复合题

She was one of those pretty, charming women who are born, as if by an error of Fate, into a petty official’s family. She had no dowry, no hopes, nor the slightest chance of being loved and married by a rich man—so she slipped into marriage with a minor civil servant.

Unable to afford jewels, she dressed simply: But she was wretched, for women have neither caste nor breeding—in them beauty, grace, and charm replace pride of birth. Innate refinement, instinctive elegance, and wit give them their place on the only scale that counts, and these make humble girls the peers of the grandest ladies.

She suffered, feeling that every luxury should rightly have been hers. The poverty of her rooms—the shabby walls, the worn furniture, the ugly upholstery caused her pain. All these things that another woman of her class would not even have noticed, made her angry. The very sight of the little Breton girl who cleaned for her awoke rueful thoughts and the wildest dreams in her mind. She dreamt of rooms with Oriental hangings, lighted by tall, bronze torches, and with two huge footmen in knee breeches made drowsy by the heat from the stove, asleep in the wide armchairs. She dreamt of great drawing rooms upholstered in old silks, with fragile little tables holding priceless knickknacks, and of enchanting little sitting rooms designed for tea-time chats with famous, sought-after men whose attentions all women longed for.

She sat down to dinner at her round table with its three-day-old cloth, and watched her husband lift the lid of the soup tureen and delightedly exclaim, “Ah, a good homemade beef stew! There’s nothing better!” She visualized elegant dinners with gleaming silver and gorgeous china. She yearned for wall hangings peopled with knights and ladies and exotic birds in a fairy forest. She dreamt of eating the pink flesh of trout or the wings of grouse. She had no proper wardrobe, no jewels, nothing. And those were the only things that she loved—she felt she was made for them. She would have so loved to charm, to be envied, to be admired and sought after.

单选题 Which word best describes the actual living conditions of the couple in the passage?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】据整篇文章的描述可以推测, 这对夫妇的生活并不富裕, 首先排除C、 D两项。A、 B都有贫穷的意思, 但A中destitute还有一层“缺乏的, 一无所有的”的含义, 更贴切他们的状况。
单选题 Which line best demonstrates the couple’s true economic standing?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】定位至文章第三段第二句, 这句话是对他们夫妻二人居住的房间的描述, 这些破败的家具从侧面反映他们的经济地位低。 A项是对女主人公结婚之前情况的描述, 不属于他们夫妻经济状况的表现。 C项只是对吃饭的一个细节的描述, 没有明显得体现出他们的贫穷。 D项是提到女主人公的幻想, 没有体现出经济地位。
单选题 According to the passage, what can be stated about the marriage of this woman?
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】由文中内容可知, 女主人公嫁给了一位教育部的小职员, 可是她却一心迷恋豪华的贵族生活, 由此可推测, 女主人公看不起她丈夫的小小职位。 故选A。
单选题 What can be inferred about the values of both husband and wife?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题目问的是夫妻二人的价值观, 从文中的描述来看, 妻子的价值观是崇尚富贵的生活, 而且第三段第二、 三句提到, 贫穷让她感到生气。 文章最后一段第一句提到“her husband…exclaim, ‘Ah, a good homemade beef stew! There’s nothing better!’”, 由此可推测, 丈夫非常珍惜生活中简单的美好, 没有妻子那么大的欲望。 故选B。
单选题 The main idea of the passage is _____.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】作者着重描写妻子的幻想, 体现出贫民与贵族间巨大的差距。 作者并没有用批评的语气描写女主人公, 也没有对夫妻二人贫穷的生活表示出同情。 作者更主要的是反映社会阶层间的巨大差距。 故选C。