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.

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　　詞匯解析

　　1. sham 虛偽

　　2. delusion 欺騙

　　3. fabulous 荒誕無(wú)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(tái)

　　10. culminate 達(dá)到頂點(diǎn)

　　11. lapse 時(shí)間的推移/消逝

　　12. apprehend 領(lǐng)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(jiǎn)析] 虛擬條件句，主句中to compare it with… know是插入語(yǔ)，也有假設(shè)之意。

　　[參考譯文] 如果人們堅(jiān)持只觀察現(xiàn)實(shí)，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(jiǎn)析] 主句中兩個(gè)that. 第一個(gè)是perceive 的賓語(yǔ)從句。破折號(hào)的第二個(gè) that從句是說(shuō)明，對(duì)比前一個(gè)that 句。

　　[參考譯文] 在我們冷靜和明智時(shí)，我們會(huì)感到只有偉大的和有價(jià)值的東西才能永恒絕對(duì)地存在，而那些微不足道的恐懼和歡樂(lè)僅僅是現(xiàn)實(shí)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(guò)這些手段來(lái)建立和確定他們的生活日程和各種習(xí)慣。這仍然是建立在幻(覺(jué))想基礎(chǔ)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(jiǎn)析] from the circumstances in which … ，介詞短語(yǔ)+定從，實(shí)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(cuò)了。直到某個(gè)神圣的先生揭示的事實(shí)，那時(shí)它才知道自己是個(gè)貴族。

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

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

　　[參考譯文] 我們想那就是看起來(lái)那個(gè)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(quán)威為必然的東西，那么音樂(lè)和詩(shī)歌會(huì)重新在街上唱誦�！北疚淖詈笠痪洹半m然詩(shī)人或藝術(shù)從來(lái)沒(méi)有如此美好和崇高的設(shè)想，但他們有些后代至少會(huì)達(dá)到這一步的�！边�有難句譯注1。這些都說(shuō)明作者對(duì)藝術(shù)視為崇高和美好，不是被蒙蔽的東西。

　　B. 漠不關(guān)心。 C. 懷疑的。 D. 排斥。多不對(duì)。

　　2. B. 孩子們常常比成人更好地面對(duì) 各種問(wèn)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(guān)系�！�

　　A. 孩子應(yīng)當(dāng)實(shí)踐印度布道宣傳的東西。 C. 幾乎對(duì)其真實(shí)出身一無(wú)所知。這是講王子的事情，不是一般孩子。 D. 難以欣賞藝術(shù)。并未提及。

　　3. B. 珍視目前的真正價(jià)值。這在文章倒數(shù)第五句“永恒中，確實(shí)有真實(shí)和崇高的東西存在。但是所有這一切時(shí)間，地點(diǎn)，機(jī)遇都是在此時(shí)此地。上帝本身在現(xiàn)時(shí)達(dá)到了頂峰。在今后流逝的歲月中，它絕不會(huì)更加神圣崇高。我們只有長(zhǎng)期不斷地灌輸和浸潤(rùn)在周圍現(xiàn)實(shí)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(huì)感受中度過(guò)�！弊髡邚�(qiáng)調(diào)現(xiàn)實(shí)才是人們應(yīng)該抓住的。

　　A. 指望未來(lái)給予啟迪。 C. 尊重過(guò)去的智慧。 D. 在悠閑的活動(dòng)中花更多的時(shí)間。

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

　　A. 歷史和經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)。 B. 社會(huì)和人口。 C. 生物和物理。

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