Gone with the Wind 高三英语阅读理解

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. It was popular with American readers from the onset and was the top American fiction bestseller in the year it was published and in 1937 on the row. As of 2014, a Harris poll found it to be the second favorite book of American readers, just behind the Bible. More than 30 million copies have been printed worldwide. The sales of Margaret Mitchell's novel in the summer of 1936, at the virtually unprecedented price of three dollars, reached about one million by the end of December. Because it was released in the era of the Great Depression and Mitchell worried the high $3.00 price would ruin its chance for success. Actually the book was a bestseller by the time reviews began to appear in national magazines.

Herschel Brickell, a critic for the New York Evening Post, praised Mitchell for the way she "tosses out the window all the thousands of technical tricks our novelists have been playing with for the past twenty years."

One criticism by literary scholar Patricia Yaeger, leveled at Gone with the Wind, is for its portrayal of African Americans in the 19th century South. Former field hands during the early days of Reconstruction are described behaving "as creatures of small intelligence might naturally be expected to do. Like monkeys or small children turned loose among treasured objects whose value is beyond their comprehension, they ran wild~either from wrong pleasure in destruction or simply because of their ignorance." In Gone with the Wind Mitchell is blind to racial oppression and 'the inseparability of race and gender" that defines the southern belle character of Scarlett, according to Patricia Yaeger.

Yet there are complexities in the way that Mitchell dealt with racial issues. Scarlett was asked by a Yankee woman for advice on who to appoint as a nurse for her children; Scarlett suggested a "darky", much to the disgust of the Yankee woman who was seeking an Irish maid, a "Bridget". African Americans and Irish Americans are treated "in precisely the same way" in Gone with the Wind, writes David O'Connell in his 1996 book, The Irish Roots of Margaret Mitchells Gone with the Wind. Ethnic slurs(种族蔑称)on the Irish and Irish stereotypes spread in every part of the novel, O'Connell claims, and Scarlett is not an exception to the insults. And apparently in the novel, the Irish American O'Haras were slaveholders whereas African Americans were held as slaves.

Speaking on the subject of whether Gone with the Wind should be taught in schools, James Loewen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, says the novel should be taught in schools. Students should be told that Gone with the Wind presents the wrong view of slavery, Loewen states. Besides, the main complaint was that the racial slur "nigger" appears repeatedly in the novel. In the same complaint were several other books: The Nigger of the 'Narcissus', Uncle Tom?s Cabin, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Another criticism of the novel is that it promotes plantation values. Mitchell biographer Marianne Walker, author of Margaret Mitchell & John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone with the Wind, is of the opinion that those who believe Gone with the Wind promotes plantation values have not read the book. Walker states it is the popular 1939 film that "promotes a false notion of the Old South". She goes on to add that Mitchell had no involvement in the production of the film. Perhaps the most enduring legacy(遗产)of Gone with the Wind is that people worldwide would incorrectly think it was the true story of the Old South and how it was changed by the American

Civil War and Reconstruction. The film version of the novel "amplified this effect". Scholars of the period have written in recent years about the negative effects the novel has had on race relations.

65. When Gone with the Wind was published, _______________.

A.it became the top bestseller all of the time

B.reading was more popular than anything else then

C.the price of the book was too high for people then

D.American people were suffering financial problems

66.in Paragraph 3, the underlined part "Former field hands" refers to________________

A.peasants in the early time

B.African-American people

C.creatures of small intelligence

D.people in Reconstruction

67.David O'Connell's view is different from Patricia Yaeger's in ______________

A.Mitchell's Ethnic slurs in the novel

B.Mitchell's description of slave laborers

C.Mitchell's attitude towards the Irish people

D.Mitchell's ways of dealing with racial problems

68.According to Paragraph 5, which of the following statements is True?

A.James Loewen sings high praise for American history textbooks.

B.Uncle Tom ?s Cabin also shows some racial discrimination.

C.The repeated appearance of the racial slur "nigger" is only a trick.

D.Gone with the Wind should be taught because it shows slavery is wrong.

69.What can we infer as to the film Gone with the Wind?

A.It has nothing to do with the novel.

B.It promotes a false concept of plantation.

C.It reflects the true story of the Old South.

D.It is not so faithful to the novel.

70.Among the four persons, who doesn't give positive comments on Gone with the Wind?

A. Herschel Brickell.

B. David O'Connell.

C. Patricia Yaeger.

D. Marianne Walker.

答案：DBDBDC

65.D【文本解读】Because it was released in the era of the Great Depression and Mitchell worried the high $3.00 price would ruin its chance for success.”可以看出，当时美国正处于大萧条时期，所以答案选D。A项，“the top bestseller of all time”混淆是非。B项没提到，而且从文章看不出来。C项错在“too”的措辞上，虽然时处大萧条，Mitchell“担心”3美元的价格，但是从销量的事实看，3美元谈不上“too high”,只是一种Mitchell “担心”而已。

66. 答案B，短语判断题，从短语前面的African Americans in the 19th century

South，及hands 可转义为“劳动力”可判断出。

67.答案D，本题的答案应在文章的三、四两段。在第三段中，文学评论家Patrician Yaeher 认为小说作者将美国黑人描述为as creatures of small intelligence并说作者blind to racial oppression ….；第四段开始文章用Yet 转折，说明there are complexities in the way that Mitchell dealth with racial issues, 并引证了另一位文学评论家David O?Connell的言论“African Americans and Irish Americans are treated …in precisely the same way?”, 故应选。

68. 答案B，本题细节题，从第五段的Students should be told that Gone with the Wind presents the wrong view of slavery….. 及In the same complaint were several other books: The Nigger of the …Narcissus?, Uncle Tom?s Cabin…可知应选BJames Loewen并没有高度赞扬美国历史教科书，因此A项错误。C项的表述是racial slur “nigger”是一种写作技巧，是错误的，因为从第4段最后4行可以看出Ethnic slurs(种族蔑称) on the Irish and Irish stereotypes spread in every part of the novel, O?Connell claims, and Scarlett is not an exception to the insultsStudents should be told that Gone with the Wind presents the wrong view of slavery 可以看出，D项的表述是错误的。

69. D 本题是推理判断题，从文章最后一段的Another criticism of the novel is that it promotes plantation values. Mitchel biographer Marianne Walker, author of Margaret of Mitchell & John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone with the Win, is the opinion that those who believe Gone with the Wind promotes plantation values have not read the book.?, 说明电影没有十分忠实于原文。Walker states it is the popular 1939 film that …promotes a false notion of the Old South”。从Perhaps the most enduring legacy(遗产) of Gone with the Wind is that people worldwide would incorrectly think it was the true story of the Old South

70. 答案选C。通读全文，梳理各个评论家对小说的不同评价，可选出C。