The writer of the Epilogue (结语) to my copy of Goethe’s Faust, Hanns W Eppelsheimer, refers to “human arrogance (傲慢), rising up against the spirits, in order to seize a piece of power for itself, with the aid of wizard ryand magic,” as “a very old theme”. He adds: “At the beginning of modern times, when the Renaissance set science free, the simple desires for power, wealth and sensual pleasure (感官享乐) came to be joined by the new striving for unlimited knowledge. ” Enter the historical Faust, the semi-biographical stories about his life.
Let’s go much further back in time. At the beginning of the ancient Biblical Book of Job (圣经·约伯记), the “sons of God” and Satan come before God. “And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job?” (Note the word “servant”). God confirms Job’s goodness. Satan counters that Job is good only because he is in receipt of God’s favours. If he were to suffer, he would curse God. God empowers Satan to test Job, making him suffer. Job loses his family and his animals and his health and retains only the company of his wife. His wife urges Job to curse God, but he refuses firmly.
The story ties into the problem of why good people suffer, where Goethe borrows a theme into Prologue but has changed it out of all recognition:
The Lord: Do you know Faust?
Mephistopheles: The Doctor?
The Lord: My servant!
God acknowledges that Faust serves him, through his striving, despite the mistakes he is sure to make; and Faust remains aware of the correct path to take through life. While God, indeed, permits Mephistopheles to try to divert (转移) Faust from his “fountainhead”. Mephistopheles appreciates the favour and sets to work. And then we meet Faust himself, alone in his study at night, at the beginning of the drama proper, and he speaks for himself:
Ah, now I’ve studied philosophy, jurisprudence and medicine, and alas, theology as well, ardently and painstakingly, from beginning to end.
He has learnt a great deal; but he wants to learn more, beyond the bounds of handed down knowledge — metaphysics (形而上学), perhaps, or the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.
Early in Part 1 of the drama, Faust makes his own bargain with Mephistopheles: if he ever relaxes from his striving and wishes to stay still, in the beautiful moment, then Mephistopheles can take his soul. Compared to Job, Goethe’s hero, instead, is not made to suffer: rather, new enjoyments of life are opened up to him. Unfortunately, Faust’s own joy can be at the expense of other people. (The tragedy of Part 1 is that of Gretchen and her family)
In Part 2, regretful about his faults before, Faust engages in good works, especially, the reclamation of low-lying land from the sea (填海造陆). There arises, though, from the writings of the New Testament (圣经新约), the question as to whether good works are sufficient to ensure salvation (救赎) — a Christian theological (基督教神学的) debating point. St Paul explores this: “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law”. Luther is saying here that “a man is justified, without the deeds of the law, only by faith.” He adds the “only”. On this view, Faust’s good works cannot be sufficient for his salvation. We can add that Faust does not have faith, either.
Finally, at the end of the drama, Faust does have one moment of relaxation, and, accordingly, Mephistopheles tries to arrest his soul. But, in the event, Mephistopheles is cheated of his long-sought-after prize — by the intervention of angels, including a transformed Gretchen. Faust is enabled to ascend (上升) to Heaven. Faust’s salvation, on Goethe’s terms, relies upon his own striving, the appearance of the “eternal feminine (永恒女性)”, and the words of forgiveness uttered by his female victim (Gretchen).
Let’s talk briefly about the nature of the completed Faust. It is almost entirely in verse(诗歌). It is extremely long. Whereas many verse dramas of Shakespeare and his contemporaries average roughly 2000 lines, and Part 1 of Faust has 4,612 lines, and Part 2 has 7,499! Moreover, Part 2 has literally hundreds of parts. Therefore, either Part poses great challenges, whenever a staging is contemplated.
I conclude, indeed, that Faust is a poem, and not a play, a drama or a tragedy as ordinarily conceived.
1. What’s function of the first paragraph?| A．To introduce the topic. |
| B．To inform readers of the Epilogue to Faust of his version. |
| C．To advertise a classic book. |
| D．To introduce a translator called Hanns W Eppelsheimer. |
| A．God. | B．Satan. | C．Job. | D．Faust. |
| A．Part 1 of the drama: Unsatisfied, Faust has learnt a lot in his long life, but he pursues the knowledge from Mephistopheles, which. is a trap designed by God. He gains great joy at the cost of Gretchen’s tragedy. |
| B．Part 2 of the drama: Repentant (忏悔的), Faust devotes himself to a great cause, which still cannot make up for what he has done before according to a Christian theological debating point, as he doesn’t have faith. |
| C．At the end of the drama : Faust does have one moment of relaxation, but Mephistopheles doesn’t take his “prize” because of angles’intervention. Faust is ascended to Heaven, made a true hero. |
| D．At the end of the drama : Gretchen, the female victim in this play or so-called “eternal feminine”, forgives Faust, completing his salvation. |
| A．There are many different versions of Faust. |
| B．Goethe adapts Bible in a totally different way in Prologue of Faust. |
| C．It can’t be a easy job for Goethe to finish Faust alone. |
| D．Faust is actually a brilliant long poem with more than ten thousand lines. |
| A．Goethe: A Talented Prophet (先知) |
| B．Faust: A Tragic Verse |
| C．Gretchen: A Poor-Fated Lover |
| D．Devil: A Forever Deceiver |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】We all know the hard work that filmmakers and actors put in to provide us with entertainment, but it seems that even regular moviegoers like us have a big impact on how a movie turns out too.
For decades, film studios have used so-called test screenings to get feedback from members of the public before a movie comes out. While test audience members are usually asked to fill in a questionnaire after a screening, telling the film studio what they liked and didn’t like, media giant Disney has come up with a more high-tech solution.
According to a paper published this summer by the company’s researchers, Disney is measuring test audiences’ reactions by using special cameras placed inside cinemas. Pairing the cameras with special software, the company can track what each audience member is feeling at any point in the movie, from anger to joy.
It’s hoped that this new method will allow more detailed feedback from test audiences. Rather than relying on audience members to recall their feelings after the movie’s over, it can accurately read their reactions in real-time.
Test screenings are highly valued in the movie industry, and several well-known movies have been greatly altered following feedback. Viewers of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) would have left the cinema feeling a whole lot differently if it weren’t for its test audience’s feedback. “In one cut of the film that was tested, E.T. died instead of going home in his spaceship,” wrote media website Den of Geek.
But for those who are concerned about privacy, the cameras won’t be installed in public cinemas. After all, unless you’re part of a test audience, being in front of the camera is best left to the movie stars.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．Even regular moviegoers put in hard work to provide us with entertainment. |
| B．Film studios have used a more high-tech solution to get feedback from the audience. |
| C．It is not convenient for Disney to test audiences’ feelings in public cinemas by using special cameras. |
| D．Film studios wouldn’t like to test audiences’ reactions in public cinemas. |
| A．developed | B．changed | C．made | D．provided |
| A．being in front of the camera is left to movie stars. |
| B．film studios have got feedback from test audiences before a movie comes out. |
| C．film studios are concerned about audiences’ privacy. |
| D．many audience members are afraid of them being monitored. |
| A．Important reactions | B．Can cameras be installed in cinemas? |
| C．A high-tech solution | D．How to make a successful movie? |
【推荐2】The majority of the nearly 2 billion pounds of pumpkins cultivated in the US each year are carved up instead of being eaten, making the pumpkins a unique part of the agriculture industry. For people who prefer seasonal recipes to decorations, that may raise a few questions: Are the pumpkins sold for jack-o'-lantens different from punpkins sold as food?
The pumpkins available at farms and outside supermarkets during October are what most people know, but that's just one type of pumpkin. Howden pumpkins are the most common decorative pumpkin variety. They've been bred specifically for carving into jack-o'-lanterns, with a symmetrical (对称的) round shape and tough stem that acts as a handle.
To get the best-tasting pumpkins possible this autumn, you're better off avoiding the seasonal supermarket displays. Many pumpkins varieties are bred especially for cooking and eating. These include Sugar pie, Kabocha, and Cinderella pumpkins. You can shop for those varieties by name at local farms or in the produce section of your grocery store. They should be easy to tell apart from the carving pumpkins available for Halloween:
If you do want to get some cooking use out of your carving pumpkins this Halloween, set aside the seeds when picking out the guts. Roasted with flavors and olive oil, seeds from different pumpkin varieties become a tasty and nutritious snack.
| A．Whatever you do, make sure your pumpkin isn't carved up already when you decide to cook with it. |
| B．Do Halloween pumpkins have the tendency to replace those used for eating in the long run? |
| C．Because they're bred to be decoration first, carving pumpkins don't taste very good. |
| D．A pumpkin used for cooking and eating is grown for the flavor, featuring a texture popular among consumers. |
| E．Unlike decorative pumpkins, cooking pumpkins are small and dense. |
| F．And are Halloween pumpkins any good to eat? |
【推荐3】Light pollution is a significant but overlooked driver of the rapid decline of insect populations, according to the most comprehensive review of the scientific evidence to date.
Artificial light at night can affect every aspect of insects' lives, the researchers said. "We strongly believe artificial light at night — in combination with habitat loss, chemical pollution, invasive species, and climate change — is driving insect declines,” the scientists concluded after assessing more than 150 studies.
Insect population collapses have been reported around the world, and the first global scientific review published in February, said widespread declines threatened to cause a "catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems".
There are thought to be millions of insect species, most still unknown to science, and about half are active at night. Those active in the day may also be disturbed by light at night when they are at rest.
The most familiar impact of light pollution is moths (飞蛾) flapping around a bulb, mistaking it for the moon. Some insects use the polarisation of light to find the water they need to breed, as light waves line up after reflecting from a smooth surface. But artificial light can scupper (使泡汤) this. Insects are important prey (猎物) for many species, but light pollution can tip the balance in favour of the predator if it traps insects around lights. Such increases in predation risk were likely to cause the rapid extinction of affected species, the researchers said.
The researchers said most human-caused threats to insects have analogues in nature, such as climate change and invasive species. But light pollution is particularly hard for insects to deal with.
However, unlike other drivers of decline, light pollution is relatively easy to prevent. Simply turning off lights that are not needed is the most obvious action, he said, while making lights motion-activated also cuts light pollution. Shading lights so only the area needed is lit up is important. It is the same with avoiding blue-white lights, which interfere with daily rhythms. LED lights also offer hope as they can be easily tuned to avoid harmful colours and flicker rates.
1. What is the 5th paragraph mainly about?| A．How light travels in space. | B．How light helps insects find food. |
| C．How the food chain is interrelated. | D．How light pollution affects insects. |
| A．Selective things. | B．Similar things. | C．Variations. | D．Limitations. |
| A．To offer solutions. | B．To give examples. |
| C．To make comparisons. | D．To present arguments. |
| A．Causes of declining insect populations. |
| B．Consequences of insect population collapses. |
| C．Light pollution: the key bringer of insect declines. |
| D．Insect declines: the driver of the collapsed ecosystem. |
【推荐1】In a time when too much importance has been attached to utilitarianism (功利主义), it doesn’t come as a surprise to me that we people no longer believe in poetry. Utility is now often the standard of what one should devote his or her time and energy to and what he or she shouldn’t, but don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that one should not consider utility at all when making crucial decisions. On the contrary, everyone should take it into account. Medicine, law, business and engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance and love, these are what we stay alive for.
My dad once told me that “life is suffering”, which now I think is probably a unanimous (无异议的) opinion among most people. With a tough life inevitably comes a tough language—and that is what poetry is and why poetry is needed. It offers people a way to talk about the difficult, to describe things in life, like death, suffering, profound joy and transformation. So whenever I hear someone say that poetry is not a must, or it’s an option, or it’s only for the educated middle classed, I suspect that he or she must have had things pretty easy.
But how can people live without poetry? Unlike what the academics may tell you, my suggestion about bringing poetry into your lives is that don’t analyze it and don’t ask others to analyze it. Don’t deconstruct (解构) it or try to make meaning of it. Just find the poems that wake you up, that make you feel as if you’ve submerged (沉浸) yourself in a hot spring or an ice bath. Find the poems that make you feel almost irrational joy or sadness. Find the poems that make you want to roll around in them or paint their colors all over your bedroom ceiling. Those are the poems you want to play with. Find the poems that communicate with the deepest parts your being and welcome them in.
If finding others’ poems no longer satisfies you, compose your own! You don’t have to be a poet to compose poetry. After all, poetry is not a luxury. It’s about searching for the real meaning of life and also about giving meaning to life. Just like Walt Whitman’s “O Me! O Life!”, a poem that ends by speaking directly to its readers: “the powerful play goes on and you may write a verse (诗),” poetry is about everyone. And now I want to ask you the mother of all inspirational questions; “What will your verse be?”
— Inspired by Jeanette Winterson’s book:
Why Be Happy When You Could be normal?
1. The author thinks that poetry is very important for human beings because it ______.| A．has nothing to do with the shared belief in utility |
| B．symbolizes a status as an educated middle class |
| C．offers a tool for describing hard experiences |
| D．uncover an important truth that life isn’t all roses |
| A．deconstruct and making meaning of it | B．enjoy a hot spring or an ice bath |
| C．paint it over his or her bedroom ceiling | D．feel irrational joy or sadness |
| A．only a true poet can write poems | B．no poem can appeal to everyone |
| C．life feels just like a powerful play | D．every human is entitled to poetry |
| A．Composing Poetry | B．Poetry for Life |
| C．The Art of poetry | D．Analyzing poetry |
【推荐2】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. |
【推荐3】Poetry Slam is a type of competition where people read their poems without props(道具), costumes or music. After performing, they get scores (0-10) from 5 judges. The judges can be anyone——they don’t even need to be poets! Scores are awarded based on how much each judge likes the poem.
Make it original. The written piece must be original.
Time. Each poet has three minutes to perform. While reading your poem, make sure you finish it within three minutes.
Simple.
Rhythmic. Your poem should have a rhythm（韵律)that shows through your performance. A slam poem moves the audience through different emotions.
| A．Poets lose points for failing to meet limit. |
| B．The purpose of this judging process is to attract everyone to take part in it. |
| C．Your poem should be able to reach your audience the first time it is heard. |
| D．The highest and lowest scores are dropped and the middle three are kept. |
| E．The poem performed for the competition needs to be your own work. |
| F．How the poem is performed is at least as important as the content if not more. |
| G．Watch other Poetry Slams for encouragement, to get feedback and start competing in your own Poetry Slam. |
