer, not the statesman, who is our strongest arm Ⅳ.Choose the word or phrase which best completes each sentence.

6. It is as though he suddenly came out of a dark tunnel and found himself 7. He needs sustenance for his journey and the best models he can find. 1. There was a great deal of ________ about the decision of that semi-barbaric king’s daughter.

A prediction B aspiration C contemplation D hesitation

2. The twin brothers showed great ________ to their elder sister, who had acted as sole parent to them since their parents died during the American Civil War.

A allegiance B devotion C compliance D admiration

3. The town maintains very many Chinese tradition which are among the highest achievements of those who created the ________ we now enjoy.

A heritage B inheritance C genetics D estate

4. It’s impossible to _______ these two points of view because they are too different.

A compromise B unite C reconcile D combine

5. Many countries in the suburban areas have now succeeded in ________ malarial mosquitoes.

A effacing B abolishing C eradicating D. alternative

6. The surly insolence of the waiters drove him into a _____, and he flung her serviette to the floor and stalked out of the restaurant

A rage B fury C indignant D anger

7. Night patrols were sent out to engage the enemy in a series of small _______.

A battle B fight C skirmish D clash

8. Robert Smith’s reputation was established with eth publication of his first poem in 1938 and was ______ by his splendid short stories for children.

A reinforced B revived C obscured D enhanced

9. By then the 4-2-1 ________, i.e., the type of family made up of four helpless grandparents, two demanding parents and one frustrated child, will have become commonplace.

A symptom B synchronization C syndrome D symbiosis

10. During the Romantic period it was fashionable in literature to have a ______ outlook on the world and to turn one’s back on liveliness and joy

A depressed B disconsolate C lugubrious

D melancholy

11. The exiled lived for years in a ________ state of fear and never reveal their real identity to the public.

A lasting B permanent C perpetual D durable A substance B sustenance C subsistence D surveillance A insurmountable B insuperable C intangible D insufferable A intellectual B intelligent C integrated D intelligible A incorrigible B inconceivable C incompatible D incongruous

12. Arguing world only give further ________ to his allegations

13. The old building has an ________ air of sadness about it.

14. His lecture was readily ________ to all the students.

15.Her husband is an ________ gambler and stay outside all day long.

16. The old man’s _________ will contribute a lot to his final victory in fighting against the sea.

A inescapable B inexorable

C inevitable D inextricable A right B liberty C privilege D freedom

17. Arriving early gave him the ________ of an unhurried dinner.

18. He is a teacher of high ________ but of little ________ among his colleagues.

A position, rank B rank, status C status, position D rank, position

19. Louisa May Alcott based the ______ characters of her book Little Women on her sisters and herself.

A principal B complex C original D many

20. Is a woman to be more highly ________ for her talent or for her beauty?

A estimated B evaluated C esteemed D reckoned

Ⅴ. Put the following words and phrases into the appropriate blanks in the following sentences.

be isolated from ， at home ， cling to ， in flight ， in sharp relief ， flex one’s muscles ，borne in on ， at odds with ， in opposition to ， wed … with ， fury of ， cut across，

1.There was no shelter from the 2. Simon feels very

3. After her mother’s death, Sara 4. The main character is a journalist 5. The snow-capped mountain stood out 6. He stood on the side of the pool, 7. Opinion on this issue 8. There findings are country.

9. It was gradually

10. Protest marchers were held building.

the other prisoners for he was that defeat was inevitable. to the proposed law traditional political boundaries. what is going on in the rest of the on a horse. her aunt more than ever. from a failed marriage. against the blue sky.

storm. 11. They have successfully the ________ old ________ the new in this 12. He was immediately prone to attack everyone.

Ⅵ. Fill in each blank with a suitable word taken from the list at the head of the group, giving alternatives where this is possible

inheritance ， bequest ， birthright， heritage， legacy， patrimony， 1. In our country, education is every child’s 2. The slavery.

3. We are shocked by the squandered and virgin forest land. 4. The precious constitution.

5. The miser man stipulated that a number of small go to several close friends.

were to of freedom guaranteed us by the of untainted streams of race hatred is left to America by the institution of 6. The rival of Athenian democracy and Spartan of free speech. authoritarianism are still viable. 7. We all cherish our inalienable

9. A new honesty about sexual matters is the and others

10. Physical characteristics are determined by genetic

12. Future generations will be left with a destruction.

intelligent ， intelligible ， intellectual ，unintelligent ， unintelligible ， intellect ，

13. We don’t expect everyone to be an expert in philosophy. But at least his writing should be

14. It is said that the manuscripts of many famous writers are except to their secretaries. 15. She was one of the most formidable 16. By “ 17. World

of her time.

people”, we mean those who lack the power to use Property Organization is an international of pollution and 11. A U.N. Declaration names four specific freedoms as every person’s

of Freud, Ellis 8. The cathedrals are regarded as part of England’s invaluable their minds successfully when demands are made upon them. organization designed to promote the worldwide protection of both industrial property (inventions, trademarks, and designs) and copyrighted materials (literary, musical, photographic, and other artistic works) 18. The scientist realized sadly that he had been completely defeated by the ingenuity of the system.

19. The customer’s explanation seemed new product.

to me, but evidently conveyed something to the salesgirl who searched shelf after shelf for the

life forms existing beyond our solar 20. An revolution took place during the first decade of the republic, sometimes referred to as the New Culture Movement. Ⅶ. For each blank in the following passage, choose the most suitable word from the list of words provided below. Each work can be used once only. Write your choice of words in its proper form in the corresponding blanks in the passage.

are busily engaged social climbers reason after all link a glorious future behind pleased ill-mannered for one thing identity difference older people young people argue with be regarded uncertain get down to no devotion to in some sense contrast meet

From “Out of the Air”

Fielden Hughes

People are always talking about ‘the problem of youth’. If there is one — which I take leave to doubt— then it is young themselves. Let us young are is only one man has who create it, not the fundamentals and agree that the human beings-people just like their elders. There between an old man and a young one: the young before him and the old one has a splendid future him: and maybe that is where the rub is. When I was a —— that I was a to , exciting. , teenager, I felt that I was just young and

new boy in a huge school, and I would have been very as something so interesting as a problem. being a problem gives you a certain things the young They have an and they have

in seeking. I find , and that is one of the , and they have not a dreary commitment to material things. All this seems to me to mean ambitions or love of comfort. They are not anxious them with life, and the origins of things. It’s as if they were cosmic beings in violent and lovely He may be conceited, mere age were a I will

the Air, The Listener Ⅷ Translation：

A Wet Sunday In A Country Inn

A wet Sunday in a country inn! Whoever has had the luck to experience one can alone judge of my situation. The rain pattered against the casements; the bells tolled for church with a melancholy sound. I went to the windows in quest of something to amuse the eye; but it seemed as if I had been placed completely out of the reach of all amusement. The windows of my bed-room looked out among tiled roofs and stacks of chimneys, while those of my sitting-room commanded a full view of the stable yard. I know of nothing more calculated to make a man sick of this world than a stable yard on a rainy day. The place was littered with wet straw that had been kicked about by travelers and stable-boys. In one corner was a stagnant pool of water, surrounding an island of muck; there were several half-drowned fowls crowded together under a cart, among which was miserable, crest-fallen cock, drenched out of all life and spirit; his drooping tail matted, as it were, into a single feather, along which the water trickled from his back; near the cart was a half-dozing cow, chewing her cud, and standing patiently to be rained on, with wreaths of vapor rising from her reeking hide; a wall-eyed horse, tired of the loneliness of the stable, was poking his spectral head out of a window, with the rain dripping on it from the eaves; an unhappy cur, chained to a dog-house hard by, uttered something every now and then between a bark

with us suburban creatures. All that is in my mind when I meet a young person. , presumptuous or fatuous, but I do for respect. I accept that we are equals, and him, as an equal, if I think he is wrong. from Out of not turn for protection to dreary clichés about respect for elders — as if