Question

    In the 19th century, one of America's greatest writers, Walt Whitman, helped people learn to value poetry. Whitman created a new kind of poetry.

Walt Whitman was born in 1819 in New York City. During his long life, he watched America grow from a young nation to the strongest industrial power in the world. As a young man, Whitman worked as a school teacher, a printer and a newspaper reporter. He was 36 years old when he published his first book of poetry in 1855. He called it Leaves of Grass. It has only 12 poems. The poems are written in free verse. The lines do not follow any set form. Some lines are short. Some are long. The words at the end of each line do not have a similar sound. They do not rhyme.

One of America's greatest thinkers and writers immediately recognized the importance of Leaves of Grass. Ralph Waldo Emerson praised Whitman’ s works. But most other poets and writers said nothing and even denounced it. Most readers also rejected Whitman’ s poems. The new form of his poetry surprised many people. Even his own brother told Whitman that he should stop writing poetry. But Whitman had many things to say. And he continued to say them. Readers began to understand that America had a great new poetic voice.

Walt Whitman’ s poems praise the United States and its democracy. The poet expressed his love for America and its people in many ways. Experts today praise Leaves of Grass as a major literary work. In 1873, Walt Whitman suffered a stroke. He spent the last years of his life in Camden, New Jersey. Whitman was poor and weak during the last years of his life. He died in 1892. Some critics say Walt Whitman was a spokesman for democracy. Others say he was not a spokesman for anything. Instead, they simply call him a great poet.

1.What can we know about Whitman?

A.His poems have the same rhyme.

B.He is the first great poet in the USA.

C.He helped people to create new poems.

D.His poems show his love for his country.

2.Why was Leaves of Grass refused at first?

A.The poems are quite short. B.The form of poetry is special.

C.Whitman wasn’ t famous then. D.There are only 12 poems in it.

3.What does the underlined word “denounced” in paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A.Accused B.Downloaded C.Published D.Translated.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A.Walt Whitman---a great soldier

B.Walt Whitman---an unfortunate poet

C.Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass

D.The first and greatest poet in America

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】

本文是一篇记叙文。介绍了美国著名的诗人Walt Whitman 以及他的代表作《草叶集》。

1.

细节理解题。根据最后一段中的“Walt Whitman’s poems praise the United States and its democracy. The poet expressed his love for America and its people in many ways." 可知，Walt Whitman的诗赞美美国及其民主。这位诗人以多种方式表达了他对美国及其人民的热爱。可知，Whitman的诗展示了他对国家的爱。故选D。

2.

细节理解题。根据第三段中的“Most readers also rejected Whitman’ s poems. The new form of his poetry surprised many people."可知，大部分读者也拒绝Whitman的诗，他的新诗形式使许多人感到惊讶，因此推断起初《草叶集》被拒绝是因为诗歌的形式是特别的。故选B。

3.

词句猜测题。根据下文Most readers also rejected Whitman’ s poems.可知，大部分读者也不接受Whitman的诗歌，划线句But most other poets and writers said nothing and even denounced it的句意是：但是大部分其它诗人和作家没说什么，甚至denounce它，由also可知，两句话是递进关系，因此推断，人们不接受 Walt Whitman的诗集，可推知denounced 可能是“指责，批评”之意，故选A。

4.

主旨大意题。纵观全文可知，本文讲述了美国著名作家 Walt Whitman 以及他的代表作《草叶集》，并围绕く草叶集》的开始不被接受到最后的大受欢迎展开，因此推断C项“Walt Whitman和草叶集为最佳标题。故选C。