考研英语历年阅读理解真题精析--2006年part4
Many things make people think artists are weird and the weirdest may be this: artists' only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere in the 19th century, more artists began seeing happiness as insipid, phony or, worst of all, boring as we went from Wordsworth's daffodils to Baudelaire's flowers of evil.
You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen such misery. But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.
After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The 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.
People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in peril and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
Today the messages your average Westerner is bombarded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda--to lure us to open our wallets to make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. “Celebrate!” commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.
What we forget--what our economy depends on is forgetting--is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need someone 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. It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air.
16. By citing the example 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 grow out of both positive and negative feeling.
C. Poets today are less skeptical of happiness.
D. Artist have changed their focus of interest.
17. The word “bummer” （Line 5. paragraph 5）most probably means something____
A. religious B. unpleasant C. entertaining D. commercial
18. In the author's opinion, advertising___
A. emerges in the wake of the anti-happy part.
B . is a cause of disappointment for the general peer
C. replace the church as a major source of information
D. creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.
19. 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 by refreshing.
C. Misery should be enjoyed rather than denied.
D. The anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms
20. 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 morality.
D. mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.
Unit 13（2006）Part 4
重点词汇：
1. weird a. 不自然的，怪异的，非传统的
2. perpetual a. 永远的，永恒的
3. skeptical （+ about/ of） a. phr. 对……不肯相信的，对……常怀疑的相关词 skeptic n. 怀疑论者skepticism n. 怀疑态度；怀疑论
4. disaster n. 灾难，天灾人祸
5. massacre n. 大屠杀，惨败
6. track ① vt. 跟踪，追踪② n. 足迹，踪迹；路径，小路，路线；搭配track down跟踪，追踪； 对……追查到底； off track（比喻）停止，出轨；on track （比喻）按期；未出差错； on the right/ wrong track 想法（或做法）对头/不对头；yield the track to 屈服于；track meet 田径运动会； track man田径运动员ideology n. 思想体系；思想意识
7. reminder n. 令人回忆起……的东西，提醒人……的东西相关词 remindful（that +从句），牢记（从句）。例：He is remindful that he owes his friend money. 他牢记欠朋友的钱。remind about 就……提醒某人； remind sb.of sth.使（默认）想起某事；remind sb.that （+从句） 提醒某人（+从句）
8. literacy n.读写能力
9. opposite a. 相对的，相反的
10. bombard vt. be bombarded with
11. beaming a. = happy and cheerful 面露喜色的
12. celebrity n. （尤指娱乐界的）名人，名流；名声，名誉
13. lure ① n.吸引力 （+for）； 诱惑物② lure sb.to do sth. vt. phr. =attract; tempt 吸引；引诱；诱惑insipid a. 无味的，乏味的，单调的
14. phony a. =not real or genuine 假的，伪造的
15. daffodil n. 黄水仙花
16. peril n. 极大的危险，招致危险的事物/原因；相关词 perilous a.=hazardous, very dangerous bummer =a bad or disappointing experience 失望的、不愉快的经历重要词组
17. be in peril 处在危险中
18. given all this［状语或插入语］= if so如果这样
试题解析：
16.【正确答案】［D］artists have changed their focus of interest.
【测试要点】这是一道语意推断题。
【试题解析】该问提到两位诗人的目的何在。原文举这两位诗人是为了说明艺术家的转变：过去描述幸福，后来描述不幸。因此［D］为正确答案。
17.【正确答案】［B］unpleasant.
【测试要点】这是一道词义推断题。
【试题解析】从上下段可以看出过去人不好过日子，所以选词义表示“负面的、不好的”选项。四个选项中，只有［B］“令人不快的”符合题意。
18.【正确答案】［D］creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.
【测试要点】这是一道作者语气判断题。
【试题解析】由原文可知，如今的广告给人造成幸福的幻觉，而非真的幸福，那么［D］为正确答案。
19.【正确答案】［B］The antihappy art is distasteful by refreshing.
【测试要点】这是一道语意推断题。
【试题解析】注意原文“we need someone to tell us …， yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air.” （忧愁的艺术告诉我们的尽管苦涩，却带来一股令我们清醒的清新气息。本句中someone就是指本篇讨论的现代艺术，而现代艺术的本质是anti-happy的。看看［B］more bitter“对应”distasteful；“a breath of fresh air”对应“refreshing”。 而that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it中的代词this /it 都是指人生的unhappiness，意思也就是 misery， 这句话的意思是幸福不在于否认生活中有misery, 而是应该去接受或容忍它。命题者将这句话前错后对地改写了，Misery should be enjoyed rather than denied. 这里enjoy作者用了个非常具有干扰性的词。注意：live with = put up with sth. unpleasant （accept or tolerate接受和忍受不愉快的事情） 怎么可能等同于enjoy呢！
20.【正确答案】［A］Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.
【测试要点】这是一道主旨大意题。
【试题解析】由文中可知，宗教在过去提醒人们苦难的存在，如今宣传不幸的艺术起着同样的作用。［A］说到了宗教的这一作用，为正确答案。
全文翻译：
许多事情让人们认为艺术家是怪人，而且最奇怪的莫过于此：艺术家的唯一工作就是探索情感，然而，他们的选择聚焦于那些他们感觉很糟的情感。
事实并非常常如此，最早的艺术形式，像绘画和音乐，是那些最适合表达喜悦的艺术，但是在19世纪的某个地方，许多艺术家开始把幸福看作是淡而无味的、虚假的——更糟的是，看作是令人厌烦的，这点可以从威廉？华兹华斯的《水仙花》到波德莱尔把鲜花描述为**的转变之中看出。
你可能会坚持认为艺术之所以对幸福产生更大的怀疑是因为现代社会也已经历了太多的不幸，但是这并不意味着早期的时代没有经历战乱、灾难和对无辜者的屠杀。事实上，原因可能恰恰相反：如今的世界存在过多的该诅咒的幸福。
毕竟，现代社会几乎完全用来描述幸福的语言是什么？是广告。反幸福的艺术的兴起几乎和大众传媒的兴起如出一辙；由于它的缘故，在商业广告文化中，幸福不仅仅是一种理想，还是一种思想观念。
早期时代的人们被贫困的事物包围着，他们一直工作到筋疲力尽为止，生活中几乎无安全可言，而且英年早逝。在西方，在大众传播工具出现以及人们学会读写以前，最有力的传播媒介就是教堂，它告诫礼拜者他们的灵魂处于危险之中，它们有一天会成为蝼蚁之餐。倘若这些说法成立的话，他们也就完全不需要艺术以成为流浪者。
今天，普通西方人不是被宗教所包围，而是受到商业广告的轰击，他们始终是幸福的。吃快餐者、新闻节目主持人、文本发送者，大家都面带微笑，都在笑。我们的杂志以光彩照人的名人、住着完美宅邸的幸福家庭为主角。由于这些信息含有这样的真实企图——就是诱使人们打开他们的钱夹子，以便使得幸福的真正含义变得不可靠。治疗关节炎的药物Celebrex曾一度暗示人们“庆祝吧！”不久我们却发现这种药可能增加心脏病发作的危险！
我们所忘记的——而我们的经济就是依赖于忘记——是：幸福并不等于没有痛苦的快乐。那些带来最大喜悦的事物潜藏着最大的损失和失望的隐患。今天，身处轻松幸福的许诺的包围之中，我们需要有人来提醒我们——如同从前宗教所做的那样——“死亡的象征”：记住我们会死亡，万事皆有终了时；幸福不是来源于否认这点，而是与其共生。这种信息甚至要比丁香味的香烟更苦涩，然而，无论如何，它不失为一股新鲜空气。
考研英语历年阅读理解真题精析--2006年part4的延伸阅读——复习英语要讲究技巧
一，重视单词。
从第一天开始复习到考试的前一天，考试大纲词汇就应不离手，因为这是一切的基础。考试大纲是命题专家出题的依据、基础，所以考生一定要重视。背单词时，可以总结同义词、一词多义以及包含“高级”短语的句子，然后跟同桌的研友们对话，或者“厚颜无耻”地主动向他们“炫耀”，同时也坚持参加英语辩论活动，把自己最新积累的词句一一“亮”出，这样考生会感觉记得特别牢固。
二，日积月累。
作为一门语言，充满了繁琐与细节的，想一口吃成大胖子是不太现实的，必须耐心地积累“量变”以求“质变”。学习英语的时间安排也是有规律可循的，如果你一天安排3个小时学英语，那么与其一鼓作气学3个小时倒不如改成上下午各1.5小时。持续学习、及时复习才能收到较为理想的效果。可以参照着名的“艾宾浩斯遗忘曲线”来合理安排时间，最大限度地降低遗忘率，以获得较好的学习效果。
三，研读真题。
历年考研英语全真试题是了解考研水平的最快途径，也是熟悉命题规律的唯一途径。所以要在老师的指导下分阶段复习考研英语真题。找一个安静的环境，先用一周的时间做一套真题，做完后，对自己的错题先看一下怎么错的，错在哪里，能不能解决。剩下的时间要分析题型，也就是看这些题目是属于细节题、推理题，还是主旨大意题……当复习完十年的真题，建议考生放20天左右的时间，重新再做真题，分析自己的做题思路，考前一个月适当做些高质量的模拟题练练手。另外，希望考生真题至少看三遍。第一遍先做，做完之后归纳总结错题的原因。第二遍主要精读文章解决单词句子翻译。第三遍前两遍的内容都要看。
四，增加课外阅读。
课外阅读在考研英语复习中占有重要地位，对提高成绩有很大作用，建议大家订一份《英语世界》杂志，阅读上面的文章，也会有不少收获。如果有条件，看看自己学校图书馆是否有这本书，有的话坚持看，肯定会有收获的！
希望以上的介绍对2013的考研同学有所帮助，另外，大家在学习英语学习方法时，要从自身实际出发，选择真正适合自己的复习方法。 | 
