Jane Austen ever popular

This summer, the UK will honor its favorite writer, Jane Austen (1775-1817), by making her face on the new £ 10 note. In the 200 years since her death, Austen’s fame has increased from the modest amount she enjoyed in her lifetime to the global fame she receives today.

And yet Austen’s work is so very English that it’s rather strange she should be so popular all over the world. Her novels are so of her time that it’s remarkable that she’s still appreciated in this very different age. Her most famous works — including Pride and Prejudice, the one for which she is most known — are set in the world of the English gentry (绅士阶层) in the 18th century.

Most of her fiction is about young women of that time. Women of the gentry could not work so their chances of happiness or even basic living depended upon finding a husband. This is a very serious subject, of course, but the joy of Austen’s stories is her ability to make wonderful, but also touching comedy out of something so serious.

Take Pride and Prejudice as an example. Elizabeth Bennet is one of five daughters in a countryside family that struggles because daughters can’t inherit (继承) the property. Her mother wants to marry off as many of them as possible. The pushy and annoying Mrs Bennet is one of the great comic characters in English literature.

The main plot of the novel is driven by the love-hate relationship between Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, a wealthy noble. At first, they don’t get on. Elizabeth finds Darcy too proud; she feels he thinks he is better than everyone else in the countryside. She thinks that he looks down upon her family in particular. Darcy, while admiring Elizabeth, believes that she has treated him unfairly. The pleasure of the novel is reading how these obstacles (阻碍) are overcome and how the comical and unexpected ending is achieved.

If we think about this story, it’s obvious why Jane Austen is still popular 200 years after her death, and why readers can still identify with (与……产生共鸣) characters from the long dead world of the 18th century English gentry. Although there have been many changes since that time, it’s still the greatest challenge in life for men and women to find the partner of their dreams.

【小题1】What can we conclude from Paragraph 2?

A．The author believes Jane Austen’s works are ahead of her time.

B．The author thinks that everyone should read Jane Austen’s books.

C．The author has doubts about Jane Austen’s popularity all over the world.

D．The author is surprised that Jane Austen’s books are still so famous.

【小题2】According to the passage, Pride and Prejudice __________.

A．has a sad and unexpected ending

B．deals with a serious social issue in a lighthearted way

C．centers on countryside people’s struggles in the 18th century

D．tells readers that everyone can succeed through hard work

【小题3】According to the passage, why does Jane Austen remain popular today?

A．Because readers enjoy reading love stories about wealthy nobles.

B．Because readers are attracted by the way people deal with difficulties in the stories.

C．Because readers can always find something new from her novels.

D．Because her works deal with the problems many of today’s readers still face.

【小题4】What’s the main purpose of the passage?

A．To tell us why Jane Austen is chosen to be on the new £ 10 note.

B．To introduce the story of Pride and Prejudice.

C．To explain why Jane Austen is still popular today.

D．To introduce Jane Austen’s creative writing style.

Steve Jobs knew from an early age that he was adopted (收养). “My parents were very open with me about that,” he recalled. He had a clear memory of sitting in the yard of his house, when he was six or seven years old, telling the girl who lived across the street. “Does that mean your real parents didn’t want you?” the girl asked. “My whole world was falling apart,” according to Jobs. “I remember running into the house, crying. And my parents said, ‘No, you have to understand.’ They were very serious and looked me straight in the eyes. They said, ‘We specially picked you out.’ Both of my parents said that and repeated it slowly for me. And they stressed every word in that sentence.”
Abandoned (被抛弃). Chosen. Special. These words became part of who Jobs was and how he thought of himself. His closest friends think that the knowledge that he was given up at birth left some scars (伤疤). “He wants to control everything because of his personality and the fact that he was abandoned at birth,” said one longtime colleague (同事), Del Yocam.“He wants to control his environment, and he sees his product as a part of himself.” Greg Calhoun, who became close to Jobs right after college, saw another effect. “Steve talked to me a lot about being abandoned,” he said. “It caused great pains and made him independent. He was different from others because he was born into a different world.”
Later in life, Jobs became a father and abandoned one of his children. Andy Hertzfeld, who worked with Jobs at Apple in the early 1980s, is among the few who remained close to Jobs. “To understand Jobs, you have to know the reason why he can’t control himself and is sometimes cruel and harmful to others,” he said. “That goes back to being abandoned at birth. The real problem was the theme of abandonment in Steve’s life.”
【小题1】Which of the following is true about Jobs’ childhood?

A．He left his parents at the age of six or seven.

B．He was shocked knowing he was abandoned.

C．He couldn’t remember how he was abandoned.

D．His parents chose him because his family was poor.

【小题2】What did Del Yocam think of Jobs?

A．He hated to be born with scars.

B．He liked to get things under control.

C．He enjoyed good working environment.

D．He wanted to influence everyone.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refer to?

A．The fact that Jobs was abandoned.

B．Jobs’ pain from the abandonment.

C．Jobs’ talk with Greg Calhoun.

D．The world where Jobs lived.

【小题4】What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．Jobs didn’t bring up any children.

B．Jobs had a lot of close friends.

C．Abandonment influenced Jobs.

D．Nobody likes Jobs’ character.

【小题5】What is the best title for this text?

A．Steve Jobs	B．Jobs’ Childhood
C．The Abandonment	D．A Terrible Memory

   John B. Goodenough, an engineering professor from the University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry-jointly with M. Stanley Whittingham, a chemistry professor from the State University of New York and Japan’s Akira Yoshino, a professor of Meijo University-for the development of lithium-ion batteries (锂电池). According to the Nobel Committee, the three scientists “have created the right conditions for a wireless and fossil fuel-free society, and so brought the greatest benefit to humankind”.

Goodenough, born in 1922, identified and developed the key materials that can power portable electronics, leading to the wireless revolution. Today, batteries containing Goodenough’s innovations are used worldwide for mobile phones, power tools, laptops, tablets and other wireless devices, as well as electric vehicles.

Goodenough received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Yale University and a doctorate in physics from the university of Chicago. He beat the odds against him, first overcoming dyslexia (阅读困难症) as a child, and then the claim of a teacher who told the doctoral student in his 20s that he had started too late to be successful in physics.

He began his career in 1952 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory, where he laid the groundwork for the development of random-access memory (RAM) for the digital computer. After MIT, Goodenough became a professor and head of the Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Oxford where in 1979 he discovered it would be possible to store energy in rechargeable batteries through lithium cobalt oxide (锂钴氧化物).That discovery helped develop the lithium-ion battery. Goodenough joined the University of Texas at Austin in 1986, where his groundbreaking work continued.

At 97 years old, he still continues to push the boundaries of materials science. Despite the lithium-ion battery being well developed and available as a commercial product, it has its limitations. It can’t be charged too fast or overcharged. Goodenough still wants to see some new developments.

“I hope Ut-Austin still keeps me employed,” Goodenough once joked.

【小题1】The underlined phrase “beat the odds” in Paragraph 3 means “  “.

A．become very famous	B．face the challenges
C．win the competition	D．overcome the difficulties

【小题2】What can we infer from the passage?

A．In MIT, Goodenough made the important discovery leading to the development of the Lithium-ion battery.

B．When he studied for his doctorate in university, not all his teachers encouraged him to be successful.

C．According to the Nobel Committee, Goodenough made the greatest contributions in the discovery.

D．Because of his old age, Goodenough found it difficult to improve the limitations of the lithium-ion battery.

【小题3】What is the best title for the text?

A．The Father of the Lithium-ion Batteries.	B．Three Scientists are Awarded the Nobel Prize.
C．Make the World “Good enough”.	D．It’s Never too Old to Learn.

   Ed Murrow was a famous radio program producer in the 1940s.In the United States，the rise of television in the 1950s ended the period called the Golden Age of Radio Broadcasting. Most of the popular shows vanished. More and more people started watching television. Ed Murrow and his boys moved to television as a result. He joined with Fred Friendly to create the series See It Now.

This show lasted from 1951 to 1958.Some broadcasts on See It Now concerned important issues（议题）of race，war and government dishonesty. Experts said the program was important in the history of television.

Murrow also started another television show called Person to Person. He spoke with famous people in their homes. One episode（一集）visited Eleanor Roosevelt，wife of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The show also visited actress Marilyn Monroe，actor Marlon Brando and Senator John F. Kennedy.

Ed Murrow also produced a number of special programs for CBS. One such program was called Harvest of Shame. It showed the hard life and poor living conditions of farm workers who moved from place to place. Some people said this program was so powerful that it influenced American lawmakers to take measures to protect these migrant workers.

After John F. Kennedy was elected president，he asked the newsman to lead the United States Information Agency. Murrow served as the agency's director from 1961 to 1964.Then he retired from the job. He died in 1965 at his farm in Pawling，New York. He was fifty-seven years old.

Today, Edward Murrow is remembered for his influence on broadcasting and the quality of his reporting. Former CBS chairman William Paley once said Murrow was a man born for his time and work.

Paley called him a student, a thinker, and at heart, a poet of mankind. As a result, he said Murrow was a great reporter.

【小题1】The underlined word "vanished" in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to"______".

A．changed	B．Improved
C．succeeded	D．disappeared

【小题2】According to Paragraph 3, the television show Person to Person was most probably a _______.

A．talk show	B．soap opera
C．talent show	D．documentary

【小题3】Some people believed that Harvest of Shame _______.

A．was called the best program of CBS

B．was created mainly for lawmakers

C．once influenced American lawmakers

D．encouraged farm workers to move around

【小题4】What does the writer mostly want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．Ed Murrow greatly influenced the development of TV shows.

B．Ed Murrow still has an effect on TV shows today.

C．Ed Murrow was a man good at many things.

D．Ed Murrow was a great reporter.