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 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.

3.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.

4.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.D

3.D

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章以劳伦斯的作品《儿子和爱人》为例介绍了劳伦斯的写作特点——在不破坏诗歌和散文和谐的前提下，使其作品更接近诗歌和散文，用优美的语言展示了一些真实的生活场景。

1.

词义猜测题。根据第一段的An introduction to this book is as superfluous as a candle in front of a powerful searchlight.可知，对于这本书的介绍，就像强光探照灯前的蜡烛一样，是superfluous。根据句意尤其as a candle in front of a powerful searchlight推测划线部分的意思是“多余的，没有必要的”。B. unnecessary(没有必要的)符合以上说法，故选B项。

2.

推理判断题。根据第二段的主要内容，尤其Mr. Lawrence makes something near to poetry and prose(散文) without violating its proper ''other harmony''.(劳伦斯在不破坏诗歌和散文和谐前的提下，使他的作品更接近诗歌和散文)可推测，作者列举《儿子和爱人》就是为了证明劳伦斯的作品语言很优美，读起来像是诗歌和散文。D. The language in Lawrence's books is elegant.(劳伦斯书中的语言很优美)符合以上说法，故选D项。

3.

推理判断题。根据最后一段的To find a similar blending of tiny daily detail and wide imaginative vision, we must go back to two older novelists, Hardy and Meredith.(为了找到将生活中的细节和想象力结合起来的作品，我们必须求助于两位更年长的小说家Hardy和Meredith)可推测，Hardy和Meredith是两位将生活细节和想象力结合起来的小说家。D. They were novelists combining details with imagination.(他们是把细节和想象力结合起来的小说家)符合以上说法，故选D项。

4.

推理判断题。根据文章的主要内容，尤其第二段的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.(要欣赏劳伦斯先生丰富多样的作品，我们必须阅读他后来的小说和诗集。但《儿子和情人》揭示了他的能力。)和Mr. Lawrence makes something near to poetry and prose(散文) without violating its proper ''other harmony''.(劳伦斯在不破坏诗歌和散文的和谐前提下，使他的作品更接近诗歌和散文)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写作特点——在不破坏诗歌和散文和谐的前提下，使其作品更接近诗歌和散文，语言优美，耐人寻味。C. To analyze Lawrence's writing characteristics.(为了分析劳伦斯的写作特点)符合以上说法，故选C项。