2017年武漢大學(xué)考博英語真題2

Reading Comprehension 2

Winston Churchill was one of the central statesmen of the 20 th century and,almost 50 years after his death,remains a subject of enduring fascination.Part of the current interest in this venerable figure can be attributed to two superb biographies written in the 1980s by historian William Manchester:"The Last Lion:Visions of Glory"and"The Last Lion:Alone."These two books examined the first two-thirds of Churchill's life.

Unfortunately,after completing the second volume,Manchester's health declined and the rest of the project stalled.So great was public interest in the long-delayed final volume that it was the subject of a front page story in The New York Times.

Eventually,in 2003,Manchester asked his friend Paul Reid to complete the trilogy.Now,nearly a decade later,Reid has published The Last Lion,the final piece of this monumental undertaking.Reid starts when Churchill was appointed prime minister in May 1940 and follows him through his death in While most of this volume is appropriately devoted to World War II,it also includes the vast expansion of the British welfare state following the war,the start of the Cold War and the enormous dangers it carried,and the loss of the British Empire.

Reid has written a thorough and complete analysis of these years,and it is a worthy finale to the first two volumes.Exhaustively researched and carefully written,it draws on a full range of primary and secondary materials.This book will be essential reading for those who enjoyed the first two volumes and those with a deep interest in understanding this seminal figure and his place in history.

Reid does a wonderful job of capturing Churchill in all his complexity.He gives Churchill great praise for his personal courage and inspirational leadership during the dark days whenBritain stood alone,but he is equally clear about Churchill's poor strategic judgments,such as the efforts to defend Greece andCrete,the Allied assault on Anzio,and the decision to send the battleshipPrince of Walesand battle cruiser Repulse to theSouth China Seawithout adequate air cover where they were promptly sunk by the Japanese.

He highlights Churchill's naivetéin dealing with Soviet Premier Stalin in the early years of the war,but praises his prescience in anticipating Stalin's land grab in Eastern Europeat the end of the conflict.Reid also gives welcome attention to aspects of the war―such as Churchill's fear that the United Statesmight decide to put its primary emphasis on defeating Japan regardless of the"Germany first"understanding he shared with Roosevelt that have received little attention in other books.

5．What can be known about the two biographies of Churchill?

A．They were written in an interesting style.

B．They were written prior to Churchill's death.

C．They are mainly written from a historical point of view.

D．They have helped intrigue the readers over a long period.

6．Why did the biography once become a front page story in The New York Times?

A．People were looking forward to the publication of the final volume.

B．Readers were angry with the author for the delay of the final volume.

C．The publication of the final volume was then a heatedly discussed issue.

D．Readers wanted to know who would be the new author of the final volume.

7．Why does the third volume prove to be worthy?

A．It is widely read and welcomed by readers.

B．It involves enough details in Churchill's life.

C．It is based on thorough and reliable research.

D．It offers a unique understanding of Churchill.

8．What can we know about Churchill through the third volume?

A．He is a man with complexity.

B．He pulled Britain through WWII.

C．He made many strategic mistakes.

D．He is courageous and inspirational.

【參考翻譯】

溫斯頓·丘吉爾是20世紀(jì)最重要的政治家之一，在他去世將近50年后，他仍然是一個(gè)令人著迷的話題。目前人們對(duì)這個(gè)令人尊敬的人物的興趣部分可以歸功于歷史學(xué)家威廉·曼徹斯特(William Manchester)在上世紀(jì)80年代寫的兩本杰出傳記：《最后的獅子：榮耀的愿景》(the Last Lion:Visions of Glory)和《最后的獅子：孤獨(dú)》(the Last Lion:Alone)。這兩本書審視了丘吉爾前三分之二的人生。

不幸的是，在完成了第二卷之后，曼徹斯特的健康狀況開始下降，其余的項(xiàng)目也停滯不前。公眾對(duì)這部拖延已久的最終作品的興趣如此濃厚，以至于它成了《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》(New York Times)頭版新聞的主題。

最終，在2003年，曼徹斯特邀請(qǐng)他的朋友保羅·里德來完成三部曲。近十年后的今天，里德出版了《最后的獅子》，這是這一不朽事業(yè)的最后一篇。里德開始當(dāng)丘吉爾在1940年5月被任命為總理,他通過他的死雖然大多數(shù)的體積是適當(dāng)?shù)刂铝τ谑澜绱髴?zhàn),還包括之后的英國福利的巨大擴(kuò)張戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng),冷戰(zhàn)的開始,它攜帶的巨大危險(xiǎn),大英帝國的損失。

里德寫了一篇詳盡的分析這些年來，這是一個(gè)有價(jià)值的結(jié)局前兩卷。經(jīng)過詳盡的研究和認(rèn)真的寫作，它采用了全面的初級(jí)和二級(jí)材料。對(duì)于那些喜歡前兩卷的人以及那些對(duì)了解這位開創(chuàng)性人物及其在歷史上的地位有濃厚興趣的人來說，這本書將是必不可少的讀物。

里德出色地抓住了丘吉爾的全部復(fù)雜性。他給丘吉爾偉大的贊美對(duì)他個(gè)人的勇氣和鼓舞人心的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)在黑暗的日子里whenBritain獨(dú)自站在那里,但他也同樣清楚丘吉爾的可憐的戰(zhàn)略判斷,比如努力捍衛(wèi)希臘andCrete,盟軍襲擊安齊奧,決定把battleshipPrince Walesand巡洋戰(zhàn)艦擊退theSouth中國Seawithout足夠的空中掩護(hù)，他們立即被日本擊沉。

他強(qiáng)調(diào)了丘吉爾在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)初期與蘇聯(lián)總理斯大林的交往中表現(xiàn)出的天真，但贊揚(yáng)了他的先見之明，即在沖突結(jié)束時(shí)預(yù)見到斯大林將占領(lǐng)東歐的土地。里德還對(duì)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)的各個(gè)方面給予了可喜的關(guān)注，比如丘吉爾擔(dān)心美國可能會(huì)將其主要重點(diǎn)放在打敗日本上，而不管他與羅斯福的“德國第一”共識(shí)在其他書中沒有得到多少關(guān)注。

小編推薦：

2017年武漢大學(xué)考博英語真題匯總