2006 T-4
文章¶
第一段¶
Many things make people think artists are weird. But the weirdest may be this: artists’ only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
- weird → adj. 奇怪的，不寻常的；怪异的，超自然的
- weirdest → 最奇怪的（weird 的最高级）
- and yet → 相当于 but
第二段¶
This wasn’t always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But 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.
- somewhere → adv. 在某处；到某处
- onward → adv. 向前；从……以后；取得进步，获得成功
- phony → adj. 伪造的，假的；虚伪的，做作的
- evil → adj. 恶毒的，邪恶的；有害的，易造成伤害的；讨厌的
第三段¶
You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen so much 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.
- skeptical → adj. 不相信的，持怀疑态度的；（哲）怀疑论的，不可知论的
- misery → n. 痛苦，苦难
- perpetual → adj. 长期的，永恒的；连续不断的
- massacre → n. 屠杀，残杀
- damn → adj. 该死的，糟糕的
第四段¶
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.
- After all → 毕竟，终究
- dedicate → v. 致力于，献身于
- depict → v. 描述，描绘
- track → v. 跟踪，追踪（跟在其后的意思）
- emergence → n. 出现，显现；崭露头角；摆脱困境
第五段¶
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 danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
- literacy → n. 识字，读写能力；专业知识；精通文学
- medium → n. 媒介，媒体；方法，手段
- worshipper → n. 崇拜者；礼拜者；爱慕者
- worm → 蠕虫
- given all this → 鉴于这一切：表示在考虑到所有这些因素的情况下。
- given → prep. 考虑到；鉴于
第六段¶
Today the messages the average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, 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—they 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.
- anchor → n. 锚；支柱，<美>新闻节目主持人
- feature → v. 以……为特色
- agenda → n. 待议事项，议事日程；（政治）议题；秘密计划，秘密目标（做事情的目的）
- lure → v. 引诱，诱惑
第七段¶
But what we forget—what our economy depends on us 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 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. It’s a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air.
- once → adv. 一次， 一回；曾经，一度
- live with → 1、与...... 共同生活：指与某人或某物共同生活在一起，可以是家人、室友或宠物等。2、忍受：指接受并适应某种不理想的情况，如病痛、困难或缺陷等。
- bitter → adj. 味苦的；痛苦的，辛酸的；激烈的，充满敌意的
题目¶
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 5, 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 → 反快乐是跟在后面的，前后颠倒了。
[B] is a cause of disappointment for the general public → 原文的起因是最大快乐，题目是广告，不对。
[C] replaces the church as a major source of information
[D] creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself
- in the wake of → 在......之后：指在某个事件或情况之后紧接着发生或出现。
- illusion → n. 错觉，幻觉；幻想，错误的观念
39¶
We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes .
[A] happiness more often than not ends in sadness → 无中生有
[B] the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing → 原文的高度概括
[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.
单词记忆¶
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