Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Part A
TEXT 1
EVEN to his contemporaries, Rochester was a legendary figure. One of the youngest and most handsome courtiers of the restored Charles II, he was the favorite of a king whose wit, lasciviousness and serious intellectual interests he shared. He was banished from court several times, but Charles\'s pleasure in his conversation always resulted in his recall. His authentic adventures included the attempted abduction of an heiress (whom he later married), smashing a phallic-shaped sundial in the royal gardens during a drunken spree, and a violent affray with the watch at Epsom in which one of his companions was killed.
Quite apart from his reputation as a poet, he was feted in the writings of his friends, notably in Sir George Etherege\'s comedy, "The Man of Mode". Just before he died in 1680, at the age of 33, destroyed by alcoholism and syphilis, Rochester\'s legend took a surprising turn. After a series of conversations with an Anglican rationalist divine, Gilbert Burnet, the skeptical libertine made a death-bed conversion which was celebrated in the devotional literature of the succeeding century.
Engaging as it is, the Rochester legend has always been a distraction. It has resulted in many apocryphal stories and dubious attributions, and it can still divert attention from the poetry. It is Rochester\'s achievement as a poet which commands our interest and makes him something more than a luridly colorful period figure. For all the brevity of his career, Rochester is a crucial figure in the development of English verse satire and the Horatian epistle, a student of his elder French contemporary Boileau, and an important exemplar for later poets as different as Alexander Pope and Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea.
Cephas Goldsworthy\'s "The Satyr" gives us the legend. Although there are no footnotes to sources, the book shows some acquaintance with modern Rochester scholarship and its rejection of spurious verse from his canon-but only intermittently. Anecdotes concerning Rochester and his crony George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, are retailed without any indication that they have, in fact, been discredited; poems no longer attributed to Rochester are cited as if they were authentic. Mr. Goldsworthy quotes liberally from the poetry, but repeatedly reads it as straightforward autobiography. For example, we are told that "My dear mistress has a heart" is addressed to. Elizabeth Barry, an actress, which is incautious given the uncertain dating of this song, and indeed of most of Rochester\'s poems. More generally, while of course some of the satires include references to actual persons, as often as not in 17th-century love poetry the emotion is genuine but the addressee is fictitious.
A less simplistic way to relate Rochester\'s poetry to his life would be to read the former as an exploration of what it means to live according to libertine values. In his best satires and even some of the lyrics he articulated an anti-rational nihilistic vision scarcely found elsewhere in English verse. Such a task belongs to a critical biography. There is no mistaking Mr. Goldsworthy\'s enthusiasm for his subject, but his book is essentially biography as entertainment.
21. Rochester was not
A a troublemaker.
B a fictional legendary figure.
C an excellent Solomon.
D the favorite of Charles II.
22. Rochester didn’t have a reputation of
A comedian
B legend
C libertine
D poet
23. The word “nihilistic” (line 4, para 5)means
A rational
B practical
C opposed moral beliefs
D pro-government
24. Rochester’s legend gave others a surprising turn when
A he was dying
B he got syphilis
C he appeared in an anti-rational state
D he changed his life-style
25. Rochester was not
A crucial in the development of English verse satire
B a comedy writer
C Boileau’s student
D am important model for later poets
Text 2
WHERE is the second centre of Hollywood film making in Europe, after London? Paris, or perhaps Berlin? Try Prague. Last year, Hollywood spent over $2OOm on shooting movies, commercials and pop videos in the Czech capital. This year, all the big studios will be in town. MGM has "Hart\'s War" starring Bruce Willis, Disney is shooting "Black Sheep" with Anthony Hopkins, and Fox has just finished filming "From Hell", a Jack the Ripper saga starring Johnny Depp.
Praguers take Tinseltown in their stride. Old ladies looked only slightly bemused last month when the cobbled streets of Mala Strana, Prague\'s old quarter, were cleared of real snow and sprayed with a more cinematically pleasing chemical alternative for Universal\'s "Bourne Identity", a $50m thriller starring Matt Damon. The film\'s producer, Pat Crowley, reckons a day filming in Prague costs him $l00，000, against $250,000 in Paris. Czech crews, he says, are professional, English-speaking and numerous. They are also a bargain-40% cheaper than similar crews in London or Los Angeles, points out Matthew Stillman, the British boss of Stillking, a Prague-based production firm.
Mr. Stillman founded Stillking in 1993 after arriving in Prague with $500 and a typewriter. Today, Hollywood producers come to the company for crews, catering, lights and much more. It claims to have about half of the local film-production business and this year hopes for revenues of over $50m.
The biggest draw to Prague, however, is Barrandov - one of the largest film studios in Europe, with 11 sound-stages, onsite photo labs and top-notch technicians. It was founded during Czechoslovakia\'s pre-war first republic by Milos Havel, an uncle of the present Czech president, Vaclav Havel. The Nazis expanded it as a production centre for propaganda flicks - the sound-stages are courtesy of Joseph Goebbels. Then came the Communists with their own propaganda and, admittedly, a few impressive homegrown directors such as Milos Forman, who began Hollywood\'s march to Prague by filming "Amadeus" there.
But it is partly thanks to Barrandov that Prague remains some way behind London as a film centre. The studio has suffered from iffy management and is already stretched to capacity ("You can\'t even get an office there," moans one producer). Its present owner, a local steel company, is keen to sell but talks with a Canadian consortium have been thorny, not least because the Czech government holds a golden share. Should the Canadian deal fall through, Stillking says it would consider a bid of its own.
26．Which one is not true about Prague?
A It’s a gathering place for big studio to make film-stars.
B It’s the Czech capital.
C It’s a very popular place for Hollywood film making.
D It’s an attractive place for both film makers and the stars.
27.Pat Crowley has chosen Prague to be the place for his new film just because
A this place is covered with snow, which is what they want.
B he takes costs into consederation.
C Matt Damon loves the place.
D it has the cobbled streets.
28. Czech Film
