考研英语-2006年考研英语阅读理解

Text 4

①Many things make people think artists are weird. ②But the weirdest may be this: artists’ only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.

①This wasn’t always so.②The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy.③But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from Wordsworth’s daffodils to Baudelaire’s flowers of evil.

①You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much misery. ②But it’s not as if earlier times didn’t know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. ③The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.

①After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? ②Advertising. ③The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.

①People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. ②They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. ③In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. ④Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.

①Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. ②Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling, smiling. ③Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. ④And since these messages have an agenda—to lure us to open our wallets—they make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. ⑤“Celebrate!” commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.

①But what we forget—what our economy depends on us forgetting—is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. ②The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. ③Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. ④It’s a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air.

36. By citing the examples of poets Wordsworth and Baudelaire, the author intends to show that _________.

[A] poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or music

[B] art grows out of both positive and negative feelings

[C] poets today are less skeptical of happiness

[D] artists have changed their focus of interest

37. The word “bummer” (Line 6, Paragraph 5) most probably means something ___________.

[A] religious

[B] unpleasant

[C] entertaining

[D] commercial

38. In the author’s opinion, advertising _________.

[A] emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art

[B] is a cause of disappointment for the general public

[C] replaces the church as a major source of information

[D] creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself

39. We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes _________.

[A] happiness more often than not ends in sadness

[B] the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing

[C] misery should be enjoyed rather than denied

[D] the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms

40. Which of the following is true of the text?

[A] Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.

[B] Art provides a balance between expectation and reality.

[C] People feel disappointed at the realities of modern society.

[D] Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.

答案速查

36. D 37. B 38. D 39. B 40. A

试题透析

36. D

[解题思路] 题干关键字Wordsworth and Baudelaire出现在文章第二段句③。文章首段提出人们通常认为艺术家们很奇怪，最奇怪的是他们喜欢表现悲伤的主题。第二段语意一转，指出早期艺术形式最适合表现愉快的情绪，但从19世纪某个时候开始，越来越多的艺术家们开始认为快乐无意义、虚假、无聊，这种转变就像从华兹华斯的《水仙花》到波德莱尔的《恶之花》的转变一样。显然作者是以华兹华斯和波德莱尔两位诗人的作品为例，说明艺术家们兴趣的改变，答案为选项[D]。

[干扰排除] 选项[A]中painting or music出现第二段句②，此处以绘画与音乐为例，说明早期艺术形式表现快乐的情绪，并未将音乐、绘画与诗歌的表现力作比较，故排除选项[A]。文中指出艺术既可以表现(express)悲伤也可以表现快乐，但文中并没有指出艺术源于(grows out of)正面和负面情绪，更没有论述艺术的起源问题，因此排除选项[B]。第二段句②、③指出，早期艺术形式表现愉快情绪，从19世纪开始，艺术家们就开始认为快乐无意义、虚伪而无聊，说明现代艺术家们对快乐的怀疑比过去更强烈，故排除选项[C] 。

37. B

[解题思路] 题干中单词bummer出现在文章第五段末句，根据该句前半部分Given all this可知，本句与上文紧密相连。第五段句①和句②指出，早期人们的生活时时都在提醒着人们痛苦的存在(surrounded by reminders of misery)，现实生活中工作累，生活没保障，寿命短。句③说明过去教堂时刻提醒人们其灵魂处于危险之中，总有一天他们会成为虫子的食物。接着句④说明，有了这些痛苦的提醒，人们不再需要艺术是 __________。根据上文内容可知， bummer对应reminders of misery，即人们有了如此多关于痛苦的提醒，不再需要艺术来表现悲伤了。由此可知答案为选项[B]。

[干扰排除] 选项[A]和选项[D]利用文中的church与commercial设置干扰，都脱离了bummer所在的具体语境，故排除。选项[C]从文中无从推知。

38. D

[解题思路] 本题关键词advertising首先在第四段中出现。该段指出广告成为完全用来表达快乐的表现形式，并由此催生了反快乐艺术，由此可知选项[A]错误。其次advertising还在第六段中提到。该段句①首先指出如今西方的人们被商业讯息所包围着，接着句②和句③则具体说明快餐食客、新闻主播以及报纸杂志都在大肆表现生活中的快乐。句④说明这些信息都有一个共同的目的——诱使人们消费(lure us to open our wallets)，它们使快乐变得不可靠(make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable)。句⑤则以具体事例说明广告大肆宣扬快乐，但同样给人们带来了痛苦。由此可以推知，广告并没有创造真正的快乐，而是用快乐掩盖了痛苦，答案为选项[D]。

[干扰排除] 文章第四段句③说明反快乐艺术的出现紧跟着大众媒体的出现而产生。大众媒体同时催生了商业文化，由此可知，反快乐艺术的出现应该在广告之后，故排除选项[A]。选项[B]利用末段不相关词汇disappointment设置干扰，但原文并没有表明作者认为广告造成了普通大众的失望。第六段句①指出如今人们被商业而不是宗教信息所包围(the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial)，并不说明“广告”是“信息”的主要来源，故排除选项[C]。

39. B

[解题思路] 最后一段首先说明快乐不是没有痛苦的快乐，现代社会中，人们被快乐包围着，但仍需要艺术提醒我们痛苦的存在。末句则说明，这一信息(a message)比丁香香烟还苦(more bitter than a clove cigarette)，却是一缕新鲜空气(a breath of fresh air)。由此可知，反快乐艺术提醒人们，在被快乐包围时注意不快乐虽使人们觉得痛苦，却能使人保持清醒，故答案为选项[B]，选项中distasteful, refreshing分别对应文中bitter，a breath of fresh air。

[干扰排除] 末段句①和句②说明快乐与痛苦同时存在，快乐的事情也可能会带来痛苦，选项[A]将这一信息曲解为“快乐以悲伤告终”，应排除。选项[C]是对句③中happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it的曲解，该句意为“幸福并不是否认这一点(痛苦的存在)，而是与其共存”，并不是“享受痛苦”，故排除选项[C]。选项[D]从反面进行干扰，句①指出经济需要我们忘记的是，幸福不只是没有痛苦的快乐，即经济依赖于盲目的快乐，而不依赖于注重表达悲伤情感的反快乐艺术，无从推知反快乐艺术在经济繁荣时盛行，故排除选项 [D]。

40. A

[解题思路] 文章第五段句③指出，在西方，大众媒体以及教育出现以前，教堂是最有影响力的大众媒介(most powerful mass medium was the church )，它提醒信徒们，他们的灵魂处于危险之中(reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger...)，由此可推知，选项[A]为答案。

[干扰排除] 文章全篇都在说明反快乐艺术形成的原因：生活中充斥着真实或不真实的快乐，而反快乐艺术提醒人们注意痛苦，选项[B]将其替换为“艺术提供期望与现实之间的平衡”，因而错误。选项[C]、选项[D]分别利用disappointment和mass media编造事实，属无关信息。

词汇突破

【第一段】

weird /wIEd/ adj 古怪的;奇怪的：I found some of her poems a bit weird. 我觉得她的一些诗有点怪。

【第二段】

somewhere /5sQmweE(r)/ adv 大约;大概：I’d expect to be earning somewhere between $20,000 and $25,000. 我希望能挣到20,000到25,000美元。

onward /5CnwEd/ adv 从……以后：the period from 1969 onward 1969年以后的那段时间

phony /5fEUni/ adj (指事物)假的，仿造的：The story sounds phony to me. 我觉得这件事听起来有点假。

daffodil /5dAfEdIl/ n [C] 水仙花

【第三段】

skeptical /5skeptIkl/ adj 怀疑的：Environmental groups are skeptical of the government’s claims. 环境保护组织对政府的声明持怀疑态度。

misery /5mIzEri/ n [C,U] 痛苦的事;苦难：He wrote endlessly about his frustrations and miseries. 他不断地写自己遭遇的挫折和磨难。

it’s not as if不大像是……(表示某事不是真的，因而不能解释某人的行为)：I can’t understand why he disapproves of me. It’s not as if I’ve done something wrong. 我不理解为什么他不喜欢我，不大像是我做错了什么事。

perpetual /pE5petFuEl/ adj 不间断的;持续的：the perpetual noise of traffic 不绝于耳的交通噪音

massacre /5mAsEkE(r)/ n [C,U] 大屠杀：the massacre of thousands of people for their religious beliefs 因宗教信仰对千万人的大屠杀

innocent /5InEsnt/ n [C] 无辜的人(尤指罪行或战争的受害者)：hundreds of innocents killed in terrorist attack 在恐怖主义袭击中丧生的数百名无辜者

【第四段】

dedicate /5dedIkeIt/ v [T] 把(时间、空间、金钱)用于：The newspaper dedicated three whole pages to the pictures of the prince’s wedding. 报纸用了整整三版的篇幅刊登王子婚礼的照片。

depict /dI5pIkt/ v [T] 描述，描写(某事物)：Her novel depicts life in modern London. 她的小说描写的是伦敦现代的生活。

track /trAk/ v [T] 追踪：He tracked Anna to her room. 他跟踪安娜到了她的房间。

ideology /7aIdI5ClEdVi/ n [C,U] 思想(体系);意识形态：the dominant free-market ideology of the late 20th century 20世纪晚期占主流地位的自由市场思想意识

【第五段】

literacy /5lItErEsi/ n [U] 读写能力;识字;有文化：All the children are tested in basic literacy. 所有孩子都参加基本读写能力测试。

bummer /5bQmE(r)/ n [C] 令人不愉快的人、事或经历：It was a real bummer being ill on holiday. 假期生病实在是太郁闷了。

【第六段】

anchor /5ANkE(r)/ n [C] 主持人;主播：He signed off after nineteen years as CBS news anchor. 在做了19年哥伦比亚广播公司新闻节目主持人后，他辞职不干了。

feature /5fi:tFE(r)/ v [T] 以……为特色;是……的特征：The latest model features alloy wheels and an electronic alarm. 最新款的特色是合金车轮和电子报警器。

beaming /5bi:mIN/ adj 笑容满面的;耀眼的：The beaming woman is walking towards me，stretching her arms to give a hug. 那个笑容满面的女人朝我走过来，张开双臂要拥抱我。

lure /lUE(r)/ v [T] 引诱，诱惑;诱骗：The child was lured into a car but managed to escape.小孩被诱骗到汽车里但还是设法逃脱了。

arthritis /B:5WraItIs/ n [U] 关节炎

【第七段】

disappointment /7dIsE5pRIntmEnt/ n [U] 失望;沮丧：To our great disappointment, it rained on the day of the picnic. 使我们大失所望的是，野餐那天下雨了。

clove cigarette丁香香烟(一种产自印尼的香烟，由烟叶和丁香混合制成，味苦涩)

【选项词汇】

distasteful /dIs5teIstfl/ adj 使人不愉快的;不合意的;讨厌的：distasteful behaviour 讨厌的行为

refresh /rI5freF/ v [T] 给(某人、某事物)新的力量或活力;使恢复;使振作：The drink refreshed us. 酒使我们精神振奋。

flourish /5flQrIF/ v [I] (指思想或人)活跃而有影响力：In Germany the Baroque style of art flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries. 在德国，巴洛克艺术风格在17、18世纪非常盛行。

【句式分析】

① But somewhere from the 19th century onward, more artists began seeing

转折连词 时间状语 主语 谓语

happiness as meaningless, phony or, worst of all, boring, as we went from

宾语 宾语补语 时间状语从句

Wordsworth’s daffodils to Baudelaire’s flowers of evil.

时间状语从句

本句的主干结构为...more artists began seeing happiness as...。介词短语from the 19th century onward为时间状语，副词somewhere表示“大约;大概”，起减弱语气的作用。第一个as与谓语see 构成see sth as...的结构，as后为宾语补足语。逗号后as为连词，引导时间状语从句，介词短语from...to...为从句中的状语。

② After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost

连接词 疑问词 谓语 主语 后置定语

completely dedicated to depicting happiness?

后置定语

本句为疑问句。疑问词what置于句首，系动词is充当谓语，与主语形成主谓倒装，名词短语the one modern form of expression作主语。过去分词短语dedicated to depicting happiness为后置定语修饰the... form of expression。

③ The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media,

主语 谓语 宾语1

and with it,a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an

插入语 宾语2 定语从句

ideology.

本句为复合句。句子的主干结构为The rise of anti-happy art... tracks the emergence of...and a commercial culture。该句的宾语为the emergence of mass media 和the emergence of a commercial culture，两个宾语由插入语with it隔开，且后一宾语省略了the emergence of。句末in which 引导的限定性定语从句修饰宾语a commercial culture。

④ The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and

主语 定语从句 谓语 宾语

disappointment.

本句的主干结构为The things ...carry the greatest potential...。其中主语为The things，其后紧跟由关系代词that引导的定语从句。名词短语the greatest potential为宾语，介词for引导的短语作后置定语修饰该宾语。

⑤ Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need art

时间状语 伴随状语 主语 谓语 宾语

to tell us, as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that

目的状语 插入语 同位语 宾语从句1

everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it.

宾语从句2 宾语从句3

本句的主句为...we need art...。不定式短语to tell us... Memento mori为目的状语，Memento mori意为“使人想到死的事物;死的警示物”。句首过去分词短语surrounded by promises...为伴随状语，介词短语as religion once did为插入语。冒号后的祈使句remember that...为同位语，解释说明Memento mori，该同位语中包含三个并列的宾语从句，充当动词remember的宾语。

全文翻译

①许多事情让人们认为艺术家很奇怪。②然而，最奇怪的可能是：艺术家们唯一的工作就是去探究情感，而且他们甚至选择关注令人悲伤的情感。

①情况并不总是如此。②最早期的艺术形式，如绘画与音乐，是最适合表达欢乐的。③但大约从19世纪以来，越来越多的艺术家们开始认为快乐是无意义的、虚伪的，甚至是无聊的，就像我们从华兹华斯的《水仙花》到波德莱尔的《恶之花》所经历的转变一样。

①你也许认为艺术对快乐愈发怀疑是因为现代见证了太多的苦难。②但历史早期也并不是没有持续的战争、灾难以及对无辜者的屠杀。③事实上，原因也许正好相反：如今的世界有太多该死的快乐了。

①别忘了，那个几乎完全用来描述快乐的现代表达方式是什么?②广告。③反快乐艺术几乎紧随着大众媒体的出现而产生，与大众媒体相伴而生的是商业文化，在这种文化中，快乐不仅是一种理想，而且是一种意识形态。

①过去的人们置身于处处可使他们想到悲苦的境地。②他们累得筋疲力尽，生活几乎没有保障，年纪轻轻就命丧黄泉。③在西方，在大众传播工具出现和人们读书识字之前，教堂是最有影响力的大众媒介，它提醒着教徒们他们的灵魂处在危险之中，终有一天他们的肉体会被蛀虫所啮噬。④有了这些对悲苦的提醒，人们不需要艺术也变成令人不快的东西了。

①如今，普通西方人都被商业的、永远快乐的信息而不是宗教信息包围着。②快餐食客们、新闻主播们以及发送短信息者，都在微笑，微笑，微笑。③杂志上总是刊登着笑容满面的名人们以及住在漂亮房子里幸福美满的家庭。④由于这些信息都有一个目的，即诱使人们掏腰包，这就使我们觉得快乐这个概念变得不再可靠。⑤“欢庆吧!”治疗关节炎的西乐葆药物广告如此宣称，而随后我们却发现它能增加心脏病发作的风险。

①但我们忘记的，同时也是我们的经济需要我们忘却的，是幸福不只是没有痛苦的快乐。②能带来最大快乐的事情也最可能带来损失与失望。③如今人们被快乐可以轻易而得的承诺包围着，我们需要艺术像过去的宗教那样提醒我们生命无常：人总会死去，一切都会结束，幸福并不是否认这些，而是与之共存。④这一事实可能比丁香香烟还苦，但在某种意义上，却是一缕新鲜的空气。