Disease, poverty, hate, love-Charles Dickens' stories opened his readers' eyes to the most important themes of his age．Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens' legacy （遺產(chǎn)） was far greater than just "great literature"．

February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer's birthday．To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world．Let's take a look at two of them．

A while Christmas

Dickens is described as "the man who invented Christmas" -not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive （喜慶的） season today．

In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt．The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day - unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone, but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off．

         Many people believe that Dickens' popular depictions（描繪） of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come．In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas,but also painted a picture of glowing warmth-“home enjoyments, affections and hopes"．

In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote, "Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas．"

         "Dickensian" poverty

Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian （the period during British Queen Victoria's reign from 1837 to 1901） London．

He helped popularize the term "red tape" to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy （官僚作風(fēng)） in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society．

"Dickensian" has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty．In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about deprivation in some areas, of Britain, she did not use words like "terrible" or "horrific", but rather described it as "life mirroring the times of Dickens"．

1.What is the main idea of the article?

A．Charles Dickens' impact on the world．

B．An introduction to Charles Dickens' classic novels．

C．Charles Dickens' amazing characters．

D．Why Charles Dickens is popular across the world．

2.Why is Dickens called "the man who invented Christmas"?

A．Because he created the religious festival.

B．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations．

C．Because many of his novels have something to do with Christmas．

D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas．

3.According to the article, the phrase “red tape” refers to __.

A．rules or procedures that are required to accomplish a task

B．a(chǎn) situation in which poor members of society are hurt

C．conflict between people in power and weaker people

D．pointlessly time-consuming official procedures

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．Dickens is still popular today in Britain．

B．everyone takes at least three days off at Christmas．

C．Dickens invented Christmas

D．Dickens gave the modern world six things．

 

【答案】

 

1.A

2.B

3.D

4.A

【解析】

試題分析：文章介紹了狄更斯對(duì)現(xiàn)代社會(huì)的兩個(gè)重要影響。

1.主旨題：從第二段第二句：To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world.為紀(jì)念這個(gè)日子，BBC作家亞歷克斯·哈德遜列舉了狄更斯帶給現(xiàn)代世界的六件事，可知主要講的是狄更斯對(duì)整個(gè)世界的影響，故選A。

2.細(xì)節(jié)題：由第五段“he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth – “home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.”他不僅提出了圣誕節(jié)雪的想法，還描繪出一幅溫暖發(fā)光的圖畫“家庭中的生活、感情和希望”以及第六段“Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”狄更斯可以說(shuō)一手創(chuàng)造了現(xiàn)代圣誕節(jié)。故選B。

3.推斷題：由倒數(shù)第二段“He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy (官僚作風(fēng)) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.”可知red tape的意思是官方辦事時(shí)的繁文縟節(jié)，故選D。

4.推斷題：由Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy（遺產(chǎn)） was far greater that just “great-literature”兩百年過(guò)去了，他的故事仍在世界范圍內(nèi)意義深遠(yuǎn)，證明了狄更斯的遺產(chǎn)不僅僅只是偉大文學(xué)而已.故選A。

考點(diǎn)：考查新聞報(bào)道類短文閱讀

 

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