The young people who talk of the village as being “dead” are talking nothing but nonsense, as in their hearts they must surely know.
No, the village is not dead. There is more life in it now than there ever was. But it seems that “village life” is dead. Gone for ever. It began to decline about a hundred years ago. When many girls left home to go into service in town many miles away, and men also left home in increasing numbers in search of work, and home was where work was. There are still a number of people alive today who can remember what “village life” meant in the early years of the present century. It meant finding your entertainment in the village of within walking distance of it. It meant housewives tied to the home all day and every day. It meant going to bed early to save lamp-oil and coal.
Then came the First World War and the Second World War. After each war, new ideas, new attitudes, new trades and occupations were revealed to villagers. The long-established order of society was no longer taken for granted. Electricity and the motorcar were steadily operating to make “village life” and “town life” almost alike. Now with the highly developed science and technology and high-level social welfare for all, there is no point whatever in talking any longer about “village life.” It is just life, and a better life.考试大论坛
Finally, if we have any doubts about the future, or about the many changes which we have seen in our lives, we have only to look in at the school playground any mid-morning; or see the children as they walk homeward in little groups. Obviously there children are better fed, better clothed, better educated, healthier, prettier and happier than any generation of children that ever before walked the village street.
1. By saying that village is not dead, but “village life” is dead, the writer suggests that _____.
A. those young people who talk of the village as being “dead” are wrong
B. the two statements are against each other
C. “village life” today is rather uninteresting
D. “village life” today is no longer like what it used to be
答案D
解析：本文第二段对过去和现在的农村生活进行对比，由此得出现在的农村生活已经不再像过去的农村生活那样了。所以本题正确答案应该是D。 而不是A：那些谈论农村已经不存在的年轻人是错误的，B：农村和农村生活相反，C：今天的农村生活很乏味。
2. It was _____ that “village life” began to take a sharp turn.
A. about a century ago
B. during the two world wars
C. with electricity and motorcars introduced into the village
D. only recently
答案C
解析：本题问的是从什么时候起，农村生活有了一个转折点。从文章第三段第四句话：“电和机动车辆在拉近农村生活和城市生活的距离方面起着决定性的作用”，可知选项C 正确。
3. As is suggested in paragraph 2, villagers in the past _____.
A. lived a simpler life than villagers today
B. knew fewer people than villagers today
C. found it difficult to enjoy themselves
D. liked to wash themselves with cold water
答案A
解析：第二段最后四句话讲述的是：过去的村子里的每一个人都相互了解; 不必走很远就可以娱乐;家庭主妇们每天都呆在家里;为了节省煤和灯油，人们很早就睡了。由此， 我们可知，选项A是正确答案。
4. The expression “... there is no point whatever in talking about ...” in paragraph 3 means that _____.
A. there is no end to the talking about ...
B. it is harmful to talk about ...
C. it is not meaningless to talk about ...
D. there is no reason for talking about ...
答案D
解析： point 在这里可以理解成“有道理，有理由”所以，答案应该是D。
5. From the passage we can see that the writer’s attitude toward “village life” is _____.
A. positive B. negative
C. neutral D. unclear
答案C
解析：作者在文章中只讲农村生活的变化，并未对农村生活进行评价，所以作者的观点是中立的。因此答案是C
