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 from 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 the 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。
But 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 art 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 examples 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 feelings。
[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 by 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 modern society。
[D] Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths。
名師解析
36. By citing the examples of poets Wordsworth and Baudelaire, the author intends to show that
作者引用詩人華茲華斯和波德萊爾的例子，其意圖是為了表明
[A] poetry is not as expressive of joy as painting or music。
詩歌對于快樂的表達不如油畫和音樂。
[B] art grows out of both positive and negative feelings。
藝術源于正面和負面情感。
[C] poets today are less skeptical of happiness。
今天的詩人對于快樂持較弱的懷疑態度。
[D] artists have changed their focus of interest。
藝術家已經改變了興趣的焦點。
【答案】 D
【考點】 推斷題。
【分析】 題干關鍵詞“華茲華斯和波德萊爾”，定位到第二段比較后一句，“as we went from Wordsworth’s daffodils to Baudelaire’s flowers of evil”通過第一段的閱讀我們得知，藝術家開始關注那些令人不快的情感。而第二段說，“以前不是這樣的，繪畫，音樂都適合表達快樂，只是19世紀的某個時候，當我們從華茲華斯的水仙花轉向波德萊爾的惡之花時，越來越多的藝術家開始把快樂看成是乏味的，虛假的，甚至是令人厭倦的。”因此我們可以得出結論，即“藝術家已經改變了興趣的焦點”。故正確答案是[D]。[A]不合適的原因是文中沒有將詩歌、繪畫和音樂對于快樂的表現力進行比較。[B]從字面上來看，似乎是有道理的，但是這不是作者引用二人的目的所在，因為作者強調的是一個重點的轉移。選項[C]的說法和第三段第一句的意思相反。
37. The word“bummer”(Line 5. Paragraph 5) most probably means something
“bummer”(第五段第五行)一詞的比較有可能的含義是
[A] religious. 宗教的 [B] unpleasant. 令人不快的
[C] entertaining. 使人愉快的 [D] commercial. 商業的
【答案】 B
【考點】 詞義題。
【分析】 本題考查考生能否根據上下文來推測某個單詞意思的能力。根據提示定義到第五段比較后一句。第五段說“早期時候的人，生活被苦難包圍著。他們工作到筋疲力盡，生活沒有保障，壽命很短。比較強大的大眾傳媒教堂也時刻提醒信徒們，他們的靈魂處于危險之中，他們有一天會成為蛆蟲的食物。有了這一切，他們的確無需藝術也變成一個‘bummer’”。至此，意思很明了，即他們不再需要增加一個“令他們不快樂的事物”，“bummer”指的就是“something unpleasant”。
38. In the author’s opinion, advertising 在作者看來，廣告
[A] emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art. 隨著反快樂藝術而出現。
[B] is a cause of disappointment for the general public. 是引起公眾失望的原因。
[C] replaces the church as a major source of information. 代替了教堂成為主要的信息來源。
[D] creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself. 創造快樂的幻覺而不是快樂本身
【答案】 D
【考點】 推斷題。
【分析】 通過本題關鍵詞“廣告”(advertising)可以定位到第四段。作者提到“反快樂的藝術之興起幾乎可以追溯到大眾傳媒出現的時候，以及伴隨大眾傳媒而出現的商業文化。對商業文化而言，快樂不僅僅是一種理想，更是一種意識形態”。因此[A]可以被排除，因為[A]的說法剛好與原文相反。“in the wake of”的意思就是“緊跟著，隨著”。然后再定位到第六段，文章說，“西方人遭受商業信息的狂轟濫炸，而且這些信息總是很快樂。快餐食客，新聞主持人，短消息服務商，都在微笑、微笑、微笑。但是由于這些信息都有著一個自己的‘任務’(agenda)，即，誘惑我們打開錢包”，所以它使得快樂的概念看上去不可靠。后面作者又舉了一個藥品的例子，說這個藥品的宣傳很好，但是后來卻發現它可能增加心臟病的發病率。綜合以上所說，可以看出，廣告創造的是快樂的幻覺而不是快樂本身，故正確答案為[D]。[B]沒有根據。[C]的錯誤在于代替教堂的不是廣告而是大眾傳媒。
39. We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes
從比較后一段中我們可以得知作者相信
[A] happiness more often than not ends in sadness.
快樂常常以痛苦告終。
[B] the anti-happy art is distasteful but refreshing。
反快樂藝術令人不快但是使人耳目一新。
[C] misery should be enjoyed rather than denied。
應該享受痛苦而不是拒絕痛苦。
[D] the anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms。
經濟的繁榮的時候反快樂藝術也昌盛。
【答案】 B
【考點】 作者觀點題。
【分析】 在比較后一段，作者歸納上文得出結論：在今天這樣一個快樂唾手可得的年代，我們必須記住一點，那就是，只有在面臨巨大的失敗和失望的風險后取得的才是真正的快樂。而今天我們需要一樣東西來提醒我們，就像當初的宗教那樣。那就是反快樂文化。作者在比較后提到，“它很苦但是很清新”。這里與[B]的意思是一樣的，故為本題的正確答案。[A]的錯誤在于它故意混淆了作者引用宗教的意圖。作者只是說宗教提醒人們各種痛苦的存在。至于[C]的錯誤，就是作者說“人們需要接受痛苦；而不是說享受痛苦”。至于[D]，在比較后一段里面，我們推斷不出“經濟的繁榮的時候反快樂藝術也昌盛”。
40. Which of the following is true of the text? 根據本文，下面哪一個是正確的？
[A] Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery。
宗教曾經的功能就是讓人想起苦難。
[B] Art provides a balance between expectation and reality。
藝術提供了期望與現實之間的平衡。
[C] People feel disappointed at the realities of modern society。
人們對當代社會的現實感到失望。
[D] Mass media are inclined to cover disasters and deaths。
大眾傳媒傾向于報道災難和死亡。
【答案】 A
【考點】 事實細節題。
【分析】 [A]可以定位到第五段，文中提到“宗教提醒信徒們，他們的靈魂是處于危險中，他們有一天會成為蛆蟲的食物”。因此我們可以判斷本題的正確答案是[A]。至于[B]，在文中找不到出處。[C]關于道德的現實這個問題也沒有提到。[D]關于大眾傳媒的說法與文章的意思相反，這在倒數第二段中可以看出。
難句解析：
1. But somewhere in the 19th century, more artists began seeing happiness as insipid, phony or, worst of all, boring as we went from Wordsworth’s daffodils to Baudelaire’s flowers of evil。
【結構分析】 本句的主干是“more artists began seeing happiness as…”，“insipid, phony or, worst of all, boring”做的是賓語補足語。“somewhere in the 19th century”是副詞短語做時間狀語。后面一個“as”相當于“when”，引導一個時間狀語從句。
2. 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。
【結構分析】 本句的主干是“The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media”，“with it”是介賓短語做伴隨狀語，這里的“it”說得就是“the emergence of mass media”。“which”引導一個定語從句，修飾“commercial culture”。
3. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in peril and that they would someday be meat for worms。
【結構分析】 本句的主干是“the most powerful mass medium was the church”，“which”引導一個非限定性定語從句，修飾“church”，在這個定語從句中又有兩個“that”引導的賓語從句。
全文翻譯：
許多事情使人們認為藝術家古怪，而比較古怪的可能是：藝術家唯一的工作是探索情感，但是他們卻選擇了集中探索那些令人不快的情感。
以前并非總是這樣。比較早的藝術形式，如繪畫和音樂，就是比較適合表達快樂的。但是到了19世紀的某個時候，當我們從華茲華斯的水仙花轉向波德萊爾的惡之花之時，更多的藝術家開始把快樂看成是乏味的，虛假的，甚至是令人厭倦的事物。
你可能會認為藝術越來越懷疑快樂是因為現代社會經歷了連年的戰爭、災難和濫殺無辜，但是這并不是說以前的時代就沒有經歷過這樣多的痛苦。事實上，情況可能正好相反：如今世上的快樂太多了。
那么，究竟是哪一種現代的表達形式，幾乎完全在致力于描繪快樂呢？那就是廣告。反快樂藝術的興起幾乎完全可以追溯到大眾傳媒的出現，以及隨之而來的商業文化，在這種文化中，快樂不僅僅是一種理想而且是一種空想。
早期時代的人們被那些令他們處處想到苦難的事情包圍著。他們工作到筋疲力盡，生活幾乎沒有保障，壽命短。在西方，在大眾通訊和讀寫教育普及之前，比較強大的大眾傳媒是教堂，它提醒信徒們，他們的靈魂處于危險中，他們有一天會成為蛆蟲的食物。考慮到這一切，他們的確無需藝術再來表示這種不愉快的感覺。
如今，普通西方人遭受的不再是宗教的而是永遠快樂的商業信息的狂轟濫炸。快餐食客，新聞主持人，短消息服務商，都在微笑、微笑、微笑。我們的雜志刊登的神采奕奕的名人和幸福完美的家庭，但是由于這些信息都有著一個自己的“任務(agenda)”，即誘惑我們打開錢包，所以它使得快樂的概念看上去不可靠。“慶祝吧！”宣傳關節炎良藥“歡慶寶”的廣告這樣召喚道，隨后我們卻發現它會增加心臟病的發病率。
但是，我們所忘記的——我們的經濟依賴于我們所忘卻的——是快樂而非沒有痛苦的快樂。帶來比較大快樂的東西也比較有可能帶有損失和失望。如今，我們的周圍充斥著唾手可得的幸福的承諾，我們需要藝術來告訴我們，正如宗教Memento mori曾經告訴我們的：記得你終將死亡，一切都會結束，快樂的到來并非在否定這一切時來到，而是和這一切一起來到。這個訊息比大葉煙的味道更苦澀，但是不管怎么說，終究是一股清新的空氣。
