八、阅读并回答问题
(2025 南通通州期中)The Merchant of Venice
is an important early work of Shakespeare, which
is a comedy. It was written in about 1596-1597.
In the play Shakespeare not only speaks highly of
love and friendship, but also mirrors反映 the
social background of that time.
Antonio had a friend named Bassanio who
spent money without limit. As a result, he ran out
of his property in a short time. Bassanio fell in
love with Portia, but he was required to pay a large
amount of money. So he went to Antonio for help.
Antonio was also a rich Venetian merchant but he
didn't have so much cash. Antonio went to
Shylock, a moneylender, for help. Having been
scolded责备 by Antonio for being cruel and
greedy, Shylock hated him. However, he agreed
to lend him the money on condition that Antonio
would allow him to take a pound of his flesh if he
could not repay him within three months. At last
Antonio agreed to the contract契约. With the
money Antonio had borrowed from Shylock,
Bassanio married Portia, but unluckily, Antonio
lost all his ships at sea. He was not able to pay
Shylock back, and the Jew went to the court of
Venice to carry out his deal.
To save Antonio's life, Portia pretended to be
a famous lawyer. According to the contract, she
agreed to Shylock's request, but said he could only
cut a pound of Antonio's meat, no more and no
less. At the same time, he couldn't let any of
Antonio's blood drop. The wise judge also said
that according to the law if anyone tried to kill a
citizen of Venice, everything he owned should be
taken away from him, and half of what he owned
would belong to the man he wanted to kill.
Shylock said that he would rather die if all his
money and goods were taken away. Finally,
Antonio gave up his part of Shylock's money on
condition that Shylock should leave the money to
his own daughter and her husband upon his death.
The cruel moneylender had to agree.
1. What does Shakespeare speak highly of in the
play?

2. According to the play, why did Bassanio run
out of property?

3. What does the underlined word "him" in the
second paragraph refer to?

4. How did Portia save Antonio's life?

5. What do you think of Portia?

八、【语篇导读】本文讲述了波西亚智救为帮
助朋友巴萨尼奥向夏洛克借钱的安东尼
奥的故事。
1. Love and friendship.
2. Because he spent money without limit.
3. Antonio.
4. By pretending to be a famous lawyer.
5. She was clever/wise.(言之有理即可)

【分析】
这是一篇关于莎士比亚名著《威尼斯商人》的阅读理解题，解题思路如下：
1. 先通读全文，整体把握故事内容：理清安东尼奥、巴萨尼奥、夏洛克和波西亚之间的人物关系与核心事件。
2. 针对每个问题，提取题干关键词，回到原文定位对应段落：
第1题抓关键词“speaks highly of”，定位第一段相关语句即可找到答案；
第2题抓关键词“run out of property”，定位第二段开头巴萨尼奥的行为描述；
第3题判断代词指代，需结合前文语境，找到被夏洛克憎恨的人物；
第4题抓关键词“save Antonio's life”，定位第三段波西亚的具体做法；
第5题根据波西亚智救安东尼奥的情节，分析她的人物特质，言之有理即可。
3. 整理答案时，细节题严格贴合原文表述，开放题围绕人物行为给出合理评价。
【解析】
1. 根据第一段“In the play Shakespeare not only speaks highly of love and friendship, but also mirrors the social background of that time.”可知，莎士比亚在剧中推崇爱与友谊。
2. 由第二段“Antonio had a friend named Bassanio who spent money without limit. As a result, he ran out of his property in a short time.”可知，巴萨尼奥因花钱无度耗尽了财产。
3. 第二段中“Having been scolded by Antonio for being cruel and greedy, Shylock hated him.”，这里的“him”指代前文斥责夏洛克的安东尼奥（Antonio）。
4. 根据第三段“To save Antonio's life, Portia pretended to be a famous lawyer.”可知，波西亚通过伪装成著名律师的方式救了安东尼奥。
5. 从波西亚利用契约漏洞和法律条文智斗夏洛克的行为能看出，她聪明机智（clever/wise），学生也可结合情节给出其他合理评价。
【答案】
1. Love and friendship.
2. Because he spent money without limit.
3. Antonio.
4. By pretending to be a famous lawyer.
5. She was clever/wise.(言之有理即可)
【知识点】
阅读理解细节查找；代词指代判断；人物形象分析
【点评】
本文节选自莎士比亚经典喜剧《威尼斯商人》，既考查学生提取文本细节信息的能力，也涉及人物形象分析的开放性思维。解题时需精准定位原文语句，同时结合名著情节理解人物特质，有助于提升学生的文本解读能力与文学素养。
【难度系数】
0.7