THE BRONTE FAMILY
Yorkshire, England was the setting for two great novels of the 19th century. One of them is Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte.
The Bronte family had three girls and a boy. Charlotte was born in 1816, Emily was born in 1818 and Anne in 1820. Their brother Branwell was born in 1817. The children wrote and told stories and walked over the hills. They grew up largely self-educated. Branwell showed a great interest in drawing. The girls took positions as teachers or taught children in their homes. The girls were determined to earn money for Branwell's art education.
As children, the girls had all written many stories. Charlotte alone wrote 22 books, each with 60 to 100 pages of small handwriting. Therefore, they turned to writing for ine. By 1847, Charlotte had written The Professor; Emily, Wuthering Heights; and Anne, Agnes Grey. After much difficulty, Anne and Emily found a publisher (出版商), but there was no interest shown in Charlotte's book. ( It was not published until 1859. ) However, one publisher expressed an interest in seeing more of her work. Jane Eyre was already started, and she hurriedly finished it. It was accepted at once; thus each of the sisters had a book published in 1847.
Jane Eyre was immediately successful; the other two, however, did not do so well. Emily lived only a short while after the publication of her book, and Anne died in 1849.
Charlotte published Shirley in 1849, and Villette in 1853. In 1854 she married Arthur Bell Nicholls. But only a year later, she died of tuberculosis (肺结核) as her sisters had.
【小题1】What did the Bronte sisters want to do for Branwell Bronte?A．Help him write stories.B．Help him get trained in art.C．Teach him how to draw well.D．Teach him how to educate himself.【小题2】We know from the text thatA．Jane Eyre was published in 1847B．Charlotte Bronte wrote 22 books in allC．the Bronte sisters received good educationD．the father helped his daughters with their writing【小题3】The underlined words the other two in Paragraph 4 refer to .A．Shirley and VilletteB．The Professor and Agnes GreyC．Agnes Grey and Wuthering HeightsD．The Professor and Wuthering Heights【小题4】What do we know about the Bronte sisters from the text?A．Their novels interested few publishers.B．None of them lived longer than 40 years.C．Emily was the least successful of the three.D．None of them had more than two books published.B
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(答案→)B
解析：本文叙述了约克郡是19世纪英国两部著名小说的背景，这两部分别是夏洛蒂布朗特的《简爱》和艾米丽布朗特的《呼啸山庄》。布朗特一家有三个女儿和一个儿子，她们三姐妹都是自学成才的，为了供Branwell上艺术学院，她们靠写小说挣钱养家。最后Charlotte Bronte写的《简爱》等相继出版。
【小题1】细节理解题。根据The girls were determined to earn money for Branwell's art education.布朗特姐妹下定决心挣钱来供Branwell 接受艺术教育，故选B。
【小题2】细节理解题。根据Jane Eyre was already started, and she hurriedly finished it. It was accepted at once; thus each of the sisters had a book published in 1847.
《简爱》出版于1847年，故选A。
【小题3】词义猜测题。根据Emily, Wuthering Heights; and Anne, Agnes Grey. Anne and Emily found a publisher (出版商), but there was no interest shown in Charlotte's book. 因为这里叙述的是Emily和Anne的书，除了《简爱》就只剩下Emily写的Wuthering Heights及Anne写的Agnes Grey，故选C。
【小题4】细节理解题。根据Anne in 1820及Anne died in 1849. Anne活了29岁；Emily was born in 1818及But only a year later, she died of tuberculosis (肺结核) as her sisters had. Emily活了32岁，故选B。