Question

 

Too Much Happiness was written by Alice Munro，winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature，one of our greatest contemporary writers of fiction and the owner of the Man Booker Price for Fiction．Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker，The Atlantic Monthly，and other publications，and her collections have been translated into thirteen languages．

? The main character is Sophia Kovalevsky，a great Russian mathematician，writer and advocator拥护者）of women’s rights in the late nineteenth century. After visiting her lover Maxsim Kovalevsky in Riviera，she travels in Europe，ending up in Sweden，where she teaches at the only university in Europe willing to employ a female mathematician．The book writes about her journey from Riviera to Sweden．

??? The story tells the typical struggle of an intellectual（知识分子）woman to achieve success and happiness．However，when she is going to die，Sophia says“too much happiness”．I think it’s irony（讽*11的）．As reading the story，she has too many mental problems·First，as a woman mathematician，she was born in a wrong time ．She was married to Vladimir Kovalevsky without love，called“a white marriage”．She explained that“no a young Russian woman who was unmarried could leave the country．”She satisfied her marriage to seek her career．

??? Furthermore，when she sees a man look like Maxsim in the station，she says to herself，“of course，it would not be Maxsim，what could he be doing in Paris？”She doesn’t want to face the fact because she doesn’t want to lose her hope．She believes they will marry in spring．And in her letter to Julia she says：“it is to be happiness after all，happiness after all．Happiness．”She is cheating herself. In fact，the man does not want to marry her，and the happiness she expected doesn’t take place at all．

??? Finally, I conclude that the end must be a tragedy（悲剧）．From the very first pages the atmosphere is gloomy黯淡的）and threatening.“One of us will die this year.”“Because we have gone walking in a graveyard（墓地）on the first day of the New Year.”Some pages further，“a black cat across their path”all reflect it will be a bad ending．Not because she had some problems with her lung，but because her life does not bring her happiness，and because of these disharmony things that happen in her life．

1.We can infer from the passage that＿＿·

A．Sophia was born in a wrong time and was mentally ill

B．women were not fairly treated in Europe in Sophia’s time

C．Sophia loved travelling around Europe to meet `different people

D．unmarried women were forbidden to learn mathematics at that time

2.The underlined phrase“the fact”in Paragraph 4 most probably refers to the fact that

A．her husband refuses to divorce B．she can’t teach in university

C．she falls in love with Maxsim D．Maxsim doesn’t want to marry her

3.Why does the author name this book Too Much Happiness？

A．It is used to suggest that the story must be a comedy．

B．It’s a phrase repeatedly used by Sophia herself to her friend．

C．It’s used in an ironic way to show that Sophia isn’t happy at all．

D．It’s to show Sophia is very happy to achieve success in her career．

4.What can we conclude from Sophia’s experience？

A．It’s hard for an educated woman to achieve success in Europe at that time．

B．Russian women were not allowed to go abroad without a white marriage．

C．Married women could travel freely across Europe in the late nineteenth century．

D．Seeing a black cat across the path would bring people to death in the end．

5.In a newspaper，this passage is most probably in the section of____．

A. Entertainment B. Travel C．Career D. Culture

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.A

5.D

【解析】

试题分析: 本文介绍了2013年普利策奖和曼布克小说奖的获得者、现代作家爱丽丝·门罗的作品Too Much Happiness 。在她的这部作品中描述了一名19世紀女數學家的冬季旅程與她的愛及渴望，小说从侧面反映了当时时代妇女地位的低下。

1.B推理判断题。根据第二段中where she teaches at the only university in Europe willing to employ a female mathematician．以及第三段中“no a young Russian woman who was unmarried could leave the country．”可知在当时的欧洲妇女没有受到公平的待遇，答案选B。

2.D词义猜测题。文章第二段提到She was married to Vladimir Kovalevsky without love，called“a white marriage”，以及下文In fact，the man does not want to marry her可知答案选D.

3.C推理判断题。根据故事的内容可知女主人公口口声声说的幸福其实是不存在的，她没有获得所追求的幸福，故事是悲剧的结尾，由此推断作者把Too Much Happiness做为书名，是为了做为反语，说明她的不幸福。

4.A推理判断题。在这篇小说中女主人公是一个为了获得成功和幸福而付出艰辛的数学家，但是最终却一无所获，由此判断在当时的欧洲妇女是很难成功的。

5.D推理判断题。A娱乐；B旅游；C职业；D文化。文章主要介绍的是获得普利策奖的一部文学作品，由此推测D选项正确。

考点：考查文化教育类短文阅读。