The Present Is the Most Important

　　Shams and delusions are esteemed for soundest truths, while reality is fabulous. If men wouldsteadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it withsuch things as we know, would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments. If werespected only what is inevitable and has a right to be , music and poetry would resoundalong the streets. When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthythings have any permanent and absolute existence, --that petty fears and petty pleasure arebut the shadow of reality. This is always exhilarating and sublime. By closing the eyes andslumbering, by consenting to be deceived by shows, men establish and confirm their daily life ofroutine and habit everywhere, which still is built on purely illusory foundation. Children, whoplay life, discern its true law and relations more clearly than men, who fail to live worthily, butwho think that they are wiser by experience, that is, by failure. I have read in a Hindoo book,that “there was a king’s son, who, being expelled in infancy from his native city, was brought upby a forester, and, growing up to maturity in that state, imagined himself to belong to thebarbarous race with which be lived. One of his father’s ministers having discovered him,revealed to him what he was, and the misconception of his character was removed, and heknew himself to be a prince. So soul, from the circumstances in which it is placed, mistakes itsown character, until the truth is revealed to it by some holy teacher, and then it knows itself tobe Brahme.” We think that that is which appears to be. If a man should give us an account ofthe realities he beheld, we should not recognize the place in his description. Look at ameeting-house, or a court-house, or a jail, or a shop. Or a dwelling-house, and say what thatthing really is before a true gaze, and they would all go to pieces in your account of them. Menesteem truth remote, in the outskirts of the system, behind the farthest star, before Adamand after the last man. In eternity there is indeed something true and sublime. But all thesetimes and places and occasions are now and here. God himself culminates in the presentmoment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all ages. And we are enabled toapprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching ofthe reality that surrounds us. The universe constantly and obediently answers to ourconceptions; whether we travel fast or slow, the track is laid for us. Let us spend our lives inconceiving then. The poet or the artist never yet had as fair and noble a design but some of hisposterity at least could accomplish it.

　　1. The writer’s attitude toward the arts is one of

　　[A]. admiration. [B]. indifference. [C]. suspicion. [D]. repulsion

　　2. The author believes that a child.

　　[A]. should practice what the Hindoos preach.

　　[B]. frequently faces vital problems better than grownups do.

　　[C]. hardly ever knows his true origin.

　　[D]. is incapable of appreciating the arts.

　　3. The author is primarily concerned with urging the reader to

　　[A]. look to the future for enlightenment. [B]. appraise the present for its true value.

　　[C]. honor the wisdom of the past ages. [D]. spend more time in leisure activities.

　　4. The passage is primarily concerned with problem of

　　[A]. history and economics. [B]. society and population.

　　[C]. biology and physics. [D]. theology and philosophy.

　　[page]

　　詞匯解析

　　1. sham 虛偽

　　2. delusion 欺騙

　　3. fabulous 荒誕無稽的，不存在的

　　4. exhilarating 令人高興的

　　5. sublime 崇高的

　　6. slumber 睡眠

　　7. Hindoo 印度

　　8. Brahma 婆羅門(貴族)

　　9. come, fall, go to pieces 崩潰，垮臺

　　10. culminate 達到頂點

　　11. lapse 時間的推移/消逝

　　12. apprehend 領悟，理解

　　13. instill (慢慢地)滴注，灌輸

　　14. drench 浸泡，使?jié)裢?/P>

　　15. posterity 子孫后代

　　16. look to 指望，注意

　　難句解析

　　1. If men would steadily observe realities only, and not allow themselves to be deluded, life, to compare it with such things as we know, would be like a fairy tale and the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 虛擬條件句，主句中to compare it with… know是插入語，也有假設之意。

　　[參考譯文] 如果人們堅持只觀察現(xiàn)實，不讓自己被蒙蔽，那么生活，把它和我們知道的事情相比較，就象神話，象一千零一夜中描述的一切。

　　2. When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, --that petty fears and petty pleasure are but the shadow of reality.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 主句中兩個that. 第一個是perceive 的賓語從句。破折號的第二個 that從句是說明，對比前一個that 句。

　　[參考譯文] 在我們冷靜和明智時，我們會感到只有偉大的和有價值的東西才能永恒絕對地存在，而那些微不足道的恐懼和歡樂僅僅是現(xiàn)實的陰影而已。

　　3. By closing the eyes and slumbering, by consenting to be deceived by shows, men establish and confirm their daily life of routine and habit everywhere, which still is built on purely illusory foundation.

　　[參考譯文] 閉上眼睛，昏昏欲睡，允許自己被表面現(xiàn)象所蒙蔽，人們通過這些手段來建立和確定他們的生活日程和各種習慣。這仍然是建立在幻(覺)想基礎上的東西。

　　4. So soul, from the circumstances in which it is placed, mistakes its own character, until the truth is revealed to it by some holy teacher, and then it knows itself to be Brahme.”

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] from the circumstances in which … ，介詞短語+定從，實際上都是修飾mistake

　　[參考譯文] 從它所處的環(huán)境中出發(fā)，靈魂把自己的身份搞錯了。直到某個神圣的先生揭示的事實，那時它才知道自己是個貴族。

　　5. We think that that is which appears to be.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡析] 第一個that 是引導think的賓語從句的連接詞，第二個that 是代詞，作賓從中的主語，指上述“靈魂”整個句子。

　　[參考譯文] 我們想那就是看起來那個樣子(情況似乎就是那樣)。

　　答案詳解

　　1. A. 欽佩。本文第三句“如果我們只尊重必然的東西，尊重有權威為必然的東西，那么音樂和詩歌會重新在街上唱誦。”本文最后一句“雖然詩人或藝術從來沒有如此美好和崇高的設想，但他們有些后代至少會達到這一步的�！边�有難句譯注1。這些都說明作者對藝術視為崇高和美好，不是被蒙蔽的東西。

　　B. 漠不關心。 C. 懷疑的。 D. 排斥。多不對。

　　2. B. 孩子們常常比成人更好地面對 各種問題。本文第七句“孩子們游戲生活(整天只知道玩兒)，卻比難以很好的生活的成人們更清楚的分辨出顯示生活的真正規(guī)律和種種關系。”

　　A. 孩子應當實踐印度布道宣傳的東西。 C. 幾乎對其真實出身一無所知。這是講王子的事情，不是一般孩子。 D. 難以欣賞藝術。并未提及。

　　3. B. 珍視目前的真正價值。這在文章倒數(shù)第五句“永恒中，確實有真實和崇高的東西存在。但是所有這一切時間，地點，機遇都是在此時此地。上帝本身在現(xiàn)時達到了頂峰。在今后流逝的歲月中，它絕不會更加神圣崇高。我們只有長期不斷地灌輸和浸潤在周圍現(xiàn)實之中，才能理解什么是崇高和神圣的東西。不論我們的步伐快還是慢，路線已為我鋪定。那就讓我們的生命在體會感受中度過�！弊髡邚娬{(diào)現(xiàn)實才是人們應該抓住的。

　　A. 指望未來給予啟迪。 C. 尊重過去的智慧。 D. 在悠閑的活動中花更多的時間。

　　4. D. 神學和哲學。整篇文章都傳遞了這兩個內(nèi)容，特別是哲學推理論說。

　　A. 歷史和經(jīng)濟學。 B. 社會和人口。 C. 生物和物理。

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