专项提能计划——阅读理解（一） 人物传记类 (2011·高考山东卷·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 破题思路 本文向我们介绍了20世纪伟大的剧作家Arthur Miller以及他的代表作Death of a Salesman。 疑难剖析 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) 整体上看，该句是一个由and连接的并列复合句，第一个分句中使用了when引导的时间状语从句，第二个分句是一个简单句，其宾语较为复杂。 名师支招 本文属于人物传记类文章，该类命题的题量也较大。文章中往往会出现关于该人物的大量细节信息，有些细节很直接，只需理解字面意思即可；有些则很间接，需要综合、归纳、推理才能得出。另外， 虽然人物传记类文章的时间、空间或逻辑线索较清晰，但是为了提高难度,命题者往往使用倒叙或插叙等手段故意打乱故事的陈述次序，使行文的跳跃性增强，情节复杂化。如第58题，第二段第一句话告诉我们，《推销员之死》是对美国制度的有力的抨击， 后面又告诉我们在这金钱至上的制度里，主人公因迷茫、失败最终“kills himself”，暴露了美国商业世界的残酷(exposes the cruelty of the American business world)，由此可知他是美国制度的受害者。