Daniel Defoe (about 1660—1731) was an important novelist in the English literature. When he was young, he served as a soldier and had been to Spain, Italy, France and Germany. At the same time, he went in for politics. He cared much about the development of capitalism(资本主义). He had written a lot of articles against it and he was put into prison twice for that. It was not until that he was nearly sixty that he began to write the famous novel “Robinson Crusoe”, which was published in May, 1709. It spread so rapidly that the story was known to every household very soon.
“Robinson Crusoe” can be divided into three parts. The first part is about Crusoe’s three voyages, the second part about his hunting, hiding in caves farming and his hard struggles against nature on a small island, the third about the things which happened after his return from the island. The second part is the body of the novel, in which Robinson’s characters are clearly shown. Defoe wrote his novel in a simple style and his language is easy to understand. His novel writing set a milestone of the modern English novel. In his later part of life, He was in poor health and lived very poorly. He died on April 24, 1731.
小题1:Deniel Defoe was _______ and the writer of _______.
A．an Englishman, “A Tale of Two Cities”
B．an American, “A Million Pound Note”
C．a French, “The Lost Necklace”
D．an English, “Robinson Crusoe”小题2:How old was he when he began to write his famous novel Robinson Crusoe?
A．He was in his sixties.
B．He was in his fifties.
C．He was over 60.
D．He was sixty.小题3:Robinson Crusoe can be divided into ______ parts and the first is about _______.
A．three, his journeys by sea
B．three, his characters
C．two, his lonely life
D．four, his fame小题4:“Every household” in this passage means ________.
A．all members of a family
B．all people
C．every building
D．persons living in the same house小题5:What was Defoe’s contribution(贡献) to the English literature?
A．He wrote a very interesting story.
B．He made people happy while reading his story.
C．He set a milestone of the modern English novel.
D．He was active in politics and was against capitalism.
