考博英語閱讀理解模擬題（四）

Just as Norman Mailer, John Updike and Philip Roth were at various times regarded as the greatest American novelist since the second world war, John Ashbery and Robert Lowell vied for the title of greatest American poet. Yet the two men could not be more different. Lowell was a public figure who engaged with politics—in 1967 he marched shoulder-to-shoulder with Mailer in protest against the Vietnam war, as described in Mailer's novel “The Armies of the Night”. Lowell took on substantial themes and envisioned himself as a tragic, heroic figure, fighting against his own demons. Mr Ashbery's verse, by contrast, is more beguilingly casual. In his hands, the making of a poem can feel like the tumbling of dice on a table top. Visible on the page is a delicately playful strewing of words, looking to engage with each other in a shyly puzzled fashion. And there is an element of Dada-like play in his unpredictability of address with its perpetual shifting of tones.

Lowell, who died in 1977 at the age of 60, addressed the world head on. By contrast, Mr. Ashbery, who celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year, glances wryly at the world and its absurdities. In this edition of his later poems, a substantial gathering of verses selected from six volumes published over the past 20 years, his poetry does not so much consist of themes to be explored as comic routines to be improvised. He mocks the very idea of the gravity of poetry itself. His tone can be alarmingly inconsequential, as if the reader is there to be perpetually wrong-footed. He shifts easily from the elevated to the work-a-day. His poems are endlessly digressive and there are often echoes of other poets in his writings, though these always come lightly at the reader, as though they were scents on the breeze.

Lowell wrote in strict formal measures; some of his last books consisted of entire sequences of sonnets. Mr. Ashbery can also be partial to particular forms of verse, though these tend to be of a fairly eccentric kind—the cento (a patchwork of other poets' works), for example, and the pantoum (a Malaysian form, said to have been introduced to 19th-century Europe by Victor Hugo). Often he writes in a free-flowing, conversational manner that depends for its success upon the fact that the ending of lines is untrammeled by any concern about whether or not they scan. Within many of his poems, there often seems to be a gently humorous antagonism between one stanza and the next. Mr. Ashbery likes using similes in his poetry. This is often the poet's stock-in-trade, but he seems to single them out in order to send up the very idea of the simile in poetry, as in “Violets blossomed loudly/ like a swear word in an empty tank”.

Life, for Lowell, was a serious matter, just as he was a serious man. Mr Ashbery's approach, as evinced by his poetry, is more that of a gentle shrug of amused bewilderment. Unlike Lowell's, his poems are neither autobiographical nor confessional. He doesn't take himself that seriously. “Is all of life a tepid housewarming?” For a poet this is a tougher question to answer than you might think.

1. The word “substantial” (Line 5, Paragraph 1) most probably means_____

[A] philosophical.

[B] grand.

[C] indispensable.

[D] authentic.

2. The last words of Lowell mean that_____.

[A] the world should go forward endlessly.

[B] the world should move on without absurdities.

[C] the world should function as well without his existence.

[D] the world should go on its path for a bright future.

3. Which one of the following is NOT the characteristics of Ashbery’s poetry？

[A] Some lines are borrowed from the other poets’ works.

[B] Stanzas are different from each other in one poem.

[C] Words are scattered casually in his poetry.

[D] Tones are continuously changing from the highbrow to the common.

4. Mr. Ashbery’s similes in poetry are different from that of the other poets in that_____

[A] he likes to single them out as they very essence of poetry’s technique.

[B] he uses them in an eccentric way that can hardly be imitated by other poets.

[C] he uses simile to make fun of simile.

[D] he uses simile to express his complex definition of the idea of simile.

5. Why the author thinks the question Ashbery raised is a tougher one for a poet than we might think?

[A] Because as a matter of fact Ashbey is most focused on tough matters.

[B] Because Ashbey turns out to be a more serious poet than Lowell.

[C] Because Ashbey is able to better discern the dilemma of being a poet.

[D] Because the theme of life is worth thinking for a poet.

篇章剖析：

這篇文章介紹了美國詩人Ashbery和其詩歌的特點，文章雖然是以兩個詩人對比的形式寫作的，但是卻對Ashbery著墨偏多，另外一個詩人Lowell只是一個陪襯而已。第一段講述了兩個詩人競爭美國最偉大詩人的稱號;第二段第三段都是對兩位詩人作品特點的描述;第四段講述他們對生活的不同態(tài)度。

詞匯注釋：

vie v.競爭 envision vt.想象, 預(yù)想

dice n.骰子 strew vt.散播, 點綴, 撒滿

wryly adv.挖苦地, 表情冷漠地 improvise v.臨時準(zhǔn)備

digressive adj.離題的 cento n.摘錄

pantoum n.(根據(jù)隔行同韻的馬來詩體改編的) 由隔行同韻的四行詩節(jié)組成的詩

untrammeled adj.自由自在的, 無阻礙的 tepid adj.微溫的, 溫?zé)岬?不太熱烈的

難句突破：

(1) In this edition of his later poems, a substantial gathering of verses selected from six volumes published over the past 20 years, his poetry does not so much consist of themes to be explored as comic routines to be improvised.

[主體結(jié)構(gòu)] His poetry does not so much consist of …

[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 本句為簡單句，作狀語的介詞短語成分比較復(fù)雜，a substantial gathering of verses是edition的同位語，該同位語是帶有作定語的分詞短語。在主句中，不定式短語to be explored…用來修飾themes, 而不定式短語to be improvised 又用來修飾comic routines。

[句子譯文] 他這本晚些出版的詩集選編了過去20年間出版的六本詩集中的詩歌，其主題不再是像那種臨時準(zhǔn)備的老套滑稽節(jié)目，他戲謔詩歌本身具有嚴(yán)肅性這個話題。

(2) This is often the poet's stock-in-trade, but he seems to single them out in order to send up the very idea of the simile in poetry, as in “Violets blossomed loudly/ like a swear word in an empty tank”.

[主體句式] This is … but he …

[結(jié)構(gòu)分析] 這是一個并列句，后面分句成分較為復(fù)雜，帶有一個不定式短語作目的狀語，as 引導(dǎo)成分修飾的是整個分句。

[句子譯文] 雖然這是詩人的慣用手法，但他卻把這些比喻單獨挑出來，以突出詩里面明喻這個概念。比如“紫羅蘭縱情開放/ 宛如空桶里的一句毒誓”。

題目分析：

1.The word “substantial” (Line 5, Paragraph 1) most probably means_____1. “substantial”(第一段第五行)這個詞最有可能的意思是_____。

[A] philosophical.[A] 哲學(xué)的。

[B] grand.[B] 宏大的。

[C] indispensable[C] 必要的。

[D] authentic.[D] 真實的。

[答案] B

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆

[分析] 猜詞題。根據(jù)上下文來斷定該詞的意思，這個詞是用來形容Lowell 詩歌主題的特點的。由第一段中Lowell喜歡參與政治，在詩歌中經(jīng)常將自己視為悲劇的英雄人物這一點可以看出，他的主題選擇應(yīng)該是比較宏大的。這一點在后面的幾個段落中也可以發(fā)現(xiàn)。選項A也容易混淆，但要從tragic heroic 這幾個詞中推導(dǎo)正確答案，因為這些就是宏大敘事中常見的特征。因此，B為正確答案。

2. The last words of Lowell mean that_____.2. Lowell的臨終遺言意思是_____

[A] the world should go forward endlessly.[A] 世界應(yīng)該繼續(xù)前行，不要停止。

[B] the world should move without absurdities.[B] 世界應(yīng)消除荒謬、繼續(xù)前行。

[C] the world should function as well without his existence.[C] 世界沒有了他應(yīng)該繼續(xù)運行。

[D] the world should go on its path for a bright future. [D] 世界應(yīng)該繼續(xù)它朝向美好未來的道路行進(jìn)。

[答案]D

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆

[分析] 推理題。Lowell臨終時addressed the world head on，意思是讓世界繼續(xù)前行，但其深層次的意思要結(jié)合Lowell的性格來判斷。根據(jù)整篇文章，Lowell是比較正統(tǒng)的一位詩人，他對待世界的態(tài)度是嚴(yán)肅的，他這句話的深層意思是世界應(yīng)該一直努力向前，最終能夠走到光明的未來。選項D最為符合題意。

3. Which one of the following is NOT the characteristics of Ashbery’s poetry?3.以下哪個不是Ashbery 詩歌的特點?

[A] Some lines are borrowed from the other poets’ works.[A] 許多句子是借用其他詩人的。

[B] Stanzas are different from each other in one poem. [B] 詩中節(jié)與節(jié)差異頗大。

[C] Words are scattered casually in his poetry.[C] 詩中的詞都是隨意散落搭配的。

[D] Tones are continuously changing from the highbrow to the common.[D] 語調(diào)不停變化，有時是陽春白雪，有時是下里巴人。

[答案]A

[難度系數(shù)] ☆

[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。題干要求選出不屬于Ashbery 詩歌特點的一項。文章通篇都有對其詩歌特點的描述，因此就要細(xì)心查找每一選項是否在文章中提及。選項A, 文章第二段最后一句提到，there are often echoes of other poets in his writings, 有其他詩人的調(diào)子，但并沒有說直接借用其作品中的句子，可能是模仿其風(fēng)格或語調(diào)。因此，答案A 不一定正確。選項B, 關(guān)于詩歌節(jié)的特點，文章第三段提到there often seems to be a gently humorous antagonism between one stanza and the next，關(guān)鍵要知道 “antagonism”的意思——“對抗的”，說明節(jié)與節(jié)之間是截然不同的對立的風(fēng)格，選項B是其詩歌特點。選項C 是關(guān)于詩歌用詞的特點，第一段提到他詩歌中的詞就像散落在桌上的色子一樣，那么C也是其特點。D是關(guān)于詩歌語調(diào)的，文章有兩處提及，第一段提到its perpetual shifting of tones，第二段有更為詳細(xì)的描述: He shifts easily from the elevated to the work-a-day, D也是其特點。因此，答案應(yīng)選A。

4.Mr. Ashbery’s similes in poetry are different from that of the other poets in that_____4.Ashbery先生詩歌中的比喻和其他詩人所用的比喻不同在于_____

[A] he likes to single them out as the very essence of poetry’s technique.[A] 他喜歡把比喻單獨列出來、作為詩歌的一種基本性技巧。

[B] he uses them in an eccentric way that can hardly be imitated by other poets.[B] 他用比喻的方式很奇怪、他人無法模仿。

[C] he uses simile to make fun of simile. [C] 他為了開比喻的玩笑而使用比喻。

[D] he uses simile to express his complex definition of the idea of simile.[D] 他用比喻來表達(dá)自己對于比喻的復(fù)雜定義。

[答案]C

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆

[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第三段提到，Ashbery喜歡在詩歌中運用比喻手法，但和一般詩人不同的是，他喜歡把比喻單獨列出來，好像要戲謔詩歌中的比喻似的。然后作者舉了一個例子，是個非常奇怪的比喻，“紫羅蘭縱情開放/ 宛如空桶里的一句毒誓”。這個題目有一定難度，send up 這個短語的意思考生不一定熟悉，但考生可以根據(jù)Ashbery一貫游戲人生的態(tài)度分析出來。選項A、B只是表層的現(xiàn)象，C才是真正的實質(zhì)。

5. Why the author thinks the question Ashbery raised is a tougher one for a poet than we might think?5. 為什么作者認(rèn)為Ashbery 提出的問題要一個詩人回答其困難程度要比我們想象的難得多?

[A] Because as a matter of fact Ashbey is most focused on tough matters.[A] 因為實際上Ashbey更加注重嚴(yán)肅的話題。

[B] Because Ashbey turns out to be a more serious poet than Lowell.[B] 因為Ashbey其實是一個比Lowell更加嚴(yán)肅的詩人。

[C] Because Ashbey is able to better discern the dilemma of being a poet.[C] 因為Ashbey更能夠察覺出作為一個詩人的兩難困境。

[D] Because the theme of life is worth thinking for a poet. [D] 因為對于一個詩人來說生活這個主題值得思考。

[答案] D

[難度系數(shù)] ☆☆☆☆

[分析] 推理題。 最后的這個問題是：“生活的全部是不是只是并不熱烈的喬遷慶宴?”這個問題的提出要結(jié)合文章最后一段來看，最后一段是描寫Ashbery對于生活的態(tài)度：Lowell對待生活的態(tài)度是很嚴(yán)肅的，但是Ashbery 卻是一種玩世不恭的態(tài)度，對于這個問題他給出的答案可能是肯定的，但是對于其他詩人呢，則需要好好地考慮一下了, 尤其是生活主題對于詩人來說是一個非常復(fù)雜的問題。答案中D最為符合。

參考譯文：

二戰(zhàn)后，Norman Mailer、John Updike、Philip Roth成為美國公認(rèn)的最偉大的小說家，同樣地，John Ashbery和Robert Lowell也爭取美國最偉大的詩人這個名號。但是，這兩個家伙可是截然不同。Lowell是個公眾人物，參與政治活動。1967年，他和Mailer肩并肩抗議越戰(zhàn)，Mailer在其小說《夜行軍》曾描述了這些情景。Lowell選擇的主題宏大，把自己想象成富有悲劇色彩的英雄形象，和自己的惡魔戰(zhàn)斗。而Ashbery的詩卻頗有閑逸氣。于他而言，做詩就好像是在桌上滾動的，紙上呈現(xiàn)的詞精妙地散落著，與其他詞形成一種晦澀含蓄的搭配。其不斷的語氣變化又使得本來變化莫測的措辭平添了一絲“達(dá)達(dá)派”的意味。

Lowell于1977年去世，終年60歲，他還號召世界繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。而今年年初才慶賀了自己80歲生日的Ashbery，卻冷眼瞧著這個世界，以及這個世界的荒誕。他這本晚些出版的詩集選編了過去20年間出版的六本詩集中的詩歌，其主題不再是像那種臨時準(zhǔn)備的老套滑稽節(jié)目，他戲謔詩歌本身具有嚴(yán)肅性這個話題。他的語氣極其不合邏輯，好像讀者永遠(yuǎn)都站不對陣腳。他的語氣一會兒是嚴(yán)肅的，一會兒馬上就成了work-a-day。他的詩歌是那么的不著邊際，中間或夾雜有其他詩人的一詞半調(diào)，但輕輕地來到讀者面前，就好像風(fēng)中的一絲氣息而已。

Lowell遵循嚴(yán)格的格式，他最后的一些作品有完整的十四行詩體例。Ashbery先生的詩歌也有一定的格式，只是有點怪異罷了——比如集錦(其他詩人作品的雜合)，比如潘頓詩體(一種馬來西亞詩體，據(jù)說是由維克托·雨果引入19世紀(jì)的歐洲的)。他常以一種隨意、會話式的方式創(chuàng)作，關(guān)鍵就在于每行結(jié)尾不必非得符合格律。在他的許多詩里面，兩節(jié)之間常是有點滑稽的對立。Ashbery先生喜歡用明喻。雖然這是詩人的慣用手法，但他卻把這些比喻單獨挑出來，好像要戲謔詩里面明喻這個概念。比如“紫羅蘭縱情開放/ 宛如空桶里的一句毒誓”。

對于Lowell，生活是件嚴(yán)肅的事情，正如他本人一樣。而Ashbery的生活方式卻不止是因困惑而輕輕地聳一下肩，這從他的詩中就可以看出來。和Lowell不同，他的詩既不是自傳性質(zhì)的，也不是懺悔的。他并不那么較真?！吧畹娜渴遣皇侵皇遣⒉粺崃覇踢w慶宴?”這個問題讓一個詩人來回答，可是比我們想象的難得多。