Ashiuhto
Senior Member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2010
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- Chinese
- Home Country
- Taiwan
- Current Location
- Taiwan
The following passage is a reading comprehension which confuses me a lot. Please check my answers to the questions below. Thanks !
It is a commonplace that this masterpiece of world literature, at least, can be read without having to try too hard and without special preparation. Yet there are certain considerations that the reader might, nonetheless, like to keep in mind, since they may increase his enjoyment still further. For the conventions of this great work are obviously different from those of a modern narrative. That is illustrated, for example, by its unexpected variations of pace and details, caused often enough by an ancient taste for repetition, for formality, for major digression, for long scenes of gradual recognition. The fundamental difference, however, is this (and it makes questions about the poem’s mode off composition less than pedantic ones)[FONT=新]：[/FONT]that it was designed to be heard in public performance not to be read in private. That has all sorts of effects. It explains, to begin with, why the poem is so dramatic in essence—why characters display themselves in speeches or through actions and not primarily through discursive analysis by the author. We have grown used to this last method of approach, which has had special success in the novel, sometimes on planes to which no ancient author would aspire. Yet the dramatic approach, which often exacts more from the readers or audiences, has its counterbalancing merits, and in this masterpiece we can observe the art of formalized but purposeful conversation, now devious, now urgent, now flattering or charming or deprecating, carried to heights occupied by Jane Austin of Milton of Paradise Lost rather than by most writers for modern stage.
1. Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?
(A) Poetry is the most widely accepted form in literature as far as its narrative superiority is concerned.
(B) The ancient literature falls short of vitality in our times because of its ineffective style in narrations.
(C) This masterpiece is characteristic of its dramatic style in narrations significantly distinct from most pieces of works in modern literature.
(D) The works of ancient literature are almost difficult to be read without adequate knowledge of the ancient world.
2. What would not be a possible counterpart of this masterpiece in respect to its style of expression?
(A) Satire (B) Essay (C) Fable (D) Mythology
3. What can we infer from the “dramatic approach” of this masterpiece?
(A) It calls for the immediacy of responses from audiences and therefore may bring to them more fun in vivid imagination and refreshment.
(B) It hinders a further interaction between narrators and audiences.
(C) The modern literature has forsaken the dramatic approach because of its provocative style in narrations.
(D) Jane Austin had never adopted this approach in her works and would criticize that an author should be as precise and erudite as possible in his or her narrations.
4. “To counterbalance” is closest in meaning to ____________________.
(A) “To cancel” (B) “To mend” (C) “To innovate” (D) “To neutralize”
5. This masterpiece is probably one of the following books EXCEPT ________________.
(A) Jason and the Golden Fleece
(B) The Odyssey
(C) Ancient Greek Mythology
(D) Gone with The Wind
My answers are as written[FONT=新]：
1. (C)
2. (B)
3. (A)
4. (D)
5. (D)
[/FONT]
It is a commonplace that this masterpiece of world literature, at least, can be read without having to try too hard and without special preparation. Yet there are certain considerations that the reader might, nonetheless, like to keep in mind, since they may increase his enjoyment still further. For the conventions of this great work are obviously different from those of a modern narrative. That is illustrated, for example, by its unexpected variations of pace and details, caused often enough by an ancient taste for repetition, for formality, for major digression, for long scenes of gradual recognition. The fundamental difference, however, is this (and it makes questions about the poem’s mode off composition less than pedantic ones)[FONT=新]：[/FONT]that it was designed to be heard in public performance not to be read in private. That has all sorts of effects. It explains, to begin with, why the poem is so dramatic in essence—why characters display themselves in speeches or through actions and not primarily through discursive analysis by the author. We have grown used to this last method of approach, which has had special success in the novel, sometimes on planes to which no ancient author would aspire. Yet the dramatic approach, which often exacts more from the readers or audiences, has its counterbalancing merits, and in this masterpiece we can observe the art of formalized but purposeful conversation, now devious, now urgent, now flattering or charming or deprecating, carried to heights occupied by Jane Austin of Milton of Paradise Lost rather than by most writers for modern stage.
1. Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?
(A) Poetry is the most widely accepted form in literature as far as its narrative superiority is concerned.
(B) The ancient literature falls short of vitality in our times because of its ineffective style in narrations.
(C) This masterpiece is characteristic of its dramatic style in narrations significantly distinct from most pieces of works in modern literature.
(D) The works of ancient literature are almost difficult to be read without adequate knowledge of the ancient world.
2. What would not be a possible counterpart of this masterpiece in respect to its style of expression?
(A) Satire (B) Essay (C) Fable (D) Mythology
3. What can we infer from the “dramatic approach” of this masterpiece?
(A) It calls for the immediacy of responses from audiences and therefore may bring to them more fun in vivid imagination and refreshment.
(B) It hinders a further interaction between narrators and audiences.
(C) The modern literature has forsaken the dramatic approach because of its provocative style in narrations.
(D) Jane Austin had never adopted this approach in her works and would criticize that an author should be as precise and erudite as possible in his or her narrations.
4. “To counterbalance” is closest in meaning to ____________________.
(A) “To cancel” (B) “To mend” (C) “To innovate” (D) “To neutralize”
5. This masterpiece is probably one of the following books EXCEPT ________________.
(A) Jason and the Golden Fleece
(B) The Odyssey
(C) Ancient Greek Mythology
(D) Gone with The Wind
My answers are as written[FONT=新]：
1. (C)
2. (B)
3. (A)
4. (D)
5. (D)
[/FONT]
