(练习)课时分层作业6 Unit 8 Literature READING & WRITING-【提分教练】2023-2024学年新教材高中英语选择性必修第三册(北师大版2019)

课时分层作业(六) Ⅰ．阅读理解 A Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse，and when he arrived in this hard world，it was very doubtful whether he would live beyond the first three minutes．He lay on a hard little bed and struggled to start breathing． Oliver managed to draw his first breath by crying loudly．His mother raised her pale young face from the pillow and whispered，“Let me see the child，and die．” The doctor turned away from the fire，where he had been warming his hands．He gave her the child to hold．Lovingly，she kissed the baby on its forehead with her cold white lips，then stared wildly around the room，fell back—and died． The doctor began to put on his coat．“The baby is weak and will probably have difficulties，” he said．“If so，give it a little milk to keep it quiet．” And so Oliver was left with only the drunken nurse．Without clothes，under his first blanket，he could have been the child of a king or a beggar．But when the woman dressed him later in rough cotton clothes，yellow with age，he looked exactly what he was — an orphan in a workhouse，ready for a life of misery，hunger，and neglect． Oliver was sent to a special “baby farm” nearby．There，he and thirty other children rolled around the floor all day，without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing．Mrs．Mann，the old woman who “looked after” them，was very experienced．She knew what was good for children，and a full stomach was very dangerous to their health．She also knew what was good for herself，so she kept for her own use the money that she was given for the children's food．The board responsible for the orphans sometimes checked on the health of the children，but they always sent the beadle，a kind of local policeman，to announce their visit the day before．So whenever the board arrived，of course，the children were always neat and clean． On Oliver's ninth birthday，Mr．Bumble，the beadle，came to the house to see Mrs．Mann．Through the front window Mrs．Mann saw him at the gate，and turned quickly to the girl who worked with her．