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 agend a － to lure us to open our wallet s — 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.

名师解析

36. By citing the examples of poets Wordsworth and Baudelaire, the author intends to show that

作者引用诗人华兹华斯和 波德莱尔 的例子，其意图是为了表明

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

诗歌对于快乐的表达不如油画和音乐。

[B] art grows out of both positive and negative feelings.

艺术源于正面和负面情感。

[C] poets today are less skeptical of happiness.

今天的诗人对于快乐持较弱的怀疑态度。

[D] artists have changed their focus of interest.

艺术家已经改变了兴趣的焦点。

【答案】 D

【考点】 推断题。

【分析】 题干关键词“华兹华斯和 波德莱尔 ”，定位到第二段最后一句，“ as we went from Wordsworth’s daffodils to Baudelaire’s flowers of evil ”通过第一段的阅读我们得知，艺术家开始关注那些令人不快的情感。而第二段说，“以前不是这样的，绘画，音乐都适合表达快乐，只是 19 世纪的某个时候，当我们从华兹华斯的水仙花转向 波德莱尔 的恶之花时，越来越多的艺术家开始把快乐看成是乏味的，虚假的，甚至是令人厌倦的。”因此我们可以得出结论，即“艺术家已经改变了兴趣的焦点”。故正确答案是 [D] 。 [A] 不合适的原因是文中没有将诗歌、绘画和音乐对于快乐的表现力进行比较。 [B] 从字面上来看，似乎是有道理的，但是这不是作者引用二人的目的所在，因为作者强调的是一个重点的转移。选项 [C] 的说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 ) 一词的最有可能的含义是

[A] religious. 宗教的 [B] unpleasant. 令人不快的

[C] entertaining. 使人愉快的 [D] commercial. 商业的

【答案】 B

【考点】 词义题。

【分析】 本题考查考生能否根据上下文来推测某个单词意思的能力。根据提示定义到第五段最后一句。第五段说“早期时候的人，生活被苦难包围着。他们工作到筋疲力尽，生活没有保障，寿命很短。最强大的大众传媒教堂也时刻提醒信徒们，他们的灵魂处于危险之中，他们有一天会成为蛆虫的食物。有了这一切，他们的确无需艺术也变成一个‘ bummer ’”。至此，意思很明了，即他们不再需要增加一个“令他们不快乐的事物”，“ bummer ”指的就是“ something unpleasant ”。

38. In the author’s opinion, advertising 在作者看来，广告

[A] emerges in the wake of the anti-happy art. 随着反快乐艺术而出现。

[B] is a cause of disappointment for the general public. 是引起公众失望的原因。

[C] replaces the church as a major source of information. 代替了教堂成为主要的信息来源。

[D] creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself. 创造快乐的幻觉而不是快乐本身

【答案】 D

【考点】 推断题。

【分析】 通过本题关键词“广告” (advertising) 可以定位到第四段。作者提到“反快乐的艺术之兴起几乎可以追溯到大众传媒出现的时候，以及伴随大众传媒而出现的商业文化。对商业文化而言，快乐不仅仅是一种理想，更是一种意识形态”。因此 [A] 可以被排除，因为 [A] 的说法刚好与原文相反。“ in the wake of ”的意思就是“紧跟着，随着”。然后再定位到第六段，文章说，“西方人遭受商业信息的狂轰滥炸，而且这些信息总是很快乐。快餐食客，新闻主持人，短消息服务商，都在微笑、微笑、微笑。但是由于这些信息都有着一个自己的‘任务’ (agenda) ，即，诱惑我们打开钱包”，所以它使得快乐的概念看上去不可靠。后面作者又举了一个药品的例子，说这个药品的宣传很好，但是后来却发现它可能增加心脏病的发病率。综合以上所说，可以看出，广告创造的是快乐的幻觉而不是快乐本身，故正确答案为 [D] 。 [B] 没有根据。 [C] 的错误在于代替教堂的不是广告而是大众传媒。

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

从最后一段中我们可以得知作者相信

[A] happiness more often than not ends in sadness.

快乐常常以痛苦告终。

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

反快乐艺术令人不快但是使人耳目一新。

[C] misery should be enjoyed rather than denied.

应该享受痛苦而不是拒绝痛苦。

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

经济的繁荣的时候反快乐艺术也昌盛。

【答案】 B

【考点】 作者观点题。

【分析】 在最后一段，作者归纳上文得出结论：在今天这样一个快乐唾手可得的年代，我们必须记住一点，那就是，只有在面临巨大的失败和失望的风险后取得的才是真正的快乐。而今天我们需要一样东西来提醒我们，就像当初的宗教那样。那就是反快乐文化。作者在最后提到，“它很苦但是很清新”。这里与 [B] 的意思是一样的，故为本题的正确答案。 [A] 的错误在于它故意混淆了作者引用宗教的意图。作者只是说宗教提醒人们各种痛苦的存在。至于 [C] 的错误，就是作者说“人们需要接受痛苦；而不是说享受痛苦”。至于 [D] ，在最后一段里面，我们推断不出“经济的繁荣的时候反快乐艺术也昌盛”。

40. Which of the following is true of the text? 根据本文，下面哪一个是正确的？

[A] Religion once functioned as a reminder of misery.

宗教曾经的功能就是让人想起苦难。

[B] Art provides a balance between expectation and reality.

艺术提供了期望与现实之间的平衡。

[C] People feel disappointed at the realities of modern society.

人们对当代社会的现实感到失望。

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

大众传媒倾向于报道灾难和死亡。

【答案】 A

【考点】 事实细节题。

【分析】 [A] 可以定位到第五段，文中提到“宗教提醒信徒们，他们的灵魂是处于危险中，他们有一天会成为蛆虫的食物”。因此我们可以判断本题的正确答案是 [A] 。至于 [B] ，在文中找不到出处。 [C] 关于道德的现实这个问题也没有提到。 [D] 关于大众传媒的说法与文章的意思相反，这在倒数第二段中可以看出。

难句解析 ：

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.

【结构分析】 本句的主干是“ more artists began seeing happiness as… ”，“ insipid, phony or, worst of all, boring ”做的是宾语补足语。“ somewhere in the 19th century ”是副词短语做时间状语。后面一个“ as ”相当于“ when ”，引导一个时间状语从句。

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.

【结构分析】 本句的主干是“ The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media ”，“ with it ”是介宾短语做伴随状语，这里的“ it ”说得就是“ the emergence of mass media ”。“ which ”引导一个定语从句，修饰“ 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.

【结构分析】 本句的主干是“ the most powerful mass medium was the church ”，“ which ”引导一个非限定性定语从句，修饰“ church ”，在这个定语从句中又有两个“ that ”引导的宾语从句。

全文翻译：

许多事情使人们认为艺术家古怪，而最古怪的可能是：艺术家唯一的工作是探索情感，但是他们却选择了集中探索那些令人不快的情感。

以前并非总是这样。最早的艺术形式，如绘画和音乐，就是最适合表达快乐的。但是到了 19 世纪的某个时候，当我们从华兹华斯的水仙花转向 波德莱尔 的恶之花之时，更多的艺术家开始把快乐看成是乏味的，虚假的，甚至是令人厌倦的事物。

你可能会认为艺术越来越怀疑快乐是因为现代社会经历了连年的战争、灾难和滥杀无辜，但是这并不是说以前的时代就没有经历过这样多的痛苦。事实上，情况可能正好相反：如今世上的快乐太多了。

那么，究竟是哪一种现代的表达形式，几乎完全在致力于描绘快乐呢？那就是广告。反快乐艺术的兴起几乎完全可以追溯到大众传媒的出现，以及随之而来的商业文化，在这种文化中，快乐不仅仅是一种理想而且是一种空想。

早期时代的人们被那些令他们处处想到苦难的事情包围着。他们工作到筋疲力尽，生活几乎没有保障，寿命短。在西方，在大众通讯和读写教育普及之前，最强大的大众传媒是教堂，它提醒信徒们，他们的灵魂处于危险中，他们有一天会成为蛆虫的食物。考虑到这一切，他们的确无需艺术再来表示这种不愉快的感觉。

如今，普通西方人遭受的不再是宗教的而是永远快乐的商业信息的狂轰滥炸。快餐食客，新闻主持人，短消息服务商，都在微笑、微笑、微笑。我们的杂志刊登的神采奕奕的名人和幸福完美的家庭，但是由于这些信息都有着一个自己的“任务 (agenda) ”，即诱惑我们打开钱包，所以它使得快乐的概念看上去不可靠。“庆祝吧！”宣传关节炎良药“欢庆宝”的广告这样召唤道，随后我们却发现它会增加心脏病的发病率。

但是，我们所忘记的——我们的经济依赖于我们所忘却的——是快乐而非没有痛苦的快乐。带来最大快乐的东西也最有可能带有损失和失望。如今，我们的周围充斥着唾手可得的幸福的承诺，我们需要艺术来告诉我们，正如宗教 Memento mori 曾经告诉我们的：记得你终将死亡，一切都会结束，快乐的到来并非在否定这一切时来到，而是和这一切一起来到。这个讯息比大叶烟的味道更苦涩，但是不管怎么说，终究是一股清新的空气。