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.

Homestay provides English language students with the opportunity to speak English outside the classroom and the experience of being part of a British home.
What to Expect
The host will provide accommodation and meals. Rooms will be cleaned and bedcovers changed at least once a week. You will be given the house key and the host is there to offer help and advice as well as to take an interest in your physical and mental health.
Accommodation Zones
Homestays are located in London mainly in Zones 2, 3 and 4 of the transport system. Most hosts do not live in the town centre as much of central London is commercial and not residential . Zones 3 and 4 often offer larger accommodation in a less crowded area. It is very convenient to travel in London by Underground.
Meal Plans Available
Continental Breakfast
Breakfast and Dinner
Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
It’s important to note that few English families still provide a traditional cooked breakfast. Your accommodation includes Continental Breakfast which normally consists of fruit juice, cereal, bread and tea or coffee. Cheese, fruit and cold meat are not normally part of a Continental Breakfast in England. Dinners usually consist of meat or fish with vegetables followed by dessert, fruit and coffee.
Friends
If you wish to invite a friend over to visit, you must first ask your host’s permission. You have no right to entertain friends in a family home as some families feel it is an invasion of their privacy.
Self¬catering Accommodation in Private Homes
Accommodation on a room¬-only basis includes shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and often a main living room. This kind of accommodation offers an independent lifestyle and is more suitable for the long¬stay student. However, it does not provide the same family atmosphere as an ordinary homestay and may not benefit those who need to practise English at home quite as much.
【小题1】The passage is probably written for ___________.

A．foreigners hoping to build British culture

B．hosts willing to receive foreign students

C．English learners applying to live in English homes

D．travellers planning to visit families in London

【小题2】Why do some people choose self¬catering accommodation?

A．To enrich their knowledge of English.

B．To enjoy much more freedom.

C．To experience a warmer family atmosphere.

D．To entertain friends as they like.

【小题3】What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?

A．The business centre of London is probably in Zone 1.

B．Zone 4 is more crowded than Zone 2.

C．Hosts dislike travelling to the city centre.

D．Accommodation in the city centre is not provided.

D
As thousands of communities in the USA — especially in the South — became booming gateways for immigrant families from Central and South America during the 1990s and the early years of the new century, public schools struggled with the unfamiliar task of serving the large numbers of English learners arriving in their classrooms.
Education programs needed_____________“We had no teaching resources suitable for English learners here before. We had to develop them all ourselves,” a Texas principal said. Throughout the country, districts had to train their own teachers to teach English to non-native speakers or recruit (招聘)teachers from elsewhere. School staff members had to figure out how to communicate with parents who spoke no English.
But even as immigration has slowed or stopped in many places, and instructional programs for English-learners have matured, serving immigrant families and their children remains a work in progress in many public schools, especially those in communities that are skeptical, or sometimes unwelcoming, to the newcomers. One of the biggest challenges educators face, is communicating effectively with parents who don’t speak English — an issue that, in part, has contributed to recent complaints of discrimination by Latino students in some cities.
“The parents’ role is very important for the success of these students, but it's also one of the most difficult things we’ve had to tackle(处理),” said Jim D. Rollins, the president of the Springdale school district, where the 19,000-student school system has gone from having no English-learners 15 years ago to more than 7,500 now. “You have to make it a priority and work on it, work on it, and work on it.”
Aside from the practical challenges, such as finding bilingual (会说两种语言的) staff members, guiding districts through such dramatic changes requires school leaders to bridge difficult political and cultural divides. For school leaders in the South, especially in the last few years, this difficult job has been made harder still by the negative attitudes of some locals towards immigrants.
【小题1】According to the passage, what is the problem that public schools are facing?

A．Handling more cases from the immigrant Mexican communities.

B．Offering services to immigrant families in the southern states.

C．Offering enough communicative lessons to immigrant parents.

D．Providing education for non-native English learners.

【小题2】The underlined part “built from scratch” (in Paragraph 2) probably means “________”.

A．completely new

B．painful to make

C．based on past experience

D．constructed gradually

【小题3】What do we know about the immigrant parents?

A．Many of them cannot speak English.

B．Most of them think education is not important.

C．Some of them feel skeptical about the local community.

D．Few of them have attended American schools.

   Some authors have made some predictions (预测) about what our modern life could become. Here are four books that, somehow, managed to predict the future.

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

This novel was published in 1935. It’s about a dance marathon competition. Competitors who last the longest can get prize money. It’s just like reality TV shows. In reality shows, people voluntarily do things that are physically and mentally tiring or embarrassing.

Neuromancer

William Gibson’s 1984 novel, Neuromancer, not only gave birth to the cyberpunk genre, but it also predicted cyberspace (网络空间) and the Internet. In 1984, there was already a network, but only several universities used it. Gibson predicted the rise of technological addiction and people’s need to be online.

Earth

In 1990, Brin published the novel where the story takes place in the year 2038. A black hole has fallen into the Earth’s core. Scientists have a year to fix it, or the earth may be destroyed. And Brin correctly predicted the World Wide Web (Web) that was invented a year after the book was published. In Earth, the characters don’t think they would find any Earth-like planets. In reality, we have found several Earth-like planets.

Childhood’s End

Childhood’s End is about an invasion (入侵) of Earth by aliens called the Overlords. They help advance human technology. One of those technologies they introduce is a type of virtual reality that is like a movie. The author also predicted that in the early 2000s, people might watch TV for three hours a day.

【小题1】Which of the following books predicts a new kind of TV shows?

A．They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?	B．Childhood’s End
C．Neuromancer	D．Earth

【小题2】What was predicted by Neuromancer?

A．A special way of communication.	B．People’s eagerness for new things.
C．People’s need for the Internet.	D．The invention of the computer.

【小题3】What do we know about the novel Earth?

A．It is about the exploration of the Earth-like planets.

B．One opinion of its characters has been proven wrong.

C．Only it made predictions about aliens.

D．It was written after the Web was invented.

   If anyone knows what makes a great children's book，it must be Sussex author and illustrator（插图画家）Jane Hissey. Her "Old Bear" books have achieved classic status in a variety of formats.

I met Jane at her home in the East Sussex countryside and asked her what she thought the secret of a classic children's book was. "That's a difficult one, I suppose it has got to be related to children's stage of development-for young children, pictures on a page that are familiar; for older children, an experience. The book should be familiar, but hold some surprises too to keep the interest. It must inspire and delight them, but there are the things that happen every day."

After the birth of her first child, she gave up teaching and worked on her own artwork, drawing pictures of teddy bears. An editor from a publishing company saw her work and invited Jane to do a children's book. Over the years, from the first "Old Bear" book in 1986, her children have made a huge contribution-especially in terms of plots. She said, "I used to give my children the toys to play with-and they had tea parties and so on. One of my bear characters,' Little Bear', is the same age as Ralph, my youngest, who's seven now. All the children have joined in my work and, in years to come, they will realize how much."

"I hope I'll know when people are getting tired of the characters. If ever they did, I think I'd go on drawing them for fun," Jane continued. "My own children have been very useful to me in my work, but as they are older now, I' ll just have to hope that other people's children can inspire me."

【小题1】What is Jane's opinion about a successful children's book?

A．It contains something unexpected.

B．It offers an escape from everyday life.

C．It's more attractive as children get older.

D．It's set in a place known to its readers.

【小题2】Why did Jane take up writing books?

A．She got to know an editor.

B．She hoped to make classic children's books.

C．Her artwork attracted a professional.

D．She wrote stories for her own children.

【小题3】How did Jane's children assist her in her work?

A．By helping her concentrate on her work.

B．By telling her their own stories.

C．By suggesting characters for her stories.

D．By giving her ideas for her stories.

【小题4】What is Jane's attitude towards her future work？

A．Encouraged.	B．Uncertain.
C．Tired.	D．Disappointed.