英语专四 短文听力 Passage 2-3

 短文

Questions 18 to 20 are based on the following passage.

Daniel Defoe (about 1660-1731 ) was an important novelist¹ in the English literature. When he was young, he served as a soldier and had been to Spain，Italy, France and Germany. At the same time, he went in for politics². He cared much about the development of capitalism³. He wrote a lot of articles against it and he was put into prison twice for that. (18) It was not until he was nearly sixty that he began to write the famous novel Robinson Crusoe， which was published in May，1719. It spread so rapidly⁴ that the story was known⁵ to every household very soon. Robinson Crusoe can be divided into three parts. (19) The first part is about Crusoe’s three voyages⁶，the second about his hunting, hiding in caves, farming⁷ and his hard struggles against nature on a small deserted⁸ island, the third is about the things which happened after his return from the deserted island. The second part is the body of the novel, in which Robinson’s characters are clearly shown. Defoe wrote his novel in a simple style and his language is easy to understand. (20) His novel writing set a milestone⁹ of the modern English novel. In his later part of life, he was in poor health and lived very poorly.

 

题目

Questions 18 to 20 are based on the following passage. At the end of the passage, you will be given IS seconds to answer the questions.

Now, listen to the passage.

18. Daniel Defoe began to write Robinson Crusoe when he was

A. in his sixties B. in his fifties

C. over sixty D. sixty

19. What was the first part of Robinson Crusoe talking about?

A. His lonely life.

B. His characters.

C. His journeys by sea.

D. His fame and wealth.

20. What was Defoe’s contribution to the English literature?

A. He wrote a very interesting story.

B. He made people happy while reading his story.

C. He set a milestone of the modern English novel.

D. He was active in politics and was against capitalism.

 

答案解析

Passage 2

18. B细节题。文章说到“直到他快60岁了，他才开始写那本著名的小说。”也就是说 他是在五十多岁时写的《鲁滨逊漂流记》，故B项正确。

19.  C细节题。文中介绍到小说的第1部分描写了鲁滨逊的3次海上旅行，故应选C 项。journeys by sea 是 voyages 的同义替换。

20.  C细节题。文章最后说他的小说写作为现代英国小说树立了一个里程碑，故选 C项。

1 novelist   

n.小说家

参考例句：

• He is really a fruitful novelist.他真是一位多产的小说家。
• A good novelist needs great power of conception.一个好的小说家需要丰富的想象力。

2 politics   

n.政治，政治学；政纲，政见，策略

参考例句：

• They seldom talk on politics in those days.那时人们很少谈论政治。
• The two brothers differed about politics.这兄弟俩政见不同。

3 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

4 rapidly   

adv.快地，迅速地

参考例句：

• The company has grown rapidly in the last five years.这家公司近五年来迅速地发展壮大。
• Ice changes into water rapidly on a hot day.天气炎热的时候，冰很快就化为水。

5 known   

adj.大家知道的；知名的，已知的

参考例句：

• He is a known artist.他是一个知名的艺术家。
• He is known both as a painter and as a statesman.他是知名的画家及政治家。

6 voyages   

航行，航海，航天( voyage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were voyages in Japanese-built ships to India and Peru. 日本人建造的船曾经航行到印度、秘鲁。
• His successful voyages showed what great advances had been made. 他的航行成功说明航海业又前进了一大步。

7 farming   

n.农事；耕作

参考例句：

• He lives by farming.他靠务农过活。
• He is farming in Africa.他在非洲经营农场。

8 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

9 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。