河南省银行考试交流1： 115688647 河南省银行考试交流3：367254450
The real heroine of the novel stands at one remove to the narrative. On the face of it, readers are more likely to empathize with, and be curious about, the mysterious and resourceful slave, Sarah, who forms one point of an emotional triangle. Sarah is the property of Manon, and came with her to a failing Louisiana sugar plantation on her marriage to the good-for-nothing, bullying owner. But Manon’s husband is soon struck by Sarah, and the proof lies in their idiot small son, Walter.
However, the reader is forced to see things through Manon’s eyes, not Sarah’s, and her consciousness is not a comfortable place to be. Never a please or a thank you passes her lips when talking to slaves, though manners is the order of the day in white society. Manon is enormously attracted by inter-racial marriage (for the place and time—the early 19th century—such a concern would not be unusual, but in her case it seems pathological). Walter, with “his father’s curly red hair and green eyes, his mother’s golden skin, her full, pushing-forward lips”, is the object of her especial hatred, but she chatters on about all the “dreadful mixed-blooded”, the objectionable “yellow” people.
Beyond Manon’s polarized vision, we glimpse “free negros” and the emerging black middle-class. To Manon’s disgust, such people actually have self-respect. In New Orleans buying shoes, Manon is taken aback by the shopkeeper’s lack of desired respect. Mixed race prostitutes acquired the affections of male planters by giving them something mysterious their wives cannot often What that might be, and why wives can’t offer it too, are questions Manon can’t even ask, let alone answer.
The first third of the book explores the uneasy and unsustainable peace between Manon, Sarah and the man always called just “my husband” or “he”. Against the background of violent slave revolts and equally savage revenges, it’s clear the peace cannot last. It’s part of the subtlety of this book that as the story develops and the inevitable explosion occurs, our view of all the characters swiftly changes. Sarah turns out to deserve all the suspicion Manon directs at her; at the point of death Manon’s husband displays an admirable toughness and courage; and Manon herself wins the reader’s reluctant admiration for her bravery, her endurance, and her total lack of self-pity.
Perhaps the cruelest aspect of this society is the way it breaks down and distorts family affections. A slave’s baby is usually sold soon after birth; Sarah’s would-be husband, if he wants her, must buy her; and Manon herself, after all, is only the property of her husband.
1. Which of the following reflects Manon’s attitude towards colored people?
[A] Sympathetic. [B] Suspicious.
[C] Concerned. [D] Disgusted.
2. It can be inferred from the text that the novel is written _____.
[A] with a mobile point of view
[B] with a limited third person singular
[C] from Manon’s perspective
[D] from Sarah’s eye as a slave
3. According to Manon, black people should _____.
[A] emerge as free middle class citizens
[B] behave submissively towards the whites
[C] have self-respect in the mixed race marriage
[D] learn to offer more affection to their wives
4. We learn that as the story develops _____.
[A] readers will think differently of all the characters
[B] Manon’s husband will win back her admiration
[C] the emotional crisis will be swiftly resolved
[D] all the suspicion will be proved against Sarah
5. From the text we learn that _____.
[A] Manon’s husband is a nameless but bullying person
[B] Manon is the real heroine who deserves readers’ sympathy
[C] Sarah is in fact smarter than her master Manon
[D] Walter is a proof of the mixed race prostitution
1. D 2.C 3.B 4.A 5.B
1. [精解] 本题考查推理引申。第二段第二句介绍了玛侬和奴隶谈话从不注意礼貌。第二段第三句提到，玛侬对异族通婚有着强烈的兴趣(enormously attracted)…… 她的过度关注却是病态的(pathological)。该段末句提到，玛侬喋喋不休地谈论着所有“可怕的混血”，讨厌的“黄种”人。综合上述内容可知，玛侬对有色人种是厌恶的。[D]正确。
2.[精解] 本题考查推理引申。第二段首句提到，读者被迫通过玛侬，而不是莎拉的视角去看这一切。由此可知[C]正确，排除[D]。第四段第三句提到，这本书的微妙之处在于随着故事情节的发展读者对所有人物的看法突然发生了改变。因此持变化观点的是读者，而非作者，排除[A]。第四段首句提到，玛侬的丈夫总是被称之为“我的丈夫”或“他”，没有给出名字，但由第二段首句可知，主人公玛侬是第一称。因此[B]也不正确。
3.[精解] 本题考查推理引申。第三段第二句提到，让玛侬感到厌恶的是，黑人实际上也有自尊。接着下文分别举出买鞋子和妓女的事例说明玛侬不会接受黑人胆敢不尊重白人和黑人妇女得到白人男人的爱。由此可推出[B]是玛侬对黑人的看法。[A]在该段首句中提到，是社会背景，不是玛侬的观点。由第二段末句中“可怕的混血，讨厌的黄种人”可知，玛侬显然是蔑视异族通婚的，排除[C]。[D]无从推知。
4.[精解] 本题考查事实细节。第四段第三句提到，随着故事情节的发展，我们对所有人物的看法突然都发生了改变。因此[A]正确。该段末句只提到，玛侬的丈夫最后表现出令人钦佩的坚强和勇气，而玛侬本人则赢得了读者的钦佩。但玛侬和丈夫之间的关系没有提及，因此排除[B]。文中也没有提到“情感危机”的结局，排除[C]。[D]错在“所有的怀疑”，文中是“玛侬对莎拉所有的怀疑”，因此也应排除。
5.[精解] 本题考查事实细节。文章首句提到，这篇小说中真正的女英雄离所叙述的内容有一段距离。因此文章一开始就埋下了伏笔。接下来文章介绍了小说的主人公及大概情节。到了第四段末，文章指出，读者对所有人物的看法突然都发生了改变。玛侬对莎拉的怀疑都是有根据的，而且玛侬还赢得了读者对她个性的由衷的钦佩。由此可见，玛侬是文章一开始提到的“真正的女英雄”。[B]正确。玛侬的丈夫在第一段中是“仗势欺人的人”，但到了第四段则“表现出令人钦佩的坚强和勇气”，因此[A]不正确。[C]无从推知。由第一段末可知，沃特是男主人和莎拉的私生子，[D]错在prostitution。