The real heroine of the novel stands at one remove to the narrative. On the face of it, readers are more likely to empathize with, and be curious about, the mysterious and resourceful slave, Sarah, who forms one point of an emotional triangle. Sarah is the property of Manon, and came with her to a failing Louisiana sugar plantation on her marriage to the good-for-nothing, bullying owner. But Manon’s husband is soon struck by Sarah, and the proof lies in their idiot small son, Walter.

　　However, the reader is forced to see things through Manon’s eyes, not Sarah’s, and her consciousness is not a comfortable place to be. Never a please or a thank you passes her lips when talking to slaves, though manners is the order of the day in white society. Manon is enormously attracted by inter-racial marriage (for the place and time―the early 19th century―such a concern would not be unusual, but in her case it seems pathological). Walter, with “his father’s curly red hair and green eyes, his mother’s golden skin, her full, pushing-forward lips”, is the object of her especial hatred, but she chatters on about all the “dreadful mixed-blooded”, the objectionable “yellow” people.

　　Beyond Manon’s polarized vision, we glimpse “free negros” and the emerging black middle-class. To Manon’s disgust, such people actually have self-respect. In New Orleans buying shoes, Manon is taken aback by the shopkeeper’s lack of desired respect. Mixed race prostitutes acquired the affections of male planters by giving them something mysterious their wives cannot often What that might be, and why wives can’t offer it too, are questions Manon can’t even ask, let alone answer.

　　The first third of the book explores the uneasy and unsustainable peace between Manon, Sarah and the man always called just “my husband” or “he”. Against the background of violent slave revolts and equally savage revenges, it’s clear the peace cannot last. It’s part of the subtlety of this book that as the story develops and the inevitable explosion occurs, our view of all the characters swiftly changes. Sarah turns out to deserve all the suspicion Manon directs at her; at the point of death Manon’s husband displays an admirable toughness and courage; and Manon herself wins the reader’s reluctant admiration for her bravery, her endurance, and her total lack of self-pity.

　　Perhaps the cruelest aspect of this society is the way it breaks down and distorts family affections. A slave’s baby is usually sold soon after birth; Sarah’s would-be husband, if he wants her, must buy her; and Manon herself, after all, is only the property of her husband.

　　1. Which of the following reflects Manon’s attitude towards colored people?

　　[A] Sympathetic. [B] Suspicious.

　　[C] Concerned. [D] Disgusted.

　　2. It can be inferred from the text that the novel is written.

　　[A] with a mobile point of view

　　[B] with a limited third person singular

　　[C] from Manon’s perspective

　　[D] from Sarah’s eye as a slave

　　3. According to Manon, black people should.

　　[A] emerge as free middle class citizens

　　[B] behave submissively towards the whites

　　[C] have self-respect in the mixed race marriage

　　[D] learn to offer more affection to their wives

　　4. We learn that as the story develops.

　　[A] readers will think differently of all the characters

　　[B] Manon’s husband will win back her admiration

　　[C] the emotional crisis will be swiftly resolved

　　[D] all the suspicion will be proved against Sarah

　　5. From the text we learn that.

　　[A] Manon’s husband is a nameless but bullying person

　　[B] Manon is the real heroine who deserves readers’ sympathy

　　[C] Sarah is in fact smarter than her master Manon

　　[D] Walter is a proof of the mixed race prostitution

　　參考答案：1.D 2.C 3.B 4.A 5.B

　　試題解析：

　　1. 下面哪一個(gè)反映了瑪儂對待有色人種的態(tài)度?

　　[A] 同情 [B] 懷疑 [C] 關(guān)心 [D] 厭惡

　　本題考查推理引申。第二段第二句介紹了瑪儂和奴隸談話從不注意禮貌。第二段第三句提到，瑪儂對異族通婚有著強(qiáng)烈的興趣(enormously attracted)…… 她的過度關(guān)注卻是病態(tài)的(pathological)。該段末句提到，瑪儂喋喋不休地談?wù)撝�所有“可怕的混血”，討厭的“黃種”人。綜合上述內(nèi)容可知，瑪儂對有色人種是厭惡的。[D]正確。

　　2.從文章中可以推知這篇小說的寫作。

　　[A] 帶有一種變化的觀點(diǎn)

　　[B] 用一種局限的第三人稱單數(shù)形式

　　[C] 從瑪儂的視角出發(fā)

　　[D] 通過奴隸莎拉的視角出發(fā)

　　本題考查推理引申。第二段首句提到，讀者被迫通過瑪儂，而不是莎拉的視角去看這一切。由此可知[C]正確，排除[D]。第四段第三句提到，這本書的微妙之處在于隨著故事情節(jié)的發(fā)展讀者對所有人物的看法突然發(fā)生了改變。因此持變化觀點(diǎn)的是讀者，而非作者，排除[A]。第四段首句提到，瑪儂的丈夫總是被稱之為“我的丈夫”或“他”，沒有給出名字，但由第二段首句可知，主人公瑪儂是第一稱。因此[B]也不正確。

　　3.在瑪儂看來，黑人應(yīng)該 。

　　[A] 作為自由的中產(chǎn)階級市民出現(xiàn)

　　[B] 對白人順從

　　[C] 在異族通婚中有自尊

　　[D] 學(xué)會給予妻子更多的關(guān)愛

　　本題考查推理引申。第三段第二句提到，讓瑪儂感到厭惡的是，黑人實(shí)際上也有自尊。接著下文分別舉出買鞋子和妓女的事例說明瑪儂不會接受黑人膽敢不尊重白人和黑人婦女得到白人男人的愛。由此可推出[B]是瑪儂對黑人的看法。[A]在該段首句中提到，是社會背景，不是瑪儂的觀點(diǎn)。由第二段末句中“可怕的混血，討厭的黃種人”可知，瑪儂顯然是蔑視異族通婚的，排除[C]。[D]無從推知。

　　4.我們知道，隨著故事情節(jié)的發(fā)展，。

　　[A] 讀者對所有人物的看法將發(fā)生改變

　　[B] 瑪儂的丈夫?qū)⒅匦纶A回她的贊賞

　　[C] 情感危機(jī)將迅速得到解決

　　[D] 所有的猜疑最后都將指向莎拉

　　本題考查事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)。第四段第三句提到，隨著故事情節(jié)的發(fā)展，我們對所有人物的看法突然都發(fā)生了改變。因此[A]正確。該段末句只提到，瑪儂的丈夫最后表現(xiàn)出令人欽佩的堅(jiān)強(qiáng)和勇氣，而瑪儂本人則贏得了讀者的欽佩。但瑪儂和丈夫之間的關(guān)系沒有提及，因此排除[B]。文中也沒有提到“情感危機(jī)”的結(jié)局，排除[C]。[D]錯(cuò)在“所有的懷疑”，文中是“瑪儂對莎拉所有的懷疑”，因此也應(yīng)排除。

　　5.從文章中我們可得知。

　　[A] 瑪儂的丈夫是不知名的、仗勢欺人的人

　　[B] 瑪儂是值得讀者同情的真正的女英雄

　　[C] 莎拉事實(shí)上比她的主人瑪儂更聰明

　　[D] 沃特是異族賣淫的證明

　　本題考查事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)。文章首句提到，這篇小說中真正的女英雄離所敘述的內(nèi)容有一段距離。因此文章一開始就埋下了伏筆。接下來文章介紹了小說的主人公及大概情節(jié)。到了第四段末，文章指出，讀者對所有人物的看法突然都發(fā)生了改變�，攦z對莎拉的懷疑都是有根據(jù)的，而且瑪儂還贏得了讀者對她個(gè)性的由衷的欽佩。由此可見，瑪儂是文章一開始提到的“真正的女英雄”。[B]正確�，攦z的丈夫在第一段中是“仗勢欺人的人”，但到了第四段則“表現(xiàn)出令人欽佩的堅(jiān)強(qiáng)和勇氣”，因此[A]不正確。[C]無從推知。由第一段末可知，沃特是男主人和莎拉的私生子，[D]錯(cuò)在prostitution。