高等教育成人学士学位英语阅读理解精选33篇

Passage 1 The most famous collections of fairy tales（童话）are the ones by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm. The Grimms published their first fairy-tale collection in 1812. They didn’t think they were writing for children. They thought they were preserving disappearing German folk culture. Their first edition （版本） was a scholarly book that carefully recorded the oral tales. They were surprised when some of their early readers suggested that the stories might be interesting to children. But the Grimms needed money. They had made a bad deal with their publisher and received little payment for their first book. At one point Wilhelm complained there wasn’t a chair in his house one could sit on without worrying it would break. So he took the hint and set to work to make a book that would be suitable for children. He selected a few of the tales, made them much longer, and polished up the language. He didn’t add morals, but he did slip in character judgments and moralizing comments wherever he could. The Grimms’fairy tales also have one characteristic that would seem to make them unsuitable for children. Many of them include violent incidents. In Hansel and Gretel an old woman is burned to death in an oven, and in Little Red Riding Hood a child is eaten by a wolf. When he revised the tales for children, Wilhelm Grimm retained the violence. In fact, he sometimes even ramped it up. For example, in the first edition of the tales, Cinderella forgives her sisters at the end. It’s only in the second edition, the one intended for children, that her birds peck（啄）out their eyes. Why, then, have the Grimms’ fairy tales become classics of children’s literature, so much so that it is hard to imagine a child who doesn’t know Cinderella’s story or Snow White’s?One answer is that only a few of the tales survived into modern times. The first edition of the Grimms’ fairy tales had 210 tales. By 1825 it was down to 50. And today only a dozen or so of the tales are often reprinted in children’s collections. But the deeper answer is that the tales that have lasted are magical adventures that help children deal with the struggles and fears of their everyday lives. 1. Why did Wilhelm Grimm set out to adapt his book for children? A. To deal with readers’ complaints. B. To improve his financial situation. C. At the request of his publisher. D. To preserve the ancient stories in print. 2. When revising the fairy tales, Wilhelm did all of the following EXCEPT . A. adding character judgments B. making the tales much longer C. deleting the violent scenes D. polishing up the language 3. What does the expression “ramped it up” in Paragraph 3 probably mean? A. Started. B. Allowed. C. Classified. D. Increased. 4. Which of the following statements about the Grimms’ fairy tales is TRUE according to the passage? A.They were originally intended to be children’s stories. B. Generally speaking, the tales that have endured can help children deal with the challenges life brings to them. C. A large number of the tales made it to the modern age. D. They are less violent than the children’s stories being written today. 5. What is the passage mainly concerned with? A. History of fairy tales. B. Ways to preserve the oral tradition. C. The Grimms’ fairy tales. D. Violence in fairy tales. 长难句分析 1. They were surprised when some of their early readers suggested that the stories might be interesting to children. 当一些早期读者提出这些故事对孩子们来说可能很有趣时，他们感到很惊讶。 分析：这个句子主干是主系表结构，They were surprised 是句子的主干成分，when 引导时间状语从句，that 引导的句子作 suggest 的宾语从句。 延伸：suggest 的用法总结：1. 只能用动名词作宾语 suggest （sb.）doing sth. ；2. 跟宾语从句，但是从句中必须用 should do 或者省略 should 直接用动词原形 do，suggest sb.（should） do sth.；3. 用名词作宾语，构成 suggest sth. for sb. to do, 表示建议某事让某人去做。4. suggest 作“暗示，表明”的意思，其主语通常是事物而不是人。（that 从句用陈述语气），本句中就是这个用法。 2. But the deeper answer is that the tales that have lasted are magical adventures that help children deal with the struggles and fears of their everyday lives. 但更深层次的答案是，这些流传下来的是帮助孩子们应对日常生活中的挣扎和恐惧的魔幻冒险故事。 分析：整个句子主干是主系表，主语是 the deeper answer，is 是系动词，**个 that 引导表语从句，第二个 that 引导定语从句修饰 magical adventures。 延伸：deal with,cope with,dispose of 的区别：短语动词都含有“处理”“对付”之意。 deal with 既可指处理具体事情，也可指处理或解决具有抽象意义的问题。cope with 指成功地处理或对付更为重大\更为严重的问题或事物。dispose of与deal with同义，普通用法。 参考译文 *著名的童话故事集是由雅各布·格林和威廉·格林所著。1812年，格林兄弟出版了他们的**部童话小说集。他们不认为自己是在为孩子们写作。他们认为自己是在保护正在消失的德国民间文化。他们的**版是一本认真记录口述故事的学术书籍。当一些早期读者提出这些故事对孩子们来说可能很有趣时，他们感到很惊讶。 但是格林一家需要钱。他们和出版商做了一笔糟糕的交易，他们的**本书几乎没有得到报酬。有一次，威廉抱怨说，在他的房子里，没有一把椅子可以坐着不担心它会坏。于是，他接受了这个暗示，开始着手制作一本适合儿童阅读的书。他挑选了一些故事，把它们加长，并润色了语言。他没有增加道德方面的内容，但是他尽可能地加入了品行判断和道德化评论。 格林童话还有一个特点，似乎不适合儿童阅读。其中许多包括暴力事件。在《汉赛尔与格莱特》中，一个老妇人被烧死在烤箱里；在《小红帽》中，一个小孩被狼吃掉了。当威廉·格林修改儿童故事时，他保留了暴力。事实上，他有时甚至会把暴力提升。例如，在故事的**版中，灰姑娘*后原谅了她的姐妹们。只是在为儿童准备的第二版中，保留她的鸟啄出了姐姐们的眼睛的情节。 那么，为什么格林童话会成为儿童文学的经典，经典到无法想象一个孩子会不知道白雪公主和灰姑娘的故事？一个答案是只有少数故事流传到了现代。**版的格林童话有210个故事，到了1825年，下降到50个。如今，只有十几个故事经常被重印在儿童读物中。 但更深层次的答案是，这些流传下来的是帮助孩子们应对日常生活中的挣扎和恐惧的魔幻冒险故事。 答案及精解 1. B 根据 Wilhelm Grimm set out to adapt his book for children. 可定位到the Grimms needed money. So he took the hint and set to work to make a book that would be suitable for children. 选B。 2. C 根据 When revising the fairy tales, Wilhelm 可定位到 When he revised the tales for children, Wilhelm Grimm retained the violence. 3. D Wilhelm Grimm retained the violence. In fact, he sometimes even ramped it up. Grimm 保留了暴力情节，有时还会添加一些暴力素材。ramp up=increase 增加。 4. B B 选项出处来自 But the deeper answer is that the tales that have lasted are magical adventures that help children deal with the struggles and fears of their everyday lives. A 选项正确表示 They didn’t think they were writing for children. They thought they were preserving disappearing German folk culture. C 选项正确 表示为 only a few of the tales survived into modern times. D 选项未提及。 5.C 全文重在介绍 The Grimms’ fairy tales. ABD 只是部分小细节。从全局角度看选C。