Question

Imagine landing in a foreign country where you cannot speak the language, understand the culture and don’t know anybody. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a friend who could help you out?

    John Smith, an English explorer who landed in America in 1607, found the best friend ever. She was a Native American named Pocahontas (1595-1617). And she did more than teach Smith the language: she saved his life, twice.

   Smith was captured by members of Pocahontas’s tribe (部落) and was going to be killed. But for some reason, the Chief’s daughter, Pocahontas, felt sorry for Smith (who was probably the first white man she had ever seen) and threw her body over his to protect him. Smith returned safely to the small village he was living in.

   During the winter the English settlers did not know how to get food from nature. Pocahontas often brought food for Smith and his friends.

   A year later Pocahontas’s father tried to kill Smith again because the Native Americans were very scared the English would try to take over their land. Pocahontas warned him and he was able to escape.

   Later she became a Christian and eventually married an Englishman named John Rolfe.

   She spent the last year of her life in London.

   Pocahontas has become an American legend(传奇). Her life story has been re-created in many books and films, including Disney’s 1995 film, Pocahontas.

   One of the reasons she is so popular is that many Europeans look at Pocahontas as an excellent example of how a minority can adjust into the majority. Pocahontas is also respected because of her selfless love. She proved that people can be kind and loving even to people of a different race or culture. John Smith was very different from Pocahontas but she could see he was a good man and that was all that mattered. No race or country owns goodness, love and loyalty.

41. What difficulties might early European settlers meet in America EXCEPT ________?

   A. the fierce conflict with Native Americans

   B. bad-tempered natives who enjoyed killing

   C. unfamiliarity with a foreign land

   D. lack of food in winter

42. Pocahontas saved John Smith twice because ______.

A. he was the first white man she had ever seen in her life

B. she wanted to become a Christian and marry an Englishman

C. she believed in general kindness even to people of a different race

D. she was on the settlers’ side and against her cruel father

43. Which is NOT an element to make Pocahontas a legend?

A. Her tribal background and her marriage to a white settler.

B. Her selfless help to people regarded as enemy of her tribe.

C. Her complicated life story different from common people’s.

D. The recreation of her life story in the 1995 Disney film.

44. According to the text, Europeans think Pocahontas _____.

A. was brave to break away from her own tribe

B. set a good example for other natives to accept the white settlers

C. was a selfless Christian who can love her enemy

D. was open to a more advanced culture

45. What can we infer from the passage?

A. The battles between early settlers and Native Americans resulted from their     fighting for land.

B. The Europeans think the early settlers should have learned to adjust to the local  cultures.

C. The creation of America is based on the settlers’ victory over the Native  Americans.

Answer 1

41. B. 42．C. 43. D. 44. B. 45. A.

解析:

41. B. 本题总结了诸如John Smith这样的早期殖民者在北美大陆所遇到的困难，需要概括和推论的阅读技巧。从第1段内容可推出C，第4段和选项D有关，从Smith的经历可知殖民者和土著居民的激烈冲突，唯有选项B说土著嗜好杀戮，是对文章关于土著描述的误解，因此选B。

42．C. 文章最后一段在谈到Pocahontas救John Smith时，就提到Pocahontas的“selfless love”，她救人没有其它企图，只是做了她认为的“the right thing”，而她的“right thing”就是 “people can be kind and loving even to people of a different race or culture.”。文章并没有把土著人放在邪恶的一边，殖民者也不代表正义，Pocahontas代表的是种族间的包容和融合，所以只有C正确。

43. D.  Pocahontas作为部落酋长的女儿，却和白人殖民者结婚，无私帮助被视为部落仇人的殖民者，她的生活经历复杂与常人不同，这些都是构成她的传奇人生的要素。而95年版的Disney电影是记录她的传奇人生的产物，不是原因。

44. B. 欧洲人对Pocahontas的看法在最后一段提到。原句为：…many Europeans look at Pocahontas as an excellent example of how a minority can adjust into the majority.从这句可以看出很多欧洲人还是有偏见的，把土著人看成少数民族，认为别人应该都像Pocahontas那样为他们做出调整，向他们靠近。所以B正确。但是文中并没有说欧洲人认为自己的文化更高级，所以D错误。

45. A. 文章第5段谈到Pocahontas的父亲想杀John Smith的原因是“the Native Americans were very scared the English would try to take over their land”，说明土著人和殖民者的矛盾冲突的原因是对土地的争夺。所以A正确。Pocahontas受到白人推崇的一个原因就是她作为minority的一员很好地适应了白人这样的majority，可以看出白人在心理上的优势，认为土著该适应和融入欧洲文化，而不是B项中的白人适应当地土著文化。全文最后一句“This selfless attitude led to the successful creation of America.”可以判断C项的错误。