第4章英语专业八级能力提升篇
人物记述类（Passage 71～76）
Passage 71
题材：人物记述类字数：854 建议用时：8分钟
Clifford Jackson, or Abshu, as he preferred to be known in the streets, had committed himlf veral years ago to using his talents as a playwright to broaden the horizons for the young, gifted, and black—which was how he saw every child milling around that dark street. As head of the community center he went after every existing grant on the city and state level to bring them puppet shows with the message to avoid drugs and stay in school; and plays in the park such as actors rapping their way through Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Abshu believed there was something in Shakespeare for everyone, even the young of Brewster Place, and if he broadened their horizons just a little bit, there might be enough room for some of them to slip through and e what the world bad waiting. No, it would not be a perfect world, but definitely one with more room than they had now.
pledThe kids who hung around the community center liked Abshu, becau he never preached and it was clear that when they spoke he listened; so he could zero in on the kid who had a real problem. It might be an offhand remark while shooting a game of pool or a one-on-one out on the basketball court, but he had a way of
尚艺
making them feel special with just a word or two.
Abshu wished that his own family could have stayed together. There were four of them who ended up in foster care: him, two younger sisters, and a baby brother. He understood why his mother did what she did, but he couldn't help wondering if there might have been a better way.
Abshu was put into a home that already had two other boys from foster care. The Masons lived in a small wooden bungalow right on the edge of Linden Hills. And Mother Mason insisted that they tell anybody who asked that they actually lived in Linden Hills, a more prestigious address than Summit Place. It was a home that was kept immaculate.
解决方案英文But what he remembered most about the Masons was that it emed there was never quite enough to eat. She nt them to school with a lunch of exactly one and a half sandwiches —white bread spread with margarine and sprinkled with sugar —and half an apple.
When Abshu dreamed of leaving—which was every day—he had his own apartment with a refrigerator overflowing with food that he gorged himlf with day and night. The Masons weren't mean people; he knew he could have ended up with a lot wor.
Abshu lived with the people for nine years, won a scholarship to the local college, and moved out to support himlf through school by working in a doughnut shop. By this time his mother was ready to take her children back home, but he decided that since he was already out on his own he would stay there. One
less mouth for her to worry about feeding. And after he graduated with his degree in social work, he might even be able to give her a little money to help her along.
One thing he did thank the Masons for was keeping him out of gangs. There was a strict curfew in their home that was rigidly obrved. And church was mandatory. “When you're out on your own,”Father Mason always said, “you can do whatever you want, but in my home you do as I say.”No, they weren't mean people, but they were stingy—stingy with their food and with their affection. Existing that way all the time, on the edge of hunger, on die edge of kindness, gave Abshu an appreciation for a life fully lived. Do whatever job makes you happy, regardless of the cost; and fill your home with love. Well, his home became the community center right around the corner from Brewster Place and the job that made him most fulfilled was working with young kids.
The kids who hung out at the community center weren't all lost yet. They wanted to make u of die tutors for their homework; and they wanted a safe place to hang. His motto was; lo no child to the streets. And on occasions when that happened, he went home to cry. But he never let his emotions show at work. To the kids he was just a big, quiet kind of dude who didn't go looking for trouble, but he wouldn't run from it either. He was always challenged by a new t of boys who showed up at the center. He made it real clear to them that this was his territory—his rules—and if they needed to flex their muscles, they were welcome to try. And he showed many that just becau he was kind; it didn't mean he was weak. There had to be rules someplace in their world, some kind of discipline. And if they2012高考试题
understood that, then he worked with them, long and hard, to let them e that they could make a difference in their own lives.
1. Which of the following statements is true according to the first paragraph?
A. Abshu was thorough in eking out potential sources for financial backing.
B. Abshu was reluctant to spoil the children with charity.
C. Abshu was excited about having the children write grant applications.
D. Abshu was determined to let the children decide how the money would be spent.
shuping2. Which of the following characters lived according to Abshu's definition of a life
fully lived?
A. Mother Mason.
B. Father Mason.
C. Abshu as a child.
D. Abshu as an adult.
3. The point of view from which the passage is told can best be described as that of _____.
A. a man looking back on the best years of his life as director of a community center in a strife-ridden neighborhood
B. a narrator describing his experiences as they happened, starting with childhood and continuing through his adult years as an advocate for troubled children
C. an unidentified narrator describing a man who devoted his life to
neighborhood children years after his own difficult childhood
D. an admiring relative of a man who generosity to children was widely respected in the neighborhood where he turned around a declining community centerdelivery
4. What did Abshu and the Masons have in common in raising a child?
5. According to the passage, what does “flex their muscles”in the last paragraph
chenglingmean?
6. What job made Abshu most fulfilled?国际音标学习视频
【答案及解析】
patience什么意思1.A 细节题。根据第一段的As head of the community center he went after every
existing grant on the city and state level可知，他寻求每一个现有的资助，所以A 正确。
2.D 细节题。根据倒数第二段的...gave Abshu an appreciation for a life fully lived (i)
home became the community center right around the corner from Brewster Place and the job that made him most fulfilled was working with young kids 可知，Abshu成年后过着a life fully lived，所以D
正确。文中并未提及Mother Mason和Father Mason的生活方式是否与Abshu的观点一致，所以A、B错误。
由文章可知Abshu是个养子，第六段第一句说明其童年时期并未过着a life fully lived。
3.C 综合题。叙述者并不是在回顾自己的早年生活，所以A错误。叙述者不是在描述自己
的经历，而是在描述Abshu的生活经历，所以B错误，C正确。an admiring relative
在文中没有提到，所以D错误。
4. They thought a child must develop a n of discipline. 由倒数第二段“When
you're out on your own,”Father Mason always said, “you can do whatever you want, but in my home you do as I say.”和最末段后半部分可知，Abshu和the Masons的共同教育观点为必须让孩子有纪律。
5. It means "demonstrate their strength". 结合上下文可知，flex their muscles在此
处的意思为“展示他们自己的力量”。
6. Working with young kids. 根据文章倒数第二段中the job that made him mosta
fulfilled was working with young kids可直接得出答案。
Passage 72
题材：人物记述类字数：898 建议用时：7分钟
Of the French writers of romance of the latter part of the nineteenth century no one made a reputation as quickly as did Guy de Maupassant. Not one has prerved that reputation with more ea, not only during life, but in death. None so completely hides his personality in his glory. In an epoch of the utmost publicity, in which the most insignificant deeds of a celebrated man are spied, recorded, and commented on, the author of “Boule de Suif”, of Pierre et Jean, of Notre Coeur, found a way of effacing his personality in his work.
Of De Maupassant we know that he was born in Normandy; that he was the favorite pupil, if one may so express it, the literary protege, of Gustavo Flaubert; that he made his debut with a novel inrted in a small collection, published by
