Question

An introduction to this book is as superfluous as a candle in front of a powerful searchlight. But a convention of publishing seems to require that the candle should be there, and I am proud to be the one to hold it. About ten years ago I picked up from the pile of new books on my desk a copy of Sons and Lovers by a man of whom I had never heard, and I started to race through it with the immoral speed of the professional reviewer. But after a page or two I found myself reading, really reading. Here was—here is—a masterpiece in which every sentence counts, a book packed with significant thought and beautiful, arresting phrases, the work of a remarkable genius whose gifts are more richly various than those of any other young English novelist.

To appreciate the rich variety of Mr. Lawrence we must read his later novels and his volumes of poetry. But Sons and Lovers reveals the range of his power. Here are combined and blended(混合的) sort of “realism” and almost lyric(抒情的) imagery and rhythm. The speech of the people is that of daily life and the things that happen to them are normal adventures and accidents; they fall in love, marry, work, fail, succeed, and die. But of their deeper emotions and of the relations of these little human beings to the earth and to the stars, Mr. Lawrence makes something near to poetry and prose(散文) without violating its proper “other harmony.”

Take the marvellous paragraph on next to the last page of Sons and Lovers (Mr. Lawrence depends so little on plot in the ordinary sense of the word that it is perfectly fair to read the end of his book first):

Where was he? One tiny upright speck of flesh, less than an ear of wheat lost in the field. He could not bear it. On every side the immense dark silence seemed pressing him, so tiny a spark, into extinction, and yet, almost nothing, he could not be extinct. Night, in which everything was lost, went reaching out, beyond stars and sun, stars and sun, a few bright grains, went spinning round for terror, and holding each other in embrace, there in the darkness that outpassed them all, and left them tiny and daunted(气馁). So much, and himself, infinitesimal, at the core a nothingness, and yet not nothing.

Such glorious writing lifts the book far above a novel which is merely a story. I beg the reader to attend to every line of it and not to miss a single one of the many sentences that await and surprise you. Some are enthusiastic and impressive, like the paragraph above; others are keen, “realistic” observations of things and people. In one of his books Mr. Lawrence makes a character say, or think, that life is “mixed.” That indicates his philosophy and his method. He blends the accurately literal and trivial(琐碎的) with the extremely poetic.

To find a similar blending of tiny daily detail and wide imaginative vision, we must go back to two older novelists, Hardy and Meredith. I do not mean that Mr. Lawrence derives(源于) immediately from them or, indeed, that he is clearly the disciple(弟子) of any master. I do feel simply that he is of the elder stature(名望) of Hardy and Meredith, and I know of no other young novelist who is quite worthy of their company. When I first tried to express this comparison, this connection, I was contradicted by a fellow-critic, who pointed out that Meredith and Hardy are entirely unlike each other and that therefore Mr. Lawrence cannot resemble both. To be sure, nothing is more hateful than forced comparisons, nothing more boring than to discover parallels between one work of art and another. An artist’s mastery consists in his difference from other masters. But to refer a young man of genius to an older one, at the same time pronouncing his independence and originality, is a fair, if not very superior, method of praising him.

1.The underlined word “superfluous” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _______.

A. meaningful    B. unnecessary

C. fundamental    D. unbelievable

2.What is typical of Lawrence’s works?

A. They equally reveal his genius power.

B. They contain lots of great lyric poetry.

C. They present some real living situations.

D. They focus on relations between humans.

3.What does the author want to illustrate by including one paragraph from Sons and Lovers?

A. The plot of the novel has little to do with daily life.

B. It is wise to read Lawrence’s books from the end.

C. Lawrence is capable of telling good stories.

D. The language in Lawrence’s books is elegant.

4.Who were Hardy and Meredith?

A. They taught Lawrence literature when he was young.

B. They were the realistic novelists of Lawrence’s time.

C. They were novelists who resemble each other in writing.

D. They were novelists combining details with imagination.

5.According to the author, what does an artist’s mastery mean?

A. He must have personal diversity.

B. He must have the critical spirits.

C. He must be happy to be compared.

D. He must be a man of genius.

6.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A. To introduce Lawrence’s novel Sons and Lovers.

B. To show his experiences of reading classics.

C. To analyze Lawrence’s writing characteristics.

D. To compare the styles of different novelists.

Answer

1. B

2. C

3. D

4. D

5. A

6. C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文，以劳伦斯的作品《儿子和爱人》为例介绍了劳伦斯的作品的特点——在不破坏诗歌和散文的和谐的前提下，使其更接近诗歌和散文，内容还展示了一些真实的生活场景，同时作者还指出一个艺术家的才能在于具有个人的多样性。

1.词义猜测题。根据画线词后的“as a candle in front of a powerful searchlight.”可知，一本书的序言就像强光探照灯前的蜡烛一样多余，由此可知画线词词义为“没必要的”，故B项正确。

2.细节理解题。根据第二段中的“The speech of the people is that of daily life and the things that happen to them are normal adventures and accidents”可知，劳伦斯作品中人物的语言是日常生活用语，发生在她们身上的也都是日常生活中的经历，也就是展示了一些真实的生活场景，故C项正确。

3.推理判断题。根据第二段中的“Mr. Lawrence makes something near to poetry and prose(散文) without violating its proper “other harmony.””可知，劳伦斯在不破坏诗歌和散文的和谐的前提下，使他的作品更接近诗歌和散文，语言很优美，作者举《儿子和爱人》中的一段为例就是为了证明这一点，故D项正确。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的“To find a similar blending of tiny daily detail and wide imaginative vision, we must go back to two older novelists, Hardy and Meredith.”可知，为了找到将生活中的细节和想象结合起来的作品，我们必须求助于两位更年长的小说家Hardy和 Meredith，由此可知他俩都是将生活中的细节和想象结合起来的小说家，故D项正确。

5.细节理解题。根据最后一段中的“An artist’s mastery consists in his difference from other masters.”可知，作者认为一个艺术家的才能在于他必须与其他的大师的不同，也就是具有个人的多样性，故A项正确。

6.作者意图题。通读全文可知，这篇文章以劳伦斯的作品《儿子和爱人》为例介绍了劳伦斯的作品的特点——在不破坏诗歌和散文的和谐的前提下，使其更接近诗歌和散文，内容还展示了一些真实的生活场景，故C项正确。