"When I look back on my childhood I wonder

题目内容：

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all． It was, of course, a miserable childhood． The happy childhood is hardly worth your while． "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood． And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood．" That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book Angela's Ashes, released in nineteen ninety-six．

This Irish American author best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography Angela's Ashes that recorded his poor upbringing, died of cancer on Sunday, The New York Times reported． He was 78．

Born in New York City, he was the eldest of seven children born to Irish immigrant parents． Angela's Ashes was a memoir that captured an irresponsible, drunkard father with a gift for story-telling． When not drunk, his father was absent, turning his back on a family so poor, McCourt wrote, that they were reduced to burning the furniture in their rented hut to keep warm． His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family．

Already struggling when the Great Depression hit, the family moved back to Limerick, where they slipped ever deeper into poverty in the 1930s．

Three of McCourt's siblings died of diseases worsened by hunger and the wretchedness of their surroundings． McCourt himself almost died of typhoid（伤寒的） fever as a child．

In Angela's Ashes, he wrote of hunger, a home flooded with rainwater and the unbearable humiliation of seeking handouts from charities in the Irish city． But he told the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted．

Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of nineteen to return to New York City where he was born． He earned a degree in- English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years． After retiring in nineteen eighty-seven, he decided to write about his childhood． "Angela's Ashes" became a huge success and brought McCourt a 1997 Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and other honors． Millions of copies of the book were sold worldwide and it was adapted into a 1999 movie starring Emily Watson and Robert Carlyle．

小题1:What's the text mainly about?

A．A brief introduction to Frank McCourt and one of his works．

B．A literary review on Frank McCourt's book Angela's Ashes．

C．An account of Frank McCourt's miserable childhood.

D．A comment on Frank McCourt's life experience．小题2:By saying "The happy childhood is hardly worth your while", the writer really means that．

A．a lot of readers don't deserve happy childhood

B．his childhood is not worth of others' sympathy

C．his childhood is mixed with happiness and misery

D．smooth childhood surely will not draw readers' attention小题3:From the passage, we know Frank McCourt's father is．

A．humorous and trustworthy

B．alcohol-addicted but loves his family

C．poor but warm-hearted

D．irresponsible but gifted in telling stories小题4:What does the underlined word "handouts" mean in the 6th paragraph?

A．Reliefs．

B．Compensations．

C．Leaflets．

D．Teaching materials．

最佳答案：

小题1:A

小题2:D

小题3:D

小题4:A

答案解析：

小题1:主旨题：文章简要介绍了弗兰克·麦考特和他的一个作品。选A

小题2:句意理解题：这句话的意思是：快乐的童年是不值得读者看的。选D

小题3:细节题：从第三段的句子：Angela's Ashes was a memoir that captured an irresponsible, drunkard father with a gift for story-telling．可知他爸爸是个不负责任的人但很擅长讲故事。选D

小题4:猜词题：从第六段的句子：from charities in the Irish city，可知这个单词是救济。选A

点评：这种阅读理解考查了细节题，猜词题，要求考生仔细阅读全文，做好相应的标志，以提高阅读的效率和速度

考点核心：

人物传记类文章的文体特征：

人物传记是记叙文体的一种，主要描写某人的生平事迹、趣闻轶事、生活背景、个性特征、成长奋斗历程等，包含记叙文的时间、地点、人物、事件等要素。其特点是以时间的先后或事件的发展为主线，空间或逻辑线索贯穿文章始终，脉络清楚，可读性较强。