阅读试题

A city child's summer is spent in the street in front of his home, and all through the long summer vacations I sat on the edge of the street and watched enviously the other boys on the block play baseball. I was never asked to take part even when one team had a member missing—not out of special cruelty, but because they took it for granted I would be no good at it. They were right, of course.

I would never forget the wonderful evening when something changed. The baseball ended about eight or eightthirty when it grew dark. Then it was the custom of the boys to retire to a little stoop(门廊) that stuck out from the candy store on the corner and that somehow had become theirs. No grownup ever sat there or attempted to. There the boys would sit, mostly talking about the games played during the day and of the gameto be played tomorrow. Then long silences would fall and the boys would wander off one by one. It was justafter one of those long silences that my life as an outsider changed. I can no longer remember which boy it was that summer evening who broke the silence with a question: but whoever he was, I nod to him gratefully now. "What's in those books you're always reading?" he asked casually. "Stories," I answered. "What kind?" asked somebody else without much interest.

Nor do I know what drove me to behave as I did, for usually I just sat there in silence, glad enough to beallowed to remain among them; but instead of answering his question, I told them for two hours the story Iwas reading at the moment. The book was Sister Carrie. They listened bug-eyed and breathless. I must have told it well, but I think there was another and deeper reason that made them to keep an audience. Listening to a tale being told in the dark is one of the most ancient of man's entertainments, but I was offering them as well, without being aware of doing it, a new and exciting experience.

The books they themselves read were the Rover Boys or Tom Swift or G. A. Henty. I had read them too, but at thirteen I had long since left them behind. Since I was much alone I had become an enthusiastic reader and I had gone through the books-for-boys series. In those days there was no reading material between children's and grownups' books or I could find none. I had gone right from Tome Swift and His Flying Machine toTheodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie. Dreiser had hit my young mind, and they listened to me tell the story with some of the wonder that I had had in reading it.

The next night and many nights thereafter, a kind of unspoken ritual (仪式) took place. As it grew dark, Iwould take my place in the center of the stoop and begin the evening's tale. Some nights, in order to taste my victory more completely, I cheated. I would stop at the most exciting part of a story by Jack London or Bret Harte, and without warning tell them that that was as far as I had gone in the book and it would have to be continued the following evening. It was not true, of course; but I had to make certain of my new-found power and position. I enjoyed the long summer evenings until school began in the fall. Other words of mine have been listened to by larger and more fashionable audiences, but for that tough and athletic one that sat close on the stoop outside the candy store, I have an unreasoning love that will last forever.

阅读试题

55. Watching the boys playing baseball, the writer must have felt ________.

A. bitter and lonely

B. special and different

C. pleased and excited

D. disturbed and annoyed

56. The writer feels grateful even now to the boy who asked the question because the boy ________.

A. invited him to join in their game

B. liked the book that he was reading

C. broke the long silence of that summer evening

D. offered him an opportunity that changed his life

57. According to Paragraph 3, story-telling was popular among the boys basically because ________.

A. the story was from a children's book

B. listening to tales was an age-old practice

C. the boys had few entertainments after dark

D. the boys didn't read books by themselves

58. The boys were attracted to Sister Carrie because ________.

A. it was written by Theodore Dreiser

B. B. it was specifically targeted at boys

C. it gave them a deeper feeling of pleasure

D. it talked about the wonders of the world

59. Sometimes the writer stopped at the most exciting part of a story to _______.

A. play a mean trick on the boys

B. experience more joy of achievement

C. add his own imagination to the story

D. help the boys understand the story better

60. What is the message conveyed in the story?

A. One can find his position in life in his own way.

B. Friendship is built upon respect for each other.

C. Reading is more important than playing games.

D. Adult habits are developed from childhood.

参考译文

一个城市孩子总是在他家门前的街道上度过自己的暑假，而且在这漫长的暑期里，我都是坐在街道的边缘，羡慕地看着他们打棒球。我从来没有要求加入他们，哪怕是有一队的队员缺席，我也没有要求过，没有什么特殊原因，但是他们理所当然地认为我不擅长棒球。当然，他们是对的。

我永远也不会忘记事情发生转机的那个美丽的夜晚。天渐渐黑了，棒球赛大约在8点到8点半时结束了。然后按照男孩们的惯例，他们会去从街角糖果店延伸出来的小门廊，从某种程度上来说，那里已经是他们的领地了。没有成年人坐在那，或想要坐在那。男孩们坐在那，谈论着当天打的比赛以及明天要打的比赛。然后在长时间的沉默之后，男孩们就一个接着一个地走开了。在其中一次长时间的沉默之后，我作为局外人的生活发生了改变。我不再记得是哪个男孩在那个夏夜问了我一个问题而打破了沉寂，但是不管他是谁，现在我依然对他点头称谢。他随意地问：“你总是看的这些都是什么书呢？”我答道：“故事书。”又一个不是很感兴趣的男孩问道：“什么种类的？”

我也不知道是什么驱使我那样做，因为通常我只是静静地坐在那里，因能留在其中而高兴，但是那时我却没有回答他的问题，而是给他们讲了2个小时我正在读的故事。这本书是《嘉丽妹妹》。他们听得瞪大了眼睛，上气不接下气。我肯定讲得好，但是我认为还有另一个更深层次的原因让他们愿意成为我的听众。在黑暗中聆听一个故事是男人们的一种古老的娱乐方式，但是他们还没有意识到我还给他们提供了一种新颖而令人兴奋的体验。

他们读的书是《罗孚男孩》、《汤姆斯威夫特》和《G.A.亨特》。我也读过这些书，但是我在十三岁的时候我就已经将他们远远地甩在后面了。因为我很孤独，所以我就成了一个忠实的阅读者，并且我读了为男孩而作的系列书。那时没有介于孩子和成年人之间的阅读材料，或者是我没有找到。我已经从多美斯威夫特和他的飞行机器读到了西奥多•德莱塞和嘉莉妹妹。德莱赛触及了我幼小的心灵，他们听我讲故事，其中还带着我阅读时的猜想。

第二天晚上以及很多个夜晚之后，一种不言而喻的仪式产生了。当天慢慢暗下来时，我就坐在门廊中心的位置上，开始讲晚间的故事。某些夜晚，为了更加充分地品为我的胜利，我撒谎了。我在杰克伦敦或布雷特•哈特写的故事最精彩的地方停了下来，而没有提醒他们我已经读的很远很远，而它必须留到第二天晚上再继续。当然，这是不对的，但是我必须确保我新发现的权利和地位。我享受着漫长的夏夜，直到我的学校在秋季开学。虽然我的话已经有更多更时尚的人来听，但是对于那坐在糖果店外的门廊里讲的艰难和运动的故事，却是我永远也道不明的爱。

答案解析

55. A 细节理解题。根据第一段中的"...watched enviously the other boys on the block play baseball..."可知作者每天都充满嫉妒地去观看棒球赛，即使有一个队缺一人的时候也没有被邀请。可见作者当时是痛苦而孤独的。故答案为A项。

56. D 细节理解题。根据第二段中的"It was just after one of those long silences that my life as an outsider changed...but whoever he was, I nod to him gratefully now."可知就是那个男孩改变了作者的生活，故作者一直很感激他。

57. B 细节理解题。根据第三段中的"Listening to a tale being told..."可知讲故事之所以受到孩子们的欢迎是因为听故事是一个久远的习惯。

58. C 细节理解题。根据第三段中的最后一句话可知因为《嘉莉妹妹》给了他们更深刻的对快乐的理解。

59. B 细节理解题。根据第五段中的"... I cheated, I would stop at the most exciting... but I had to make certain of my new-found power and position"可知作者是为了要体验更多的成就感带来的快乐。故答案为B项。

60. A 推理判断题。通过讲故事，作者终于找到了他的"位置"，在男孩子们圈子里有了一席之地。故这个故事向我们表达这样的一个道理：每个人都能用他自己的方式找到他的人生位置。故答案为A项。