题文
Mark Twain is a name not usually connected with Broadway(百老汇), but now his play “Is He Dead” will receive its first public performance on November 29.“Is He Dead” was written by Mark Twain in 1898 but was never performed. It was rediscovered in 2002 by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, an English professor and director of the American Studies Program at Stanford University. It was published the following year by the University of California Press.
The story is about a group of poor artists who fake the death of their friend in order to increase the value of his work.
“Is He Dead” is set in France in the 1840s and centers on the French painter Jean-Francois Millet. “Millet was probably the most popular European painter in the United States in Twain’s lifetime,” Fishkin said in a telephone interview. “Americans greatly admired him because he focused on the life of the common man and the common woman.”
According to Fishkin, “Is He Dead” is a satire(讽刺) about how value is created in the art world. Twain wrote the play when he was coming out of the hardest time of his life.
小题1:What’s “Is He Dead” about?A．The death of a poor artist in the 1840s.B．A trick played by a group of poor artists.C．A story about the French painter Jean-Francois Millet.D．An experience Mark Twain had gone through.小题2:From the second paragraph we learn that ______.A．the play was one of Mark Twain’s early worksB．no one knew the play until 2002C．Fishkin is an expert on Mark Twain’s worksD．the play was published in 2002小题3:According to Fishkin, Jean-Francois Millet was admired by Americans because ____.A．he was a famous French painter at that timeB．he focused on the life of ordinary AmericansC．his works showed respect for ordinary peopleD．Mark Twain agreed on his thoughts小题4:We can infer from the passage that Mark Twain ______.A．had experienced several difficult times for no moneyB．was a good novelist but a bad playwright(剧作家)C．was a writer who only cared about ordinary people’s lifeD．was dissatisfied with some methods of creating the value of art work 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:C
小题4:D
解析
本文介绍了马克吐温的作品“Is He Dead”第一次在在舞台上演绎的情况的说明。
小题1:B 细节题。根据文章第三段第一行The story is about a group of poor artists who fake the death of their friend in order to increase the value of his work.可知B项内容正确。
小题2:C 推理题。根据文章第2段It was rediscovered in 2002 by Shelley Fisher Fishkin, an English professor and director of the American Studies Program at Stanford University.可知Shelley Fisher Fishkin对于马克吐温的作品很有研究，能够把没有表演过的马克吐温的作品都重新找出来进行演绎。故C正确。
小题3:C 细节题。根据文章倒数第三行“Americans greatly admired him because he focused on the life of the common man and the common woman.”可知他的作品里面讲述的是普通人的生活。这是每个人喜欢他的原因，故C正确。
小题4:D 推断题。根据文章最后一段According to Fishkin, “Is He Dead” is a satire(讽刺) about how value is created in the art world. Twain wrote the play when he was coming out of the hardest time of his life.可知马克吐温讽刺这种现象，说明他对于这种现象不满意。故D正确。
点评：本文介绍了马克吐温的作品“Is He Dead”第一次在在舞台上演绎的情况的说明。试考生在阅读基础上的逻辑推理能力，要求考生根据文章所述事件的逻辑关系，对未说明的趋势或结局作出合理的推断；或根据作者所阐述的观点理论，对文章未涉及的现象、事例给以解释。考生首先要仔细阅读短文，完整了解信息，准确把握作者观点。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“Mark Twain is a name.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
