He emerged,all of a sudden, in 1957: the most explosive new poetic talent of the Englishpost-war era. Poetry specialised, at that moment, in the wry chronicling of theeveryday. The poetry of Yorkshire-born Ted Hughes, first published in a bookcalled "The Hawk in the Rain" when he was 27, was unlike anythingwritten by his immediate predecessors. Driven by an almost Jacobean rhetoric,it had a visionary fervour. Its most eye-catching characteristic was Hughes’s ability to get beneath the skinsof animals: foxes, otters, pigs. These animals were the real thing all right,but they were also armorial devices-symbols of the countryside and lifeblood ofthe earth in which they were rooted. It gave his work a raw, primal stink.

　　It was notonly England that thought so either. Hughes’s book was also published inAmerica, where it won the Galbraith prize, a major literary award. But then, in1963, Sylvia Plath, a young American poet whom he had first met at CambridgeUniversity in 1956, and who became his wife in the summer of that year,committed suicide. Hughes was vilified for long after that, especially byfeminists in America. In 1998, the year he died, Hughes broke his ownself-imposed public silence about their relationship in a book of loose-weavepoems called "Birthday Letters".In this new and exhilaratingcollection of real letters, Hughes returns to the issue of his first wife’s death, which he calls his"big and unmanageable event". He felt his talent muffled by theperpetual eavesdropping upon his every move. Not until he decided to publishhis own account of their relationship did the burden begin to lighten.

　　The analysisis raw, pained and ruthlessly self-aware. For all the moral torment, thewriting itself has the same rush and vigour that possessed Hughes’s early poetry. Some books ofletters serve as a personalised historical chronicle. Poets’ letters are seldom like that, andHughes’s are no exception. His are about a life of literary engagement: almostall of them include some musing on the state or the nature of writing, bothHughes’s own or other people’s. The trajectory of Hughes’s literary career had him moving from obscurity to fame, and then, in theeyes of many, to life-long notoriety. These letters are filled with hiswrestling with the consequences of being the part-private, part-public creaturethat he became, desperate to devote himself to his writing, and yet subject toendless invasions of his privacy.

　　Hughes is anabsorbing and intricate commentator upon his own poetry, even when he isstanding back from it and good-humouredly condemning himself for "itsfantasticalia, its pretticisms and its infinite verballifications". Healso believed, from first to last, that poetry had a special place in theeducation of children. "What kids need", he wrote in a 1988 letter tothe secretary of state for education in the Conservative government, "is aheadfull [sic] of songs that are not songs but blocks of refined and achievedand exemplary language." When that happens, children have "theguardian angel installed behind the tongue". Lucky readers, big orsmall.

　　1.The poetry of Hughes’s forerunners is characteristic of______

　　[A] itsnatural, crude flavor.

　　[B] itsdistorted depiction of people’s daily life.

　　[C] itspenetrating sight.

　　[D] itsfantastical enthusiasm.

　　2.The word"vilified" (Line 3, Paragraph 2)most probably means _____

　　[A] tortured

　　[B] harassed

　　[C] scolded

　　[D] tormented

　　3.According to the third paragraph,Hughes’s collection of letters are _____

　　[A] personalrecollection of his life.

　　[B]personalised historical chronicle of his literary engagement.

　　[C]reflections of his struggle with his devotion and the reality.

　　[D] hismeditation on the literary world.

　　4. From theletters, we may find the cause of Hughes’s internal struggle is _____

　　[A] hisdevotion to the literary world.

　　[B] that heis a part-private, part-public creature.

　　[C] that heis constrained by the fear of his privacy being invaded.

　　[D] his fameand notoriety.

　　5. By"lucky readers" in the last sentence, the author means_____

　　[A] childrenwho read poetry.

　　[B] childrenwho have a headfull of songs.

　　[C] childrenwho own blocks of refined and achieved and exemplary language.

　　[D] childrenwho have the guardian angel installed behind the tongue

　　篇章剖析：

　　本文講述了英國(guó)著名詩人特德·休斯作品的特點(diǎn)和其所反映的詩人的一些情況。第一段講述休斯詩歌的特色;第二段講述因其妻子的原因而創(chuàng)作了一部書信集的情況。第三段講述這本書信集的特點(diǎn)和反映的內(nèi)容。第四段講述休斯對(duì)詩歌的看法和態(tài)度。

　　詞匯注釋：

　　wry adj. 枯燥乏味的

　　predecessorn.前輩, 前任

　　rhetoric n. (措詞, 文體的)浮夸與修飾

　　fervour n.熱情

　　armorial adj.徽章的, 家徽的

　　lifeblood n. 生命力或生命之源的力量

　　stink n. 氣息，氣味

　　vilifie vt.誹謗, 辱罵, 貶低, 輕視

　　muffle vt.壓抑;阻止

　　eavesdroppingn.偷聽

　　trajectory n.道路選擇好的或采用的路徑：

　　notoriety n.惡名, 丑名, 聲名狼藉

　　absorbingadj.吸引人的, 非常有趣的

　　難句突破：

　　(1)But then, in 1963, Sylvia Plath, a young American poet whom he had firstmet at Cambridge University in 1956, and who became his wife in the summer ofthat year, committed suicide.

　　主體句式：But thenSylvia Plath committed suicide.

　　結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這是一個(gè)同位語帶有定語從句的復(fù)合句。whom和who引導(dǎo)的兩個(gè)定語從句修飾a young American poet, 整體作為Sylvia Plath的同位語。

　　句子譯文：但是在1963年，西爾維亞·普拉斯自殺了，這個(gè)美國(guó)年輕詩人與他第一次見面是在1956年的劍橋大學(xué)，而當(dāng)年夏天又成為了他妻子。

　　(2)These letters are filled with hiswrestling with the consequences of being the part-private, part-public creaturethat he became, desperate to devote himself to his writing, and yet subject toendless invasions of his privacy.

　　主體句式：Theseletters are filled with his wrestling.

　　結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這是一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單句，難點(diǎn)在于最后兩個(gè)形容詞詞組的成分(desperate to devote himself to his writing, and yet subject to endlessinvasions of his privacy)。這兩個(gè)形容詞詞組是用來修飾前面的名詞creature, 而creature后面緊跟著的that 引導(dǎo)的從句也是修飾它的定語從句。

　　句子譯文：這些信中處處都顯現(xiàn)出休斯因?yàn)樽约撼蔀榘胨饺�、半公開這么樣一個(gè)人物而心理反復(fù)掙扎，他渴望將自己奉獻(xiàn)給文字，但又時(shí)時(shí)受到私人空間受到侵襲的威脅。

　　題目分析

　　1.The poetry of Hughes’s forerunners is characteristic of ______1. 休斯先前的詩人們創(chuàng)作的詩歌特點(diǎn)是______

　　[A] its natural, crude flavor.[A] 自然、原始的風(fēng)味。

　　[B] its distorted depiction of people’s daily life.[B] 對(duì)人們?nèi)粘Ｉ�活的變形描寫�?/P>

　　[C] its penetrating sight.[C] 洞穿一切的視角。

　　[D] its fantastical enthusiasm.[D] 夢(mèng)幻式的熱情。

　　[答案] B

　　[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。本文第一段講述了休斯詩歌的特點(diǎn)。第一段第二句說明了當(dāng)時(shí)盛行的詩歌的特色是the wry chronicling of the everyday，緊接著第三句就指出休斯的作品不同于他前輩的詩歌，接下來的幾句都是講述休斯作品具體是什么特色。由此可以推理，第二句所描寫的就是其前人作品的特點(diǎn)，是"對(duì)日常生活的變形描述"，選項(xiàng)B為正確答案。

　　2.The word "vilified" (Line 3, Paragraph 2)most probablymeans _____2. "vilified"這個(gè)詞(第二段第三行)最有可能的意思是_____

　　[A] tortured[A] 折磨。

　　[B] harassed[B] 騷擾。

　　[C] scolded[C] 斥責(zé)。

　　[D] tormented[D] 折磨。

　　[答案] C

　　[分析] 猜詞題。這個(gè)詞的意思要根據(jù)上下文推斷。該詞出現(xiàn)的前一句講述休斯妻子，一位美國(guó)詩人自殺了。緊接著就說，該事件發(fā)生后很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)間里美國(guó)的女權(quán)主義者對(duì)休斯采取了一種行動(dòng)。后面又講述了休斯在去世之前將他與妻子的關(guān)系情況以書信集的方式表達(dá)出來，直到這本集子出版他的背負(fù)才得以減輕。那么休斯一直背負(fù)著一種精神負(fù)擔(dān)，這部分是由那些女權(quán)主義者造成的，可能性比較大的就是一種精神上的譴責(zé)，答案[C]最為符合。

　　3.According to the third paragraph, Hughes’s collectionof letters are _____2. 從第三段可以得知，休斯的書信集是_____

　　[A] personal recollection of his life.[A] 他對(duì)自己生命的個(gè)人回憶。

　　[B] personalised historical chronicle of his literary engagement.[B]他文學(xué)生涯的個(gè)人事件的歷時(shí)紀(jì)錄。

　　[C] reflections of his struggle with his devotion and thereality.[C] 他在信仰與現(xiàn)實(shí)間掙扎的反映。

　　[D] his meditation on the literary world.[D] 他對(duì)文學(xué)世界的思考。

　　[答案]D

　　[分析]推理題。根據(jù)文章第三段，休斯的這本書信集和一般書信集不同，不是將自己的經(jīng)歷做一陳述，而是所有書信都包含有對(duì)自己或?qū)�別人作品的思考，是他文學(xué)思想的一個(gè)展示。最后一句是說從這些書信中可以看出他為是要完全展示在作品中還是要維護(hù)個(gè)人隱私而苦苦掙扎過。從這些描述可以看出，該書信集主要是他文學(xué)觀點(diǎn)的一些表述，從中可以看出他的思想發(fā)展歷程，因此答案D最符合。

　　4. From the letters, we may find the cause of Hughes’s internalstruggle is _____4. 由休斯書信的內(nèi)容可以看出休斯內(nèi)心掙扎的原因在于_____

　　[A] his devotion to the literary world.[A] 他全心奉獻(xiàn)給了文學(xué)世界。

　　[B] that he is a part-private, part-public creature.[B] 他是一個(gè)半隱密、半公開的人物。

　　[C] that he is constrained by the fear of his privacy being invadedin his literary engagement.[C] 他在文學(xué)創(chuàng)作中擔(dān)心自己的私人世界受到侵犯。

　　[D] his fame and notoriety.[D] 他的名聲以及后來的敗落。

　　[答案]C

　　[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。題干是要求找出休斯內(nèi)心掙扎的原因，這在第三段最后一句中有提及。文章指出書信中處處都體現(xiàn)了休斯和自己半隱密、半公開這么一個(gè)身份進(jìn)行斗爭(zhēng)的印跡，一方面他想在創(chuàng)作中完全投入，但又擔(dān)心自己隱私會(huì)受到侵害。可以看出，休斯之所以內(nèi)心掙扎，是由于他自己一面想要在作品中公開自己，而在現(xiàn)實(shí)中又想保護(hù)自己的隱私，因此答案C最為符合。

　　5. By "lucky readers" in the last sentence, the authormeans_____5. 在文章最后一句話中的"幸運(yùn)的讀者"，作者指的是_____。

　　[A] children who read poetry.[A] 讀詩的孩子。

　　[B] children who have a headfull of songs.[B] 腦子里有許多歌的孩子。

　　[C] children who own blocks of refined and achieved and exemplarylanguage.[C] 擁有精致、優(yōu)雅的語言的孩子。

　　[D] children who have the guardian angel installed behind thetongue.[D] 舌頭后面有守衛(wèi)天使的孩子。

　　[答案]A

　　[分析] 細(xì)節(jié)題。理解這句話需要結(jié)合上下文來看，文章最后一段主要是講述休斯認(rèn)為詩歌在孩子教育方面發(fā)揮特殊的作用，他認(rèn)為孩子需要的是詩歌，是精致、完美的語言，如果真的擁有這些了，那么孩子舌頭后面就有了守衛(wèi)天使，那他們就是幸運(yùn)的讀者了。雖然四個(gè)答案都仿佛正確，但從最根本的來說，是因?yàn)樽x詩，孩子才會(huì)擁有以上所說得一切，才是幸運(yùn)的，而且本段也著重強(qiáng)調(diào)詩歌對(duì)于孩子的重要性。因此，最佳答案為A。

　　參考譯文：

　　1957年，他橫空出世，成為英國(guó)戰(zhàn)后最具爆炸性的詩壇天才。當(dāng)時(shí)，詩歌主要題材是日常生活的扭曲紀(jì)錄。但出生在約克郡的特德·休斯的作品卻與其前輩大相徑庭，他27歲時(shí)在名為《雨中的鷹》一書中發(fā)表了第一首詩。

　　受詹姆士一世風(fēng)格的影響，其詩歌呈現(xiàn)出幻覺式的激情，最顯著的特點(diǎn)是休斯可以描述動(dòng)物外表下面的東西，無論是狐貍、水獺還是豬。這些動(dòng)物的確是真實(shí)的，但同時(shí)又是標(biāo)志性的，代表著鄉(xiāng)村，代表著它們植根的地球的生命之源。正是這一點(diǎn)賦予了其作品一種野性、原始的氣息。

　　這一點(diǎn)不僅僅在英國(guó)得以認(rèn)同。休斯的書也在美國(guó)出版，并且贏得了一項(xiàng)重要的文學(xué)獎(jiǎng)--加爾布雷思獎(jiǎng)。但是在1963年，西爾維亞·普拉斯自殺了，這個(gè)美國(guó)年輕詩人與他第一次見面是在1956年的劍橋大學(xué)，而當(dāng)年夏天又成為了他妻子。這之后很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間里休斯都受到人們的譴責(zé)，尤其是美國(guó)的女權(quán)主義者。1998 年，也就是休斯去世的那一年，他在自己一本名為《生日信札》的結(jié)構(gòu)松散的詩集中公開了他倆的關(guān)系，打破了他自己一直以來的緘默。在這本令人興奮的新書信集中，休斯回憶了他第一個(gè)妻子的死，"難以處理的大事情"--他這樣形容。他感覺自己的一舉一動(dòng)都受到監(jiān)視，他的天賦因而受到了制約。直到他出版了自己的這本有關(guān)他們關(guān)系的書時(shí)，他身上的負(fù)擔(dān)才得以減輕。

　　他的剖析自然、飽含痛苦，具有強(qiáng)烈的自我意識(shí)。盡管書中極盡表達(dá)了其精神的苦痛，但文字本身卻具有休斯早期詩歌的激情和活力。一些書信集只是個(gè)人的經(jīng)歷記錄而已，但是詩人的書信集卻不同，休斯也不例外。他的書信集描寫了其文學(xué)生涯：幾乎所有的書信都有關(guān)于寫作狀態(tài)或?qū)懽餍再|(zhì)的思考，有他自己，也有別人的。休斯的文學(xué)生命軌跡是從無名到聞名，而后，在眾人看來又經(jīng)歷了漫長(zhǎng)的名譽(yù)掃地的階段。這些信中處處都顯現(xiàn)出休斯和自己成為半私人、半公開人物這樣一個(gè)結(jié)果而心理反復(fù)掙扎，他渴望將自己奉獻(xiàn)給文字，但又時(shí)時(shí)受到私人空間受到侵襲的威脅。

　　有意思而且令人費(fèi)解的是，休斯還對(duì)自己詩歌進(jìn)行評(píng)論，他甚至還以局外人的身份來看待自己的作品，很幽默地批評(píng)自己"詩歌有空想色彩、唯美化且一直咬文嚼字 "。他還從始至終堅(jiān)信詩歌在教育孩子方面有特殊的作用。1988年他在給保守黨政府國(guó)家教育部長(zhǎng)得一封信中這樣寫道："孩子們需要的是滿腦子的歌曲，其實(shí)不是歌曲，而是精致、優(yōu)秀、具有代表性的語言。"如果真能這樣，那么孩子們"舌頭后面就會(huì)有守衛(wèi)天使"了。