大学英语3第一单元试题(含答案)

Online HomeWork_U1B3

I. Reading Comprehension

Section A Fast Reading

Back in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Just to keep food on the table for the family members, the father worked almost eighteen hours a day. Two of Albrecht Durer the Elder’s children, Albrecht and Albert, wanted to pursue talent for art, but they knew that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the academy.

After many discussions, the two boys decided to toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the coin toss completed his studies, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with the sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.

They tossed a coin after coming back from church on a Sunday morning. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg. Albert went down into the dangerous mines and financed his brother, whose work at the academy was an almost immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings (版画), woodcuts (木刻画) and oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.

When Albrecht Durer returned to his village, the family held a big dinner to celebrate Albrecht’s homecoming. After the meal, Albrecht rose to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. He said, “Albert, now it is your turn to go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you.”

Albert rose and glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and said softly, “No, brother. Look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis (关节炎) so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on canvas (画布) with a brush.”

By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, sketches and woodcuts hang in every great museum in the world, but most people are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.

To pay homage to Albert, Albrecht Durer drew his brother’s hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his drawing “Hands,” but the entire world immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and named it “The Praying Hands.”

Statements based on the passage:

T 1. The father of Durer family could not afford any child’s study at the academy.

F 2. Albrecht and Albert had to toss a coin to decide who should go to the academy, because one of them had to stay at home and help their father.

F 3. Before deciding to toss a coin, Albrecht and Albert had many discussions with their father.

T 4. Albrecht achieved great success at the academy, and his works were even better than most of his professors’.

F 5. Albrecht decided to support Albert’s study at the academy with the sales of his artwork and by laboring in the mines.

F 6. Albert said it was too late for him to go to the academy because he was no longer interested in art after working in the mines for many years.

F 7. Although Albrecht had many masterful portraits, only one of them has received popular recognition.

T 8. Among Albrecht’s works, “Hands” is the one which is reproduced most.

T 9. Albrecht created “Hands” in order to show respect and honor for his brother Albert.

F 10. People renamed Albrecht’s drawing “The Praying Hands” because they just wanted to pay homage to his great achievement.

Section B Passage Reading

Passage 1

Valentine’s Day probably has its origin in the ancient Roman celebration called Lupercalia(牧神节). It was celebrated on February 15. In the Roman calendar February was in the spring. The celebration honored the gods Lupercus and Faunus as well as the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. As part of the ceremony the priests paired up young men and women. The girls’ names were placed in a box and each boy drew a girl’s name. The couple was paired then until the next Lupercalia.

In 260 AD the emperor Claudius II, called Claudius the Cruel, decided that young soldiers would only be distracted by marriage and so ordered that young men may not marry. Valentinus (Valentine), a Christian priest, defied the emperor and got married in secret. He was caught and executed on February 14, the eve of Lupercalia. His name became associated with young love forever after. In 496, Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor him as Saint Valentine and it has been St. Valentine’s Day ever since.

In the Middle Ages some of the customs of the Lupercalia still persisted in spite of the attempts of the Church to put an end to these non-Christian customs and Christianize the holiday. Both men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear the names on their sleeves for a week. Today we still sometimes “wear our hearts on our sleeves” when we cannot conceal our feelings.

In the 1600s, it became common to give flowers, particularly the rose, as a sign of love as the “language of flowers”. This came to Europe from Turkey. The color and placement of the rose held a special significance--a red rose, for example, meant beauty. Flowers have been part of Valentine’s Day ever since.

D 11. What does the passage mainly tell us?

A. The custom of Valentine’s Day.

B. A story about how Valentinus defied the emperor.

C. The relationship between marriage and religion.

D. The origin of Valentine’s Day.

B 12. Young soldiers were not allowed to marry because the emperor was afraid that ______.

A. they would associate with St. Valentine

B. they wouldn’t concentrate on their job

C. they would defy the emperor’s order

D. they were too young to marry