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GRE阅读机经Passage 41

By far the most popular United States literature of its time was a body of now-neglected novels written between 1820 and 1870 by, for, and about women. According to Nina Baym, who has termed this genre “woman’s fiction,” the massive popularity of these novels claimed a place for women in the writing profession. The novels chronicle the experiences of women who, beset with hardships, find within themselves qualities of intelligence, will, resourcefulness, and courage sufficient to overcome their obstacles. According to Baym, the genre began with Catharine Sedgwick’s New-England Tale (1822), manifested itself as the best-selling reading matter of the American public in the unprecedented sales of Susan Warner’s Wide, Wide World (1850), and remained a dominant fictional type until after 1870. The critical, as opposed to popular, reception of these novels in their own time was mixed. Theoretical opposition by those who saw fiction as a demoralizing and corrupting influence was by no means dead in mid- nineteenth-century America, and popular successes naturally bore a significant proportion of the attack. The moralistic tone of much woman’s fiction did not placate these antagonists; on the contrary, many clerical opponents of the novel thought that women were trying to take over the clergy’s functions and hence attacked all the more fiercely. Similarly, some male authors, disgruntled by the emergence of great numbers of women writers, expressed contempt for the genre.

文章解析

第一部分：

By far the most popular United States literature of its time was a body of now-neglected novels written between 1820 and 1870 by, for, and about women. 白话版讲解： 迄今为止，最流行的美国文学（在其所在时代）是1820年至1870年之间写的一些由女性写、为女性写、写女性的长篇小说。（这些小说现在已经被人们忽视了）什么叫在其所在时代呢？就是这些小说是一写出来就流行的。如果是比“美国历史上哪些小说在其所在时代最流行？”，那答案就是1820年至1870年之间写的这些小说。如果是比“美国历史上哪本小说最流行？”那答案就不一定是这些小说，而可能是别的小说。比如有一本小说，在美国曾经比1820年至1870年之间写的这些小说还要流行，但这本小说是1920年写的，流行是1960年流行，那着呢小说就是美国历史上最流行的小说。但如果是比“美国历史上哪本小说在它自己的时代最流行？”，那答案就是1820年至1870年之间写的那些女性小说。

第二部分：

According to Nina Baym, who has termed this genre “woman’s fiction,” the massive popularity of these novels claimed a place for women in the writing profession. The novels chronicle the experiences of women who, beset with hardships, find within themselves qualities of intelligence, will, resourcefulness, and courage sufficient to overcome their obstacles. According to Baym, the genre began with Catharine Sedgwick’s New-England Tale (1822), manifested itself as the best-selling reading matter of the American public in the unprecedented sales of Susan Warner’s Wide, Wide World (1850), and remained a dominant fictional type until after 1870. 白话版讲解： Nina Baym把1820年至1870年之间写的这些小说称为“女性的小说”。Nina Baym说，这些小说当年大受欢迎，为女性在写作这个行当赢得了一席之地。这些小说记录了女性的经历，这些女性虽然被各种艰难困扰，却在自己身上找到了智慧、意志力、多谋、勇气，足以克服自己的遇到的阻碍。Nina Baym还说，这个小说流派始于Catharine Sedgwick在1822年写的New-England Tale。到1850年，Susan Warner写了Wide, Wide World，取得了前所未有的销量。到这个时候，这个小说流派就完成了自我（能力和地位）证明。到1870年以前，这个流派都一直是一个占有支配地位的小说流派。1870年以后，才不是。

第三部分：

The critical, as opposed to popular, reception of these novels in their own time was mixed. Theoretical opposition by those who saw fiction as a demoralizing and corrupting influence was by no means dead in mid- nineteenth-century America, and popular successes naturally bore a significant proportion of the attack. The moralistic tone of much woman’s fiction did not placate these antagonists; on the contrary, many clerical opponents of the novel thought that women were trying to take over the clergy’s functions and hence attacked all the more fiercely. Similarly, some male authors, disgruntled by the emergence of great numbers of women writers, expressed contempt for the genre. 白话版讲解： 当时公众是都很欢迎这些小说的，但是当时的批评界对这些小说的态度却是混杂不易的。有些人认为小说会让人变得堕落、对人的道德有腐化效果。因为1820年至1870年之间写的“女性的小说”也是小说嘛，所以那些认为小说本来就很坏的人，自然反对这些小说。到1850年，这些人对“女性的小说”的反对之声绝对不能说消失了。因为这些人认为小说本来就是坏东西，那“女性的小说”那么流行，自然影响尤其坏了，所以这些人对“女性的小说”的攻击批评很大一部分就落在了这些小说太流行头上。其实呢，“女性的小说”里很多都是用了一种道德说教的口气的，而道德说教正是这些人所提倡的，这些认为小说本来就很坏的人，也知道这一点，但这一点仍然不能平息这些人对“女性的小说”的批评。不但不能平息，有些当牧师的、主张教权主义的人、也反对“女性的小说”，说“女性的小说”里面太多道德说教，是想把教会的活给抢过去干，所以这些人更加猛烈地批评、抨击“女性的小说”。还有些人，他们反对“女性的小说”的原因，和那些当牧师的人，类似（similarly）。这些人，就是一些男性作家，他们觉得出现大量的女性作家，是要把他们这些男作家的活给抢了。这些人很不爽（disgruntled），就也对“女性的小说”表示轻蔑。

第四部分：

On the other hand, the women had a powerful ally—their publishers, who not only put these works into print but advertised them widely and enthusiastically. Some few reviewers wrote about these works with attention and respect, distinguishing between the works of the different authors and identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. These approving contemporary critics were particularly alert to each writer’s contribution to the depiction of American social life, especially to regional differences in manners and character types. On the whole, however, even these laudatory critics showed themselves uninterested in the stories that this fiction told, or in their significance. 白话版讲解： 不过，女作家们也不是完全没有盟友，她们的出版商们就是盟友。出版商不但帮她们出版，还带着激情地到处广泛地给她们打广告做宣传。有一些（但不多）评论家带着关注和尊重之心，写了对“女性的小说”的评论，认真区分了一下不同作者的作品，指出了具体哪位作家有哪些优点哪些缺点。这些和女作家同时代的、对女作家持赞赏态度的批评家，对每一位女作家对描绘美国社会生活情境（尤其是对地区习俗差别和人物类型的描绘）所作的贡献尤其警觉。整体上来看，尽管这些评论家对“女性的小说”是持赞美态度的，但是他们在评论中也表现出对“女性的小说”所讲的故事和故事的含义并不感兴趣。注解：some few 有一些（但是不太多）some but not many

第五部分：

Baym acknowledges that these novels are telling—with variations—a single familiar tale, and correctly notes that this apparent lack of artistic innovation has been partly responsible for their authors’ exclusion from the canon of classic American writers traditionally studied in university literature courses. Baym points out, however, that unlike such male contemporaries as Nathaniel Hawthorne, these women did not conceive of themselves as “artists,” but rather as professional writers with work to do and a living to be made from fulfilling an obligation to their audience. This obligation included both entertainment and instruction, which are not, says Baym, at odds with one another in these books, nor is entertainment the sweet coating on a didactic pill. Rather, the lesson itself is an entertainment: the central character’s triumph over adversity is profoundly pleasurable to those readers who identify with her. 白话版讲解： Nina Baym也承认“女性的小说”是有缺点的。她承认，这些小说讲的故事是千篇一律的（尽管故事略有一些不同），缺乏艺术创新，这正是这些小说为什么被排除在经典美国文学作品之外的原因（经典美国文学作品是在美国各高校文学课程中要学的）。Nina Baym这一点说对了。但是，Nina Baym又指出，“女性的小说”这一流派的女作家们，和与她们同时代的男作家（比如Nathaniel Hawthorne）,是不一样的，她们写小说的时候，就没把自己当那种要写出经典作品的作家，而只是把自己当成是职业写手。她们想得很简单，职业写手的任务就是为读者把活给干了，并靠这个赚点钱谋生。这个活呢，就是通过小说，给读者提供娱乐和说教。她们把这个活干得很不错，她们写的小说里，娱乐和说教并不冲突（本来这两个功能是比较容易冲突的），也没有搞成内容很明显是裹着糖衣的药丸（里面是说教的苦药，外面是娱乐的糖衣）那种（油是油、水是水）的结构。她们把两者融合得很好，说教（lesson）跟娱乐融为一体了：主角战胜逆境，这件事本身，对认同主角的读者来说，是非常令人愉悦的事情。

题目解析

1. The passage is primarily concerned with A. summarizing the major contributions of two influential writers. B. describing and commenting on a group of literary works. C. summarizing the major events of a period of literary history. D. contrasting two types of literary works from the same era. E. arguing for the adopting of several neglected literary works into university curriculums.

白话版讲解：

实际上是问全文的主要修辞功能。因为文章不是在讲两个作家的贡献，不是在讲文学史上一个时期发生的重大事件，也不是对比同时代的两种不同作品，也不是主张应该把一些被忽视的文学作品纳入到大学课程中去；而是在描述“女性的文学”这一流派作品是什么样的，并对其给了一些评价。所以B选项正确。本题答案：B 2. The author of the passage cites Susan Warner’s Wide, Wide World most probably as an example of a woman’s novel that A. had more advanced artistic elements than many of its type. B. attracted an excessive amount of critical attention. C. was found to be inappropriately moralistic by many members of the clergy. D. was significant as an indicator of the genre’s popularity. E. signaled the gradual decline of the size of the genre’s audience.

白话版讲解：

问作者拿Susan Warner的Wide, Wide World举例，是把这本书当什么样的例子？根据文章第一自然段第二部分，文章提到Wide, Wide World，是说这本书销量非常大，也就说明这个流派的小说非常受欢迎。“到1850年，Susan Warner写了Wide, Wide World，取得了前所未有的销量。到这个时候，这个小说流派就完成了自我（能力和地位）证明”。这句话中的unprecedented sales可以对应D选项中的popularity。所以D选项正确。本题答案：D 3. The author of the passage implies which of the following about the members of the clergy mentioned in the first paragraph? A. They also opposed works of fiction that were outside the genre of woman’s fiction. B. They opposed journalism as well as imaginative writing. C. Their influence reached its pinnacle in the mid-nineteenth century. D. They were unable to obtain the support of other critics for their views. E. Their attacks on the genre of the novel did not extend to novels written by male writers.

白话版讲解：

问下列关于教会的成员的说法，哪一个是作者暗示了的？ A“他们不仅反对女性的小说这一流派的作品，还反对其他一些小说作品” 文章没有提到。 B“他们既反对编东西的小说，也反对写实的新闻报道作品” 文章没有提到。 C“他们的影响力在19世纪中期达到了顶峰” 文章没有提到。 D“他们的观点没有能够获得其他批评家的支持” 根据第一自然度第三部分, Similarly, some male authors, disgruntled by the emergence of great numbers of women writers, expressed contempt for the genre. 男作家和神职人员类似，都认为女作家抢了别人的function。所以D选项说反了。 E“他们对女性的小说这一流派的批评攻击，没有扩展到一些男性作家写的小说的头上去” 根据文章第一自然段第三部分，有些当牧师的、主张教权主义的人、也反对“女性的小说”，说“女性的小说”里面太多道德说教，是想把教会的活给抢过去干，所以这些人更加猛烈地批评、抨击“女性的小说”。文章内容显示这些人攻击说“women在试图……”，所以这些人的攻击限于women，没有攻击男性作家。所以E选项正确。本题答案：E 4. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage concerning the majority of the nineteenth-century reviewers of woman’s fiction? A. They considered the position taken by the clergy in regard to woman’s fiction self- serving. B. They did not make fine distinctions between different authors. C. They placed a higher value on plot than on social significance. D. They subscribed to the view of writers as purveyors of popular entertainment rather than as artists. E. They regarded woman’s fiction as high as publishers did.

白话版讲解：

问根据文章，下列关于对“女性的小说”发表评论的大部分19世纪评论家的说法，哪一个是正确的？ A“大部分19世纪评论家认为教会对女性小说采取的立场是自私自利的” 文章没有提到。 B“大部分19世纪评论家没有对不同作者做细致的区分” 根据文章第二自然段第二句话，Some few reviewers wrote about these works with attention and respect, distinguishing between the works of the different authors and identifying individual strengths and weaknesses. 这句话中，some few是一个固定搭配，意思是“some but not many”。只有不多的人做到了，也就是说大部分人没有做到。所以B选项正确。 C“大部分19世纪评论家认为小说故事情节比小说社会意义更重要” 文章没有提到。 D“大部分19世纪评论家同意这样一个观点，这个观点认为作家是提供大众娱乐的人，而不是艺术家” 这个观点是女作家们自己的观点，批评家们是不是赞同这个观点，文章没有提到。 E“大部分19世纪评论家对女性小说的评价，出版商们对女性小说的评价一样高” 根据文章，出版商因为要想卖女作家的小说，是努力推销的，所以他们对这些小说的评价应该是蛮高的。但根据文章第二自然段第一句话说，“不过，女作家们也不是完全没有盟友，她们的出版商们就是盟友”。the women had a powerful ally，并没有再提到其他盟友，所以不能说大部分评论家对小说的评价像出版商那样高。本题答案：B