Part Ⅲ Reading in Depth
There are four passages in this section.Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choicesmarked A，B，C and D.You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter.
When one looks back upon the fifteen hundred years that are the life span of the English language，he should be able to notice a number of significant truths.The history of our language has always been a history of constant change—at times a slow，almost imperceptible（觉察不到的，极细微的）change，at other times a violent collision between two languages.Our language has always been a living growing organism，it has never been static.Another significant truth that emerges from such a study is that language at all times has been the possession notof one class or group but ofmany.Atone extreme ithas been the property of the common，ignorant folk，who have used it in the daily business of their living，much as they have used their animals or the kitchen pots and pans.At the other extreme it has been the treasure of those who have respected it as an instrument and a sign of civilization，and who have struggled by writing it down to give it some permanence，order，dignity，and if possible，a little beauty.
As we consider our changing language，we should note here two developments that are of special and immediate importance to us.One is that since the time of the Anglo-Saxons there has been an almost complete reversal of the different devices for showing the relationship of words in a sentence.Anglo-Saxon（old English）was a language ofmany inflections.Modern English has few inflections.Wemust now depend largely on word order and function words to convey themeanings that the older language did by means of changes in the forms of words.Function words，you should understand，are words such as prepositions（介词），conjunctions，and a few others that are used primarily to show relationships among other words.A few inflections，however，have survived.And when some word inflections come into conflict with word order，theremay be trouble for the users of the language，as we shall see later when we turn our attention to such maters as WHO or WHOM and ME or I.The second fact we must consider is thatas language itself changes，our attitudes toward language forms change also.The eighteenth century，for example，produced from various sources a tendency to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew，until at the present time there is a strong tendency to restudy and re-evaluate language practices in terms of theways in which people speak and write.
( )41.In contrast to the earlier linguists，modern linguists tend to________.
A.attempt to continue the standardization of the language
B.evaluate language practices in terms of current speech rather than standards or proper patterns
C.be more concerned about the improvement of the language than its analysis or history
D.bemore aware of the rules of the language usage
( )42.What is the appropriate meaning of the word“inflection”used in line 4 of paragraph 2?
A.Changes in the forms ofwords.
B.Changes in sentence structures.
C.Changes in spelling rules.
D.Words that have similarmeanings.
( )43.Which of the following statements is notmentioned in the passage?
A.It is generally believed that the year 1500 can be set as the beginning of the modern English language.
B.Some other languages had great influence on the English language at some stages of its development.
C.The English language has been and still in a state of relatively constant change.
D.Many classes or groups have contributed to the development of the English language.
( )44.The author of these paragraphs is probably a(an)________.
A.historian B.philosopher
C.anthropologist D.linguist
( )45.Which of the following can be best used as the title of the passage?
A.The history of the English language.
B.Our changing attitude towards the English language.
C.Our changing language.
D.Some characteristics ofmodern English.
Ernest Miller Hemingway was born in a prosperous Chicago suburb，Oak Park，Illinois.His father was a highly-respected physician，and unusually keen amateur naturalist devoted to hunting and fishing.He actually taughthis precocious（早熟的）son Ernest to handle a fishing line at three and a half and a gun not long thereafter.From the time the boy was six he proudly accompanied his father on vacations in the North Michigan woods，leaving an older sister，three younger ones and a baby brother at home with mother.Grace Hall Hemingway was，like her husband，a Christian，but they had few other tastes in common.Shewas determined that her oldest son，who had perfect pitch—both his hearing and sense of smellwere extraordinary sharp all his life although his eyesight was poor—should become a musician.Much of the lifelong opposition he felt toward hismother expressed itself in anger ather having kepthim out of school a whole year in an unsuccessful attempt to force concentrated study of the cello（大提琴）.
Ernest shared his father's love of the outdoors，greatly admired his skills and enjoyed his company，butwas unhappily conscious that Dr.Hemingway never really dared oppose hiswife.A bitter short story，The Doctor and His Wife，gives a picture of their relationship and their son's reaction to itat an early age.In his late novel the hero，Robert Jordan，thinks sadly thathis father was really a coward who finally proved his cowardice（怯懦）by committing suicide.（Dr.Hemingway，ill and aging，had shot himself some twelve years before the novel waswritten.）
( )46.What is the passagemainly about?
A.The great difference between Ernest Hemingway's father and mother.
B.Ernest Hemingway's family background.
C.The sharp conflict between Ernest Hemingway and hismother.
D.Mrs.Hemingway's unsuccessful attempt to force her son to studymusic.
( )47.Concerning Ernest Hemingway's father，what kind of a person is he?
A.He loved musicmore than nature.
B.He didn't believe in God.
C.He never changed hiswife's plans and ideas.
D.He was a writer as well as a physician.
( )48.Ernest Hemingway liked________.
A.bitter stories B.the study of the cello
C.hismother's company D.the outdoor life
( )49.According to the last sentence of paragraph 1，why did Ernest Hemingway feel angry?
A.Because hismother kept him out of school for a whole year.
B.Because he couldn't study the cello successfully.
C.Because he did not become amusician because of his poor eyesight.
D.Because he did not become amusician even though he had sharp hearing and sense of smell.
( )50.Who does the passage suggestwrote the story The Doctor and HisWife and created the Robert Jordan?
A.Ernest Hemingway. B.Dr.Hemingway.
C.Mrs.Hemingway. D.One of Ernest Hemingway's friends.
American has always been a land of beginnings.After Europeans“discovered”America in the fifteenth century，themysterious New World became formany people a genuine hope of a new life，an escape from poverty and persecution，a chance to start again.We can say that，as nation，America beginswith that hope.When，however，does American literature begin?
American literature begins with American experiences.Long before the first colonists arrived，before Christopher Columbus，before the Northmen who found America about year 1，000，native Americans lived here.Each tribe's literaturewas tightly woven into the fabric of daily life and reflected the unmistakably American experience of lining with the land.Another kind of experience，one filled with fear and excitement，found its expression in the reports that Columbus and other explorers sent home in Spain，French and English.In addition，the journals of the people who lived and died in the New England wilderness tell unforgettable tales of hard end sometimes heartbreaking experiences of those early years.
Experience，then，is the key to early American literature.The New World provided a great variety of experiences，and experiences demanded awide variety of expressions by an even wider variety of early American writers.Thesewriters included John Smith，who spentonly two-and-ahalf year:on the American，continent.They included Jonathan Edwards and William Byrd，who thought of themselves as British subjects，never suspecting a revolution thatwould create a United States of America with a literature of its own.American Indians，explorers，Puritan ministers，frontier wives，plantation owner—they are all the creators of the first American literature.
( )51.What does“that hope”in the first paragraph refer to?
A.The hope that America would be discovered.
B.The hope to start a life.
C.The hope to see themysteries of the New World.
D.The hope to find poverty here.
( )52.When did American literature begin?
A.Before the American natives lived there.
B.When Columbus and other explorers gent reports back home.
C.When tire Northmen found America in about1，000.
D.Long before the year 1，000.
( )53.What can we learn from the literature of the tribes of the native Americans?
A.About the everyday life of the native Americans.
B.About the arrival of Columbus.
C.About the experience of the first European settlers.
D.About the experience of those who died in the New England wilderness.
( )54.Themain purpose of the last paragraph is to tell the readers that________.
A.in the early daysmost American writerswere from Great Britain
B.people with rich life experience became writers
C.there weremany writers in the early days of American history
D.early-day experience provided the foundation for American literature
( )55.According to the last paragraph，which of the following statements is true about
America literature?
A.Some British writers started American literature.
B.Early-day American literature is a reflection of the boring life then.
C.Some British writers had doubts about the future of American literature.
D.Some British writers had great confidence in the future of American literature.
The economic depression in the late-nineteenth-century United States contributed significantly to a growingmovement in literature toward realism（现实主义）and naturalism（自然主义）.After the 1870's，a number of important authors began to reject the romanticism（浪漫主义）that had prevailed immediately following the Civil War of 1861—1865 and turned instead to realism.
Determined to portray life as it was，with fidelity to real life and accurate representation without idealization，they studied local dialects，wrote storieswhich focused on life in specific regions of the country，and emphasized the“true”relationships between people.In doing so，they reflected broader trends in the society，such as industrialization，evolutionary theory which emphasized the effect of the environment on humans，and the influence of science.
Realists such as Joel Chandler Harris and Ellen Glasgow depicted life in the South，Hamlin Garland described life on the Great Plains，and Sarah Orne Jewett wrote about everyday life in rural New England.Another realist，Bret Harte，achieved fame with stories that portrayed local life in the Californiamining camps.Samuel Clemens，who adopted the pen name Mark Twain，became the country'smost outstanding realist author，observing life around him with a humorous and skeptical eye.In his stories and novels，Twain drew on his own experiences and used dialect and common speech instead of literary language，touching off a major change in American prose style.
Other writers became impatient even with realism.Pushing evolutionary theory to its limits，they wrote of a world in which a cruel and merciless environment determined human fate.These writers，called naturalists，often focused on economic hardship，studying people struggling with poverty，and other aspects of urban and industrial life.Naturalists brought to their writing a passion for direct and honest experience.
Theodore Dreiser，the foremost naturalist writer，in novels such as Sister Carrie，grim ly portrayed a dark world in which human beings were tossed about by forces beyond their understanding or control.Dreiser thought thatwriters should tell the truth about human affairs，not fabricate（编造，捏造）romance，and Sister Carrie，he said，was“not intended as a piece of literary craftsmanship，butwas a picture of conditions”.
( )56.Which aspect of late-nineteenth-century United States literature does the passage mainly discuss?
A.The influence of science on literature.
B.The importance of dialects for realistwriters.
C.The emergence of realism and naturalism.
D.The effects of industrialization on romanticism.
( )57.The word“prevailed”in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to________.
A.dominated B.transformed
C.entered D.generalized
( )58.Realistwriters took an interest in all of the following EXCEPT________.
A.human relationships
B.characteristics of different regions
C.the idealization of life
D.social and historical theories
( )59.Mark Twain is considered an important literary figure because he________.
A.was the first realistwriter in the United States
B.rejected romanticism as a literary approach
C.wrote humorous stories and novels
D.influenced American prose style through his use of common speech
( )60.Which of the following statements about Theodore Dreiser is supported by the passage?
A.Hemainly wrote about historical subjects such as the CivilWar.
B.His novels often contained elements of humor.
C.He viewed himselfmore as a social commentator than as a literary artist.
D.He believed writers should emphasize the positive aspects of life.