Text 4

　　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.

　　This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere in the 19th century, 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.

　　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.

　　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.

　　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.

　　Today the messages your 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.

　　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 someone 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.

　　36.By citing the example 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 feeling.

　　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.

　　B. is a cause of disappointment for the general public.

　　C. replaces the church as a major source of information.

　　D. creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.

　　39. We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes_____.

　　A. happiness more often than not ends in sadness.

　　B. the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing.

　　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 morality.

　　D. Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.
 

答案解析

　　文章解析：根据中心统一原则确定，

　　文章首段主题句是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. 最怪异的事情是艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，并且选择关注那些负面情感。

　　第二段确定段落内容方向的语句是This wasn't always so. 但情况不总是这样。

　　第三段确定段落内容方向的语句是But it's not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. 但是这并非是说在早些时候就没有没完没了的战争、灾难以及对无辜者的屠杀。

　　第四段确定段落内容方向的语句是After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. 最终，什么是一种几乎能够完全致力于描绘幸福的现代表达方式呢?广告。

　　第五段确定段落内容方向的语句是People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. 早期的人们被不幸包围着。

　　第六段确定段落内容方向的语句是Today the messages your average Westerner is surrounded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy. 如今，普通的西方人不断接收的并非是宗教信息，而是商业信息及永远快乐的信息。

　　第七段确定段落内容方向的语句是What we forget---what our economy depends on us forgetting---is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. 我们所忘记的(即我们的经济所依赖我们要遗忘的)是幸福，不仅仅是没有痛苦的快乐。

　　不难发现，这篇文章围绕着人的负面情感问题来展开。

　　题目解析：

　　36.结构题By citing the example of poets Wordsworth and Baudelaire, the author intends to show that_____.

　　选项A. poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or music.

　　在表达快乐时，诗歌的表现力不如绘画和音乐。

　　B. art grows out of both positive and negative feeling.

　　艺术来自正面和负面的情感。

　　C. poets today are less skeptical of happiness.

　　如今的诗人对于幸福少了些怀疑。

　　D. artists have changed their focus of interest.

　　艺术家的关注点发生了变化。

　　该题将例子“Wordsworth and Baudelaire”定位到文章第二段This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere in the 19th century, 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. 根据结构题方位论原则，找例子对应的论点句。例子前面相邻的句子The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. “诸如绘画和音乐这样的早期艺术形式最适合表达快乐。”也同样是例子。因此，段落首句This wasn't always so.“但情况并不总是这样的。”为论点。但是，该句由于代词“this”表达的含义不完整，所以要找到“this”的指代，即前一段落的尾句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. “最怪异的事情是艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，并且选择关注那些负面情感。” 选项A. poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or music.在表达快乐时，诗歌的表现力不如绘画和音乐，与相关信息句动作“最怪异的事情是艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，并且选择关注那些负面情感”没有任何关联;选项B. art grows out of both positive and negative feeling.艺术来自正面和负面的情感，与相关信息句动作“最怪异的事情是艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，并且选择关注那些负面情感”没有任何关联;选项C. poets today are less skeptical of happiness.如今的诗人对于幸福少了些怀疑，与相关信息句动作“最怪异的事情是艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，并且选择关注那些负面情感”没有任何关联;选项D. artists have changed their focus of interest.艺术家的关注点发生了变化，与相关信息句动作“最怪异的事情是艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，并且选择关注那些负面情感”相关联，动作“艺术家的关注点发生了变化”对应于“艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，并且选择关注那些负面情感”，体现了“包含与被包含”的关系。综上所述，正确答案为D. artists have changed their focus of interest. 艺术家的关注点发生了变化。

　　37. 识词题The word “bummer” (Line 5. paragraph 5) most probably means something_____.

　　选项A. religious 宗教的 B. unpleasant 不快的

　　C. entertaining 娱乐的 D. commercial 商业的

　　该题将识别的词汇“bummer”在文章中定位到第五段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. 作为识词题，按照“方位论原则”：在识别词汇后面找表示“解释说明，逻辑关系”的表达，或者向前面找平行结构。在词汇后面出现“too”，表示并列关系，因此相关信息句为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. “在西方，在大众传播开始出现，人们开始读书识字之前，最强势的大众传媒是教堂，他提醒那些礼拜者他们的心灵处于危险之中，有一天可能会受到蠕虫的啃噬。”句子中“心灵处于危险之中，可能会受到蠕虫的啃噬”表现出一种消极不快的情绪和状态。因此，答案应选B. unpleasant 不快的。

　　38.细节题 In the author’s opinion, advertising_____.

　　选项A. emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art.

　　广告随着宣扬不幸的艺术觉醒而出现。

　　B. is a cause of disappointment for the general public.

　　广告是普通人失望的原因。

　　C. replaces the church as a major source of information.

　　广告取代教堂成为主要的信息来源。

　　D. creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.

　　广告带来幸福的幻象而不是真正的幸福。

　　该题利用定位词“advertising”定位到文章第四段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.“宣扬不幸的艺术的出现几乎完全是紧随大众媒体的出现而来，随大众媒体而来的是一种广告文化，在这种文化中，幸福不仅仅是理想，而是意识形态。” 选项A. emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art. 广告随着宣扬不幸的艺术觉醒而出现，与相关信息句动作“宣扬不幸的艺术的出现几乎完全是紧随大众媒体的出现而来，随大众媒体而来的是一种广告文化，在这种文化中，幸福不仅仅是理想，还是意识形态”似乎相关联，但是选项中“广告随着宣扬不幸的艺术觉醒而出现”与相关信息句中的“宣扬不幸的艺术的出现几乎完全是紧随大众媒体的出现而来”相悖;选项B. is a cause of disappointment for the general public. 广告是普通人失望的原因，与相关信息句动作“宣扬不幸的艺术的出现几乎完全是紧随大众媒体的出现而来，随大众媒体而来的是一种广告文化，在这种文化中，幸福不仅仅是理想，而是意识形态”没有任何关联;选项 C. replaces the church as a major source of information. 广告取代教堂成为主要的信息来源，与相关信息句动作“宣扬不幸的艺术的出现几乎完全是紧随大众媒体的出现而来，随大众媒体而来的是一种广告文化，在这种文化中，幸福不仅仅是理想，而是意识形态”没有任何关联;选项D. creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself. 广告带来幸福的幻象而不是真正的幸福，与相关信息句动作“宣扬不幸的艺术的出现几乎完全是紧随大众媒体的出现而来，随大众媒体而来的是一种广告文化，在这种文化中，幸福不仅仅是理想，而是意识形态”相关联，动作“广告带来幸福的幻象而不是真正的幸福”对应于“在广告文化中，幸福不仅仅是理想，而是意识形态”，体现“同意替换”的关系。因此，正确答案为D. creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself. 带来幸福的幻象而不是真正的幸福。

　　39. 推断题We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes_____.

　　选项A. happiness more often than not ends in sadness.

　　幸福时常以悲伤终结。

　　B. the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing.

　　那些宣扬不幸的艺术令人不快但是令人有新鲜之感。

　　C. misery should be enjoyed rather than denied.

　　应该欣赏而不是否认不幸。

　　D. the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms.

　　宣扬不幸的艺术在经济繁荣时兴盛起来。

　　该题目作为推断题，要明确找到指定的最后一段的主题句。根据“主题句---细节句原则”，第七段 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 someone 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. 段落中间没有转折词，段落首句What we forget---what our economy depends on us forgetting---is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain.“我们所忘记的(即我们的经济所依赖我们要遗忘的)是幸福，不仅仅是没有痛苦的快乐。”明确是细节。因此段落的主题句为段尾句It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air.“这个信息比丁香烟叶还苦，但是会以某种方式带来一股清新的气息。” 选项A. happiness more often than not ends in sadness. 幸福时常以悲伤终结，与相关信息句动作“比丁香烟叶还苦，但以某种方式带来一股清新的气息”相悖;选项B. the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing. 那些宣扬不幸的艺术令人不快，但是令人有新鲜之感，与相关信息句动作“比丁香烟叶还苦，但以某种方式带来一股清新的气息”相关联，动作“令人不快，但是令人有新鲜之感”对应于“比丁香烟叶还苦，但带来一股清新的气息”，体现“同意替换”的关系;选项C. misery should be enjoyed rather than denied.应该欣赏而不是否认不幸，与相关信息句动作“比丁香烟叶还苦，但以某种方式带来一股清新的气息”没有直接联系;选项D. the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms. 宣扬不幸的艺术在经济繁荣时兴盛起来，与相关信息句动作“比丁香烟叶还苦，但以某种方式带来一股清新的气息”没有任何联系。因此，正确答案为B. the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing. 那些宣扬不幸的艺术令人不快但是令人有新鲜之感。

　　40. 推断题Which of the following is true of the text?

　　选项A. Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.

　　宗教曾经发挥提醒人们不幸的功能。

　　B. Art provides a balance between expectation and reality.

　　艺术在期待和现实之间提供了一种平衡。

　　C. People feel disappointed at the realities of morality.

　　人们对道德的现状感到失望。

　　D. Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths.

　　大众传媒倾向与报导灾难和死亡。

　　推断题，在第五段谈论reminders of misery(痛苦的提醒者)话题时，作者说：the church…reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms(教会提醒朝拜者，他们的灵魂处于危险之中，他们的躯体将成为蠕虫的美食)。在第七段，作者把反幸福艺术的警示作用与宗教的提醒作用等同起来(…we need art to tell us, as religion once did…)。选项A. Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery. 宗教曾经发挥提醒人们不幸的功能。这与题意完全相符。(补充：这种提问方式是推断题。按照推断题方位论原则，对应段落的主题句是相关信息句。但是，间或会出现对应段落的主题句与选项没有任何关联，不能确定答案的情况。这种题目就只能利用四个选项分别回归文章定位，通篇考虑，逐一比较才能够确定答案。由于这种题目仅仅考察信息的对应，没有涉及分析理解能力的水平，所以不是考研英语试题中的重点试题。)

　　全文翻译有许多事情让人们认为艺术家很怪异，而最怪异的事情是艺术家的唯一工作是探索感情，并且选择关注那些负面感情。

　　但情况并不总是这样的。诸如绘画和音乐这样的早期艺术形式最适合表达快乐。但是大约在19世纪，从英国诗人华兹华斯的水仙花到法国诗人波德莱尔的恶之花，更多的艺术家开始认为快乐是无意义的，虚伪的，甚至是快乐让人感到厌烦。

　　你可能会辩解，艺术对幸福更为怀疑这是因为现代社会目睹了这样的不幸。但是这并非是说在早些时候就没有没完没了的战争，灾难及对无辜者的屠杀。事实上，可能恰恰相反，(艺术对幸福更为怀疑的)原因是如今这个世界有了太多该死的幸福。

　　最终，什么是一种几乎能够完全致力于描绘幸福的现代表达方式呢?广告。宣扬不幸的艺术的出现几乎完全是紧随大众媒体的出现而来，随大众媒体而来的是一种广告文化，在这种文化中，幸福不仅仅是理想，还是意识形态。

　　早期的人民被不幸包围。他们一直工作，直到累的筋疲力尽，生活几无保障，年纪轻轻就命丧黄泉。在西方，在大众传播开始出现，人们开始读书识字之前，最强势的大众媒体是教堂，它可以提醒那些礼拜者他们的心灵处于危险之中，有一天可能会受到蠕虫的啃噬。考虑到这些，人们也确实不需要让艺术也变成让人不快的东西了。

　　如今，普通西方人不断接收的并非宗教信息，而是商业信息及永远快乐的信息。食用快餐者，新闻主播，通信员们，所有人的人都在微笑、微笑、不停地微笑。我们的杂志上以容光焕发的名字和住在漂亮房子里的幸福家庭做特写。因为这些信息有秘密目的——诱使我们打开钱包，这让幸福的感觉看起来不可信。在我们发现治疗关节炎的药物Celebrex可能增加患心脏病的风险之前，有关该药物的广告让我们为它的诞生而庆祝。

　　我们所忘记的(也及我们的经济所依赖我们要遗忘的)是幸福不仅仅是没有痛苦的快乐。那些能够带来巨大快乐的东西也会有可能带来巨大的损失和失望。如今，我们周围到处都是唾手可得的幸福的承诺，我们需要有人像过去宗教所做的那样告诉我们“无常”的象征，即记主要你会死去，一切都会消亡，记住幸福不是否认这些，而是与这些共存。这个信息比丁香烟叶还苦，但是会以某种方式带来一股清新气息。