專項提能計劃——閱讀理解（一） 人物傳記類 (2011·高考山東卷·A)Arthur Miller(1915～2005)is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century.Miller’s father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary， drawn like so many others by the “Great American Dream”．However,he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s. Miller’s most famous play，Death of a Salesman，is a powerful attack on the American system，with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth.In Willy Loman,the hero of the play， we see a man who has got into trouble with this system.Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment：if he can’t do the work，then he is no good to his employer，the Wagner Company，and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this，and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success.He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end. When it was first staged in 1949，the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews，and it won the Tony Award for Best Play，the New York Drama Critics’Circle Award，and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.It was the first play to win all three of these major awards. Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury，Connecticut，on the evening of February 10,2005，the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway. 56．Why did Arthur Miller’s father move to the USA? A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country. B．He was attracted by the “Great American Dream”． B C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist. D．His family business failed. 57．The play Death of a Salesman________. A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company A C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller D．focuses on the skills in doing business 58．What can we learn about Willy Loman? A．He treats his employer badly. B．He runs the Wagner Company. C．He is a victim of the American system. D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues. C 59．After it was first staged，Death of a Salesman________. A．achieved huge success B．won the first Tony Award C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen D．was severely attacked by dramatists A 60．What is the text mainly about? A．Arthur Miller and his family. B．The awards Arthur Miller won. C．The hardship Arthur Miller experienced. D．Arthur Miller and his best-known play. D 破題思路 本文向我們介紹了20世紀偉大的劇作家Arthur Miller以及他的代表作Death of a Salesman。 疑難剖析 When it was first staged in 1949，the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews，and it won the Tony Award for Best Play，the New York Drama Critics’Circle Award，and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.(Paragraph 3) 整體上看，該句是一個由and連接的并列復合句，第一個分句中使用了when引導的時間狀語從句，第二個分句是一個簡單句，其賓語較為復雜。 名師支招 本文屬于人物傳記類文章，該類命題的題量也較大。文章中往往會出現關于該人物的大量細節信息，有些細節很直接，只需理解字面意思即可；有些則很間接，需要綜合、歸納、推理才能得出。另外， 雖然人物傳記類文章的時間、空間或邏輯線索較清晰，但是為了提高難度,命題者往往使用倒敘或插敘等手段故意打亂故事的陳述次序，使行文的跳躍性增強，情節復雜化。如第58題，第二段第一句話告訴我們，《推銷員之死》是對美國制度的有力的抨擊， 后面又告訴我們在這金錢至上的制度里，主人公因迷茫、失敗最終“kills himself”，暴露了美國商業世界的殘酷(exposes the cruelty of the American business world)，由此可知他是美國制度的受害者。