Just asNorman Mailer, John Updike and Philip Roth were at various times regarded asthe greatest American novelist since the second world war, John Ashbery andRobert Lowell vied for the title of greatest American poet. Yet the two mencould not be more different. Lowell was a public figure who engaged withpolitics-in 1967 he marched shoulder-to-shoulder with Mailer in protest againstthe Vietnam war, as described in Mailer’s novel "The Armies of theNight". Lowell took on substantial themes and envisioned himself as atragic, heroic figure, fighting against his own demons. Mr Ashbery’s verse, by contrast, is morebeguilingly casual. In his hands, the making of a poem can feel like thetumbling of dice on a table top. Visible on the page is a delicately playfulstrewing of words, looking to engage with each other in a shyly puzzledfashion. And there is an element of Dada-like play in his unpredictability ofaddress with its perpetual shifting of tones.

Lowell, whodied in 1977 at the age of 60, addressed the world head on. By contrast, MrAshbery, who celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year, glances wryly atthe world and its absurdities. In this edition of his later poems, asubstantial gathering of verses selected from six volumes published over thepast 20 years, his poetry does not so much consist of themes to be explored ascomic routines to be improvised. He mocks the very idea of the gravity ofpoetry itself. His tone can be alarmingly inconsequential, as if the reader isthere to be perpetually wrong-footed. He shifts easily from the elevated to thework-a-day. His poems are endlessly digressive and there are often echoes ofother poets in his writings, though these always come lightly at the reader, asthough they were scents on the breeze.

Lowell wrotein strict formal measures; some of his last books consisted of entire sequencesof sonnets. Mr Ashbery can also be partial to particular forms of verse, thoughthese tend to be of a fairly eccentric kind-the cento (a patchwork of other poets’ works), for example, and thepantoum (a Malaysian form, said to have been introduced to 19th-century Europeby Victor Hugo). Often he writes in a free-flowing, conversational manner thatdepends for its success upon the fact that the ending of lines is untrammelledby any concern about whether or not they scan. Within many of his poems, thereoften seems to be a gently humorous antagonism between one stanza and the next.Mr Ashbery likes using similes in his poetry. This is often the poet’s stock-in-trade, but he seems tosingle them out in order to send up the very idea of the simile in poetry, asin "Violets blossomed loudly/ like a swear word in an empty tank".

Life, forLowell, was a serious matter, just as he was a serious man. Mr Ashbery’s approach, as evinced by hispoetry, is more that of a gentle shrug of amused bewilderment. Unlike Lowell’s, his poems are neitherautobiographical nor confessional. He doesn’t take himself that seriously."Is all of life a tepid housewarming?" For a poet this is a tougherquestion to answer than you might think.

1.The word"substantial" (Line 4, Paragraph 1) most probably means_____.

[A] serious

[B] big

[C] important

[D] real

2. The lastwords of Lowell mean that_____.

[A] the worldshould go forward without stopping.

[B] the worldshould not mourn for him.

[C] the worldshould forget him totally.

[D] the worldshould go on its path for a bright future.

3. Which oneof the following is NOT the characteristics of Ashbery’s poetry?

[A] Somelines are borrowed from the other poets’ works.

[B] Stanzasare different from each other in one poem.

[C] Words arescattered casually in his poetry.

[D] Tones arecontinuously changing from the highbrow to the common.

4. Mr.Ashbery’s similes in poetry are different from that of the other poets inthat_____.

[A] he likesto single them out.

[B] he usesthem in an eccentric way.

[C] he usessimile for simile.

[D] he usessimile to express his complex thought.

5. Why theauthor think the question Ashbery raised is a tougher one for a poet than wemight think?

[A] Because apoet looks at things in a very complicated way.

[B] Because apoet takes life seriously.

[C] Becausethis question is a difficult one.

[D] Becausethe theme of life is worth thinking for a poet.

篇章剖析：

这篇文章介绍了美国诗人Ashbery和其诗歌的特点，文章虽然是以两个诗人对比的形式写作的，但是却对Ashbery着墨偏多，另外一个诗人洛厄尔只是一个陪衬而已。第一段讲述了两个诗人竞争美国最伟大诗人的称号;第二段第三段都是对两位诗人作品特点的描述;第四段讲述他们对生活的不同态度。

词汇注释：

vie v.竞争

envision vt.想象, 预想

dice n.骰子

strew vt.散播, 点缀, 撒满

wryly adv.挖苦地, 表情冷漠地

improvise v.临时准备

digressiveadj.离题的, 枝节的来源：考试大

cento n. 杂烩, 摘录

pantoum n.(根据隔行同韵的马来诗体改编的) 由隔行同韵的四行诗节组成的诗

untrammeladj.自由自在的, 无阻碍的

tepid adj.微温的, 温热的, 不太热烈的

难句突破：

(1) In this edition of his later poems, asubstantial gathering of verses selected from six volumes published over thepast 20 years, his poetry does not so much consist of themes to be explored ascomic routines to be improvised.

[主体结构] His poetry does not so much consist of ...

[结构分析] 本句为简单句，作状语的介词短语成分比较复杂，a substantial gathering of verses是edition的同位语，该同位语是带有作定语的分词短语。在主句中，不定式短语to be explored...用来修饰themes, 而不定式短语to be improvised 又用来修饰comic routines.

[句子译文] 他这本晚些出版的诗集选编了过去20年间出版的六本诗集中的诗歌，其主题不再是象那种临时准备的老套滑稽节目，他戏谑诗歌本身具有严肃性这个话题

(2) This is often the poet’s stock-in-trade,but he seems to single them out in order to send up the very idea of the similein poetry, as in "Violets blossomed loudly/ like a swear word in an emptytank".

[主体句式] This is ... but he ...

[结构分析] 这是一个并列句，后面分句成份较为复杂，带有一个不定式短语作目的状语，as 引导成分修饰的是整个分句。

[句子译文] 虽然这是诗人的惯用手法，但他却把这些比喻单独挑出来，以突出诗里面明喻这个概念。比如"紫罗兰纵声开放/ 宛如空桶里的一句毒誓"。

题目分析：

1.The word "substantial" (Line 4, Paragraph 1) mostprobably means_____.1. "Substantial"这个词最有可能的意思是_____。

[A] serious[A] 严肃的。

[B] grand[B] 宏大的。

[C] heroic[C] 英雄的。

[D] tragic[D] 悲剧的。

[答案] B

[分析] 猜词题。根据上下文来断定该词的意思，这个词是用来形容Lowell 诗歌主题的特点的。由第一段中Lowell喜欢参与政治，在诗歌中经常将自己视为悲剧的英雄人物这一点可以看出，他主题选择应该是比较宏大的。这一点在后面的几个段落中也可以发现。选项A也容易混淆，但要从tragic heroic 这几个词中推导正确答案，因为这些就是宏大叙事中常见的特征。因此，B为正确答案。来源：考试大

2. The last words of Lowell mean that_____.2. 洛厄尔的临终遗言意思是_____。

[A] the world should go forward without stopping.[A] 世界应该继续前行，不要停止。

[B] the world should not mourn for him.[B] 世界不要为他而哀痛。

[C] the world should forget him totally.[C] 世界应该把他完全忘记。

[D] the world should go on its path for a bright future.[D] 世界应该继续它朝向美好未来的道路行进。

[答案]D

[分析] 推理题。洛厄尔的临终时addressed the world head on，意思是让世界继续前行，但其深层次的意思要结合洛厄尔的性格来判断。根据整篇文章，洛厄尔是比较正统的一位诗人，他对待世界的态度是严肃的，他这句话的深层意思是世界应该一直努力向前，最终能够走到光明的未来。选项D最为符合题意。

3. Which one of the following is NOT the characteristics of Ashbery’s poetry?3.以下哪个不是Ashbery诗歌的特点?

[A] Some lines are borrowed from the other poets’ works.[A] 许多句子是借用其他诗人的。

[B] Stanzas are different from each other in one poem.[B] 诗中节与节差异颇大。

[C] Words are scattered casually in his poetry.[C] 诗中的词都是随意散落搭配的。

[D] Tones are continuously changing from the highbrow to thecommon.[D] 语调不停变化，有时是阳春白雪，有时是下里巴人。

[答案]A

[分析] 细节题。题干要求选出不属于Ashbery 诗歌特点的一项，因为文章通篇都有对其诗歌特点的描述，因此就要细心查找每一选项是否在文章中提及。选项A, 文章第二段最后一句提到，there are often echoes of other poets in his writings, 有其他诗人的调子，但并没有说直接借用其作品中的句子，可能是模仿其风格或语调。因此，答案A 不一定正确。选项B, 关于诗歌节的特点，文章第三段提到there often seems to be a gently humorous antagonism between onestanza and the next，关键要知道"antagonism"的意思，"对抗的"，说明节与节之间是截然不同的对立的风格，答案B是其诗歌特点。答案C 是关于诗歌用词的特点，第一段有提及，提到他诗歌中的词就像散落在桌上的色子一样，那么C也是其特点。D是关于诗歌语调的，文章有两处提及，第一段提到its perpetual shifting of tones，第三段有更为详细的描述: Heshifts easily from the elevated to the work-a-day, D也是其特点。因此，答案应选A。

4.Mr. Ashbery’s similes in poetry are different from that of the other poets inthat_____.4.Ashbery先生诗歌中的比喻和其他诗人所用的比喻不同在于_____。

[A] he likes to single them out.[A] 他喜欢把比喻单独列出来。

[B] he uses them in an eccentric way.[B] 他用比喻的方式很奇怪。

[C] he uses simile in order to make fun of it.[C] 他为捉弄比喻而用比喻。

[D] he uses simile to express his complex thought.[D] 他用比喻来表达自己复杂的思想。

[答案]C

[分析] 细节题。文章第三段提到，Ashbery喜欢在诗歌中运用比喻手法，但和一般诗人不同的是，他喜欢把比喻单独列出来，好像要戏谑诗歌中的比喻似的。然后作者举了一个例子，是个非常奇怪的比喻，"紫罗兰纵声开放/ 宛如空桶里的一句毒誓"。这个题目有一定难度，send up 这个短语的意思考生不一定熟悉，但考生可以根据Ashbery一贯游戏人生的态度分析出来。选项AB只是表层的现象，C才是真正的实质。

5. Why the author think the question Ashbery raised is a tougher onefor a poet than we might think?5. 为什么作者认为Ashbery 提出的问题要一个诗人回答其困难程度要比我们想象的难得多?

[A] Because a poet looks at things in a very complicated way.[A] 因为诗人看待事物的方式很复杂。

[B] Because a poet takes life seriously.[B] 因为诗人对待生活的态度很严肃。

[C] Because this question is a difficult one.[C] 因为这个问题本身很难。

[D] Because the theme of life is worth thinking for a poet. [D] 因为对于一个诗人生活这个主题值得思考。

[答案] D

[分析] 推理题。最后的这个问题是："生活的全部是不是只是迁入新居?"这个问题的提出要结合文章最后一段来看，最后一段是描写Ashbery对于生活的态度，洛厄尔对待生活的态度是很严肃的，但是Ashbery却是一种玩世不恭的态度，对于这个问题他给出的答案可能是肯定的，但是对于其他诗人呢，则需要好好地考虑一下了, 尤其是生活主题对于诗人来说是一个非常复杂的问题。答案中D最为符合。

参考译文：

二战后的几个时期里，诺曼·梅勒、约翰·厄普代克、菲利普·罗斯成为美国公认的最伟大的小说家，同样地，约翰·Ashbery和罗伯特·洛厄尔也争取美国最伟大的诗人这个名号。但是，这两个家伙可是截然不同。洛厄尔是个公众人物，参与政治活动。1967年，他和梅勒肩并肩抗议越战，梅勒在其小说《夜行军》曾描述了这些情景。洛厄尔选择的主题宏大，把自己想象成富有悲剧色彩的英雄形象，和自己的恶魔战斗。而Ashbery的诗却颇有闲逸气。于他而言，做诗就好像是在桌上滚动的色子，纸上呈现的词精妙地散落着，彼此都羞涩地挨在一起。其不断的语气变化又使得本来变化莫测的措辞平添了一丝达达派的意味。

洛厄尔1977年去世，终年60岁，他还号召世界继续前进。而今年年初才庆贺了自己80岁生日的Ashbery，却冷眼瞧着这个世界，以及这个世界的荒诞。他这本晚些出版的诗集选编了过去20年间出版的六本诗集中的诗歌，其主题不再是象那种临时准备的老套滑稽节目，他戏谑诗歌本身具有严肃性这个话题。他的语气极其不合逻辑，好像读者永远都站不对阵脚。他的语气一会是严肃的，一会马上就成了work-a-day。他的诗歌是那么的不着边际，中间或夹杂有其他诗人的一词半调，但轻轻地来到读者面前，就好像风中的一丝气息而已。

洛厄尔遵循严格的格式，他最后的一些作品有完整的十四行诗体例。Ashbery先生的诗歌也有一定的格式，只是有点怪异罢了--比如集锦(其他诗人作品的杂合)，比如潘顿诗体(一种马来西亚诗体，据说是由维克托·雨果引入19世纪的欧洲的)。他常以一种随意、会话式的方式创作，关键就在于每行结尾不必非得符合格律。在他的许多诗里面，两节之间常是有点滑稽的对立。Ashbery先生喜欢用明喻。虽然这是诗人的惯用手法，但他却把这些比喻单独挑出来，好像要戏谑诗里面明喻这个概念。比如"紫罗兰纵声开放/ 宛如空桶里的一句毒誓"。

对于洛厄尔，生活是件严肃的事情，正如他本人一样。而Ashbery的生活方式却不止是因困惑而轻轻地耸一下肩，从他的诗中就可以看出来。和洛厄尔不同，他的诗既不是自传性质的，也不是忏悔的。他并不那么较真。"生活的全部是不是只是迁入新居?"这个问题让一个诗人来回答，可是比我们想象的难得多。