A
I was 16 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. It was easily done: Both my parents left for work before my school bus arrived on weekdays, so when it showed up at my house on that cold winter morning, I simply did not get on. The perfect crime!
And what did I do with myself on that glorious stolen day, with no adult in charge and no limits on my activities? Did I get high? Hit the mall for a shoplifting extravaganza (狂欢)?
Nope. I built a warm fire in the wood stove, prepared a bowl of popcorn, grabbed a blanket, and read. I was thrilled and transported by a book—it was Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises—and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while. I ached to know what would happen to Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley and Robert Cohn. I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting in a classroom taking another biology exam when I could be traveling through Spain in the 1920s with a bunch of expatriates (异乡客).
I spent that day lost in words. Time flew away, as the room around me turned to mist, and my role—as a daughter, sister, teenager, and student—in the world no longer had any meaning. I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved.
Looking back on it now, I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. Hemingway’s language was quietly braiding itself into my imagination. I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, a good and solid plot. In other words, I was learning how to write. Without realizing it, I was hot on the trail of my own fate. Writing now absorbs me the way reading once did and happiness is their generous side effect.
1. Why did the author skip school on that day?
A. Because her parents left home early.
B. Because it was a cold winter morning.
C. Because she was fascinated by a novel.
D. Because she hated to take the biology exam.
【解析】选C。细节理解题。文章第一段的“I was 16 years old the day I skipped school for the first time. ”第一次逃学的时候我16岁, 以及文章第三段中“I was thrilled and transported by a book. . . and I just needed to be alone with it for a little while”一本书让我兴奋不已, 我需要独处一段时间。可知作者被一本小说吸引了。
2. What did the author think is the source of true joy?
A. Reading by the fire.
B. Travelling in Spain.
C. Breaking the regulations.
D. Being occupied by one’s passion.
【解析】选D。细节理解题。根据文章第四段中“I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved”我偶然发现了通往完美幸福的钥匙: 我完全被我所爱的东西吸引。可知作者认为真正快乐的源泉是沉浸于自己所爱的东西中。
3. Which can best replace the underlined phrase “braiding itself into” in the last paragraph?
A. Entering. B. Destroying.
C. Mending. D. Blocking.
【解析】选A。词义猜测题。根据上文“I can see that some subtle things were happening to my mind and to my life while I was in that state of absorption. ”我可以看到一些微妙的事情出现在我的头脑和我的生活中, 而我正处于吸收它的状态中。以及下文“I was downloading information about how to create simple and elegant sentences, . . . my own fate. ”我下载的信息是关于如何创建简单优雅的句子, 一个良好而坚实的情节。换句话说, 我在学习如何写作。没有意识到, 我在追寻自己的命运。可以推断出海明威的语言风格在潜移默化之中影响了我对语言的感悟, 可知, 海明威的语言风格进入我的想象中, 即影响了我。
4. What can we infer from the passage?
A. I was tired of my real-life roles.
B. I learnt how to write on the Internet.
C. Hemingway skipped school when he was young.
D. Becoming a writer was my childhood dream.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据文章第四段中“I had accidentally come across the key to perfect happiness: I had become completely absorbed by something I loved”我偶然发现了通往完美幸福的钥匙: 我完全被我所爱的东西吸引。以及第五段“In other words, I was learning how to write. ”换句话说, 我正在学习如何写作。可推断作者童年的梦想是成为一名作家。
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【知识拓展】 词汇积累
skip school逃学; glorious辉煌的; hit the mall去商场; be transported by被……所吸引; ache to do渴望做; couldn’t bear the thought of不能容忍……的想法; a bunch of一些; subtle微妙的; in that state of absorption处于投入的状态; braid itself into my imagination编织进我的想象中; side effect 副作用
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