Charles Dickens (1812-1870), the great nineteenth century English novelist, was born near Portsmouth. His father ran heavily into debt and when he was twelve, he had to go and work in a factory for making boot polish. The only formal education he received was a two-year schooling at a school for poor children. In fact, he had to teach himself all he knew. He worked for a time as junior clerk in a lawyer's office. After that, he worked as a reporter in the law courts, and later in parliament, for London newspapers. His career as a writer of fiction began in 1833 with short stories and essays in periodicals, and in 1837 his comic novel The Pickwick Papers made him the most popular author at his time in England. He was a great observer of people and their places because he was attracted by life and conditions in mid-nineteenth century London. He wrote 19 novels all his life and in many of them, Dickens gave a realistic picture of all classes of England society, showing deep sympathy for the poor and unfortunate, exposing the injustice and inhumanity of the bourgeoisie . Many of his novels like Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Nicholas Nickleby, Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities and so on drew attention to the unsatisfactory social conditions that existed in England over a hundred years ago. Dickens criticized capitalist society from the point of view of bourgeois humanism. He wished to see improvement in the living conditions of the poor, but failed to find any effective means to achieve that end. It can be inferred from the passage that _ . A) Dickens had a miserable childhood B) Dickens tried many different jobs before he became a professional writer C) Dickens wrote many novels but only some of them are popular D) Dickens criticized capitalist society and helped to improve the living conditions of the poor
A
George had just moved into the street and he felt strange that he was not wanted. He knew that perhaps the other boys were trying to get an idea of what kind of a boy he was. This did not help to make him less lonely. He was new and he had to be tested. Still, proving himself would not be all that easy. He did not want to run with bad boys or get into something against the law to prove that he was strong . No!He must show what he was made of in a more helpful way. That was when he got the idea. The next day was Saturday. He knew that most of the boys would be down on the playground and choose up sides for the Saturday game. George knew he could play well and just might be enough to prove he was strong and to make friends with them. He arrived early and did his step exercises. He shot the ball several times and did some other exercises--the most difficult and most wonderful in basketball. Then the boys came. George went through what he had done before the game and showed what he could do. No one said a word. The boys just looked at each other and thought about it. In the end, when it was all over, the biggest of the group just smiled and nodded his head. George knew he had made it. Why would it not be easy for George to prove himself? A) Because he was not sure if he was really strong B) Because he was weak and was not wanted in the street C) Because he must choose the best one among different ways D) Because the other boys had found out what kind of a boy he was
C
Q: Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it's painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle. During the hours when you labour through your work, you may say that you're "hot". That's true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people that peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues as "Get up , John ! You'll be late for work again !" The possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature-and-energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has. You can't change your energy cycle, but you can make your life fit it better. Habit can help. Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you're sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to . If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won't change your cycle , but you'll get up steam and work better at your low point . Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy for your sharper hours . The text is probably taken from a _ . A) news report B) research paper C) medical textbook D) fashion journal
A: B
*Question*
When I was a boy,I belonged to the Boy Scouts ,so I used to go camping every summer,and once something happened which I have never been able to explain. We were camping in a place above a river. After arriving,we all rushed down to the river and had a swim. Standing by the river,we noticed that it was surrounded by cliffs . If someone wanted to reach the river at this point,he had to walk past our camp. Several days later,the scoutmaster had to he away for a day. That afternoon,we had supper early. We were sitting round the fire,eating and talking,when a man walked past and went down towards the river. We all felt that this man looked very strange,but,because each of us was afraid of looking very stupid,no one said anything. We ate rather slowly,taking as long as possible. After finishing,we collected our plates together so that we could take them to the river where we always washed them. But no one moved towards the river-- we stood looking at each other ashamed. Then all shouting at once, we began talking about the man who had walked past us. We agreed how strange he looked and we wondered what he could be doing by the river. We knew that he could only return by passing through our camp. An hour passed. Then one of the boys suggested we should creep down by the river so that we could see what the man was doing. Moving very slowly and keeping in the shadow, we crept down towards the bank. One boy climbed a tree so that he could see everything clearly. He called to us that there was no one there,so we ran down to the bank, looking every-where carefully. We could not understand where the man had gone. When it got dark,we went back to our camp feeling bewildered. We told the scoutmaster what had happened in the evening. Smiling,he doubted that we had seen the man,but finally suggested we go and look again. We did,but there was no one there. Many years have passed,but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. What did we see?I do not know. The word "bewildered" in the text probably means _ . A) ashamed B) nervous C) unable to understand D) eager to know something
**Answer**
C