阅读下面的文字，完成1～4题。

　　①对我来说，沈从文是那种适合在十一点的月光下，默默阅读的作家。我喜欢看月光像烟雾一样照在窗台上，但窗外的风声并不能把烟雾卷走，一卷又一卷的故事就在默然中缓慢展开。

　　②真正的歌者，歌声永不会肆无忌惮，他会在歌声中轻轻包上一层薄纱。在那一卷又一卷的故事中，他让热情的目光收缩，沉静地看待冷酷的世间。然而这决非世故，因为他只是让这热情向内聚敛。然而这聚敛也并非压抑的火山，因为他内心里其实是温暖的热泪，在热泪的流动中隐含着生存的艰难和对于艰难生活的敬畏。当然，更重要的，是热泪中沉重的爱。这便是我称他为歌者的原因。这层薄纱包裹得那样艺术，令歌者在描述故乡时，为绵绵的深爱添加了透明的颜色，像沅水摇荡的青波，像水手熟睡中的笑容。

　　③如果我们凝视歌者笔下长河般的画卷，我们会发现，他常用看似清淡的笔墨，点出令人心灵颤抖的故事。萧萧的悲剧，夭夭的痛楚，以及《边城》中关得几乎让人忘记了的不幸，让人看到他深爱的美在无可挽回地消逝，令陌生的旁观者亦忍不住为之深深痛惜。

　　④一个世界正在失去，另一个世界并没有弥补住破损的缺口。现实与梦幻水乳交融，失望与希望都诉说着人性。沈从文的书中绝少刺激，只有平缓深远的歌声，勾勒出神话与历史间的原乡，将湘西的幽邃气息，将人性的朴实纯净，传送又传送，传送到远方。

　　⑤那歌声的画卷中缀满了血色的梅花，然而这梅花也终究只是背景的点缀，让人稍稍有些惊悸，旋即又木然，旋即又宁静。“大家就是这个样子活下来。”于是梅花淡出，满纸烟云的青山绿水依然铺就长卷，那些人也就如翠翠手中渡船的缆绳，坚韧不拔地系在乡土，目送逝者随青波远去。有时我会想起歌者勾画的这个湘西，想到乱世里，人命真不如蝼蚁。然而歌声却尽力地缝补过去。夕照、炊烟、春情、兵变，杂然无属，却又彼此深深联系。沈从文只是缓缓放歌，于是抒情的笔触一幕又一幕，于荒诞无道的世路中，更有连绵柔韧的生命和生命的憧憬。这场景，正像是芳草斜阳外，婴儿的哭声响起，震颤了欲看斜阳的人的心灵。

　　⑥风声呼呼地吹过，窗玻璃上生出了蓬松的、清冷的水汽。在十一点的月光下，屋内很安静，这加大了风声恣肆的魅力，使人的心情慢慢平缓下来，渐渐觉得沉静。在这样的时刻，许多人的渴望无非是能听到、看到一些真正的故事罢了。刚好有这么一个人，他的前半生是歌者，后半生也是歌者。只不过前者优美而绵长，而后者没有歌词，只在周围的声音中沉默。

　　⑦对他这样的歌者而言，不是个人不能容忍时代，也许只是时代不能容忍个人。他不革命，也没要求阶级的解放，他只是要人们从他的全部歌声中去认识我们这个民族，他想用湘西去探索更深层的题旨。他从来不是主流，因此倍感寂寞。

　　⑧我凝视着他的相片，那是建国初期，他穿着中山装，仪容整洁，脸上露出平静的笑意。他真的看到自己的命运了吗？他想得到他最后的结局与身后的声名了吗？这个和蔼的中年人只是平静地笑着，让人忘记了他是伟大的歌者，忘记了，在他笔下，世界看到了那片神奇的土地。（有删改）

1．从全文来看，沈从文的作品有哪些特点？

答：________________________________________________

2．怎样理解“那歌声的画卷中缀满了血色的梅花，然而这梅花也终究只是背景的点缀”这句话的含意？

答：________________________________________________

3．请简要回答第⑥段景物描写的作用。

答：________________________________________________

4．“歌者默然”是作者对沈从文的评价，联系文章简要谈谈你对这一评价有什么看法？

答：________________________________________________

Why should I teach my children history? That sounds like a stupid question to even ask．But, as I hear different home schooling teachers discuss history, I get the idea that there may be different reasons for teaching history．Let me briefly explain the three good reasons for studying history and two bad reasons for studying history．

The major reason I see for studying history is that we can learn from the past．I am convinced that the world would be a much better place if more people understood the successes and failures of the past and the things that made these successes and failures．However, as the unfortunately true statement goes "the one thing we seem to learn from history is that we don't seem to learn from history". Perhaps at least in teaching history, to my children I can do a small part in changing this．

A second major reason for studying history is that it is hard to understand the current political climate in the absence of an understanding of its historical context．We can’t even understand why we are and where we are without history, much less （更不必说） try to figure out where we are going or how we should get where we want to be．

I teach my children history, for one more reason．I purchased a set of historical audio （录音机） tapes for our children．My seven-year-old son listened to them over and over．It was my hope that he would become inspired by the accomplishments of people like the Wright brothers to accomplish things by himself．I think that it is good that we celebrate the accomplishments of people like Martin Luther King Jr．if, in doing so, young people are called on to stand for the principles that he stood for and accomplish what he accomplished．I also think that by studying people like Adolph Hitler, people can learn to stand against the things that he stood for．

小题1:What message can we get from the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 ?

A．Many people aren't clever enough to learn well from the past．

B．Many people fail to make good use of history and make the same mistakes．

C．Many people feel it hard to understand history．

D．Many people have no interest in studying history．小题2:In Paragraph 3, the author shows that history is useful because _______________．

A．It makes the current political situation go smoothly

B．It helps us realize the importance of historical events

C．It helps us understand why things are the way they are

D．It helps people accept the present situation where they live小题3:Some historical figures are mentioned in the last paragraph to show ______________．

A．People can be inspired to do good, while also learning to fight against evil

B．People may also learn from bad historical figures

C．More celebrations should be held to honor their achievements

D．Today’s people can also achieve what they achieved小题4:What would be talked about in the following paragraph?

A．How to teach history effectively．

B．Some negative reasons for studying history．

C．How to get more people to study history．

D．Some bad historical figures．小题5:The main purpose of this passage is to ____________．

A．inspire the parents to teach their children history

B．show the importance of history in politics

C．explain the reasons why children study history

D．introduce the writer' s own way of teaching history