题目信息
Despite their many differences of temperament and
of literary perspective, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne,
Melville, and Whitman shared certain beliefs. Common
to all these writers is their humanistic perspective.
Its basic premises are that humans are the spiritual
center of the universe and that in them alone is the
clue to nature, history, and ultimately the cosmos.
Without denying outright the existence of a deity, this
perspective explains humans and the world in terms of humanity.
This common perspective is almost always
universalized. It emphasizes the human as universal,
freed from the accidents of time, space, birth, and
talent. Thus, for Emerson, the “American Scholar” turns out to be simply “Man Thinking,” while, for
Whitman, the “Song of Myself” merges imperceptibly
into a song of all the “children of Adam,” where “every
atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
Also common to all five writers is the belief that self-realization depends on the harmonious
reconciliation of two universal psychological
tendencies: first, the self-asserting impulse of
the individual to be responsible only to himself or
herself, and second, the self-transcending impulse of the individual to know and become one with
that world. These conflicting impulses can be seen
in the democratic ethic. Democracy advocates
individualism, the preservation of the individual's
freedom and self-expression. But the democratic self
is torn between the duty to self, which is implied by
the concept of liberty, and the duty to society, which
is implied by the concepts of equality and fraternity.
A third assumption common to the five writers is
that intuition and imagination offer a surer road to
truth than does abstract logic or scientific method. It
is illustrated by their emphasis upon introspection—
their belief that the clue to external nature is to be
found in the inner world of individual psychology—and
by their interpretation of experience as, in essence,
symbolic. Both these stresses presume an organic
relationship between the self and the cosmos of
which only intuition and imagination can properly take
account. These writers' faith in the imagination and
in themselves led them to conceive of the writer as a seer.
of literary perspective, Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne,
Melville, and Whitman shared certain beliefs. Common
to all these writers is their humanistic perspective.
Its basic premises are that humans are the spiritual
center of the universe and that in them alone is the
clue to nature, history, and ultimately the cosmos.
Without denying outright the existence of a deity, this
perspective explains humans and the world in terms of humanity.
This common perspective is almost always
universalized. It emphasizes the human as universal,
freed from the accidents of time, space, birth, and
talent. Thus, for Emerson, the “American Scholar” turns out to be simply “Man Thinking,” while, for
Whitman, the “Song of Myself” merges imperceptibly
into a song of all the “children of Adam,” where “every
atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
Also common to all five writers is the belief that self-realization depends on the harmonious
reconciliation of two universal psychological
tendencies: first, the self-asserting impulse of
the individual to be responsible only to himself or
herself, and second, the self-transcending impulse of the individual to know and become one with
that world. These conflicting impulses can be seen
in the democratic ethic. Democracy advocates
individualism, the preservation of the individual's
freedom and self-expression. But the democratic self
is torn between the duty to self, which is implied by
the concept of liberty, and the duty to society, which
is implied by the concepts of equality and fraternity.
A third assumption common to the five writers is
that intuition and imagination offer a surer road to
truth than does abstract logic or scientific method. It
is illustrated by their emphasis upon introspection—
their belief that the clue to external nature is to be
found in the inner world of individual psychology—and
by their interpretation of experience as, in essence,
symbolic. Both these stresses presume an organic
relationship between the self and the cosmos of
which only intuition and imagination can properly take
account. These writers' faith in the imagination and
in themselves led them to conceive of the writer as a seer.
The author's discussion of Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, Melville, and Whitman is primarily concerned with explaining
A:some of their beliefs about the difficulties involved in self-realization
B:some of their beliefs concerning the world and the place that humanity occupies in the universal order
C:some of their beliefs concerning the relationship between humanism and democracy
D:the way some of their beliefs are shaped by differences in temperament and literary outlook
E:the effects of some of their beliefs on their writings
参考答案及共享解析
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已选答案：
正确答案：
B:some of their beliefs concerning the world and the place that humanity occupies in the universal order
答案 B
理解文章的主要关注点意味着理解文章的整体。文章一开始就指出这五位美国作家有许多不同之处，但重点将放在他们共有的信念上。这篇文章表明，这五位作者都认为，人类是宇宙的精神中心，只有在他们身上，才能找到通向自然、历史和宇宙的线索。文章继续为这一论断提供了更具体的证据，概述了作者的共同信念. 从第二段开始的每一段的第一句都指明了作者所持有的共同观点、信念或假设。
A.这个选择的范围太窄了。文章的第三段论述了作者认为要实现自我实现必须调和的两种明显冲突的心理倾向。然而，这一点并不是整篇文章的重点。
B.正确。正如上面所讨论的，这篇文章主要是关于作者所共有的关于人类在宇宙秩序中的基本作用的信念。
C.选择范围太窄。在第三段，文章探讨了民主在这五位作家思想中的作用。然而，这只是本文讨论的几个问题之一。
D.这个选择提出了一个与文章主要关注点相反的观点:文章并没有关注这些作者之间的差异，而是关注他们所共有的信仰、关注点和假设。
E.这篇文章主要关注这些作家的共同信仰，而不是这些信仰对作家的作品有什么特别的影响。
理解文章的主要关注点意味着理解文章的整体。文章一开始就指出这五位美国作家有许多不同之处，但重点将放在他们共有的信念上。这篇文章表明，这五位作者都认为，人类是宇宙的精神中心，只有在他们身上，才能找到通向自然、历史和宇宙的线索。文章继续为这一论断提供了更具体的证据，概述了作者的共同信念. 从第二段开始的每一段的第一句都指明了作者所持有的共同观点、信念或假设。
A.这个选择的范围太窄了。文章的第三段论述了作者认为要实现自我实现必须调和的两种明显冲突的心理倾向。然而，这一点并不是整篇文章的重点。
B.正确。正如上面所讨论的，这篇文章主要是关于作者所共有的关于人类在宇宙秩序中的基本作用的信念。
C.选择范围太窄。在第三段，文章探讨了民主在这五位作家思想中的作用。然而，这只是本文讨论的几个问题之一。
D.这个选择提出了一个与文章主要关注点相反的观点:文章并没有关注这些作者之间的差异，而是关注他们所共有的信仰、关注点和假设。
E.这篇文章主要关注这些作家的共同信仰，而不是这些信仰对作家的作品有什么特别的影响。
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