Comprehension 理解
Answer these questions:
1 What, according to the writer, is the basic formula of the Western film?
2 How did the spread of civilization affect the old West?
3 Why have Western films appealed so much to twentieth-century audiences?
Vocabulary 词汇
Refer to the text to see how the following words have been used, then write sentences of your own using these words: supreme (1.2); devised the protagonist (1.3); framed (1.4); in conflict (1.5); environment (1.5);contemporaries (1.6); firmly rooted (1.7); encroaching (1.10); bewildered (1.11); impending immolation (1.18).
The paragraph 段落
A Drawing your information from the first three paragraphs (lines 1-15), write a list of points in note form to answer the following question: With what justification can the claim be made that William S.Hart was,perhaps , the greatest of all Western stars?
B Read the fourth paragraph again (lines 16-19)．Then, using the list of points given below, reconstruct the paragraph in your own words as far as possible．Do not refer to the passage until you have finished the exercise:
1 Audiences----2nd decade 20th century----escape: appeal of hard and simple life.
2 We still do: world of aggression, hypocrisy----want a code to live by.
C Write a paragraph of about 200 words on one of the following subjects:
1 A short appreciation of any actor or actress who took part in a Western film you have seen.
2 Westerns.
Key structures 关键句型
A Which words could be omitted from the following sentences without affecting the sense of the original?
Do not refer to the passage until you have finished the exercise:
1 It was Hart who created the basic formula of the Western film, and devised the protagonist whom he played in every film which he made, the good-bad man, the accidental-noble outlaw, or the honest-but-framed cowboy, or the sheriff who has been made suspect by vicious gossip; in short, the individual who is in conflict with himself and with his frontier environment．(11.2-5)
2 Men who had been accustomed to struggling for survival against the elements and Indians were bewildered by politicians, bankers and businessmen．(11.11-12)
B Compare these sentences:
Instead of saying: He appeared only in Westerns.
We can say: He appeared in nothing but Westerns.(11.1-2)
Or: He did not appear in anything but Westerns.
Write three sentences using the phrase nothing but.
C Supply a or the where necessary in the following paragraph．Do not refer to the passage until you have finished the exercise:
Unlike ____ most of ____ his contemporaries in ____ Hollywood, ____ Hart actually knew something of ____ old West．He had lived in it as ____ child when it was already disappearing,and ____ his hero was firmly rooted in ____ his memories and ____ experiences, and in both ____ history and ____ mythology of ____ vanished frontier．And although no period or place in ____ American history has been more absurdly romanticized, ____ myth and ____ reality did join hands in at least one arena, ____ conflict between ____ individual and ____ encroaching civilization．(11.6-10)
D Note the form of the verb in this sentence:
Myth and reality did join hands in at least one arena ．(11.9-10)
We use this form when we wish to place particular emphasis on the verb．
Write these sentences again using this emphatic verb form:
I mentioned it to him but he wasn't impressed．
2 You posted my letter, didn't you?
3 We enjoyed ourselves at the party.
E Compare these two uses of though:
Life, though (even if it was) hard, was relatively simple．(11.16-17)
I wish you had told me though．(however)
Write two sentences using though in the ways shown above.
F Compare these two sentences:
Instead of saying: We all want a code by which to live.
We can say: We all want a code to live by．(11.18-19)
Write sentences which end with the following expressions:
to fight for; to talk about; to act on; to work with.
Special difficulties 难点
A Study the following pairs of words and then write sentences of your own to bring out the difference.
1 appear (1.2) ---- seem
Wayne Sleep is appearing in‘Song and Dance.(=can be seen)
He appeared from nowhere.(=came into view)
It appears/seems odd that he hasn't written to any of us.(=is or may be)
2 devise (1.3) ---- device
Can you devise a solution to this problem?
An encephalograph is a device for measuring brain activity.
3 suspect (1.5) ---- suspicious
Police blew up the suspect package.
If travellers look nervous, customs officers get suspicious.
4 memory (1.7) ---- remembrance
My memory is not as good as it used to be.
This ring is the only remembrance I have of my grandmother.
5 history (1.8) ---- story
We often know little about the history of our own times.
Climb into bed and I'll read you a bedtime story.
6 rob (1.13) ---- steal
I lost my address book when the man robbed me of my bag.
The man who stole my handbag took my address book as well.
B Note this use of unlike:
Unlike Gary Cooper and John Wayne he appeared in nothing but Westerns．(11.1-2)
Complete the following sentences in any way you wish:
1 Unlike most of his contemporaries long dashes (1.6)
2 Unlike some people long dashes
3 Unlike yourself long dashes
C Write sentences using the following phrases:
in short (1.5); in conflict with (1.5); at least (1.9); in the end (1.15).
Multiple choice questions 多项选择题
Choose the correct answers to the following questions.
Comprehension 理解
1 The basis of Western films, as defined by William S.Hart, is ____.
a．contrast
b．conflict
c．evil
d．outlaws
2 William S.Hart's understanding of the West was ____.
a．absurdly romanticized
b．influenced by his contemporaries in Hollywood
c．part of history and mythology
d．based on direct personal experience
3 The basic theme of early Western films ____.
a．concerned survival against Indians
b．was about the clash between civilization and Nature
c．was not appreciated by early audiences
d．was about inheritance
4 The passage suggests that audiences, past and present, like ____.
a．stories about civilization
b．simple living and simple rules
c．impending catastrophe
d．war and bad behaviour
Structure 句型
5 William S.Hart appeared in nothing ____ Westerns．(11.1-2)
a．except
b．although
c．only
d．apart
6 Hart devised the protagonist ____ he played in every film．(1.3)
a．whom
b．which
c．what
d．where
7 Hart actually knew something about the old West ____ he had lived as a child．(11.6-7)
a．to whom
b．which
c．in it
d．in which
8 ____ no period has been more absurdly romanticized, myth and reality did join hands in at least one arena．(11.8-10)
a．As
b．Because
c．When
d．While
Vocabulary 词汇
9 Hart devised the ____ he played in every film.(11.2-3)
a．leading part
b．fighter
c．cowboy
d．first person
10 His hero was rooted in the mythology of a frontier that had ____．(11.7-8)
a．expanded
b．disappeared
c．become established
d．changed
11 This period has been romanticized in ____ fashion．(11.8-9)
a．an exaggerated
b．a realistic
c．a ridiculous
d．an amusing
12 Men accustomed to struggling for survival were ____ by politicians．(1.11)
a．confused
b．surrounded
c．pursued
d．welcomed