阅读理解。
THE BRONTE FAMILY
Yorkshire, England was the setting for two great novels (小说) of the 19th century. These were
Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte's also a gifted novelist, and her books have the same
extraordinary quality as her sisters'.
Their father was Pattick Bronte, born in Ireland. He moved with his wife, Maria Bronte, and their
six small children to Haworth in Yorkshire in 1820. Soon after, Mrs. Bronte and the two eldest children
died, leaving the father to care for the remaining three girls and a boy.
Charlotte was born in 1816 Emily was born in 1818 and Anne in 1820. Their brother Branwell was
born in 1817. Left to themselves, the children wrote and told stories and walked over the hills. They grew
up largely self-educated Branwell showed a great interest in drawing. The girls were determined to earn
money for his art education. They took positions as teachers or taught children in their homes.
As children they had all written many stories. Charlotte, as a young girl, alone wrote 22 books, each
with 60 to 100 pages of small handwriting Therefore, they turned to writing for income. By 1847,
Charlotte had written The Professor; Emily, Wuthering Heights; and Anne, Agnes Grey. After much
difficulty Anne and Emily found a publisher (出版商); but there was no interest shown in Charlotte's book.
(It was not published until 1859.) However, one publisher expressed an interest in seeing more of her work.
Jane Eyre was already started, and she hurriedly finished it. It was accepted at once; thus each of the
sister had a book published in 1847. Jane Eyre was immediately successful; the other two, however, did
not do so well People did not like Wuthering Heights. They said it was too wild, considered one of the
finest novels in the English language Emily lived only a short while after the publication of her book, and
Anne died in 1849. Charlotte published Shirley in 1849,and Villette in 1853. In 1854 she married Arthur
Bell Nicholls. But only a year later, she died of tuberculosis (肺结核) as her sisters had.
1. What did the Bronte sisters want to do for Branwell Bronte?
A. Help him write stories.
B. Help him get trained in art.
C. Teach him how to draw well.
D. Teach him how to educate himself.
2. We know from the text that ______.
A. Jane Eyre was published in 1847
B. Charlotte Bronte wrote 22 books in all
C. the Bronte sisters received good education
D. Patrick Bronte helped his daughters with their wiring
3. Which of the following was published after the death of it,s writer?
A. Shirley
B. Villette
C. Agnes Grey
D. The Professor
4. The underlined words "the other two" in the 5th paragraph and refers to ______.
A. Shirley and Villette
B. The Professor and Agnes Grey
C. Agnes Grey and Wuthering Heights
D. The Professor and Withering Heights
5. What do we know about the Bronte sisters from tile text?
A. Their novels interested few publishers.
B. None of them had more than two books published.
C. None of them lived longer than 4O yeah old .
D. Emily was the least successful of the three.
