Question

【題目】A

THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME

In June 1971, Helene Hanff travelled to London and visited the site of Marks & Co, the bookshop that had been dear to her for 20 years. While Hanff was very happy to finally step foot on British soil the visit carried with it a sad irony (諷刺), which she explained in a 1980 television interview with Dick Cavett: “It was very sad,” she said. “It was the bookstore manager Frank Doel’s death that made me want to write the story of our correspondence and when a publisher bought it, I went to London on the proceeds of the sale.”

Hanff spent the early part of her career trying to make a name for herself as a playwright. London-based writer Monica Porter, who met her in the 1980s, says that Hanff considered herself a “failed playwright” and that her 1961 book Underfoot in Show Business was an account of her failure to get her plays produced. A decade after 84, Charing Cross Road was published, James Roose-Evans adapted the book for the stage and the play was a West End hit.

It had a 16-month run and Hanff finally got to taste stage success, albeit (雖然；即使) in a circuitous (迂回的) way. In a piece that Porter wrote for the British weekly newspaper, The Stage, she says Hanff was led on stage at the end of the opening night performance to thunderous applause. “To get a standing ovation(熱烈的鼓掌) like that, taking curtain calls before an enthusiastic audience, was something she must often have dreamt about,” Porter wrote.

The stage adaptation opened in the US a year later, but never lived up to its West End success. This was to Hanff’s great relief. According to Porter, she once recounted: “Being a celebrity for a week in London had been the most fun I’d had in my life, and wonderful for the ego (自我) - but only because I’d known I was coming home at the end of it, home to the quiet, orderly, solitary(獨(dú)立的), unglamorous life I was made for.”

However, her peace was not to last: Hollywood came calling. The 1987 film of 84 Charing Cross Road, produced by Mel Brooks, won several awards.

Anne Bancroft starred as Hanff. Doel was played by Anthony Hopkins. Hanff died in New York in 1997 from diabetes-related complications. Today, the Marks & Co building is a restaurant with a plaque on its street frontage that commemorates(紀(jì)念) the author that made the site so famous. And Hanff’s unlikely bestseller remains in print.

【1】What made Helene Hanff want to write the story of their correspondence?

A. The trip to the bookstore.

B. The death of the bookstore manager.

C. A decade after 84, Charing Cross Road was published.

D. Visiting the site of Marks & Co, the bookshop.

【2】It took Hanff the early part of her career to _______.

A. finally step foot on British soil

B. commemorate the author that made the site so famous

C. try to make a name for herself as a playwright

D. get to taste stage success

【3】What made Hanff feel relieved?

A. The stage adaptation that never lived up to its West End success.

B. The 1987 film of 84 Charing Cross Road winning several awards.

C. James Roose-Evans adapting the book for the stage.

D. A piece that Porter wrote for the British weekly newspaper, The Stage.

【4】Nowadays the Marks & Co building is _______.

A. a famous bookstore

B. a restaurant in hour of the author

C. a theater where people can enjoy plays

D. a stage for West End hit

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】B

【2】C

【3】A

【4】B

【解析】

試題分析：這篇文章介紹了劇作家Helene Hanff經(jīng)過艱苦的努力之后取得成功的故事。她本人一直認(rèn)為她的作品不成功，但是在經(jīng)過努力之后，她的作品經(jīng)過改編被搬上了舞臺(tái)，最終獲得了巨大的成功。而她本人也被好萊塢搬上了銀幕。

【1】B細(xì)節(jié)理解題：根據(jù)第一段中的she said. “It was the bookstore manager Frank Doel’s death that made me want to write the story of our correspondence，可知是因?yàn)闀�店�?jīng)理的死亡，故選B。

【2】C細(xì)節(jié)理解題：根據(jù)第二段中的Hanff spent the early part of her career trying to make a name for herself as a playwright.可知Hanff花了她職業(yè)生涯中的早期的時(shí)間來嘗試使她自己成為一個(gè)劇作家，故選C。

【3】A細(xì)節(jié)題： 根據(jù)第四段The stage adaptation opened in the US a year later, but never lived up to its West End success. This was to Hanff’s great relief. 可知舞臺(tái)劇的改編本一年后在美國(guó)開始上演，但是沒有辜負(fù)它是倫敦西區(qū)的成功劇的名聲。這件事讓Hanff大大地舒了一口氣，故選A。

【4】B 細(xì)節(jié)題：從文章第六段中的Today, the Marks & Co building is a restaurant with a plaque on its street frontage that commemorates(紀(jì)念) the author that made the site so famous. 可知the Marks & Co building 現(xiàn)在是餐館用來紀(jì)念作者，故選B。