1. How is the first paragraph associated with the last one?
In the first paragraph the writer makes it clear that she has owed
Charles Dickens a heavy debt by reading his novels. And the only
way to honor her obligation is to write down what Charles Dickens
did for her. In the last paragraph, the writer says she was deeply
influences by him.Thus, the concluding part of the narrative text
is naturally connected with the beginning part.
2. Work out the structure of the text by completing the
table.
Paragraph(s)
|
Main idea
|
1
|
It introduces the setting and the
relationship between the writer and Charles Dickens.
|
2-3
|
The writer recalls her isolated
childhood life in a remote Chinese countryside, her unpleasant
experiences and the painful feeling she had because she was a
foreigner.
|
4-6
|
The writer narrates and describes her
experiences as a voracious reader.
|
7
|
The writer highlights Dickens’ great
influence upon her.
|
Key to the Exercises
Text comprehension
I. Decide which of the following best states the author’s purpose
of writing.
A
II. Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements
are true or false.
1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. F
6. F
IV. Explain in your own words the following sentences.
1. With shy, bitter smiles on her face, she tolerated the farm
folks’ mocking ,yet kind laughter as they looked at her yellow,
curling hair and blue eyes. To them, she understood, she looked
exotically strange.
2. Her parents were so busy that they hardly had any time to attend
to her.
3. She was too short to get hold of the dusty, blue books on the
high shelf.
4. She read from page to page an old edition of the novels, printed
in small letters, and found the friends she could play with.
5. All the people at home were asleep but her parents, who were
still working very hard.
Vocabulary
I. Explain the underlined part in each sentence in your own
words.
1. for a long time
2. wanted; desired
3. imagine
4. in great danger
5. paying lip service in a seemingly sincere manner
6. interpreted all things as either right or wrong
II. Fill in the blank in each sentence with a word or phrase taken
from the box in its appropriate form.
1. alien
2. beyond the reach of
3. winding
4. voracious
5. dip into
6. obligation
7. in peril
8. heed
9. indecision
10. zest
III. Choose a word or phrase that best completes each of the
following sentences.
1-8 ABDCABCD
IV. Fill in each blank with one of the two words from each pair in
its appropriate form and note the difference in meaning between
them.
1. a. foreign
b. foreign
c.
alien
d. alien
2. a. decline
b. descended
c. descended
d. declining.
3. a. people
b. folk
c. Folk
d.
peoples
4. a. households
b. households
c. homes
d. home
V. Give a synonym or an antonym of the word underlined in each
sentence in the sense it is used.
1. Synonym: invaluable (matchless, precious)
2. Antonym: sociable (accompanied, collective)
3. Synonym: unreliable (untrustworthy)
4. Antonym: full (plenty, abundant)
5. Synonym: attention (notice, regard)
6. Antonym: ascend (rise, arise)
7. Synonym: stay (remain)
8. Antonym: native (familiar, local)
VI. Rephrase each of the following sentences with the word given in
capital letters.
1. You have the legal obligation to ensure your child receives a
proper education.
2. They spent a surprisingly immense amount of time getting the
engine into perfect condition.
3. Sorry to descend on you like this, but we had no time to
phone.
4. Mark and I managed to straighten up the house before our parents
got home.
5. I think I must be coming down with flu—I've been feeling
wretched all day.
6. The government resolved to take further actions against
corruption.
7. The young English teacher thought so highly of poetry that he
taught it with missionary zeal.
8. There's one rule for her and another rule for everyone else and
it's mere hypocrisy.
Grammar
I. Complete the following sentences with the appropriate form of
the verbs given.
1. had been cut
2. was travelling
3. was told
4. be opened
5. was climbing
6. was composed
7. were made
8. will have been sold
II. Put the following sentences into the passive. Mention the agent
where necessary.
1. These instructions could be understood by anyone with the
smallest intelligence.
2. The old theatre is being pulled down.
3. The fauna of the Galapagos Islands was studied by Darwin.
4. The work is not going to be completed on time.
5. By the end of the 1960s, the United States could no longer be
described as a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant nation.
6. I don't like being stared at.
7. The family was brought up against fresh problems by the
move.
8. Special emphasis was laid on the choice of words by the
author.
9. It is rumoured that there will be an earthquake in the next two
weeks.
10. The reservoir is going to be completed ahead of schedule.
III. Rewrite the short passage using the passive whenever
possible.
America
was discovered by Columbus in 1492. Later the new
continent
was explored and
colonised by the
Europeans. The native civilisations
were eventually
destroyed by the colonial powers and America
was
transformed into an outpost of European civilisation: in fact
English, Spanish, Portuguese and French
are nowadays
used as official languages.
IV. Rewrite the following sentences, using 'the passive +
infinitive.'
1. He is believed to have special knowledge which may be useful to
the police.
2. This engine is claimed to be twice as powerful as the previous
one.
3. You are expected to work late if need be.
4. He is understood to have been in poor health for some
time.
5. He is known to be a good teacher.
6. The ship is supposed to have been sunk.
7. You are known to have been in town last night.
8. Both sides are said to have agreed to a settlement.
V. Join the two sentences into one, using the words and phrases
given.
1. You will miss the bus unless you hurry up.
2. As the weather was fine, we decided to climb the mountain.
3. Farmers rotate their crops so that the soil will remain
fertile.
4. Since no one is against the proposal, we will adopt it.
5. Harvest comes not every day, though it comes every year.
6. I didn't reach the station until after the train had left.
7. All things are difficult before they are easy.
8. I will write when I have finished the book.
Translation
I. Translate the following sentences into Chinese.
1. 债务一般是负担，但这绝对不是普通的债务，因此也不是负担，只不过是深藏在心中不吐不快的那种温馨感激之情
2.
她喜爱在河岸的岩石或泥泞的滩涂上散步，观看垂挂在流淌的黄色河水中那硕大四方的渔网被拉出水面，屡屡看见的也许是出水的一张空网，但偶尔也会看到闪着银光、扭动着身躯的一条条大鱼
3.
她走进走廊上一个不为人知、只有身材娇小灵活的孩子才挤得进去的角落，打开一本印得密密麻麻的旧版书，在书中找到了自己的伙伴。
4. 他教导我：粗鲁的背后也许藏着和蔼，而和蔼是世上最美好的东西，善良是世上最完美的东西。
II. Translate the following sentences into English, using the words
and phrases given brackets.
1. Some students long to study what they want to, not what they are
asked to
2. Many volunteer workers rendered a valuable service to the
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
3. The world economy is in a desperate situation, so all the
governments must take desperate measures to cope with it.
4. Scissors, knives, matches, and medicine must be kept beyond the
reach of children.
5. I always keep a sum of at least 1,000 yuan on hand, in case of
an emergency.
6. Honest people despise lies and liars.
7. It was a long time before I began to feel at home in
English.
8. Because of the financial recession, some of those running small
and middle-sized businesses are, so to speak, up to their necks in
debt.
9. He is a man that always mouths fine words about people to their
faces and speaks iii of the behind their backs.
10. I was greatly scared by the zest demonstrated by those
radicals.
Integrated skills
I. Dictation
It is simple enough to say / that since books have classes / —
Fiction, biography, poetry / — we shoul
