Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman
Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's most famous work, might be updated, 200 years on.
Austen's popularity is rooted in her intelligence. But today she would certainly have had a very different life, as would her characters. Here's my own suggestion. . .
It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men, however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.
" My dear husband," said his hopeful wife one day, " have you heard that the local store, standing empty for so long, is taken over by a bright young businesswoman?"
Her dull and indifferent (漠不關(guān)心的) husband replied that he had not. "But it is, it is," she replied excitedly. Mr Dull-Husband made no reply.
"Don't you want to know her plans?" she cried with some impatience.
"Well, clearly you think it matters to your silly little head. .. so I'd better listen. "
"Well, my dear, the rumour (傳言) is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England, though how a woman can know anything about that is beyond me. She will move in herself next month. " "What is her name?" "Bingley. "
"Is she married or single?"
"What a question! And none of your business. But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys. " "How so? How can it possibly affect them? "
"My dear love; those lazy boys need something to wake them up. There are bound to be jobs going. "
" Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place. "
" Nonsense, my love, how little you've noticed the world has changed. She's got a first-rate degree and some sort of business qualification, I'm told. She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call. "
" Me? No. Perhaps you can take an interest. You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job. " "Oh, that's not likely. These new chances belong to the younger generation. But now you mention it, I think I'll go along all the same. "
And Mrs Bennet went along. That was 10 years ago. She is now managing director of a FTSE-listed company.
... It would remain the case, of course, that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues, her bonus of a more "female" dimension and her lifespan (年限) among the city's business leaders shorter than theirs. Still, she'd no doubt have enjoyed Davos—and might even have hobnobbed (攀談) with influential figures.
【小題1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Austen was born 200 years ago. |
| B．Austen rewrote Pride and Prejudice. |
| C．Austen's success lies in her wisdom. |
| D．Austen's updated work gains popularity. |
| A．had mixed feelings of admiration and surprise about Bingley |
| B．felt kind of worried and doubtful about Bingley |
| C．was extremely anxious to meet Bingley |
| D．had a great curiosity about Bingley |
| A．get married to | B．work for her |
| C．help her move in | D．take over her store |
| A．Women with brains can also be as successful as men. |
| B．Women have to pay a high price for success. |
| C．A judgment must be made free from prejudice. |
| D．Sex discrimination still exists nowadays. |
【小題1】C
【小題2】A
【小題3】B
【小題4】D
解析【主旨大意】D篇文章巧妙套用世界名著《傲慢與偏見》章節(jié)，獨辟蹊徑夾敘夾議，深刻評述性別歧視依然存在的這一社會現(xiàn)實。
【小題1】考查細節(jié)題。從文章的第二段的句子：Austen’s popularity is rooted in her intelligence�？芍獖W斯丁的成功在于她的智慧。選C。A項錯誤，因為這本書是200年前寫的，不是奧斯丁是200年前出生的。B項是根據(jù)文章的第一句話，可知是人們想象的《傲慢與偏見》更新版，不是奧斯丁重寫的。D項錯誤因為文章沒有說更新作品收到歡迎。選C
【小題2】考查句意理解題。這句話的理解關(guān)鍵是beyond me的解釋，這個詞組是“超出我的理解”，我不能理解一個女性是怎么知道這些東西的，說明Mrs Bennet對Bingley既敬佩又驚訝。選A
【小題3】推理題。從文章的句子：There are bound to be jobs going。和倒數(shù)第二段的句子：You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job.可以推斷出，Mrs Bennet認為Bingley會需要她的兒子工作。選B。
【小題4】推理題。從文章的最后一段的內(nèi)容：Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues,可知公司委員會的女性還是很少，Mrs Bennet的獎金還是比男性同事要少�？芍詣e歧視還是存在。選D。
考前必練系列答案科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
When I was seven my father gave me a Timex, my first watch. I loved it, wore it for years, and haven’t had another one since it stopped ticking a decade ago. Why? Because I don’t need one. I have a mobile phone and I’m always near someone with an iPod or something like that. All these devices （裝置） tell the time ― which is why, if you look around, you’ll see lots of empty wrists; sales of watches to young adults have been going down since 2007.
But while the wise have realized that they don’t need them, others ― apparently including some distinguished men of our time ― are spending total fortunes on them. Brands such as Rolex, Patek Philippe and Breitling command shocking prices, up to ￡250,000 for a piece.
This is ridiculous. Expensive cars go faster than cheap cars. Expensive clothes hang better than cheap clothes. But these days all watches tell the time as well as all other watches. Expensive watches come with extra functions ― but who needs them? How often do you dive to 300 metres into the sea or need to find your direction in the area around the South Pole? So why pay that much of five years’ school fees for watches that allow you to do these things?
If justice were done, the Swiss watch industry should have closed down when the Japanese discovered how to make accurate watches for a five-pound note. Instead the Swiss reinvented the watch, with the aid of millions of pounds’ worth of advertising, as a message about the man wearing it. Rolexes are for those who spend their weekends climbing icy mountains; a Patek Philippe is for one from a rich or noble family; a Breitling suggests you like to pilot planes across the world.
Watches are now classified as “investments” （投資）. A 1994 Patek Philippe recently sold for nearly ￡350,000, while 1960s Rolexes have gone from ￡15,000 to ￡30,000 plus in a year. But a watch is not an investment. It’s a toy for self-satisfaction, a matter of fashion. Prices may keep going up ― they’ve been rising for 15 years. But when fashion moves on, the owner of that ￡350,000 beauty will suddenly find his pride and joy is no more a good investment than my childhood Timex.
59. The sales of watches to young people have fallen because they .
A. have other devices to tell the time B. think watches too expensive
C. prefer to wear an iPod D. have no sense of time
60. It seems ridiculous to the writer that ______.
A. people dive 300 metres into the sea
B. expensive clothes sell better than cheap ones
C. cheap cars don’t run as fast as expensive ones
D. expensive watches with unnecessary functions still sell
61. What can be learnt about Swiss watch industry from the passage?
A. It targets rich people as its potential customers.
B. It’s hard for the industry to beat its competitors.
C. It wastes a huge amount of money in advertising.
D. It’s easy for the industry to reinvent cheap watches.
62. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A. Timex or Rolex? B. My Childhood Timex
C. Watches? Not for Me! D. Watches ― a Valuable Collection
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科目：高中英語 來源：2010－2011 黑龍江“五校聯(lián)誼” 高一上學(xué)期期末考試英語試卷 題型：完型填空
My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other 36, including her “sixth sense”, 37 she rarely gives the impression she’s missed anything.
Michelle looks after her children pretty much like the rest of us, 38 that she doesn’t push too hard on them, 39 really benefit a lot from her relaxed attitude. She knows when to clean the house, she moves around so fast that often the 40 don’t realize she’s blind.
I 41 this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very 42 about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was 43 excited about her finger-painting project.
“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. “I learned how to 44 colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle 45 with us.”
To my great 46, my child had learnt about color from a blind friend!
Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my 47 showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment. She really 48 what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never felt how good finger paints felt 49 Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.
I realized Kayla didn’t know that Michelle was blind. It had just never 50 in conversation.
When I told her, she was 51 for a moment. At first, she didn’t believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla 52. And I knew my child was 53 because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her artwork. Michelle had also heard Kayla’s 54 in her work.
We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle really did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my 55. ” Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.
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科目：高中英語 來源：2012-2013學(xué)年河南靈寶第三高級中學(xué)高二上第一次質(zhì)量檢測英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：完型填空
My friend Michelle is blind, but you’d never know it. She makes such good use of her other 36 , including her “sixth sense”, that she rarely gives the impression she’s 37 anything.
Michelle looks after her children pretty much like the rest of us, 38 that she doesn’t push too hard on them, 39 really benefit a lot from her relaxed attitude. She knows when to clean the house. She moves around so fast that often 40 don’t realize she’s blind.
I 41 this the first time after my six-year-old daughter, Kayla, went to play there. When Kayla came home, she was very 42 about her day. She told me they had baked cookies, played games and done art projects. But she was 43 excited about her finger-painting project.
“Mom, guess what?” said Kayla, all smiles. "I learned how to 44 colors today! Blue and red make purple, and yellow and blue make green! And Michelle 45 with us.
To my great 46 , my child had learnt about color from a blind friend!
Then Kayla continued, “Michelle told me my 47 showed joy, pride and a sense of accomplishment. She really 48 what I was doing!” Kayla said she had never felt how good finger paints felt 49 Michelle showed her how to paint without looking at her paper.
I realized Kayla didn’t know that Michelle was blind. It had just never 50 in conversation.
When I told her, she was 51 for a moment. At first, she didn’t believe me. “But Mommy, Michelle knew exactly what was in my picture!” Kayla 52 . And I knew my child was 53 because Michelle had listened to Kayla describe her artwork. Michelle had also heard Kayla's 54 in her work,
We were silent for a minute. Then Kayla said slowly, “You know, Mommy, Michelle really did ‘see’ my picture. She just used my 55 .”
Indeed, she uses a special type of “vision” that all mothers have.
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科目：高中英語 來源：2011-2012學(xué)年福建省師大附中高二下學(xué)期期末模塊測試英語試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解
Grandfather was an elder Cherokee Native American who had a wrinkled, nut brown face and kind dark eyes．His grandson often came in the evening to sit on his knee and asked the many questions that children asked．
One day the grandson came to his grandfather with a look of anger on his face and the following story．"Father and I went to the store today and because I helped him, he bought me a present, a jack-knife．I went outside to wait for father and to admire my new knife in the sunlight．Some town boys came by and saw me．They surrounded me and started saying bad things．They called me dirty and stupid and said that I should not have such a fine knife．The largest of these boys pushed me back and I fell over one of the other boys．I dropped my knife and one of them picked it up and they all ran away laughing．I hate them．I hate them all．”
The elder Cherokee, with eyes that had seen too much, lifted his grandson's face so his eyes looked into the boy's face．Grandfather said, " Let me tell you a story．I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those who have taken so much with no sorrow for what they do．But hate wears you down and does not hurt your enemy．It is like drinking poison and wishing your enemy would die．I have struggled with these feelings many times．It is as if two wolves are inside me．．．It is a terrible fight．
One wolf is good and does no harm．He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense (冒犯) when no offense is intended．It will only fight when it is right to do so and in the right way．This wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, modesty, kindness, friendship, sympathy, generosity, truth and faith．
The other wolf is full of anger．The smallest thing will set off his fiercest temper．He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason．He cannot think because his anger and hate are so much．
It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing．This wolf represents fear, envy, greed, self-pity, guilt, lies, false pride and superiority．
Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me for both of them try to control my mind．This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too．"
The boy looked into his grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied ．．．
"The one you feed．"
【小題1】The boy was angry because ______.
| A．he was not satisfied with his present |
| B．his back was badly injured in a fight |
| C．he had waited for his father for too long |
| D．his jack-knife had been taken away by some boys |
| A．a(chǎn)ggressive(好斗) | B．sympathetic | C．modest | D．unsuccessful |
| A．"hate" is healthy | B．"hate" hurts oneself |
| C．"hate" is complicated | D．"hate" harms one's enemies |
| A．We should feed the two wolves equally． |
| B．Living in harmony with others is important． |
| C．Our feelings should be expressed at the right time． |
| D．The choices we make determine who we will become． |
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科目：高中英語 來源：2011屆吉林省東北師大附中高三上學(xué)期第三次模底考試英語卷 題型：填空題
根據(jù)所給漢語提示選用適當?shù)膯卧~完成句子，每空僅限一詞。
【小題1】In Pride and Prejudice five sisters overcome __________ (障礙) to their happiness and marriage.
【小題2】If you want to know how to study____________ (高效率地), come and join our club.
【小題3】As Mr Darcy continued in his __________ (傲慢自大的) way, Elizabeth forgot his feelings.
【小題4】During an interview, all questions should be asked in a logical __________ (順序).
【小題5】My brother attended practically every lecture and __________ (研討會) when he was a
student.
【小題6】All my household goods are __________ (保險) against accidental damage.
【小題7】He joined the army for a time as a ____________ (外科醫(yī)生) and went on an expedition to
Portugal.
【小題8】Hiring a car will allow you to be __________ (靈活的) about where you visit and how long you stay.
【小題9】This land is used by local people for __________ (放牧) their animals.
【小題10】He is __________ (跛的) in one leg and walks with the help of a stick.
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