This organic process, often leading to moments of extraordinary self-discovery, is of an indescribable fascination. A blurred image appears, he adds a brushstroke and another, and it is gone; but something was there, and he will not rest till he has captured it. Sometimes the’ yeast within a writer outlives a book he has written. I have heard of writers who read nothing but their own books, like adolescents they stand before the mirror, and still cannot fathom the exact outline of the vision before them. For the same reason, writers talk interminably about their own books, winkling out hidden meanings, superimposing new ones, begging response from those around them.
Of course a writer doing this is misunderstood: he might as well try to explain a crime or a love affair. He is also. Incidentally, an unforgivable bore. This temptation to cover the distance between himself and the reader, to study his image in the sight of those who do not know him, can be his undoing: he has begun to write to please.
A young English writer made the pertinent observation a year or two back that the talent goes into the first draft, and the art into the drafts that follow. For this reason also the writer, like any other artist, has no resting place, no crowd or movement in which he may take comfort, no judgment from outside which can replace the judgment from within. A writer makes order out of the anarchy of his heart; he submits himself to a more ruthless discipline than any critic dreamed of, and when he flirts with fame, he is taking time off from living with himself, from the search for what his world contains at its inmost point.
1. The writers that the author is familiar with confess that they would
A. work out the ending of a novel in advance.
B. follow the writing methods learned at school.
C. remodel the main character in writing.
D. make changes to the stories they first construct.
2. According to the passage, the process of writing
A. depends on skillful planning.
B. is predictable and methodological.
C. depends on the writers’ experiences.
D. is disorderly and unsystematic.
3. The word "undoing" in the third paragraph probably suggests
A. success.
B. happiness.
C. failure.
D. sorrow.
4. According to the passage, the writer has no resting place because
A. he is not clear about what he will write at the beginning.
B. he should constantly edit his work to make it perfect.
C. he has to face a lot of responses given by readers.
D. he should add brushstrokes to the appearing blurred images.
5. Which of the following statements about writers is TRUE according to the last paragraph?
A. They have little ideas before they start writing.
B. Their talent goes into all their drafts.
C. It does harm to their writing when they flirt with fame.
D. They try to increase communication with readers.
【文章概要】
第l段指出作家在寫作前后,作品的內(nèi)容往往可能發(fā)生極大的變化。第2段承接上文指出這一有機寫作過程,往往能引領(lǐng)作者到達自我發(fā)現(xiàn)的境界:并指出作家在寫作完成后的種種表現(xiàn)。第3段指出作家如果企圖通過他人的評論了解自己塑造的形象,就相當于為取悅他人而寫作。第4段指出作家需不斷創(chuàng)作和修改作品的真正原因及作家追逐名利的危害。
【答案解析】
1.[D]細節(jié)判斷題。根據(jù)familiar with,confess及各選項內(nèi)容定位到第1段。第1段指出,這些作家在寫作前后,作品的內(nèi)容往往可能發(fā)生極大的變化,其中作者提到,有一位作家就將小說的背景從克什米爾搬到了蘇格蘭高地。由此可見,D的表述符合文意,為本題答案。文中指出,這些作家動筆之前不會有整篇的構(gòu)思,也不會按學校所教的那樣列出提綱,A、B可排除。文中只說作者開始寫作時可能心中已經(jīng)設(shè)定了一兩個角色,并沒有提到會否重新塑造或改變作品的主要角色,故C應排除。
2.[D]細節(jié)推斷題。第1段明確指出,作者熟悉的那些作家在寫作過程中沒有既定的思路,情節(jié)設(shè)置也往往根據(jù)需要或更深了解素材后才做出相應的變化和調(diào)整,這就表明,寫作過程有點“混亂”,構(gòu)思也不很系統(tǒng)化;此外,第2段提到。如果作家腦海中出現(xiàn)了朦朧的形象,他們會在此基礎(chǔ)上做任意的改動。由此可見,D正確。根據(jù)文中介紹,寫作過程并沒有完整的構(gòu)思,也無法預見,只是在寫作過程中不斷完善,可很快將A、B排除。此外。作家在寫作的過程中會更多地了解所搜集的素材,這也與經(jīng)歷無關(guān),故C也排除。
3.[C]詞義推斷題。第3段指出作家如果試圖拉近自己與讀者的距離,企圖通過他人的評論了解自己塑造的形象,就相當于為取悅他人而寫作。四個選項中,較能概括這種行為性質(zhì)的是C。此外,undoing有“毀滅”之義,故C為本題答案。
4.[B]因果關(guān)系題。根據(jù)題干中的no resting place定位到第4段。第4段段首提到:作家的才華體現(xiàn)在初稿,而藝術(shù)則體現(xiàn)在之后不斷修改的稿子中。第2句以For this reason(鑒于此)引出作家不能休息的情形。由此可見,第4段首句的內(nèi)容,即作家需不斷創(chuàng)作和修改作品:以實現(xiàn)由才華到藝術(shù)的轉(zhuǎn)變是作家無法休息的真正原因。故8為答案,A、C、D不合文意。
5.[C]細節(jié)判斷題。末段末旬指出:“當他追逐名利時,他就脫離了自我生活,脫離了對自己內(nèi)心最深處世界的探索”,故C符合文意,為本題答案。選項A、D均來自文中,但與末段無關(guān),可排除。B與原文表述“作家的才華體現(xiàn)在初稿,而藝術(shù)則體現(xiàn)在之后不斷修改的稿子中”不符,可排除。