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SAT阅读理解模拟练习题第9篇

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  Passage 1

  Had Dr. Johnson written his own Life, in

  conformity with the opinion which he has given, that

  every man's life may be best written by himself; had

  he employed in the preservation of his own history,

  5 that clearness of narration and elegance of language in

  which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the

  world would probably have had the most perfect

  example of biography that was ever exhibited. But

  although he at different times, in a desultory manner,

  10 committed to writing many particulars of the progress

  of his mind and fortunes, he never had persevering

  diligence enough to form them into a regular

  composition. Of these memorials a few have been

  preserved; but the greater part was consigned by him

  15 to the flames, a few days before his death.

  As I had the honour and happiness of enjoying

  his friendship for upwards of twenty years; as I had

  the scheme of writing his life constantly in view; as

  he was well apprised of this circumstance, and from

  20 time to time obligingly satisfied my enquiries, by

  communicating to me the incidents of his early years;

  as I acquired a facility in recollecting, and was very

  assiduous in recording, his conversation, of which the

  extraordinary vigour and vivacity constituted one of

  25 the first features of his character; and as I have spared

  no pains in obtaining materials concerning him, from

  every quarter where I could discover that they were to

  be found, and have been favoured with the most

  liberal communications by his friends; I flatter myself

  30 that few biographers have entered upon such a work

  as this, with more advantages; independent of literary

  abilities, in which I am not vain enough to compare

  myself with some great names who have gone before

  me in this kind of writing.

  35 Wherever narrative is necessary to explain,

  connect, and supply, I furnish it to the best of my

  abilities; but in the chronological series of Johnson's

  life, which I trace as distinctly as I can, year by year, I

  produce, wherever it is in my power, his own minutes,

  40 letters, or conversation, being convinced that this

  mode is more lively, and will make my readers better

  acquainted with him, than even most of those were

  who actually knew him, but could know him only

  partially; whereas there is here an accumulation of

  45 intelligence from various points, by which his

  character is more fully understood and illustrated.

  Indeed I cannot conceive a more perfect mode

  of writing any man's life, than not only relating all the

  most important events of it in their order, but

  50 interweaving what he privately wrote, and said, and

  thought; by which mankind are enabled as it were to

  see him alive, and to 'live over each scene' with him,

  as he actually advanced through the several stages of

  his life. Had his other friends been as diligent and

  55 ardent as I was, he might have been almost entirely

  preserved. As it is, I will venture to say that he will be

  seen in this work more completely than any man who

  has ever yet lived.

  And he will be seen as he really was, for I

  60 profess to write, not his panegyric, which must be all

  praise, but his Life; which, great and good as he was,

  must not be supposed to be entirely perfect. To be as

  he was, is indeed subject of panegyric enough to any

  man in this state of being; but in every picture there

  65 should be shade as well as light, and when I delineate

  him without reserve, I do what he himself

  recommended, both by his precept and his example:

  'If the biographer writes from personal

  knowledge, and makes haste to gratify the public

  70 curiosity, there is danger lest his interest, his fear, his

  gratitude, or his tenderness, overpower his fidelity,

  and tempt him to conceal, if not to invent. There are

  many who think it an act of piety to hide the faults or

  failings of their friends, even when they can no longer

  75 suffer by their detection; we therefore see whole ranks

  of characters adorned with uniform panegyric, and not

  to be known from one another but by extrinsic and

  casual circumstances. If we owe regard to the memory

  of the dead, there is yet more respect to be paid to

  80 knowledge, to virtue, and to truth.'

  Passage 2

  Nobody ever wrote a dull autobiography. If one may

  make such a bull, the very dullness would be

  interesting. The autobiographer has two qualifications

  of supreme importance in all literary work. He is

  85 writing about a topic in which he is keenly interested,

  and about a topic upon which he is the highest living

  authority. It may he reckoned, too, as a special felicity

  that an autobiography, alone of all books, may be

  more valuable in proportion to the amount of

  90 misrepresentation which it contains. We do not

  wonder when a man gives a false character to his

  neighbour, but it is always curious to see how a man

  contrives to present a false testimonial to himself. It is

  pleasant to he admitted behind the scenes and trace

  95 the growth of that singular phantom which is the

  man's own shadow cast upon the coloured and

  distorting mists of memory. Autobiography for these

  reasons is so generally interesting, that I have

  frequently thought with the admirable Benvenuto

  100 Cellini that it should be considered as a duty by all

  eminent men; and, indeed, by men not eminent. As

  every sensible man is exhorted to make his will, he

  should also be bound to leave to his descendants some

  account of his experience of life. The dullest of us

  105 would in spite of themselves say something

  profoundly interesting, if only by explaining how they

  came to be so dull--a circumstance which is

  sometimes in great need of explanation. On reflection,

  however, we must admit that autobiography done

  110 under compulsion would he in danger of losing the

  essential charm of spontaneity. The true

  autobiography is written by one who feels an

  irresistible longing for confidential expansion; who is

  forced by his innate constitution to unbosom himself

  115 to the public of the kind of matter generally reserved

  for our closest intimacy.

重点单词   查看全部解释    
composition [.kɔmpə'ziʃən]

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n. 作文,著作,组织,合成物,成份

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contradictory [.kɔntrə'diktəri]

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adj. 矛盾的 n. 矛盾

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invent [in'vent]

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vt. 发明,创造,捏造

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revealing [ri'vi:liŋ]

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adj. 有启迪作用的,透露内情的,袒露身体的 动词re

 
statement ['steitmənt]

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n. 声明,陈述

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vivacity [vi'væsiti]

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n. 快活,活泼,精神充沛

 
tempt [tempt]

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vt. 引诱,诱惑,勾引

 
longing ['lɔŋiŋ]

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n. 渴望,憧憬 adj. 渴望的

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gratitude ['grætitju:d]

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n. 感恩之心

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caricature ['kærikətʃuə]

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n. 讽刺画,漫画,讽刺描述法,笨拙的模仿 v. 画成漫

联想记忆


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