阅读理解分析（A） 专项练习与答案精讲 二
（二）A Tale of Scottish Rural Life
Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song (1932) was voted "the best Scottish novel of all time" by Scotland's reading public in 2005. Once considered shocking for its frank description of aspects of the lives of Scotland's poor rural farmers, it has been adapted for stage, film, TV and radio in recent decades.
The novel is set on the fictional estate of Kin Addie, in the farming country of the Scottish northwest in the years up to and beyond World War Ⅰ. At its heart is the story of Chris, who is both part of the community and a little outside it.
Lewis Gibbon gives us the most detailed and intimate account of the life of his heroine (女主人公). We watch her grow through a childhood dominated by her cruel but hardworking father; experience tragedy (her mother's suicide and murder of her twin children); and learn about her feelings as she grows into a woman. We see her marry, lose her husband, then marry again. Chris has seemed so convincing a figure to some female readers that they cannot believe that she is the creation of a man.
But it would be misleading to suggest that this book is just about Chris. It is truly a novel of a place and its people. Its opening section tells of Kin Addie's long history, in a language that imitates the place's changing patterns of speech and writing.
The story itself is amazingly full of characters and incidents. It is told from Chris' point of view but also from that of the gossiping community, a community where everybody knows everybody else's business and nothing is ever forgotten.
Sunset Song has a social theme too. It is concerned with what Lewis Gibbon perceives as the destruction of traditional Scottish rural life first by modernization and then by World War Ⅰ. Gibbon tried hard to show how certain characters resist the war. Despite this, the war takes the young men away, a number of them to their deaths. In particular, it takes away Chris' husband, Evan Avondale. The war finally kills Evan, but not in the way his widow is told. In fact, the Germans aren't responsible for his death, but his own side. He is shot because he is said to have run away from a battle.
If the novel is about the end of one way of life, it also looks ahead. It is a "Sunset Song" but is concerned too with the new Kin Addie, indeed of the new European world. Lewis Gibbon went on to publish two other novels about the place that continue its story.
1. What is Sunset Song mainly about?
A. The First World War.
B. The beauty of the sunset.
C. The new European world.
D. The lives of rural Scottish farmers.
2. Which statement is NOT true of Chris?
A. She is the heroine of Sunset Song.
B. She had a miserable childhood.
C. She is the creation of a man.
D. She married only once.
3. What is the opening section of the novel mainly concerned with?
A. The climate of Kin Addie.
B. The history of Kin Addie.
C. The geography of Kin Addie.
D. The language spoken in Kin Addie.
4. Who killed Chris' husband, Evan?
A. His own troops.
B. The French army.
C. The Germans.
D. The Russian soldiers.
5. The word "sunset" in the title of this novel most probably means________.
A. the end of the heroine's life
B. the end of the story
C. the end of the traditional way of life
D. the end of the day
［高频考点］
考点1：主旨题；
考点2：细节信息的查找；
考点3：采用排除法解决三正一误题；
考点4：首先排除文中未提到的信息，提高正确率；
考点5：猜词题。
［主旨大意］
刘易斯·格拉斯克·基邦的《日暮之歌》（1932年）在2005年被苏格兰读书界投票选为“所有时代中的最佳小说”。这部作品曾因其对苏格兰乡村贫民生活的全面、坦率地描写而一度震惊读者。
小说中的故事发生在第一次世界大战前后，地点位于苏格兰西北农业区一个名为“金莱迪”的虚拟庄园。小说的主线是克里斯。书中，刘易斯·基邦详细地介绍了主人公的生活。此外，这也是一部描写整个地区及其居民的作品。
《日暮之歌》也有一个社会化的主题。刘易斯·基邦把现代化进程以及随后的一战都看做是一股摧毁苏格兰传统乡村生活的力量。基邦竭力展现了小说中的一些人物是如何抵制战争的。它既是一首“日暮之歌”，也是一首关于“新金莱迪”（实则喻指整个“新欧洲”）的歌。
［长难句结构解析］
1. At its heart is the story of Chris, who is both part of the community and a little outside it.
（1）画线部分为倒装句，正常语序为“The story of Chris is at its heart”。
（2）后接who引导的定语从句。
（3）参考译文：小说的主线是克里斯，一个既属于当地社区而又不太合群的人。
2. Chris has seemed so convincing a figure to some female readers that they cannot believe that she is the creation of a man.
（1）such... that...与so... that...都可以用来引导结果状语从句，意为“如此……以致……”。
such是形容词，它所修饰的名词可以是可数名词，也可以是不可数名词；名词前面可以带形容词，也可以不带。如果其后是单数可数名词，前面需加不定冠词a或an。因此，such... that...的句型结构可分为以下三种：
①such＋a(n) (＋adj. )＋单数可数名词＋that从句。
She is such a good teacher that all of us love and respect her.
她是一位很好的老师，我们都敬爱她。
Table tennis is such an interesting game that people all over the world play it.
乒乓球是一项很有趣的运动，以致全世界的人都参加这项运动。
②such (＋adj. )＋复数可数名词＋that从句。
They are such interesting books that I want to read them once more.
这些书非常有趣，我想再读一遍。
③such (＋adj. )＋不可数名词＋that从句。
It was such bad weather that I had to stay at home.
天气太坏，以致我不得不待在家里。
so是副词，与形容词或副词连用，其结构是：so＋adj. (adv. )＋that从句。
He ran so fast that I couldn't catch up with him.
他跑得那么快，我赶不上他。
I am so sleepy that I can hardly keep my eyes open.
我太困了，眼睛几乎睁不开了。
（2）参考译文：对于一些女性读者来说，克里斯是一个那么真实的女人以至于让人很难相信她出自于一个男性作家的手笔。
［答案解析］
1．D。［解析］主旨题。题干考查的是《日暮之歌》的大意。文章开篇在介绍《日暮之歌》的时候是这样描述的：Once considered shocking for its frank description of aspects of the lives of Scotland's poor rural farmers...，由此可以看出，《日暮之歌》主要描写苏格兰乡村的贫民生活，D项符合此意。
2．D。［解析］三正一误的细节考查题。选项A、B和C分别为：克里斯是《日暮之歌》的女主人公；克里斯童年悲惨；克里斯这个人物出自于男性的手笔。这些在原文中都有所提及。选项D：克里斯只结过一次婚。这与原文中“她结婚、失去丈夫，而后再婚”的内容相悖，故答案为D。
3．B。［解析］细节考查题。题干考查的是小说的开篇讲述了什么。第四段第三句话：Its opening section tells of Kin Addie's long history, in a language that imitates the place's changing patterns of speech and writing. 故事开篇就讲述了金莱迪的悠久历史，所用语言也在模仿该地区口语及书面语的变化模式。故答案为B。本题较为简单，可直接找出答案。
4．A。［解析］细节考查题。第六段最后两句话：In fact, the Germans aren't responsible for his death, but his own side. He is shot because he is said to have run away from a battle. 由此可得出正确结论，答案为A。考生注意不要受到干扰项的影响，不要忽略相关句子之间的逻辑关系。
5．C。［解析］猜词题。关于sunset的含义，要从本文最后一段入手：如果说，这部小说是关于一种生活方式的终结，那么它同时也在朝前看。它既是一首“日暮之歌”，也是一首关于“新金莱迪”（实则喻指整个“新欧洲”）的歌。继它之后，刘易斯·基邦还出版了两部小说，仍以这一地区为主题，延续了《日暮之歌》的故事。由此可见，sunset是对传统生活方式的终结，故答案为C。
