牛津高中英语模块8Reading课文翻译

1、 江苏省淮阴中学 2007 届高三英语专项训练 055 号牛津英语模块八编制：王新凤unit 1appreciating literaturewhat is classic literature? classics are the antiques of the literary world. they are novels, playsand poems that were written a long time ago and were so well written and well received that peoplestill read them today. theyare e

2、xamples of great writingand wisdom, and even those writtencenturies ago can still be found in bookshops and libraries today.because a lot of classics were written so long ago, the language used in them is quite different fromthe language used today. this makes them difficult for some people to read,

3、 and often, the classics areleft to gather dust on shelves. many people do not read them because they think that they are old-fashioned and boring, and have nothing to do with life today.however, if this is true, why do we still find classics in bookshops and libraries?they have not disappeared and

4、still have a place in the world today. why else would many filmsbased on them be successful? in 1995, clueless, the award-winning film based on jane aus tin?s novelemma, was released. three years later, in 1998, a modern adaptation of charles dickens?s novel greatexpectations appeared in cinemas. i

5、do not think that these classic novels would be made into films ifthey had nothing to do with life today.charles dickens: ,england?s greatest writer?charles dickens was born in portsmouth, england in 1812. he wrote many novels.david copperfield and great expectations are probably his best-known work

6、s.olive twist,he first publishedmany novels one chapter at a time in newspapers, and some were later performed on stage. for peopleat that time, his stories were like the soap operas we see on tv today.he died in 1870 and his tomb reads, ,by his death, one of england?sgreatest writers is lost to the

7、world.?great expectationsgreat expectations is set in england in the early 1800s.dickens uses pip, the main character, totell the story . pip is not only a character, he also tells the story ofgreat expectations. pip lives withhis older sister and her husband joe. pip?s sister seldom has a kind word

8、 to say, but joe is a kind andsimple man, who would rather die than see any harm come to pip.pip, who is seven years old when the story begins, is in a misty fieldof tombs when a manappears and frightens him. mist is a symbol of danger and uncertainty in great expectations. classicnovels often have

9、symbols which add interest, tension or deeper meaning to the text. readers may notbe able to see the danger, so they need a symbol like the mist to make it clearer to them.there is a twist in the plot when a verygenerous stranger gives pip a lot of money. pip is about1- 江苏省淮阴中学 2007 届高三英语专项训练 055 号牛

10、津英语模块八编制：王新凤18 years old when this happens, and the fortune sets him free from the financial worries. pip makesthe abrupt decision to move from kent, which is a constant remainder of his shabby beginnings, tothe bright lights of london.excited by his move to london, pip can hardly wait to begin his

11、new life. money and educationhave changed him, and before long he develops the shortcomingsof being shallow and havingprejudice, even against his old companions. pip dislikes it when joe comes to visit him in london. hehas rigid ideas of what it means to be civil and to be a gentleman, and is embarr

12、assed by joe hedoes not fit these.pip is bent on becoming a gentle man and winning estella?s love. estella is a beautiful girl, andfor pip, she is a symbol of education and money. what it really means to be a gentleman is animportant theme in great expectations. is an educated person with a lot of m

13、oney a gentleman? or isa gentleman somebody who is kind and good to his friends?by the end of the novel, pip has changed a lot. he learns that wealth does not buy happiness andthat friends are more important than a fancy education. this change in pip is called characterdevelopment and is an importan

14、t part of any novel. does joe forgive pip? does pip get the girl of hisdreams? you will just have to read it yourself to find out!1. what does classic literature refer to in the passage?a. literary works written in classical form.b. literary works with a long history.c. literary works that were writ

15、ten long ago, well written and well received.d. novels, plays and poems that were written long ago.2. according to the author, classic literature _.a. is old-fashioned and boringb. has nothing to do with life todayd. still has a place in today ?s worldc. is novels that can be made into films3. all o

16、f the following are written by charles dickens except _.a. oliver twist b. a tale of two cities c. cluelessd. great expectations4. what is/are the theme(s) in great expectations?a. wealth does not buy happiness.b. what it means to be a gentleman.c. friends are more important than a fancy education.d

17、. all of above.5. what is the author ?s intention in writing the article?a. she tries to convince us to adopt a new point of view towards classics.b. she asks us to reconsider our ideas about the films based on classics.c. she tells us that classics are the antiques of the literary world.d. she sugg

18、ests that there are enough classics in bookshops and libraries.2- 江苏省淮阴中学 2007 届高三英语专项训练 055 号牛津英语模块八编制：王新凤unit 2turandot in beijingby jane joneslast night, i witnessed the first of only eight performances of giacomo puccini?s world-famousopera, turandot , being performed in the forbidden city in be

19、ijing,china. the performance wassplendid. it starred some of the world?s greatest opera singers. many great chinese musicians, actorsand singers were also cast. puccini, an italian, wrote turandot towards the end of his life, in 1924. heliked east asia very much and also wrotemadam butterfly , which

20、 is set in japan.turandot is the story of a cold-hearted chinese princess, named turandot, wholives inl husband must answerbeijing?s forbidden city. in order to avoid marriage, she says that any potentiathree riddles correctly or die.just imaging performing such an opera in the forbidden city-there

21、couldnot be a bettersetting! y ou could almost feel the history. the weather was also perfect for an outdoor performance.instead of a stage curtain, there were decorated panels covered with red and gold, and traditionalchinese drums were used to announce the start of the opera.the story begins when

22、a prince is killed for being unable to answer turandot?s riddles. shortlyafterwards, another prince, calaf, sees turandot for the first time and falls in love. the handsome princesays that he will solve the riddles and marry her. then, in a moving solo performance, a young slave ofcalaf?s father, li

23、u expresses her love for calaf. the story then takes on a classic triangle featuring calaf,turandot, and liu, whose love for calaf is unconditional.in the story , turandot was drunk with power. she even dares to try and exercise control over herfather, the emperor of china, who has promised to allow

24、 her to choose her own husband. the emperorfinds the deaths of so many men disturbing and although he would like to, he cannot break his promise.calaf recites the answers to the turandot?s questions correctly, but she is greatly upset by this.seeing this, calaf says that if she can guess his name by

25、 sunshine, she does not have to marry him.turandot is desperate to learn his name and threatens and terrifies liu because he knows his name.while she is being tortured, liu grabs a sward from a guard and kills herself. everyone is shocked bythis. after liu kills herself, calaf kisses turandot and fi

26、nally wins her affection. then calaf says hisown name aloud, leaving his future in turandot?s hands.the opera finishes with a beautifully-sung final duet, which was so moving that the audience fellsilent. at the end of the story, the prince and princess marry and the whole city celebrates theirhappi

27、ness. unfortunately, puccini died before he completed this final scene, but he left notes for thefinal duet, which was completed by one of his former students, franco alfano.3- 江苏省淮阴中学 2007 届高三英语专项训练 055 号牛津英语模块八编制：王新凤an opera company staged the opera in beijing in the 1990s, but the performance i s

28、aw was thefirst time turandot was staged inside the forbidden city. the production combined the verybest ofthewestern and chinese talents in music,staging and directing. the orchestra was conducted byzubin mehta, an internationally famous conductor, who was born in india. the opera was directed byth

29、e well-known chinese director, zhang yimou. in the beijing performanceplayed by sharon sweet from the usa, liui saw, turandot wasthe usa,was played by another opera singer frombarbara hendricks, and calaf was sung by kristjan johannsson from iceland. they were all excellent.the forbidden city is an

30、area where once only the emperor, his family and officials wereproduction, it has been transformed into the location forallowed. however, in this wonderfulabeautiful and heartbreaking love story. the bringing together of this group of people from manycountries, the music, and the setting are clearly

31、 the key components of this amazing production.1. who completed the world-famous operaa. giacomo puccini alone.turandot ?b. puccini ?s former student franco alfano.d. kristjan johannsson from iceland.c. giacomo puccini and franco alfano.2. how many times was turandot staged in the forbidden city acc

32、ording to the article?a. only once. b. twice. c. eight times. d. unknown.3. what does the writer mean by saying “there could not be a better setting ”?a. because the weather was perfect for an outdoor performance.b. because she felt that the audience could almost feel the history.c. there were decor

33、ated panels covered with red and gold.d. because turandot was born in the forbidden city.4. which of the following statements is not mentioned in the passage?a. liu ?s love for calaf is unconditional.b. the story takes on a classic love triangle.c. calaf finally wins turandot?s affection.d. hundreds

34、 of princes were killed for being unable to answer turandot5. we may conclude from the passage that _.?s riddles.a. more princes would be killed if it were not for calafb. no prince could solve turandot ?s riddlesc. calaf would marry both liu and turandot if liu were still alive.d. liu could have wo

35、n calaf ?s affection if she hadn ?t killed herself.4- 江苏省淮阴中学 2007 届高三英语专项训练 055 号牛津英语模块八编制：王新凤unit 3visiting the mastershi yang yan,here i am in amsterdam. thistrip has been fantastic! as youknow, i am withmy aunt andgrandmother. they are both very talented artists, and iafter i get back. let me te

36、ll you all about our trip.we started in spain and went to the city of mam thinking about starting painting myselflaga, the birthplace of pablo picasso. the houselaga is a lovely city and the architecture iswhere picasso was born is now a museum full of his art. mbeautiful. i was amazed to learn that

37、 picasso produced more than 20000 pieces of art and he wasn?tjust a painter. he drew pictures for books, and was also a sculptor and photographer. he developeddifferent style of painting, including cubism, which is a type of art where things are represented asgeometric shapes. my grandmotherever.rea

38、lly likes cubist paintings and thinks he is the greatest artistafter visiting spain, we flew to paris. in paris, all the buildings were very historic. thearchitecture was my favorite part of paris. everything was just so beautiful!during our four days in paris we spent one whole day at the louvre mu

39、seum. i thought it wasgoing to be very boring, but it wasn?t. inthe louvre museum is the famous mona lisa painting by thehe created this masterpiece between 1503 and 1506. i am sure youitalian artist leonardo da vinci.have seen this picture of a lady with dark hair and a mysterious smile. this paint

40、ing is so valuable thatit is difficult to calculate what its price would be ifpainter, da vinci was also a sculptor, an architect,the museum wanted to sell it. besides being aan engineer and a scientist. he made a lot ofscientific discoveries that he shared with the world, particularly in the field

41、of astronomy .besides the works of da v inci, the louvre museum has more than 6000 other european paintings,ththranging from the 13century to the 19century. it doesn?t have any modern paintings in it. modernpaintings are not all kept at another museum in the city called the mus e d?orsay. we went th

42、erour second day in paris because my aunt wanted to see the works of claude monet.monet was a french painter who lived between 1840 and 1926. he loved to paint lotus flowersso much that he built a special garden at his home, where hundreds of lotus plants floated onsurface of a pond. i think it woul

43、d feel very peaceful to live there. my aunt wants to go back to franceagain to see the garden. she almost wept because we missed it this time.thenow let me tell you about our trip to amsterdam. on the way here, we flew over a thunderstorm.some people were scared, but i liked seeing the thunder in th

44、e clouds beneath the plane. eventually,the thunderstorm stopped and we saw a beautiful rainbow in the clouds.yesterday we went to the van gogh museum. van gogh painted everythingfrom people to5- 江苏省淮阴中学 2007 届高三英语专项训练 055 号牛津英语模块八编制：王新凤nature during his ten years of painting. he painted about 800 oi

45、l paintings and did 1600 drawings. oneof his most famous oil paintings is the potato eaters, which he painted in 1885. his early paintings useda style called impressionism, but towards the end of his life, he created more abstractartwork. he did 36 paintings of himself, and his most famous still lif

46、es are of sunflowers. onefavorites of his paintings is called starry night, which he completed in 1889.the sad thing is that although van gogh devoted his whole self to painting, he only sold onepainting before he died in 1890. his younger brother, theo, tried hard to sell and distribute vangogh?s p

47、aintings to buyers, but he was never able to negotiate a successful sale. although weadore his work today, v an gogh was not successful while he was alive.of mytomorrow we are off to another museum in amsterdam. the most famous paintings there are byrembrandt. he lived from 1606 until 1669. my aunt

48、really wants to see a painting of his calledthe night watchman, which was painted in1642.i?ll tell you more about my trip when i get back. .regards,li ming1. pablo picasso developed different styles of painting in his life, and _ is one of them.a. cubismb. impressionismc. portraitd. still life2. leo

49、nardo da v inci wasn ?t just a painter; he was also all of the following except _.a. an architectb. an engineerc. a photographerd. a sculptor3. if you want to see the works of glaude monet, you should go to _.a. the louvre museumc. amsterdamb. the musee d?orsayd. the city of malaga4. _ made van gogh

50、 ?s early paintings special, according to the passage.a. the 800 oil paintings and 1,600 drawingsc. the 36 paintings towards the end of his lifeb. the style called impressionismd. his unsuccessful career while he was alive.5. how many museums did li ming mention in the e-mail?a. two.b. three.c. four

51、.d. fiveunit 4important film events around the worldhost: welcome to our weekly programme, movie magic. our guests today are representatives from six ofthe major international film festivals. those spokeswomen and spokesmen will tell us about thefestivals they represent. joining us in the studio are

52、 isabel rose from the cannes film festival,hanz muller from the berlin international film festival, kathy barnes from the sundance filmfestival, maria bella from the venice film festival, mike taylor from the6- 江苏省淮阴中学 2007 届高三英语专项训练 055 号牛津英语模块八编制：王新凤toronto international film festival and xu li fr

53、om the shanghai international film festival.welcome, everyone! maria, do tell us a little about the v enice film festival.maria: well, i think it is right appropriate for me to begin our discussion. the vthe oldest film festival in the world. it began in 1932. our festivalenice film festival isis pa

54、rt of a larger festivalwhich celebrates contemporary art. we view film as a type of contemporary art.host: kathy, please tell us about the sundance film festival.kathy: unlike the venice film festival, sundance film festival only includes small, independentfilms. that is, it only includes those not

55、financed by hollywood studios. many are made byamateur directors and star amateur stars.maria: kathy, i hate to interrupt you, but in defence of the venice film festival, i have to point outthat we don?t just feature hollywood films. our policy is to include high -quality films,regardless of who mak

56、es them. we don?t distinguish between hollywood films andindependent ones. as long as the film?s quality meets our standards, we include it.kathy: the sundance film festival boycotts all hollywood films, and we don?t foresee ever includingthem. the idea for our festival was hatched back in 1978, whe

57、n it was known as the utah/usfilm festival. however, it was not well-known until 1981. it was then that robert redford toolover and changed the focus to saluting independent films. it was renamed the sundance filmfestival in 1991. redford has acted in and directed many big hollywood films, and so he knewhow many actors and directors were making good films unknown to the public. now, if a filmwins an award at sundance, there is a good chance it will become famous!isa