11天津外国语大学考研人 英文美文欣赏

11天津外国语大学考研人 英文美文欣赏 LESSON ONE 1. 全文概述 The text describes the heroic struggle of the Koshaks and their friends against the forces of a devastating hurricane. Unwilling to abandon their home, the Koshaks had made full preparations for the hurricane. However ,they had underestimated the ferocity of Hurricane Camille, which smashed into the Mississippi Gulf Coast with winds in excess of 200 mph and tides over 20 feet. The overwhelming wind and rain whipped the house so that it was on the verge of disintegration. The Koshaks and their friends tried back, terrified and bewildered. Plunged in a desperate situation, they attempted support each other with verbal comforts or prayers for the god. With the entire roof lifted off, the staircase breaking apart, and the walls lopping, the Koshaks found no room sanctuary and prepared a door for taking the nine children on if the floor split up. Luckily the main thrust of Camille had passed and the Koshaks and their friends survived. Organization within the country had come to the aid of the devastated coast, and the inhabitants there quickly reorganized their lives. Though the hurricane had deprived the Koshaks of all their material possessions, the family came through it, which was the most significant thing for them. 2.美文欣赏 The text is a piece of narration, which is organized as follows: introduction, development, climax and conclusion. The first 6 paragraphs are introductory paragraphs, giving the time ,place, and background of the conflict—man versus hurricanes, as well as the characters. The writer then describes how the Koshaks and their friends struggled against each onslaught(冲击) of the hurricane in a chronological order(以时间顺序) from Paragraph 7 to Paragraph 26.The story reaches its climax in Paragraph 27 and from there on the story moves rapidly to its conclusion. In the last paragraph the writer states his theme in the reflection of Grandmother Koshak:―We lost practically all possessions, but the family came through it. When I think of that ,I realize we lost nothing important. ‖ Lexically, in order to embody the ferocity of the hurricane, the writer makes effective use of verbs, such as lash,pummel,demolish,lap,swipe,skim,smash,slashing,etc.Syntactically,the writer uses many elliptical and short simple sentences to heighten tension and help create a sense of danger and urgency. John Koshak’s urgent orders-―Back to the house!‖ ‖Everybody on the stairs!‖-are good examples .Rhetorically, the writer employs several rhetorical devices including simile, metaphor and personification to enhance the vividness of the language. The writer portrays the characters in a heroic and appreciative way. Confronted with the formidable hurricane, the characters show firm determination and utmost courage to fight against the natural disaster . Their mutual encouragement signifies the humanistic greatness, which the writer mainly strives for in the story. For example, the adults always put the children in the first place; Charlie, John’s close friend, takes responsibility for the neighbor mother and her two children; grandparents gently express deep love to each other. After they survive, their faith in life and optimism lead them to start all over in rebuilding their home. All of them know that nothing is more important than human lives , which is the theme or the purpose behind the story. LESSON TWO 1.全文概述 The text is a piece of objective exposition of the poverty，misery and degradation of the inhabitants in Marrakech. The ordinary local funeral, which treats the dead as animals, is merely one episode of the miserable lives of native people. However, this fact is the basis upon which all the imperialists build up their empires. The author illustrates the following facts to show the plight of the inhabitants. An Arab navy, an employee of the municipality, begs for a piece of bread which is formerly the food of the gazelles. In the unsanitary ghettoes which are overcrowded with Jews, people overwork in a wretched situation, but they cannot possibly afford a piece of cigarette. The brown laborers working in the barren fields in a backward way are partly invisible to the white colonists who are insensitive to the suffering all around them. The old women carrying firewood are more invisible for their skinny and distorted figures. Ironically, oblivious to the miseries of the human beings, the white express more sympathy to the damnable fate of the donkeys. However, the colonized, such as one of the Senegalese soldiers, bear blind respect for the white to reexamine themselves as well as their ways of treating the colonized people. 2.美文欣赏 The text is a piece of exposition, which can be roughly divided into two parts—introduction to the thesis and supporting examples, The thesis is stated in the middle of Paragraph 3—―all colonial empires are in reality founded upon this fact‖ supported by various examples separate or independent of each other. The central theme, however, gives unity and cohesion to the whole essay. Orwell’s works are concerned with the sociopolitical conditions of his times, and this text is no exception. Though merciless exposition of the poverty, misery and degradation(衰退) of the native people in the colonies he denounces the evils of colonialism or imperialism and manages to show his outrage at it. Orwell is famous for his terse lucid(简洁易懂)prose style and is good at the appropriate use of simple but forceful words to describe objectively the scenes before his eyes. Besides, several figures of speech including simile, synecdoche and onomatopoeia are used to enhance the persuasion of his descriptions. LESSON THREE 1. 全文概述 The text is a piece of expository writing of what makes a good conversation. Conversation, as the most sociable of human activities, does not start with a given topic，nor does it develops with a logical structure, nor does it end up with the problems settled. Bar conversation has a charm of its own. The other evening bar friends had a heated discussion on the topic,―the King ’English ‖ ,which was a terms of criticism from an Australia. Some people thought it was natural that there existed resistance against the King ’English in a lower society like Australia. It reminded other that there also existed a language barrier between the Saxon peasant and their Normal conquerors. For instance, the terms of animal and of their meat are different, which reflect cultural humiliation felt by the English. After English has become the universal language of England, the King ’English is used and held up as a model by the ruling class, the educated people, whereas the working people mock and jeer at it. Even the literates make mistakes if they keep speaking the King ’English. Hence, informal language is needed in conversations. 2. 美文欣赏 The text is a piece of expository writing with a loose structure, which is arranged deliberately by the writer in a conversational style to suit his theme, what makes a good conversation. The thesis is expressed in the opening sentence of Paragraph 1 ―Conversation is the most sociable of all human activities.‖The last sentence in the last paragraph winds up the theme by pointing out what hinders a good conversation is someone who is trying to talk sense. Paragraph 5 is a transitional paragraph. The writer passes from a general discourse on good conversation to a particular instance which is a discussion about the King ’English. In accordance with the conversation style, the text imitates the characteristics of conversation emphasized by the writer. On the one hand, the language—abundance of simple idiomatic with copious literary and historical allusions—is quite informal and lucid. In order to enhance the vividness and humors of description, the writer employs metaphors and similes. On the other hand, the organization is quite loose, foe instance, the title which is not aptly chosen, the abrupt transitional paragraph as well as the digressions(离题). LESSON FOUR 1.全文概述 As newly elected President of the Unites States, 2.J.F. Kennedy addresses a worldwide audience in his inaugural speech, both the two hostile camps included. First he makes a general statement of basic policy goals. The Unites States, the self-appointed leader of the ―free associations‖, is prepared to pay any price. Bear any burden, and meet any hardship to defend human rights, liberty and independence of free nations. Next he addresses different groups of allied nations or would-be allies, as well as the United Nations, suggesting that these nations should support and accept the leadership of the U.S. Then he turns to his enemy, warning that the U.S. is prepared to oppose any foe at all costs, so they’d better negotiate and cooperate with the U.S. Finally he appeals to his countrymen and citizens of the world and sacrifice in order to defend human rights and freedom. 2.美文欣赏 This speech is regarded as one of the best inaugural addresses. Its object is to explain, convince and persuade people that what he is saying and planning to do best represents their interests so they should support him. In this speech Kennedy addresses a worldwide audience: not only the American people, but different groups of nations in the international community as well. This speech is well organized. The first five paragraphs is a general statement of Kennedy’s basic policy goals. In paragraphs 6 to 10 Kennedy addresses different groups of allies nations or would-be allies. In paragraphs 11 to 19 he appeals to his enemy. Finally he appeals to his countrymen for support and sacrifice. The order is clear and the tone appropriate to the different groups he is addressing. In order to achieve force, vividness and emotional appeal, Kennedy makes use of various writing skills such as figures of speech, the appropriate use of words, parallel and balanced structures, repetition of words and phrases, and antithesis. Another noticeable feature is his deliberate use of a pseudo-Roman style or Biblical language to achieve solemnity. On the whole, this political speech based on emotional appeal is successful thought it does not put forward sufficient facts and reasons to convince. LESSON FIVE 1.全文概述 This text is a piece of narrative writing. The narrator of the story, Dobie Gillis, a self-conceited freshman in a law school, is the protagonist. He struggles against two antagonists: Petey Burch, his stupid roommate whose girl friend he plan to steal, and Polly Espy, the beautiful dumb girl he intends to marry after suitable re-education. Petey, a faddist, is eager for a raccoon coat, and he decide to exchange his girl friend Petey for it with Dobie. Dobie has affection for Polly for long out of practical considerations. Dumb as Petey is, she has the makings to become a suitable wife of a lawyer. In order to smarten her up, Dobie decides to give her a course in logic. He teaches her how to recognize the common fallacies of logic. He succeeds too well because the whole thing backfires on him when Polly refutes all his arguments as logic fallacies before finally rejecting him. In desperation Dobie argues that ―the things you learn in school don’t have anything to do in life.‖ The appeal does not move Polly because Dobie does not own a raccoon coat as Petey Burch does. Ironically, the raccoon coat which Dobie gives to Petey for the privilege of dating his girl, the raccoon coat which Dobie dislikes and abhors, is the instrument of his own undoing. 3. 美文欣赏 The whole story is a piece of narration of light, humorous satire. Its theme is stated in the title:―Love is a fallacy‖,which can be understood in two ways. When ―fallacy‖is taken literally, the title means:―Love is deceptive or delusive‖.When taken as a specific term in logic, it means:―Love cannot be deduced from a set of given premises.‖The story reaches its climax in paragraph 147—150 when taken Polly refuses to go steady with Dobie because she has already promised to go steady with Petey Burch. The denouement(结局)follows rapidly and ends in very ironic note. Dobie ignores the fact that love is the sincere attachment which arises naturally from both hearts, and he fails to win Polly because he has been too clever for his own good. Max Shulman has a style quite of his own. The story which is full of American colloquialism and slang goes forward at a very fast space. He employs a whole variety of writing techniques to make his story vivid, dramatic and colorful, such as a large lexica spectrum figurative language, inversion for special emphasis, and many figures of speech like simile, metaphor, hyperbole, metonymy, and antithesis, The speed of the narration is maintained by the use of short sentences, elliptical sentences and dashes throughout the story. This mix adds to the realism of the story. LESSON SIX 1. 全文概述 This text is a piece of scientific expository writing , which deals with a lot of scientific and technological information to illustrate the central theme of ―disappearance‖---nature disappears, history disappears and even the solid banks disappear. The writer puts forward four important ideas. The first concept is expressed in the metaphorical title, “Disappearing through the Skylight‖, which is not only the central theme of the whole book, but also describes the changed appearance of modern banks which seem to be disappearing. The second key concept is the universalizing tendency of science and technology .The basic concepts of science are understood, accepted and adopted by scientists all over the word. This universalizing effect is reflected in architectural styles, dress styles, musical styles, etc. They all tend to be world style. The third concept is,‖ if man creates machines, machines, machines in turn shape their creators‖. The modern man is no longer a unique individual, the product of a special environment and culture. The homogeneous world he now lives in universalizes him. He becomes a cosmopolitan, a citizen of the word. Finally, the disappearance of history is a form of liberation and this feeling of liberation is often expressed through play. The playfulness of science has produced game theory and virtual articles, and in art it has produced the paintings of Picasso and Joan Miro and so on.. 2.美文欣赏 The text, as a piece of scientific expository writing, discusses the central theme of ―disappearing‖. The very title is a metaphor that immediately stirs the imagination of the readers. It implies that the nature, history and even the solid banks seem to be gradually disappearing. The writer puts forward four key ideas, which have been summed up in the Summary, making the whole article clearly and logically organized. The writer’s views are generally clearly and succinctly presented as a topic sentence at the beginning of a paragraph and then developed within the paragraph or by succeeding paragraph. The writer does not follow strictly the style of scientific writing because he is trying to reach a wider audience. He uses figurative language freely to make his ideas more vivid and forceful. Readers will find many metaphors, analogies, rhetorical questions, repetition and balanced structure, etc… However, it still maintains certain features of scientific English, such as the use of short sentences and simple present tense. LESSON SEVEN 1.全文概述 This text is a piece of subjective, impressionistic or emotional description. One day on one of the expresses of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the author passes through the familiar land of Westmoreland county. But to surprise, he finds it is appallingly desolate and agonizingly ugly. All the local houses are misshapen and shabby, the important buildings included, such as the crazy little church the rat-trap-shaped headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The landscape itself is comely. In fact, it is due to the aesthetic taste of the local people who make the houses lean in a bizarre way. Even the horse of brick has an eccentric and disgusting color of uremic yellow , which make the towns and villages the most loathsome ones . The buildings there are incomparable in design and color, which is concluded by the author after laborious research and incessant prayer. In Westmoreland, there exists a pull towards ugliness, which even borders upon passion. Such a state of mind deserves systematical psychological study. Ugliness is not due to poverty but to something innate in the American character –a love of ugliness for its own sake or, as the title says, the libido for the ugly. 2. 美文欣赏 This is a piece of subjective, impressionistic or emotional description. The main purpose of impressionistic description is to share with the reader a single dominant impression, which maybe a sense impression on an emotion .In writing emotional description ,a writer tries to evoke in the reader his feelings about the subject; therefore he selects words rich in connotative meaning and appeals strongly to the senses .In this strong impressionistic or highly emotional piece of description , ugliness, ad the dominant impression, stands out vividly and prominently. Mencken is well-known for his bombastic style and acid tongue and in this piece he seems to have excelled himself . Mencken doesn’t just satirize the ugliness of Westmoreland ,but he attacks the whole American race as well-a race that loves ugliness for its own sake, a race that lusts t make the world intolerable , and one which hates beauty as it hates truth .In his vitriolic attack he employs the strongest words possible ,words bordering upon the abusive .Besides he makes full use of figures of speech profusely to create nauseating and dreadful images to reinforce his verbal attack ,such as metaphor, smile, hyperbole ,sarcasm, ridicule and irony. LESSON EIGHT 1. 全文概述 As an answer to the title of this excerpt, Fromm argues that works are no longer creators but machines. In the beginning of history, work liberated man from nature and created him as a social and independent being. During the Middle Ages when craftsmanship became highly developed, as there was no split between work and culture, man and his work were closely related. But with the collapse of medieval structure, work became a duty among the middle class and forced labor among those without property. Especially since the industrialization in the eighteenth or nineteenth century, industrial workers have become part of the machine hired by capital without any spontaneity. Society is only concerned about their productivity, treating them as automatons. The alienated and unsatisfactory character of work results in man’s yearning for laziness and unconscious hostility toward work. 2. 美文欣赏 This text is a piece of expository writing. Fromm explains how it happens that the worker is no longer a creator but has become a machine. He regards the change of the meaning of work as its cause. To illustrate his point clearly. Fromm analyses the historical transformation in the relation between the workers and his work by means of causation. He contrasts what work means to the worker before the Middle Ages with that after the Middle Ages. Before the medieval era, work is man’s liberator from nature and his creator as a social being. Work is the thway of expressing man’s creativity, especially in the case of craftsmanship in the 13 thor 14 century. Thus Fromm shows explicitly that before the medieval period the worker is a perfect creator. But when the medieval system falls apart, the meaning of work is divided into that of duty for the middle class and that of forced labor for those without property. So Fromm remarks that the worker and his work are alienated, which this the most conspicuous around the early 20 century, when the worker becomes sheer substitute for the machine. Though this historical and causal analysis mentioned above, Fromm expounds lucidly why the worker is reduced to such a poor condition. Lesson Nine 1.全文概述 This text is piece of allegorical writing in which Le Guin fashions a utopian city ,Omelas .It is celebrating the festival of summer .There is an air of excitement throughout the city with its changing bells , flag-alorned boats , beautiful buildings and joyful processions .People march in procession to watch a horse race ,which will begin very soon .Then Le Guin comments indirectly on the people of Omelas to convince that they are not simple but happy .According to her ,their happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary ,what is neither necessary nor destructive ,and what is destructive .They do without monarchy ,slavery , or any commercial ,political or military institution . There is no guilt in Omelas . Peopoe live a happy life which they love earnest . However ,Le Guin disclose the truth of Omelas, happiness shortly ,which shocks the readers .In a cellar in Omelas a child has been locked in a tiny room and mistreated for a very long time .All the happiness of Omelas is based on its suffering .The people of Omelas accept this as a terrible justice of reality and let the child, s misery go on.By this sharp contrast between the former happiness and the present cruely,Le Guin draws the attention upon her theme---the nature and basisof happiness---should the happiness of the many be based upon the suffering of the few?But she provides no solution except an open,thought-provoking ending that some people leave Omelasafter seeing the child. 2(美文欣赏及写作特点 This allegorical story is narrated in an unusual way.It has an intrusive writer. his means that the writer does not let the story run by itself, .g. n a time order,but intrudes into it to make comments and control its development. In this text,Paragraph 2,7,and 13 are all case in which the intrudes to directly its development.In Paragraph 2,she intervenes in the description of the festival by directly praising its happiness and then asks―How is one to tell about joy?How to describe the citizen of Omelas?‖These interrupting words take readers away from the previous festival scene to her following portraying of the people.In paragraph 7,when readers are hesitating to believe what she tells about life in Omelas,she interrupts again with―Do you believe?...No?Then let me describe one more thing.‖This keeps readers in suspense,which offers her an opportunity to shock them with unexpected sharp discrepancy between Omelas’appearance and nature.In Paragraph 13,readers hear the writer’s voice again,First,she reminds them sarcastically of the impossibility of a utopia by saying― Now do you believe in them?Are they not more credible?‖Then she prepares her now more realistic readers for a surprising ending by saying―But there is one moreincredible thing to tell.‖These parts of the writer’s intrusion are steps in the control of the story’s development or readers’thought. Cases where the writer intrudes to comment can be found in many places in the text,especially in Paragraph 3when she describes what the Omelas people are like.Foe example,in this paragraph after such description as ―there were mature,intelligent,passionate adults whose lives were not wretched,‖she exclaims,―0 miracle !But I wish I could describle it better.‖This informs readers that she is constructing this city in her mind. Two lines below that, she suggests to readers that they imagine the city on they own so that it can be at its best. In this way ,she invites them to join her creation. Besides Paragraph3 ,there are also similar cases in the rest of the text. For instance ,in the last paragraph she steps forwards saying ―I cannot describe it at all .‖to tell readers frankly that she is unable to solve the problem and don’t ask for the solution from her. These comments , traces of the writer’s intrusion ,demonstrate her writing process clearly before readers’ eyes and encourage them to think actively with her. 全文概述 This essay describe a special group of people ,the Sad Young Man or the Lost Generation in American literary history , who were shocked and uprooted for a time but never ―lost‖. The Revolt of the Younger Generation is the most interesting aspect in th the Twenties in the 20century. It was a logical outcome of conditions at that time—the aftermath of WWI and the rising of America. It start with WWI, which whipped up the energies of the youth and created an enlistment craze .But when the youth people had a good taste of the war and returned home only to find that they could adjust themselves no more to their hometown, they rebelled in the form of completely overthrowing the Victorian gentility, which in itself was obsolescent in a society highly industrialized. Thus young intellectuals flocked to live unconventionally in Greenwich Village, a place well known for Bohemianism and eccentricity. Soon non-intellectuals began to imitate their manners, which was also a way for the youth to escape their social responsibilities. Their imitation and especially America’s materialism dissatisfied young intellectuals greatly, so many went to live in Europe as expatriates But almost all of them returned within a few years out of homesickness. Tempered by their life of expatiation, they produced the liveliest,freshest and most stimulating works in America’s literary history. 美文欣赏及写作特点 This is a piece of expository writing explaining a certain era and a special writers’ group in America literary history. Unlike most of this kind of writing, it does not state its their until it comes to the last sentence of the last paragraph. However, each paragraph or paragraph unit in this essay develops a new but closely related aspect of the thought stated in the thesis so that they form a coherent whole.