Many things make people think artists are weird and 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 insipid, 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 such 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 peril 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 bombarded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy .Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all 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 to 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 is 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.
1.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 grow out of both positive and negative feeling.
C. Poets today are less skeptical of happiness.
D. Artist have changed their focus of interest.
2. The word "bummer" (Line 5. paragraph 5) most probably means something
A. religious
B. unpleasant
C. entertaining
D. commercial
3.In the author's opinion, advertising
A. emerges in the wake of the anti-happy part.
B. is a cause of disappointment for the general peer
C. replace the church as a major source of information
D. creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.
4.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
5.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
〔背景介紹〕
文章類型：人文科學(xué)，藝術(shù)表達形式的變化
本文主要談?wù)搶τ谒囆g(shù)表達形式的縱向比較，在以前藝術(shù)都是歌頌美的意念，但是從19世紀(jì)以來藝術(shù)正好轉(zhuǎn)向了，從歌唱或者贊頌，描寫生活中美的一方面，轉(zhuǎn)向為看生活中一些丑惡的一方面。
〔結(jié)構(gòu)分析〕
第一段首先提出了人們今天對于藝術(shù)家們的評論，認(rèn)為他們只關(guān)注生活中不好的一面。
第二、三段論述過去到今天的變化過程，從關(guān)注美到關(guān)注丑。
后四段主要是分析為什么會有這個變化的原因。主要原因是現(xiàn)在不缺乏歌頌美麗的東西，它提到現(xiàn)在的商業(yè)社會廣告還有一些商業(yè)活動永遠是歌頌美的東西。這種情況下藝術(shù)要起到一定的反作用，提醒我們?nèi)松怯锌嚯y的。
〔題目解析〕
1. [D] 例證題
例證題解題還是關(guān)注前面或后面的觀點，即使讀不懂什么叫華茲華斯轉(zhuǎn)向波德萊爾，從水仙花轉(zhuǎn)向惡之花，這都無所謂。我們向上找到這個例子支持的觀點就是從原本歌頌"美"到今天視"美"為枯燥乏味的變化過程。這樣就可以很輕松的找出正確答案為D"藝術(shù)變換了其關(guān)注的焦點"。
2. [B] 詞義題
返回原文在bummer后面找到一個"too"，只是表征上下文是并列平行關(guān)系的詞。再看上一句出現(xiàn)了"peril（危險）""worm（可憐的人）"都是一些表征不好的詞，那么根據(jù)并列平行原則bummer也應(yīng)該是一個不太好的意思。A"宗教的" 和D"商業(yè)的"是中性的詞； C"愉快的"是褒義詞都不能選。只有B"不愉快的"表征不好的意思，為正確答案。
3. [D] 細節(jié)事實題
通過題干中的廣告定位到原文第四段，文中講到"反幸福的藝術(shù)浪潮實際上是緊跟著大眾傳播媒體（就是廣告）的出現(xiàn)而出現(xiàn)的，隨之而來的結(jié)果是我們的商業(yè)文化已經(jīng)表明幸福不再是我們的理想，而是我們的社會意識形態(tài)了"。選項A屬于因果顛倒，文章當(dāng)中是反幸福的藝術(shù)形式跟隨廣告出現(xiàn)而不是廣告跟隨反幸福的藝術(shù)形式；選項B"廣告是我們普通人失望的理由"，文中根本沒有提及人們現(xiàn)在有沒有失望，這屬于無中生有；選項C"替代了教堂作為我們今天主要的信息源泉"還是一個文中未提及的信息。選項D"廣告創(chuàng)建了一個對于幸福的幻想而不是真正的幸福"是四段末句的同義替換。
4. [B] 推理題
選項A"幸福時常是以悲傷作為結(jié)局的"這是一個與原文風(fēng)牛馬不相及的答案，關(guān)鍵考生還是要認(rèn)識詞組"more often than not"解釋為"時常"；選項C"我們應(yīng)該享受痛苦而不是拒絕它"該選項還是具有較大的誘惑性，我們從原文中倒數(shù)第二句"Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it."得知幸福不是拒絕而是忍受它，而不是選項中所說的享受，這是詞義的曲解。即live with：To put up with; resign oneself to；enjoy：To receive pleasure or satisfaction from。選項D"經(jīng)濟繁榮會促使反幸福藝術(shù)的發(fā)展"經(jīng)濟繁榮是一個文中未提及的信息。再看全文末句"It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air."譯為：反幸福的藝術(shù)告訴我們的盡管苦澀，卻帶來一股令我們清醒的清新氣息。選項B "distasteful"對應(yīng)原文中的"more bitter"；"refreshing"對應(yīng)"a breath of fresh air"，因此選擇B。
5. [A] 判斷題
選項B"藝術(shù)在預(yù)期和現(xiàn)實中起了一個平衡作用"和選項C"人們對于當(dāng)前的道德現(xiàn)狀很失望" 是文中未提及的信息；選項D"大眾媒體傾向于報道災(zāi)難和死亡"與原文明顯相反，文中論述大眾媒體都報道美的一面。選項A"宗教曾經(jīng)起著提醒人們痛苦的作用"對應(yīng)與原文的第五段，為原文的同義替換。
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 insipid, 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 such 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 peril 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 bombarded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy .Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all 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 to 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 is 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.
1.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 grow out of both positive and negative feeling.
C. Poets today are less skeptical of happiness.
D. Artist have changed their focus of interest.
2. The word "bummer" (Line 5. paragraph 5) most probably means something
A. religious
B. unpleasant
C. entertaining
D. commercial
3.In the author's opinion, advertising
A. emerges in the wake of the anti-happy part.
B. is a cause of disappointment for the general peer
C. replace the church as a major source of information
D. creates an illusion of happiness rather than happiness itself.
4.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
5.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
〔背景介紹〕
文章類型：人文科學(xué)，藝術(shù)表達形式的變化
本文主要談?wù)搶τ谒囆g(shù)表達形式的縱向比較，在以前藝術(shù)都是歌頌美的意念，但是從19世紀(jì)以來藝術(shù)正好轉(zhuǎn)向了，從歌唱或者贊頌，描寫生活中美的一方面，轉(zhuǎn)向為看生活中一些丑惡的一方面。
〔結(jié)構(gòu)分析〕
第一段首先提出了人們今天對于藝術(shù)家們的評論，認(rèn)為他們只關(guān)注生活中不好的一面。
第二、三段論述過去到今天的變化過程，從關(guān)注美到關(guān)注丑。
后四段主要是分析為什么會有這個變化的原因。主要原因是現(xiàn)在不缺乏歌頌美麗的東西，它提到現(xiàn)在的商業(yè)社會廣告還有一些商業(yè)活動永遠是歌頌美的東西。這種情況下藝術(shù)要起到一定的反作用，提醒我們?nèi)松怯锌嚯y的。
〔題目解析〕
1. [D] 例證題
例證題解題還是關(guān)注前面或后面的觀點，即使讀不懂什么叫華茲華斯轉(zhuǎn)向波德萊爾，從水仙花轉(zhuǎn)向惡之花，這都無所謂。我們向上找到這個例子支持的觀點就是從原本歌頌"美"到今天視"美"為枯燥乏味的變化過程。這樣就可以很輕松的找出正確答案為D"藝術(shù)變換了其關(guān)注的焦點"。
2. [B] 詞義題
返回原文在bummer后面找到一個"too"，只是表征上下文是并列平行關(guān)系的詞。再看上一句出現(xiàn)了"peril（危險）""worm（可憐的人）"都是一些表征不好的詞，那么根據(jù)并列平行原則bummer也應(yīng)該是一個不太好的意思。A"宗教的" 和D"商業(yè)的"是中性的詞； C"愉快的"是褒義詞都不能選。只有B"不愉快的"表征不好的意思，為正確答案。
3. [D] 細節(jié)事實題
通過題干中的廣告定位到原文第四段，文中講到"反幸福的藝術(shù)浪潮實際上是緊跟著大眾傳播媒體（就是廣告）的出現(xiàn)而出現(xiàn)的，隨之而來的結(jié)果是我們的商業(yè)文化已經(jīng)表明幸福不再是我們的理想，而是我們的社會意識形態(tài)了"。選項A屬于因果顛倒，文章當(dāng)中是反幸福的藝術(shù)形式跟隨廣告出現(xiàn)而不是廣告跟隨反幸福的藝術(shù)形式；選項B"廣告是我們普通人失望的理由"，文中根本沒有提及人們現(xiàn)在有沒有失望，這屬于無中生有；選項C"替代了教堂作為我們今天主要的信息源泉"還是一個文中未提及的信息。選項D"廣告創(chuàng)建了一個對于幸福的幻想而不是真正的幸福"是四段末句的同義替換。
4. [B] 推理題
選項A"幸福時常是以悲傷作為結(jié)局的"這是一個與原文風(fēng)牛馬不相及的答案，關(guān)鍵考生還是要認(rèn)識詞組"more often than not"解釋為"時常"；選項C"我們應(yīng)該享受痛苦而不是拒絕它"該選項還是具有較大的誘惑性，我們從原文中倒數(shù)第二句"Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it."得知幸福不是拒絕而是忍受它，而不是選項中所說的享受，這是詞義的曲解。即live with：To put up with; resign oneself to；enjoy：To receive pleasure or satisfaction from。選項D"經(jīng)濟繁榮會促使反幸福藝術(shù)的發(fā)展"經(jīng)濟繁榮是一個文中未提及的信息。再看全文末句"It's a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air."譯為：反幸福的藝術(shù)告訴我們的盡管苦澀，卻帶來一股令我們清醒的清新氣息。選項B "distasteful"對應(yīng)原文中的"more bitter"；"refreshing"對應(yīng)"a breath of fresh air"，因此選擇B。
5. [A] 判斷題
選項B"藝術(shù)在預(yù)期和現(xiàn)實中起了一個平衡作用"和選項C"人們對于當(dāng)前的道德現(xiàn)狀很失望" 是文中未提及的信息；選項D"大眾媒體傾向于報道災(zāi)難和死亡"與原文明顯相反，文中論述大眾媒體都報道美的一面。選項A"宗教曾經(jīng)起著提醒人們痛苦的作用"對應(yīng)與原文的第五段，為原文的同義替換。