Question

Early in the Iliad, Homer's epic poem（史诗）about the legendary, Trojan War, there occurs a famous anecdote known as the catalogue of ships, which names all the Greek leaders and contingents(小分队) who came to fight at Troy. Before unfolding this impressive muster roll (花名册)，Homer makes a special, public appeal to the Muses to ensure he gets the facts right:

Tell me now, Muses, who have your homes on Olympus-- for you are goddesses, and ever-present, and know all things, and we hear only rumour: nor do we know anything

These lines reflect a central claim of epic poetry—that through the inspiration of the Muses, daughters of Memory, it can preserve the knowledge of people and the events of the past —a formidable power in the non-literate, oral cultures in which the Iliad evolved. The Iliad was composed around 750-700 BC, but its origins lie at least some five centuries earlier, deep in the Mycenaean Bronze Age---the world the Iliad poetically evokes.

The Iliad is keenly aware of its role as the keeper of memory, and credibility is central to its storytelling. The epic is a work of fiction, and relates the events of a few weeks in the tenth and final year of the Trojan War fought between Greeks and Trojans over beautiful Helen, the Greek queen who deserted her husband to elope with a Trojan prince. Its cast of characters includes not only warriors and their captives and families, but the immortal Olympian gods, who perform many supernatural acts in the course of their eager participation in the action around Troy.

The Iliad has the reputation for being an exclusively(专门地) male epic, weak on female characters, but to choose only one example—Homer's delicate characterization of Helen as a woman driven by reluctant remorseful(悔恨的) passion is as hauntingly（萦绕心头地）credible as any Anna Karenina.

Longinus, a scholar in the 1^st Century AD wrote that in recording as he does the wounding of the gods, their quarrels, vengeance, tears, imprisonment and all their passions Homer has done his best to make the men in the Iliad gods and gods men. The scene between Achilles and Priam displays this inversion and crystallises what the Iliad poets had learned in the course of the epic’s Journey. That the gods we worship might not answer, and on occasion humanity must rise to fill their place. That glory is closely associated with painful loss. That the victor shares the humanity of the most vulnerable of the vanquished（战败者）; that there is no such thing as pure victory in war.

1.The Iliad about the legendary Trojan War, might date back to _______.

A. the third century BC    B. the seventh century BC

C. the eighth century BC    D. the thirteenth century BC

2.According to the passage,______________________________.

A. being reliable is essential to the storytelling of the Iliad

B. Trojan War between Greeks and Trojans lasted over a decade

C. Trojan War ended owning to the Olympian gods’ absence

D. beautiful Helen is a woman worth respecting in the Iliad

3.Why does the Iliad have the reputation for being an exclusively male epic?

A. Because it focuses only on men and war.

B. Because too few females were well depicted.

C. Because its cast of characters includes only males.

D. Because Helen was described as a passionate woman.

4.Which of the following statements doesn’t agree with the author’s idea?

A. Pure victory in war does not exist at all.

B. Glory is naturally accompanied with saddening loss.

C. The victor gains everything without any emotional loss.

D. Both the victor and the vanquished share the same humanity.

Answer

1. D

2. A

3. B

4. C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。在荷马史诗《伊利亚特》(Iliad)的早期，关于传说中的特洛伊战争(Trojan War)，有一段著名的轶事，叫做《船只目录》(catalogue of ships)，它列出了所有前来特洛伊作战的希腊领导人和特遣部队的名字。之前展开这个令人印象深刻的花名册，荷马是一个特殊的、公开呼吁Muses、确保他得到正确的事实：Muses，请告诉我，你们在奥林匹斯山上有自己的家，因为你们是众神，无所不知。

1.推理判断题。根据第二段中The Iliad was composed around 750-700 BC, but its origins lie at least some five centuries earlier,可知，关于传说中的特洛伊战争的《伊利亚特》，可以追溯到公元前13世纪。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第四段第一句The Iliad is keenly aware of its role as the keeper of memory, and credibility is central to its storytelling.可知，根据这篇文章，可靠是伊利亚特讲故事的关键。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据第五段第一句The Iliad has the reputation for being an exclusively(专门地) male epic, weak on female characters,可知，《伊利亚特》被誉为唯一的男性史诗因为很少有女性得到很好的刻画。故选B。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中That glory is closely associated with painful loss. That the victor shares the humanity of the most vulnerable of the vanquished（战败者）; that there is no such thing as pure victory in war.可知，C项“胜利者得到了一切，没有任何情感上的损失”的陈述不同意作者的观点。故原答案为C。