Question

When the seventeenth-century settlers brought the English language to America, they immediately and necessarily began to adapt (使適應) it to their new environment. These changes were early and criticized by some people on both sides of the Atlantic. However, after the Revolution, Americans began to be proud of their own form of English. Noah Webster was the major early supporter of American meanings and spellings over British ones and published the earliest American dictionary, An American Dictionary of the English Language. During the years since Webster, language differences have continued to develop, proving (證明) the truth of George Bernard Shaw’s often-repeated words that the two nations are “divided by a common language”.

Like the American language, the earliest American literature (文學) copied English models. However, after the Revolution and the War of 1812, writers began to create a clear American literature. However, in 1820, Sydney Smith asked the famous question “Who reads an American book?”

Answering to this and similar taunts (諷刺) with creative anger, American writers soon produced works that plenty of British people read. Works by Washing-ton Irving, Walt Whitman, and Mark Twain had been acclaimed greatly in Britain by the end of the nineteenth century.

Even as American writers got respect in Britain, British writers continued to have great influence in America. Charles Dickens went to America twice, in 1842 and 1867-68. Other major British writers who traveled and lived in the United States include D.H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. British best works continue to be widely read. The works of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen became popular films.

At the turn of the twenty-first century, many books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (繼承) of the shared language.

1.The author of this passage seems to think ______.

A. British English is better than American English

B. American English is better than British English

C. the same language has divided the two nations

D. the same language has connected the two nations

2.From the question asked by Sydney Smith, we can infer ______.

A. the British looked down upon American books at first

B. the British found American books difficult to understand

C. the British thought highly of books written by Americans

D. the British had to translate American books into English ones

3.The underlined word “acclaimed” in Paragraph 3 probably means “______”.

A. sold B. discussed

C. welcomed D. refused

4.What made it possible for books and writers to cross the Atlantic in both directions?

A. The War of 1812.

B. The American Revolution.

C. The language differences.

D. The common language.

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.D

【解析】

試題解析：這是一篇說明文。文章講的是自從十七世紀一些居民將英語帶到美洲后，很快適應了美洲的環境，并且英語文化也對美洲的語言產生了很大的影響。

1. two nations are “divided by a common language”意為“這兩個國家被同一種語言分開。”可看出是錯的，故選D。

2. the American language, the earliest American literature (文學) copied English models（就像美國的語言，最早的美國文學都是照搬英國文學的模式）.由此可推測出答案為A.

3.

4. books and writers continue to cross the Atlantic in both directions — made possible by the proud heritage (繼承) of the shared”意為“很多作品和作者仍不斷從各個方面貫穿亞特蘭大洲-----因分享的偉大繼承變得可能”可以看出。

考點：考察說明文閱讀。