Chinese writer Mo Yan has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, announced the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on Thursday. The win makes Mo Yan the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel in its 111-year history. Informed of his win today, the author, who was having dinner at home, was “overjoyed and scared”.

Born in 1955 to parents who were farmers, Mo Yan — a pen name for Guan Moye, grew up in Gaomi, Shandong province in eastern China. At the age of 12, he left school to work, first in agriculture, later in a factory. In 1976 he joined the army and during this time began to study literature and writing.

He published his first book in 1981, but found literary success in 1987 with Hong Gaoliang Jiazu, which was successfully filmed in the same year, directed by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou. In his writing, Mo Yan draws on his youthful experiences and on settings in the province of his birth and his works show the life of Chinese people as well as the country’s unique culture and folk customs. Mo Yan is known as a productive writer. In addition to his novels, he has published many short stories and essays on various topics. Despite his social criticism, he is seen in his homeland as one of the most famous contemporary authors. Dozens of his works have been translated into English, French, Japanese and many other languages.

The awarding ceremony will be held on December 10. The winner will win a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award of about $1 million.

1.How did Mo Yan feel when he was told about the news?

A．Excited and proud.                      B．Worried and cautious.

C．Happy and surprised.                     D．Uncertain and shocked.

2.One of Mo Yan’s characteristics of writing is that he ________.

A．writes about topics he is familiar with

B．focuses on social problems in the country

C．describes his characters in a unique way

D．explains difficult matters in simple words

3.What’s the best title for this passage?

A．How Mo Yan Gets Nobel Prize

B．An Introduction to Nobel Prize

C．Mo Yan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

D．A World Famous Writer, Mo Yan

 

Misery and setbacks are not always as terrible as one imagines. Hard times can offer new ways of looking at life that would otherwise never be known. And, if you are a writer, this can be the source of much of your success.

     Popular British author, Charles Dickens' （1812-1870）family could hardly make ends meet. They could only afford to send one of their six children to school. Dickens was not that child. His parents chose to send a daughter, who had a talent for music, to an academy. Then at the age of 12, Dickens' life took another turn for the worse.

His father, a clerk, was placed in prison for unpaid debts. And, being the oldest male left at home, Dickens took up work at a factory. His horrible experience there became the fuel for his future writing. His father was freed three months later and inherited a small amount of money. Dickens was then sent to school.

From 1836 to 1837, he wrote a monthly series of stories. Thus the Pickwick Papers, came into being, which brought fame to the 23-year-old man.

Throughout his career, Dickens covers various situations in his novels. He wrote about the miserable lives of the poor in Oliver Twist, the French Revolution in Tale of Two Cities, and social reform in Hard Times. He also wrote David Copperfield, a book thought to be modeled on his own life.

“I do not write bitterly or angrily: for I know all these things have worked together to make me what I am,” he once said. His difficult childhood did indeed shape the person he became, as well as his writing career. There are shades of young Dickens in many of his most beloved characters, including David Copperfield and Oliver Twist.

Like the author, all these characters come from poor beginnings and are able to rise above their setbacks and achieve success. “Minds, like bodies, will often fall into an ill-conditioned state from too much comfort,” he once wrote. On June 9th, 1870, aged 58, Dickens died, leaving one unfinished work．The words on his tombstone read: “He was a sympathizer to the poor, the suffering and the oppressed, and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world.”

The book that first called public attention to Dickens was ______.

       A．the Pickwick Papers               B．Oliver Twist

       C．Tale of Two Cities                D．David Copperfield

The phrase “shades of” in bold means “_____”.

       A．various shapes of            B．situations of

       C．different experiences of     D．reminders of

How did Dickens see his childhood?

       A．He felt grateful for it．

       B．He felt it a pity that things weren’t in his favor．

       C．He loved writing about it．

       D．He chose to forget the bitterness about it．

From the story, we can see Dickens’ attitude towards an easy life is ______．

       A．to enjoy it                    B．to hate it

       C．not to abandon yourself to it     D．to work hard for it

 

根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

It’s not just women who wear skirts.   1    In Scotland, men wear a kind of skirt called kilt. The kilt is their national dress and an important part of their tradition.

A kilt is a colored skirt reaching down to the knees. It has checks（格子）on it with different colors, like red and blue.    2    

    3    There are many stories about it. One story is that kilt was invented in the 1720s by an English factory owner, Thomas Rawlinson.

Thomas Rawlinson had a number of Scottish workers in his factory and he thought their clothing got in the way of their work.     4     

Today, most Scotsmen look the kilt as formal dress. They usually only wear them at wedding or big dinner.    5   

A. Each family in Scotland has it’s own colors.

B.There are only a few men who still wear a kilt every day.

C.How did the Scots start to wear skirts ?

D.It was important for Scots to wear skirts at any time.

E.So he cut their long clothes into shorter skirts.

F.Wearing skirts is very beautiful for women.

G.Men can wear them, too.

 

    It was 3:21 a.m. when nine?year?old Glenn Kreamer awoke to the smell of burning. Except for the cracking(爆裂声) of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two?storey house at Baldwin, Long Island.

    With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brother Todd. He ran downstairs through the smoke?filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they sat up. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of the garden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, collapsed on the lawn.

     The nine-year-old boy raced back into the house and upstairs to his mother's room. He found it impossible to wake her up. Mrs Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry her to the garden. But the boy remained calm and, as a fireman said later,“acted with all the self?control of a trained adult.”

     On the bedroom telephone, luckily still working, Glenn called his father and, leaving Mr Kreamer to telephone the fire brigade and ambulance service, got on with the task of saving his mother.

     First he filled a bucket with water from the bathroom and threw water over his mother and her bed. Then, with a wet cloth around his head he went back to the garden.

     He could hear the fire engine coming up, but how would the firemen find his mother in the smoke?filled house where flames had almost swallowed up the ground floor?

     Grasping firmly a ball of string from the garage, Glenn raced back into the

house and dashed upstairs to his mother's room. Tying one end of the string to her hand he ran back, laying out the string as he went, through the hall and back out into the garden.

     Minutes later he was telling fire chief John Coughlan:“The string will lead

 you to Mother.” Mrs Kreamer was carried to safety as the flames were breaking through her bedroom floor.

1.Why did Glenn run downstairs first?

A. He wanted to find out what was happening.

B. He was worried about his mother's safety.

C. He wanted to save his sister and his brother.

D. He went to see if his father had come back from work. 

2. How did Glenn help the firemen to save his mother?

A. By throwing water all over her and her bed.

B. By carrying her to safety with his brother.

C. By pushing and pulling at her.

D. By tying a string to her hand. 

3. Who called the fire brigade and ambulance service?

A. Glenn.       B. Glenn's father.       C. Glenn's sister.    D. Glenn's neighbor. 

4.What did Glenn do to protect himself?

A. He put a wet cloth around himself.   B. He threw water all over his head.

C. He hid himself in the bathroom.      D. He rushed out to the lawn. 

5. Glenn saved his family because ________ .

A. his father had taught him to do so on the phone

B. he had learned something about the first aid

C. he had dealt with the emergency calmly and wisely

D. he had followed his mother's instruction 

A

Chinese writer Mo Yan has won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Literature, announced the Swedish Academy in Stockholm on Thursday．The win makes Mo Yan the first Chinese citizen to win the Nobel in its Ⅲ-year history．Informed of his win today, the author, who was having dinner at home, was “overjoyed and scared"．

Born in 1955 to parents who were farmers, Mo Yan－a pen name for Guan Moye，grew up in Gaomi in Shandong province in eastern China. At the age of 12, he left school to work, first in agriculture, later in a factory. In 1976 he joined the army and during this time began to study literature and writing．

He published his first book in 1981, but found literary success in 1987 with Hong Gaoliang Jiazu, which was successfully filmed in the same year, directed by famous Chinese director Zhang Yimou. In his writing, Mo Yan draws on his youthful experiences and on settings in the province of his birth and his works show the life of Chinese people as well as the country's unique culture and folk customs. Mo Yan is known as a prolific（多产的）writer. In addition to his novels, he has published many short stories and essays on various topics. Despite his social criticism, he is seen in his homeland as one of the most famous contemporary authors. Dozens of his works have been translated into English, French, Japanese and many other languages．

The awarding ceremony will be held on December 10．The winner will win a medal, a personal diploma and a cash award of about $l  million．

1.How did Mo Yan feel when he was told about the news?

A．Excited and proud．                     B． Happy and surprised．

C．Worried and cautious                    D． Uncertain and shocked．

2.Mo Yan developed his ability for writing when he was      ．

A．on a farm         B．in a factory        C．in a school         D．in the army

3.One of Mo Yan's characteristics of writing is that he

A．writes about topics he is familiar with        B．focuses on social problems in the country

C．describes his characters in a unique way      D．explains difficult matters in simple words

4.What's the best title for this passage? 

A．How Mo Yan Gets Nobel Prize              B．An Introduction to Nobel Prize

C．Mo Yan Wins Nobel Prize in Literature        D．A World Famous Writer, Mo Yan