1 . Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireside in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at that time, nor movie theatres, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry has a place in everyday life.
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and that they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three factors: poets, teachers, and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions unfavourable to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, and that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.
Poets failed the reader, so did teachers. They want their students to know something about the skills of a poem; they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.
1. Why is reading poems thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century?| A．Because it built a link among people. |
| B．Because it helped unite a community. |
| C．Because it was a source of self-education. |
| D．Because it was a source of pleasure. |
| A．Stories. | B．Changes. | C．Amusements. | D．Concentrations. |
| A．Students are poorly educated in high school. |
| B．Poems have become difficult to understand. |
| C．Students are becoming less interested in poetry. |
| D．TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry. |
| A．The history and changes of poetry. |
| B．The correct way for teachers to teach poetry. |
| C．The failure of poetry in people’s life nowadays. |
| D．The reason why people aren’t keen on poetry today. |
1. 一位穷乡绅堂吉诃德读骑士小说入了迷，一心想成为骑士，于是他背井离乡离家出走；
2. 他给读者留下的印象：一个疯疯癫癫的骑士，做出了一些蠢事；
3. 被他执着的精神所打动。
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3 . Not Waving but Drowning
Stevie Smith (1902-1971)
Nobody heard him, the dead man, but still he lay moaning:
I was much further out than you thought, and not waving but drowning.
Poor chap, he always loved larking, and now he's dead.
It must have been too cold for him, his heart gave away, they said.
Oh, no no no, it was too cold always （Still the dead one lay moaning）.
I was much too far out all my life, and not waving but drowning.
‘Not Waving But Drowning’ by Stevie Smith describes the emotional situation of a speaker whose true sufferings go unnoticed by all those around her. The poem begins with the speaker stating that there is a dead man who is not really dead. He is not dead because his story has more to offer to the world. His death came at the hands of apathy (冷漠). The speaker knows this to be true as she is struggling out in the ocean waters. She’s trying desperately to get someone’s attention but all the onlookers believe her to be “waving” rather than “drowning”. Then the speaker criticizes the emotionless reaction of the beach-goers by describing their words regarding the dead man. They see him, attempt to recall something about his life, and then declare him dead without ceremony They believe that it must have been “too cold” for him and that his heart gave out. The speaker continues to say that it has always been “too cold” for her. She has always been too far out to the sea to make people understand her, especially now when she needs understanding the most.
On the surface the poem is about a man who drowns because his movements are mistaken for friendly waving. Taken less literally, however, it speaks to the pain of being misunderstood and the frequent failure of communication between human beings, closely related to which is its potential suggestion of mental illness. That is, the poem can be taken as an extended metaphor (暗喻) for the specific pain of diseases like depression, which makes the man feel like “drowning” yet unable to effectively ask for help. It’s worth noting here that Smith herself struggled with depression for much of her life, and her own experience likely informed the poem. The man’s mistaken gestures, in this reading, indicate the divide between appearance and reality, between how people dealing with such illness are feeling inside and how the world sees them or how they present themselves to the world.
1. What’s the first paragraph mainly about?| A．An introduction of the poet. | B．The explanation of the poem’s content. |
| C．The appreciation of the poem's images. | D．An analysis of the poem's creation background. |
| A．Casually. | B．Definitely. | C．Formally. | D．Violently. |
| A．His inner desire for death. | B．His misleading gestures for help. |
| C．His being drowned for so long a time. | D．His failed communication with people around. |
| A．People usually believe what they see. |
| B．People can't turn a blind eye to whoever is in trouble. |
| C．People should re late to what those in need truly need. |
| D．People with mental illnesses must help themselves out. |
4 . “For a long time, I thought poetry and mountain biking were complete opposites and would not go together at all,” says Mackenzle Myatt, a cyclist and writer from Canada, who just published her first poetry book, In Defense of Big Dreams, which goes around her lifelong love of mountain biking.
As long as Myatt can remember, she has been writing poetry and riding bikes. The two things were very separate sides of her — the sporty, competitive side and the part that loved books and writing, playing with language. It was only too mechanical to try to put them together until Myatt took ownership of her training and started digging into the mental and emotional side of sport. That’s when it really clicks with poetry.
Mountain bikers talk about the idea of flow quite a lot. During racing, the goal is to be able to achieve flow state and be super smooth as everything is happening automatically without thinking. The feeling of inspiration in writing is similar to the flow state on a mountain bike.
The flow can bring a sense of joy, which can then turn into a positive feedback loop between Myatt’s pursuits. “When I feel joy, I want to write about it now. But also, if I’m writing about joy, it encourages me to notice joy more often in daily tasks or riding bikes.” Myatt says.
In a sense, Myatt’s new book marks a successful new connection between the bike and the poetry, which not only runs throughout the book’s pages, but throughout her life, too. “The book is designed to inspire girls in sport and in life, but I really think the messages are universal and I hope that everyone can enjoy this book and act on their potential.”
1. What do we know about Myatt’s book In Defense of Big Dreams?| A．It was a big success. | B．It was written for riders. |
| C．It describes Myatt’s writing life. | D．It combines Myatt’s two favorites. |
| A．It attracts more readers. | B．It simplifies writing task. |
| C．It pushes her daily practice. | D．It forms a positive cycle of joy. |
| A．From a Cyclist to a Poet | B．The Goal of Success: Flow State |
| C．Flow on the Bike, Flow on the Page | D．A Canadian Bestseller Written by an Athlete |
A FEW SIMPLE FORMS OF ENGLISH POEMS
There are various reasons why people compose poetry. Some poems tell a story or describe a certain image in the reader’s mind. Others try to convey certain feelings such as joy and sorrow. The distinctive characteristics of poetry often include economical use of words, descriptive and vivid language, integrated imagery, literary devices such as similes and metaphors, and arrangement of words, lines, rhymes, and rhythm. Poets use many different forms of poetry to express themselves. Now we will look at a few of the simpler forms.
Some of the first poems a young child learns in English are nursery rhymes. They are usually the traditional poems or folk songs. The language of these rhymes, like Poem A, is to the point but has a storyline. Many children enjoy nursery rhymes because they rhyme, have a strong rhythm, and often repeat the same words. The poems may not make sense and even seem contradictory, but they are easy to learn and recite. By playing with the words in nursery rhymes, children learn about language.
One of the simplest kinds of poem is the “list poem”, which contains a list of things, people, ideas, or descriptions that develop a particular theme. List poems have a flexible line length and repeated phrases which give both a pattern and a rhythm to the poem. Some rhyme 〔like B and C〕, while others do not.
Another simple form of poem that amateurs can easily write is the cinquain, which is made up of five lines. With these, you can convey a strong picture or a certain mood in just a few words. Look at the example 〔D〕.
Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that consists of 17 syllables. It has a format of three lines, containing 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively. It is not a traditional form of English poetry, but is very popular with English writers. It is easy to write and, like the cinquain, can give a clear picture and create a special feeling using very few words. The haiku poem 〔E〕 on the right is a translation from Japanese, which shows a moment in the life of a delicate butterfly.
English speakers also enjoy poems from China, those from the Tang Dynasty in particular. A lot of Tang poetry has been translated into English, such as this one〔F〕.
With so many different forms of poetry to choose from, you may eventually want to write poems of your own. Give it a try!
A
Hush, little baby, don’t say a word,
Papa’s gonna buy you a mockingbird.
If that mockingbird won’t sing,
Papa’s gonna buy you a diamond ring.
If that diamond ring turns to brass,
Papa’s gonna buy you a looking glass.
If that looking glass gets broke,
Papa’s gonna buy you a billy goat.
If that billy goat won’t pull,
Papa’s gonna buy you a cart and bull.
B
Mother
Hundreds of stars in the deep blue sky,
Hundreds of shells on the shore together,
Hundreds of birds that go singing by,
Hundreds of bees in the sunny weather,
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
Hundreds of bees in the purple clover
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the world over.
George Cooper
C
LIFE
Life can be good,
Life can be bad,
Life is mostly cheerful,
but sometimes sad
Life can be dreams,
Life can be great thoughts
Life can mean a person,
Sitting in court.
D
Brother
Beautiful, athletic
Teasing, shouting, laughing
Friend and enemy too
Mine
E
A fallen blossom
Is coming back to the branch.
Look, a butterfly!
F
Where she awaits her husband
On and on the river flows.
Never looking back,
Transformed into stone.
Day by day upon the mountain top,
wind and rain revolve.
Should the traveller return,
this stone would utter speech.
Wang Jian
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．The characteristics and examples of five forms of poems. |
| B．Encourage readers to write their own poems. |
| C．Reasons of people composing poetry. |
| D．Different types of poems. |
| A. It is a list poem which shows the diversity of life. B. It is a description of a lovely brother. C. It is a translation of a Tang poetry, which describes a woman who waited for her beloved husband to come back from a journey. D. It is a nursery rhyme that illustrates a father’s love for his baby. E. It is a list poem expressing the love for his mother. F. It describes how a butterfly rests on a tree. |
Poem B
Poem C
Poem D
Poem E
Poem F
3. Why do poets use different forms of poetry?
| A．They want to express themselves. |
| B．They want to attract more people. |
| C．They want to describe things in more detail. |
| D．They want people to learn from them. |
| A．Most of these poems make sense. |
| B．These poems have weak rhythm. |
| C．They repeat certain words a lot. |
| D．They must be repeated by children. |
| A．A kind of poem with both a pattern and a rhythm. |
| B．A kind of poem which has five lines. |
| C．A kind of poem kids in the nursery like to recite. |
| D．A kind of poem with 17 syllables. |
| A．It is a traditional form of English poetry. |
| B．It is made up of five lines. |
| C．It gives a vague picture of things. |
| D．It is not difficult to write. |
| A．Read more poems. |
| B．Enjoy English poems. |
| C．Write their own poems. |
| D．Translate poems into other languages. |
| A FEW SIMPLE FORMS OF ENGLISH POEMS | Nursery | ·The language is |
| ·have a strong | ||
| List poem | ·contain a list of things, people, | |
| ·have a flexible line length and | ||
| Cinquain | ·made up of | |
| ·convey a strong picture or a certain | ||
| Haiku | ·a | |
| ·consist of 17 | ||
| Tang poem | ·the |
(1) Some of the first poems a young child learns in English are nursery rhymes.
(2) One of the simplest kinds of poem is the “list poem”, which contains a list of things, people, ideas, or descriptions that develop a particular theme.
(3) Another simple form of poem that amateurs can easily write is the cinquain, which is made up of five lines.
(4) Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry that consists of 17 syllables. It has a format of three lines, containing 5, 7, and 5 syllables respectively.
Published in 1957, Teahouse is not only a peak of Lao She’s dramatist career but also a landmark in the history of modern Chinese drama.
Through a vivid
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There are various reasons why people compose poetry. Some poems tell a story or describe a certain image in the readers’ mind. Others try to convey certain f
Some of the first poems a young child learns in English are nursery r
9 . Last week, I sent the same request to ChatGPT, the latest artificial-intelligence chatbot from OpenAI. “Upon the Firth of Forth, a bridge doth stand,” it began. In less than a minute, the program had created in full a rhyming Shakespearean sonnet (莎士比亚十四行诗). Tools like ChatGPT seem poised to change the world of poetry — and so much else — but poets also have a lot to teach us about artificial intelligence. If algorithms (算法) are getting good at writing poetry, it’s partially because poetry was always an algorithmic business.
Even the most rebellious (叛逆的) poets follow more rules than they might like to admit. When schoolchildren are taught to imitate the structure of sonnet, they are effectively learning to follow algorithmic constraints. Should it surprise us that computers can do so, too?
But considering how ChatGPT works, its ability to follow the rules for sonnets seems a little more impressive. No one taught it these rules. It is based on a newer kind of AI known as a large language model (LLM). To put it simply, LLMs analyze large amounts of human writing and learn to predict what the next word in a string of text should be, based on context. One frequent criticism of LLMs is that they do not understand what they write; they just do a great job of guessing the next word.
When a private verse by Dickinson makes us feel like the poet speaks directly to us, we are experiencing the effects of a technology called language. Poems are made of paper and ink — or, these days, electricity and light. There is no one “inside” a Dickinson poem any more than one by ChatGPT. Of course, every Dickinson poem reflects her intention to create meaning. When ChatGPT puts words together, it does not intend anything. Some argue that writings by LLMs therefore have no meaning, only the appearance of it. If I see a cloud in the sky that looks like a giraffe, I recognize it as an accidental similarity. In the same way, this argument goes, we should regard the writings of ChatGPT as merely imitating real language, meaningless and random as cloud shapes.
When I showed my friends the sonnet by ChatGPT, they called it “soulless and barren.” Despite following all the rules for sonnets, the poem is predictable. But is the average sonnet by a human any better? If we now expect computers to write not just poems but good poems, then we have set a much higher bar.
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 1 and paragraph 2?| A．ChatGPT will make a difference to poetry based on algorithms. |
| B．There is no doubt that AI can copy the grammatical rules of poetry. |
| C．Poetry guidelines provide a possibility for AI’s poetry writing. |
| D．There is a similarity between algorithms and poetry. |
| A．ChatGPT is trained to follow the rules by LLMs. |
| B．ChatGPT can analyze and predict human languages. |
| C．ChatGPT is technologically supported by LLMs. |
| D．ChatGPT itself learn to follow the rules. |
| A．He talks about cloud to describe the meaninglessness of AI’s poetry. |
| B．He tells of Dickinson to describe the meaninglessness AI’s poetry. |
| C．He mentions cloud to suggest its close relationship with AI’s poetry. |
| D．He refers to Dickinson to suggest her close relationship with AI’s poetry. |
| A．Acceptable and favorable | B．Amazed and admiring |
| C．Indifferent and uncaring | D．Doubtful and uneasy |
10 . “A serious attack on the fantasy stories for children comes from those who do not wish children to be frightened,” writes C. S. Lewis in an essay named Three Ways of Writing for Children. Those who say that children must not be frightened mean two things. Firstly, they mean that we mustn’t do anything likely to give children fears,and secondly,they want to keep out of their minds that they are born into a world of death,violence (暴力),wounds and evil (邪恶). C.S. Lewis says he agrees with the first reason, but not the second.
He goes on to comment, “Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel (残酷的) enemies, let them at least hear of brave fighters and heroic courage. By limiting children to perfect and nice stories of child life in which nothing alarming ever happens, they would fail to face fears and hardships.” “It would be nice,” he continues, “if no little boy in bed ever hears a frightening sound. But if he is to be frightened, I think St. George, or any bright champion in armor, is a better comfort than the idea of the police.”
Bruno Bettelheim, a wellknown child psychologist, also points out that fantasy stories provide children with a valuable education about good and evil. He believes that all children have many personal fantasies filled with fears and fantasy stories comfort them and offer solutions. Happy endings tell them that solutions and hope are real and model the kind of happy life children want to find.
A good fantasy suggests rather than teaches possible answers to life. It’s believed that reading fantasies quickens the ability to get and put ideas from books to reality. It’s what good literature does—it makes life larger.
1. According to the first paragraph, C. S. Lewis thinks that .| A．children shouldn’t read any fantasy stories because they are bad |
| B．adults shouldn’t do things that may frighten their children |
| C．death and badness should be kept out of children’s minds |
| D．writing a fantasy story is the best way of writing for children |
| A．He is a policeman in real life. |
| B．He is a murderer caught by the police. |
| C．He is a brave man in a fantasy novel. |
| D．He is a frightening person in a story. |
| A．Because it encourages children to have a lot of fantasies. |
| B．Because it helps children overcome fears and find solutions. |
| C．Because it teaches children to write their own fantasy stories. |
| D．Because it gives children a happy memory when they grow up. |
| A．It’s necessary and helpful. |
| B．It’s interesting and attractive. |
| C．It’s useless but enjoyable. |
| D．It’s frightening but exciting. |
