北师大版高中英语必修模块26BesugnJohn Steinbeck and Of Mice and Men拓展阅读练习

北师大版高中英语必修模块2
John Steinbeck and Of Mice and Men同步练习
Before you start (1)
Below is a short biography of John Steinbeck, a well-known American author.
Glance quickly through his biography and circle the topics that are mentioned in the text: place of birth, parents, pets, education, jobs, favourite books, address, marriage, children, favourite food, holidays, place of death.
Reading (1): Biography
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, California on February 27, 1902. He attended Salinas High School between 1915 and 1919.
At the age of 18, he studied marine biology at Stanford University but he left in 1925 without finishing his degree.
Among other things, Steinbeck wrote about the hard lives of migrant workers and the strength of the human spirit. At various times, during his early years of writing, Steinbeck was a manual labourer, a fruit-picker and a caretaker.
At the age of 27, Steinbeck's first novel was published.
Over-his lifetime he wrote a lot of fiction and non-fiction. Of Mice and Men (1937), a tragic story about shattered dreams, became Steinbeck's first big success. His novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939, brought him even greater success. A year later he won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. It is also for this novel that he is best remembered. Many of his books have been adapted for film and theatre. The latest film version of one of his stories is of Of Mice and Men, made in 1992.
During WW II Steinbeck served as a war correspondent for the New York Herald Tribune. And in later years he went to Vietnam to report on the war there.
Steinbeck was first married in 1930 to Carol Henning. The marriage lasted 12 years. In 1943 Steinbeck moved to New York City where he lived for the rest of his life. He married the singer Gwyndolyn Conger in 1943 and had two sons, Thom, born in 1944, and John, born in 1946. They were divorced in 1948 and two years later he married his third wife, Elaine Scott.
In 1962 Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. And in 1964 President Lyndon B Johnson presented him with the United States Medal of Freedom.
Steinbeck died of a heart attack in New York on December 20, 1968.
(321 words/________minutes) Vocabulary
marine 海洋的
degree 学位
migrant 移居的
spirit 精神；心灵
caretaker 看管人，看门人
fiction (总称)小说
tragic 悲剧的
shattered 粉碎的，破灭的
version 版本；改编本
Notes
1. John Steinbeck (斯坦贝克) wrote novels, short stories, poems, essays, film scripts and plays. His novels Of Mice and Men《人鼠之间》and The Grapes of Wrath《愤怒的葡萄》have been translated into Chinese.
2. The Pulitzer Prize (普利策奖), established by Joseph Pulitzer in 1917, is the name of a prize awarded every year in the USA in journalism, literature and music. Exercise 1
Complete this time line of John Steinbeck's life.
1902 Steinbeck was born.
_____ Left Stanford University.
______First novel published.
______Married first wife, Carol Henning.
1937______________________________________________
_______Won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath.
1943 _________and married Gwyndolyn Conger.
_____Son, Thom, born.
1946_______________________________________________________
1950_______________________________________________________
________ Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1968_______________________________________________________ Before you start (2)
What has been your favourite English language novel and what was it about?
Michael is studying Of Mice and Men. Read his summary of the story.
Reading (2): Summary of a story
The story of Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is about two labourers, one called George and the other called Lennie. George is smart but lacks strength and muscle. On the other hand Lennie has a large build and is very tall and strong but lacks intelligence.
This book is about these two characters travelling around looking for work. This is because the story is set in the Great Depression and a lot of people were out of work. Lennie and George are travelling partners and they have been given work at a farm.
When they arrive they meet Candy, an old fellow who has one hand and a very old dog, and Carlson who is a bit overweight. He is mean and kills Candy's dog. Curley is the boss' son and hates everyone. He has a wife whose name is not given. She is called "Curley's wife". She married Curley to get away from her mother. Curley treats her really badly and pays no attention to her. Curley's wife flirts with every man at the farm. This annoys Curley and gets him into fights.
Lennie and George have a dream of setting up their own little farm of 10 acres and having rabbits, chickens and cows. Lennie is not smart and regularly forgets things. He keeps asking George to tell him about the little farm they are going to get. He loves rabbits and dreams of tending them. Lennie does things without thinking. Once he had mice but he kept petting them too hard and they died. He likes petting things that are soft.
Towards the end of the story, Lennie accidentally kills Curley's wife and everyone goes out looking for him. They want to kill him. George finds Lennie first and, while telling him about the little place they're going to get, he shoots Lennie dead.
(314 words/________ minutes) Vocabulary
summary 摘要，概要
build 体形，体格
lack 缺乏；没有
intelligence 智慧，才智
Great Depression大萧条(指20世纪30年代发生于美国及其他国家的经济衰退) fellow 男人；家伙
mean 卑鄙的；刻薄的
boss 老板，上司
hate憎恨
flirt 调情，卖俏
annoy 使恼怒，使生气
tend 照顾，照料
pet 抚摸
Notes
1. The Great Depression refers to a period in the 1930s in North America, Europe, Australia and other industrialised areas in the world when there was a decline in economic activity. During this time there was enormous unemployment.
2. We use the phrase on the other hand when we want to compare things.
Exercise 2
Match each character from the story with the most appropriate description.
Before you start (3)
What is George and Lennie's dream? What is your dream?
Here is the homework that Michael's teacher gave to his class.
Write about a dream you have. Do you feel optimistic or pessimistic about it ever happening?
Now read the responses of two boys in Michael's class.
Reading (3): Personal responses
Vocabulary
surveyor 测量员
optimistic 乐观的
pessimistic 悲观的
surf 激浪，冲浪运动
bonus 额外给予的东西，意外的收获
dedication对某事业或目的的忠诚，献身
Notes
1. To follow in your father's footsteps means to go into the same job as your father.
2. Let's face it, I'm not very smart means "I admit I'm not very smart."
3. A surf shop is a shop that sells anything related to beach activities.
Exercise 3
Say whether these statements are true or false.
1. Edward's father is a building surveyor.
2. Edward thinks he is clever.
3. Edward feels optimistic about his dream happening.
4. Stephen dreams of living next to the beach.
5. Stephen wants to be rich.
6. Stephen feels optimistic about his dream happening.
Keys:
Exercise 1
1902 Steinbeck was born.
1925 Left Stanford University.
1929 First novel published.
1930 Married first wife, Carol Henning.
1937 Of Mice and Men published.
1940 Won the Pulitzer Prize for The Grapes of Wrath.
1943 Moved to New York City and married Gwyndolyn Conger.
1944 Son, Thom, born.
1946 Son, John, born.
1950 Married third wife, Elaine Scott.
1962 Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1968 Died in New York.
George and Lennie' s dream is to set up their own little farm of 10 acres and have rabbits, chickens and cows.
Exercise 3
1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. F
6. T。