Robert Frost was one of America’s best known and most honored serious writers. But his fame came late in his life.

He was born in San Francisco, California in 1874. He lived in California during his early childhood. He was named after the chief Southern general in America’s Civil War. The general’s name was Robert Edward Lee. The poet was named Robert Lee Frost, because his father wanted to honor the general.

Someone once asked another American writer, Ernest Hemingway, how to become a writer. The best thing, he said, was to have an unhappy childhood. If this is true, Robert Frost’s childhood was unhappy enough to make him a very good writer. Robert Frost’s father was a reporter who wanted to be a politician. He often drank too much wine and became angry. Robert was the victim of his anger.

Robert Frost finished high school in 1891. After high school, Robert’s grandfather offered to pay his costs at Dartmouth College. But Robert left the school after a few months. He did not like it. He spent the next few years working at different jobs. At one time, he worked in a factory. Later, he repaired shoes. He was a teacher. He was a reporter. Always, he wrote poetry.

Robert Frost attended Harvard University for two years. After that, he returned to the many jobs he held before. For a while, Frost tried to take care of a farm in the state of New Hampshire. He was not a successful farmer. And he continued to write poetry. He said that until 1930, he earned only about ten dollars a year from writing.

In 1912, he decided to try to make a new start. He took his family to Britain. The cost of living was low. In Britain, Frost found a publisher for his first book of poems. The book was called A Boy’s Will. When it appeared in 1913, Frost received high praise from British readers. Praise was something he had not received in his own country.

Ezra Pound, another American poet living in Britain, read the poems and liked them very much. He wrote a magazine article about Frost. He also helped get Frost’s second book of poems published in America. That book was called North of Boston.

1.The followings are writers EXCEPT __________.

2.The passage wrote about Hemingway in order to show that __________.

3.What can we learn from the passage?

4.What’s the passage mainly about?

The poet and_________pianist is going to give us a talk this afternoon.

  A. a   B. the     C. 不填     D. an

第三部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在
答题爷上将该项涂黑。
Shakespeare’s Birthplace and Exhibition of Shakespeare’s World
Welcome to the world—famous house where William Shakespeare was born in l564 and
where he grew up The property(房产)remained in the ownership of Shakespeare’s family until
1806 .The House has welcomed visitors traveling from all over the world ,for over 250 years.
◆Enter through the Visitors’ Centre and see the highly—
praised exhibition Shakespeare's World，a lively and full
introduction to the life and work of Shakespeare
◆Stand in the rooms where Shakespeare grew up
◆Discover examples of furniture and needlework from
Shakespeare’s period
◆Enjoy the traditional(传统的)English garden，planted
with trees and flower mentioned in the poet’s works
⊙The Birthplace is within easy walking distance of all the car
parks shown on the map；nearest is Windsor Street(3 minutes’
Walk)
⊙The House may present difficulties but the Visitors’ Centre，
its exhibition．and the garden are accessible (可进入的)to
wheelchair users
⊙The Shakespeare Coffee House(opposite the Birthplace)
1．How much is the admission for a family of two grown-ups and two children？
A．￡9.80．       B．￡12.00．        C．￡14.20．        D．￡16.40．
2．Where is the nearest parking place to Shakespeare’s Birthplace？
A．Behind the exhibition hall．
B．Opposite the Visiturs’Centre．
C．At Windsor Street．
D．Near the Coffee House．
3．A wheelchair user may need help to enter__________．
A．the House       B．the garden     C．the Visitors’Centne      D．the exhibition hall

Rae Armantrout, who has been a poetry professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) for two decades, has won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for her most recent book, "Versed".

"I'm delighted and amazed at how much media recognition that the Pulitzer brings, as compared to even the National Book Critics Award, which I was also surprised and delighted to win," said Armantrout.

"For a long time, my writing has been just below the media radar, and to have this kind of attention, suddenly, with my 10th book, is really surprising."

Armantrout, a native Californian, received her bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley, where she studied with noted poet Denise Levertov, and her master's in creative writing from San Francisco State University. She is a founding member of Language Poets, a group in American poetry that analyzes the way language is used and raises questions to make the reader think.

In March, she won the National Book Critics Circle Award for "Versed."

"This book has gotten more attention," Armantrout said, "but I don't feel as if it's better."

The first half of "Versed" focuses on the dark forces taking hold of the United States as it fought the war against Iraq. The second half looks at the dark forces casting a shadow over her own life after Armantrout was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.

Armantrout was shocked to learn she had won the Pulitzer but many of her colleagues were not. "Rae Armantrout is a unique voice in American poetry," said Seth Lerer, head of Arts and Humanities at UCSD.

"Versed", published by the Wesleyan University Press, did appear in a larger printing than her earlier works, which is about 2,700 copies. The new edition is scheduled to appear in May.

1.According to Rae Armantrout, __________

A．her 10th book is much better

B．her winning the Pulitzer is unexpected

C．the media is surprised at her works

D．she likes being recognized by her readers

2.Which of the following is true of Rae Armantrout?

A．She published a poetry textbook.

B．She used to teach Denise Levertov.

C．She started a poets' group with others.

D．She taught creative writing at UC Berkeley.

3.What can we learn about "Versed"?

A．It partly concerns the poet's own life.

B．It is mainly about the American army.

C．It is a book published two decades ago.

D．It consists of three parts.

4.Rae Armantrout's colleagues think that she __________.

A．should write more                      B．has a sweet voice

C．deserves the prize                      D．is a strange professor

5.What can we learn from the text?

A. "Versed" has been awarded twice.      B. Cancer made Armantrout stop writing.

C. Armantrout got her degrees at UCSD.      D. About 2,700 copies of "Versed" will be printed.

Despite rising education levels, Americans of every age are reading less and less for pleasure these days, according to an analysis by the National Endowment for the Arts. The decline(下降) could have bad effects as people tune out books, tune in popular culture and become less socially engaged.
"We've got a public culture which is almost entirely commercial(商业化)and novelty - driven (追新)," says NEA chairman Dana Gioia. "I think it's letting the nation down."
The study gathers years of data on Americans' reading habits and finds that, at every age group, we're reading less.
Most of the data have appeared in private, government and university surveys, but today's report is the first to combine them into a single portrait. It suggests that the demands of school, work and family and the decisive advantage of other forms of entertainment have caused the decline in reading for millions of Americans.
·Only 38% of adults in 2006 said they had spent time reading a book for pleasure.
·65% of college freshmen in 2005 said they read little or nothing for pleasure.
·30% of 13 - year - olds in 2004 said they read for fun "almost every day," down from 35% in 1984.
According to Gioia, a poet, they decline is probably the single most important social issue in the United States today. The findings should be a wake - up call to educators to change the way they teach literature at every level. It was once believed that if someone went to college, they would become a lifelong reader. What we're seeing right now is that we're no longer producing readers. We're producing B. A. s and M. A. s and Ph. D. s.
Cioia also wants main media to wake up to how they can promote good books in many ways. He notes that when a character in the 1994 film Four Weddings and a Funeral recited a few lines of W. H. Auden's poem Funeral Blues, the poet briefly became a best seller.
65.The underlined phrase "tune out" in the first paragraph probably means________.
A.close    B.publish C.prove   D.read
66.According to Dana Gioia, the change of Americans' reading habit________.
A.is positive and valuable      B.does harm to the nation
C.is caused only by popular culture      D.can make poets best sellers
67.Which of the following is NOT the cause for the change in reading habit?
A.Demands of getting a B. A., M. A. or Ph. D.
B.Demands of family, school and work.
C.The change in the way the literature is taught.
D.Advantages of the entertainment.
68.We can infer that the number of teenagers reading for pleasure reduced by________in 20 years.
A.30%    B.38%    C.65%    D.5%