A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises(出现) from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.

There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say, so peculiar(奇怪的) that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girlfriend.

No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.

【1】The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when _______.

A. it is repeated without any change B. it is treated as a joke

C. some changes are made to it by a parent D. it is set in the present

【2】According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is _______.

A. in a realistic setting B. told in a different way

C. repeated too often D. heard for the first time

【3】The advantage claimed(提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it _______.

A. develops their power of memory

B. makes them less fearful

C. makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of

D. encourages them not to have strange beliefs

【4】One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that _______.

A. they are full of imagination

B. they make teachers of history difficult to teach

C. they are not interesting

D. they are just made up of the stories which are far from the truth

【答案】

【1】 C

【2】 D

【3】 B

【4】 D

【解析】

这是一篇议论文。本文主要讲了对于孩子们阅读童话故事存在一些争议。有些人认为童话故事的恐怖情节伤害了孩子，也有人认为童话故事不客观真实，脱离了现实。

【1】推理判断题。由第一段的“It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.”可知，作者认为如果父母讲神话故事结合当时的实际时代和孩子的实际情况，而不仅仅是从故事书上读故事，也就是对故事进行一定的改动，效果更好。故C选项正确。

【2】细节理解题。由第二段的“As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises from the child having heard the story once.”可知，作者认为如果故事只讲了一遍，小孩会产生恐惧感。也就是说如果孩子们第一次听到故事时会感到恐惧。故D选项正确。

【3】细节理解题。由第二段的最后一句话“Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.”可知，作者认为不断的重复故事可以让小孩变得熟悉(familiarity)故事，这样恐惧的痛苦（pain of fear）就会变成恐惧的快乐（pleasure of a fear）。B选项正确。

【4】细节理解题。由第三段的首句“There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist…”可知，也有人反对神话故事是因为它们不是客观真实的，“not objectively true”与 “far from the truth”同义。故D选项正确。