Sapphira and the Slave Girl was the last novel of Willa Cather’s distinguished literary career. Begun in the last summer of 1937 and finally completed in 1941, it is often regarded by critics as one of her most personal works. Although the story takes place in 1856, well before her own birth, she drew heavily on both vivid childhood memories and tales handed down by older relatives to describe life in rural northern Virginia in the middle of the 19th century. She even went on an extended journey to the area to give the story a further ring of authenticity.Of all of Cather’s many novels, Sapphira and the Slave Girl is the one most concerned with providing an overall picture of day to day life in a specific era. A number of the novel’s characters, it would seem, are included in the story only because they are representative of the type of people to be found in 19th-century rural Virginia; indeed, a few of them play no part whatsoever in unfolding of the plot. For instance, we are introduced to a poor white women, Mandy Ringer, who is portrayed as intelligent and content, despite the fact that she has no formal education and must toil constantly in the fields. And we meet Dr. Clevenger, a country doctor who, with his refined manners, evokes a strong image of the pre-Civil War South.The title, however, accurately suggests that the novel is mainly about slavery. Cather’s attitude toward this institution may best be summed up as somewhat ambiguous. On the one hand, she displays almost total indifference to the legal and political aspects of slavery when she misidentifies certain crucial dates in its growth and development. Nor does she ever really offer a direct condemnation of slavery. Yet on the other hand, the evil of slavery gets through to us.Although in typically subtle ways, those characters, like Mrs. Blake, who oppose institution are portrayed in a sympathetic light. Furthermore, the suffering of the slaves themselves and the petty, nasty, often cruel behavior of the slave owners are painted in harsh terms.Although Sapphira and the Slave Girl was certainly not meant to be a political tract, the novel is sometimes considered to be a denunciation of bygone days. Nothing could be further from the truth. In spite of her willingness to acknowledge that particular aspects of the past were far from ideal, Willa Cather was, if anything, a bit of a romantic. Especially in the final years of her life, an increasing note of anger about the emptiness of the present crept into her writing. Earlier generations, she concluded, had been the real heroes, the real creator of all that was good in American.
1. In the discussion of Willa Cather’s Sapphira and the Slave Girl, the author refers to the book primarily as a（ ）.2. In paragraph 2, Mandy Ringer and Dr. Clevenger are mentioned in order to emphasize which point about Sapphira and the Slave Girl?3. According to the author, why is Willa Cather's attitude toward slavery “somewhat ambiguous” (paragraphs)?4. In context, “a bit of a romantic” (paragraph 4) suggests that Willa Cather（ ）.
A.heroic tale of the Civil War B.sweeping epic of the old South C.political treatise on slavery. D.story based on personal material问题2： A.One of Cather’s purposes in writing the novel was to paint a full portrait of life in rural Virginia in the years before the Civil War. B.The novel display Cather’s mixed feeling about slavery C.Cather took four years to complete the novel because she carefully researched her characters. D.A number of the characters in the novel are based on people Cather knew in her childhood.问题3： A.She was ignorant of the legal and political aspects of slavery even though she was a keen observer of history. B.She was an enemy of slavery but refrained from getting involved in political issues. C.She sympathized equally with both slaves and slave owners. D.She did not denounce slavery direct but criticized
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable occupations. Personal consultants give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive circle, beauty can become a liability.While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman.Handsome male executives were perceived as having more integrity than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to account for their success.Attractive female executives were considered to have less integrity than unattractive ones; their success was attributed not to ability but to factors such as luck.All unattractive women executives were thought to have more integrity and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was attributed more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attraction overnight successes.Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is perceived to be more feminine and an attractive man more masculine than the less attractive ones. Thus an attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally masculine position appears to lack the “masculine” qualities required.This is true even in politics. “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.The results showed that attractive males utterly defeated unattractive men, but the women who had been ranked most attractive invariable received the fewest votes.1.The underlined word “liability” (Para. 1) most probably means“（ ）”.2.In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness（ ）.3.Bowman's experiment reveals that when it comes to polities, attractiveness（ ）.4.It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often（ ）.5.The author writes this passage to（ ）.
The strong wind with sand comes from the（ ）hill in front of their house.
Fewer and fewer of today’s workers expect to spend their working lives in the same field,（ ）the same company.
1.中国是世界上的发明大国，但是很多发明无法走出实验室，归根结底是资金问题。2.当然我们还应该充分意识到，大熊猫生存的主要威胁不是来自于大熊猫的繁殖能力，而是来自于人类对大熊猫自然生态环境的破坏。3.他饮他的花酒，我喝我的清茶。人生需要一种境界：自我安定。4.自幼来自农村且深受“谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦”陶冶的我，是断然不肯将能吃的剩菜倒掉的。5.太多的医学和研究生教育把学生禁闭在黑暗的房间里，使他们成为被强迫灌输信息的笨人。
Although sports（ ）the household, Joe drew the line when they interfered with family traditions and routine.