一、阅读理解
When Sara Crewe entered the classroom the next morning, everybody looked at her with wide, interested eyes.
“She has silk stockings (长筒丝袜) on!” said Jessie. “And what little feet! I never saw such little feet.” “Oh,” said Lavinia unkindly, “that is the way her slippers (拖鞋) are made.
I don’t think she is pretty at all. Her eyes are such a strange colour.” “She isn’t as pretty as other pretty people are,” said Jessie, looking at the other girls in the room. “But she makes you want to look at her again. She has long eyelashes (睫毛), but her eyes are almost green.”
“Young ladies,” Miss Minchin said, “I shall expect you all to be very agreeable to Miss Crewe; she has just come to us from a great distance—in fact, from India. As soon as lessons are over, you can get to know each other.”
“Sara,” said Miss Minchin, “come here to me. My impression is that your father wished you to learn French.” “I, I have never really learnt French, but, but, ...” she began, trying shyly to make herself clear. “That is enough,” Miss Minchin said. “If you have not learnt, you must begin at once. The French master, Mr Dufarge, will be here in a few minutes.”
Mr Dufarge arrived. His eyes fell upon Sara. “Is this a new student for me, Madame?” he said to Miss Minchin.
“Her father really wants her to learn the language. But I am afraid she isn’t ready for it. She does not seem to wish to learn,” said Miss Minchin.
Little Sara rose in her seat. She began to explain quite simply in pretty and smooth French. She had not learnt French exactly—not from books—but her father and other people had always spoken it to her, and she had read it and written it as she had read and written English.
When she began to speak, Miss Minchin sat looking at her over her glasses, almost angrily, until she had finished.
“Ah, Madame,” Mr Dufarge said,
there is not much I can teach her.
She has not learnt French;
she is French. Her pronunciation is pure.
“You should have told me,” exclaimed Miss Minchin, turning to Sara.
“I, I tried,” said Sara. “I, I suppose I did not begin right.”
Miss Minchin knew she had tried. It had been her mistake that the girl was not allowed to explain. When she saw that Lavinia and Jessie were laughing behind their French grammars, she felt very angry. “Silence, young ladies!” she said seriously, knocking upon the desk. “Silence at once!”
—An adapted excerpt from A Little Princess
(
A
) 1. What gave Lavinia a bad impression of Sara?
A. Sara’s eye colour.
B. Sara’s slippers.
C. Sara’s long eyelashes.
D. Sara’s silk stockings.
(
B
) 2. What did Miss Minchin expect all the students to do?
A. Teach Sara to speak French.
B. Be friendly to Sara.
C. Learn French from Sara.
D. Keep strict discipline in class.
(
D
) 3. What did Mr Dufarge mean by the underlined sentences in paragraph 9?
A. He meant he wouldn’t teach Sara too much.
B. He thought Sara was French.
C. He meant Sara’s French was too poor.
D. He meant Sara’s French was quite good.
(
C
) 4. What can we infer from the passage?
A. None of the students in the class liked Sara.
B. Sara was born in France.
C. Sara often spoke French in her daily life.
D. Miss Minchin was angry with Sara.
