Most cultures have some sort of hero who represents the best values of what its people believe in.The unusual thing about King Arthur is that legends of his heroism have persisted for several centuries and spread far beyond England, the place where they began.

The earliest stories of King Arthur represent him as a warrior who fought and subdued the invading Norsemen in the years around A.D.700.This much of the Arthurian tale is probably based on fact.Whether called Arthur or not, there is a body of evidence supporting the existence of such a warrior.It is the later embellishments of the tale whose authenticity is questionable.According to these, Arthur was born in a castle in Tintagel, on the stormy western coast of England, and because he was the illegitimate son of King Uther Pendragon, he was spirited away by the magician Merlin and his true identity kept from him.He became king after freeing the sword Excalibur from the stone into which it was thrust.He married the beautiful Guinevere and assembled in his court all the noblest knights of the land, including Lancelot, with whom Guinevere would later be unfaithful to him.He was finally defeated in battle by his illegitimate son Mordred, and his body was spirited away to the isle of A Valon.

This romantic tale greatly appealed to the English and the French in the Middle Ages, when the code of chivalry-ideal qualities of knighthood-constituted an important part of many stories.Tales of the heroism of Galahad, Percival, Gawain, and many other of Arthur's knights were circulated as well.

In England today, there are many sites claiming apiece of the Arthurian an legend.There is a mined castle at Tintagel.Near Glastonbury are the remains of an ancient abbey where Arthur's and Guinevere's bodies were supposedly exhumed in the 12th century.Neither of these proves that the legend is true, but they do keep its mystique alive.

【練習(xí)】

1.King Arthur's famer was ___________

A.Lancelot

B.Avalon

C.Mordred

D.Uther Pendragon

2.The writer seems to feel that the truth about Arthur is that he ___________.

A.existed

B.was married to Guinevere

C.had many knights

D.was born at Tintagael

3.The information in the second paragraph is mostly presented in ___________.

A.spatial order

B.order from latest to earliest

C.order from earliest to latest

D.order from least persuasive

4.In the last paragraph the word "exhumed" means__________

A.dug up from the grave

B.buried

C.quarreled over

D.built a church around

5.Another good title for this passage would be ___________

A.Kings in the Seventh Century

B.The Knights of the Round Table

C.Real or Legend?

D.Arthur's Marriage to Guinevere.

【答案與題解】

1.D文中第二段提到亞瑟王是國王Uther Pendragon的私生子，所以答案是選項(xiàng)D。

2.A文章第二段第三句話提到大量證據(jù)證明是有這樣一個(gè)戰(zhàn)士的存在，不論名字是否叫亞瑟，所以作者認(rèn)為亞瑟可能是真實(shí)的。選項(xiàng)B、C、D選項(xiàng)都是亞瑟傳說故事的一部分，所以答案是選項(xiàng)A。

3.C文章第二段從亞瑟王的出生講起，后又講他是如何當(dāng)上國王，又被妻子背叛，最后被私生子殺害。所以是按照時(shí)間順序從早到晚來講述的，所以答案是選項(xiàng)C。

4.A "exhumed"的意思是"從（墳?zāi)沟忍帲┚虺鍪��?quot;，所以答案是選項(xiàng)A。

5.C A選項(xiàng)太寬泛，文章主要講亞瑟王的傳奇，沒有關(guān)注其他17世紀(jì)的國王。選項(xiàng)B和選項(xiàng) D都太片面，只涉及亞瑟王傳奇故事的一小部分。用排除法，答案是選項(xiàng)C。

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