【推荐1】No poem should ever be discussed or “analyzed”, until it has been read aloud by someone, teacher or student. Better still, perhaps, is the practice of reading it twice, once at the beginning of the discussion and once at the end, so the sound of the poem is the last thing one hears of it.

All discussions of poetry are, in fact, preparations for reading it aloud, and the reading of the poem is, finally, the most telling “interpretation” of it, suggesting tone, rhythm, and meaning all at once. Hearing a poet read the work in his or her own voice, on records or on film, is obviously a special reward. But even those aids to teaching can not replace the student and teacher reading it or, best of all, reciting it.

I have come to think, in fact, that time spent reading a poem aloud is much more important than “analyzing” it, if there isn’t time for both. I think one of our goals as teachers of English is to have students love poetry. Poetry is “a criticism of life”, and “a heightening (提升) of life”. It is“an approach to the truth of feeling”, and it “can save your life”. It also deserves (值得) a place in the teaching of language and literature more central than it presently occupies.

I am not saying that every English teacher must teach poetry. Those who don’t like it should not be forced to put that dislike on anyone else. But those who do teach poetry must keep in mind a few things about its essential (基本的) nature, about its sound as well as its sense, and they must make room in the classroom for hearing poetry as well as thinking about it.

1. To have a better understanding of a poem, one should _____

A．discuss it with others	B．analyze it by oneself
C．copy it down in a notebook	D．practise reading it aloud

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a function of poetry?

A．Extending your life.	B．Saving your life.
C．Criticizing life.	D．Heightening life.

3. According to the writer, one of the purposes of teaching English is to get students to ______.

A．understand life	B．enjoy poetry
C．become teachers	D．become poets

4. What does the last sentence in the third paragraph imply?

A．More stress should be laid on the teaching of poetry.

B．Poetry is more important than any other subject.

C．One cannot enjoy life fully without an understanding of poetry.

D．Poetry is the foundation of all language and literature courses.

【推荐2】Regrowth Poetry Competition is open to all published and unpublished, UK and non-UK based male and female writers over 16 years of age. This competition is open to poetry submissions. Poems must be based around the theme of “regrowth, birth, survival, and new life” and in any genre. The poem should be between 5 and 30 lines in length (including title).

Entry details, rules and regulations to the competition are listed below:

1. All entries must be sent using the form online.

2. Entry will cost £4.00. You can pay online via PayPal or credit card. You can also pay by cheque, making it payable to Susan Cawte. The postal address is 412 Thorold Road, Ilford, Essex, IG1 4HF. Multiple entries are allowed.

3. Entries will not be returned.

4. All entries submitted must be work which has not been published elsewhere or submitted to another competition which is currently still open.

5. All entries must be your own work. Any entry found to be plagiarized or printed elsewhere will be disqualified.

6. All entries submitted must clearly state the author's name, address, email address and contact telephone number on the submission.

7. The winner will be notified within one month of the closing date.

8. The closing date for entries is midnight (BST) 30th April 2016.

Prizes:

1st: £50, published story in the magazine, and a feature article about the winning author.

2nd: £25, story published in the magazine.

The 20 shortlisted authors will be listed online in May. Winners will be announced on 1st June 2016.

1. What should be the theme of the poems in the competition?

A．Peace.	B．Friendship.
C．Regrowth.	D．Health.

2. If you want to take part in the competition, ____.

A．you can only submit one entry

B．you must be a British boy of 16

C．you have to pay the entry fee by cheque

D．you must send the entries before 30th April 2016

3. What is the probably meaning of the underlined word “plagiarized”?

A．Written.

B．Copied.

C．Typed.

D．Read.

【推荐3】Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding about black culture in America.

Her poems described conditions among the poor, racial inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women. She was an expert at the language of poetry. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.

In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is where many black people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was A Street in Bronzeville that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skill and her powerful descriptions of the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.

In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She won the prize for her second book of poems called Annie Allen. Annie Allen is a collection of poetry about the life of a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and being poor. Ms Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.

Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called Maud Martha. Maud Martha received little notice when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult life of many women are popular among female writers today.

By the end of the 1960s, Gwendolyn Brooks’s poetry expanded from the everyday experiences of people in Bronzeville. She wrote about a wider world and dealt with important political issues.

1. What can we learn about Gwendolyn Brooks from the second paragraph?

A．She mainly wrote about the struggles of black women.

B．She was good at using the language of poetry.

C．Her writing skills were a little worse than her ability.

D．Her poems were mainly about the African experience.

2. The author develops the passage mainly by 　　　.

A．providing examples

B．using statistics

C．comparing opinions

D．describing her experiences

3. In the next part, the author would most probably talk about 　　　.

A．the difficulties Gwendolyn Brooks would meet

B．the poems related to political issues

C．the awards Gwendolyn Brooks gained

D．the racial inequality the black had to face

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．The life of Gwendolyn Brooks.

B．The poems of Gwendolyn Brooks.

C．The understanding about black culture.

D．The struggles of black women.

【推荐1】The city of Richmond announced that Roscoe Burnems would become the city’s first poet laureate (桂冠诗人), a poet recognized for achievements in poetry.

During his two-year term as a poet laureate, Burnems is responsible for being a poetry advocate by providing access to poetry throughout the city and offering opportunities to use the power of words to heal wounds, open hearts and minds, and bring people closer together. He has the freedom to create and develop his own projects during his term and will receive a $4,000 annual bonus.

Burnems’ love of poetry began at a an early age when he was struggling against depression. His English teacher recommended him to read poetry, which later brought him a peaceful mental state and helped him recover from depression. He soon decided that poetry was something he would run after for his lifetime. “People gravitate to poetry because they can find themselves in the poems,” he says. “It allows readers to feel the emotional part of our experiences.”

He says poetry is a great platform to discuss mental health- depression and the emotional stresses that come with daily life. Relieving those stresses is central to some of the work he does with young people. Last year, Burnems started a youth poetry producing competition for local high school students.

Burnems says he loves and supports different types of art, and his next move is to explore poetry through cooperation across media. Richmond’s paintings on the wall are a good example. He says,“Richmond is getting known for these beautiful paintings on display across the city, and I want to add a literary component to that.”

1. What is Burnems’ responsibility as a poet laureate?

A．Spreading the power of poetry.	B．Bringing poetry lovers together.
C．Creating more good poems.	D．Developing his own projects.

2. Why did Burnems have great affection for poetry?

A．Poetry made him more confident.

B．Poetry helped him go through a tough time.

C．He was influenced by his English teacher.

D．He viewed writing poems as a lifelong career.

3. What does the underlined phrase “gravitate to” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Be familiar with.	B．Take pride in.
C．Be attracted by.	D．Break away from.

4. What is Burnems’s plan in the near future?

A．To shift his focus to paintings.	B．To combine poetry with other arts.
C．To hold more poetry competitions.	D．To help youth with mental problems.

【推荐2】Elizabeth Bishop is considered one of the best American poets of the 20th century. She was born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1911. Her dad died when she was just a baby and her mom never recovered from the loss. She went to live with her grandparents in Nova Scotia, Canada when she was five. Eventually Bishop attended Vassar College, where she began to write poetry.

At Vassar she discovered Marianne Moore’s poetry and met Ms. Moore and began their life-long friendship. She later met poet Robert Lowell. She wrote tons and tons of letters to both of them, which is good for us because we would otherwise know very little of her personal life. Bishop published her first book of poetry in 1946 and wrote until her death in 1979. She would spend years working on a single poem. Her poems are not the result of hasty scribbling (匆忙乱写) on paper while eating breakfast. She would look through drafts of poems again and again and improve them until they were as close to perfect as she could get them.

Reading Elizabeth Bishop is like being transported to the very place, the very moment she’s writing about. She leads us to a microscope so we can see every smallest part of the scene. It seems that she’s always asking us to notice more, and more until the poem is so clear in our minds that it’s almost painful—like a light that’s too bright.

1. What do we know about Bishop’s early life?

A．She spent her childhood mainly in Worcester.

B．She was mainly brought up by her grandparents.

C．She was always encouraged by her parents.

D．She started to write poems at five.

2. Why are Bishop’s letters to Moore and Lowell important?

A．They offer much information about her life.

B．They have a deep influence on other poets.

C．They help us study Moore and Lowell’s poetry.

D．They prove she had friendships with famous poets.

3. What can we say about Bishop’s poetic creation?

A．She liked to write in the morning.

B．She could write poems at high speed.

C．She tried her best to achieve perfection.

D．She published hundreds of books of poetry.

4. Which word can be used to best describe the style of Bishop’s poems?

A．Hard.

B．Romantic.

C．Humorous.

D．Exact.

【推荐3】One early morning, I went into the living room to find my mother reading a thick book called Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again. My interest was aroused only by the fact that the word “Poems” appeared in big, hot pink letters.

“Is it good?” I asked her.

“Yeah,” she answered. “There’s one I really like and you’ll like it, too.” I leaned forward.

“‘Patty Poem,’”she read the title. Who is Patty? I wondered. The poem began:

She never puts her toys away, Just leaves them scattered①where they lay,...

①散乱的

The poem was just three short sections. The final one came quickly:

When she grows and gathers poise②, I’ll miss her harum-scarum③noise, And look in vain for scattered toys.

②稳重 ③莽撞的

And I’ll be sad.

A terrible sadness washed over me. Whoever Patty was, she was a mean girl. Then, the shock.

“It’s you, honey,” My mother said sadly.

To my mother, the poem revealed a parent’s affection when her child grows up and leaves. To me, the “she” in the poem was horror. It was my mama who would be sad. It was so terrible I burst out crying.

“What’s wrong?” my mother asked.

“Oh Mama,” I cried. “I don’t want to grow up ever!”

She smiled. “Honey, it’s okay. You’re not growing up anytime soon. And when you do, I’ll still love you, okay?”

“Okay,” I was still weeping. My panic has gone. But I could not help thinking about that silly poem. After what seemed like a safe amount of time, I read the poem again and was confused. It all fit so well together, like a puzzle. The language was simple, so simple I could plainly understand its meaning, yet it was still beautiful. I was now fascinated by the idea of poetry, words that had the power to make or break a person’s world.

I have since fallen in love with other poems, but “Patty Poem” remains my poem. After all, “Patty Poem” gave me my love for poetry not because it was the poem that lifted my spirits, but because it was the one that hurt me the most.

1. Why was the writer attracted by the book Best Loved Poems to Read Again and Again?

A．It was a thick enough book.	B．Something on its cover caught her eye.
C．Her mother was reading it with interest.	D．It has a meaningful title.

2. After her mother read the poem to her, the writer felt _________ initially.

A．sorrowful

B．excited

C．horrified

D．confused

3. The writer’s mother liked to read “Patty Poem” probably because _________.

A．it reflected her own childhood	B．it was written in simple language
C．it was composed by a famous poet	D．it gave her a hint of what would happen

4. It can be concluded from the passage that “Patty Poem” leads the writer to _________.

A．discover the power of poetry	B．recognize her love for puzzles
C．find her eagerness to grow up	D．experience great homesickness