新鲜阅读空气（上）
抓好限时阅读
无论是在高考还是在平时的英语测试中，做阅读理解题都是有时间限制的，如果没有一定量的限时阅读训练，就有可能在考试时做不完题。按照高考的要求，五篇阅读理解题应分配的时间为35分钟，阅读速度为每分钟50~60个单词。因此，有目的地进行限时阅读训练，是按时做完阅读理解题的保障。平时要养成在规定时间内完成短文的阅读、理解和答题的好习惯。在平时的训练过程中，不要将时间过多地用于对自己来说特别难的问题上，因为所有问题的分值都是相同的。只要同学们坚持不懈地努力，提高阅读速度和做题的准确率是可以达到的。
阅读理解
Passage A
Whitman was one of the most original and inspiring American poets， true to his art and to his role as a poet. He devoted himself to poetry praising the native American experience①. As Americas first epic poem， Leaves of Grass ran nine editions with more than 400 poems all written in free verse （诗） form， that is， poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. The tide implies rebirth， renewal， or green life. As Whitman once said， “Leaves of Grass was the outcropping of my own emotional and other personal nature—an attempt， from first to last， to put a person， a human being freely， fully and truly on record.”
For Whitman， science， democracy （民主） and spirituality （灵性） were the three things that underlay the structure of modern poetry. Whitman tried to blend （混合） the world of science， the philosophy of democracy and the spiritual feeling of life into one， to incorporate （合并） these into his poetry. For Whitman， the poetic form was to be organic， not restrained （受限制的）. Therefore， he threw aside the traditional ornaments （修饰） and prettiness of verse and had his own form. Both the form and content of his poems are revolutionary. With its frequent use of colloquial （通俗的） language and everyday events， his verse represents a turning point in the history of American poetry② —poetry fashioned out of specially American experience in a distinctly （清楚地） American idiom. Whitmans unique poetic creation has developed a very significant tradition in American poetry.
In his poems， he celebrated new America rather than regretted it. He was against slavery， idolized （崇拜的） Lincoln， supported strikes， and combined the ideal of the democratic common people and that of the ragged individual.
译注
① He devoted himself to poetry praising the native American experience.
他致力于赞颂当地美国人体验的诗歌创作。
② With its frequent use of colloquial （通俗的） language and everyday events， his verse represents a turning point in the history of American poetry...
有了他经常使用的通俗语言和日常事件，他的诗歌象征着美国诗歌史上的一个转折点……
根据文章内容，选择正确答案：
1. Whitman wrote poems mainly to .
A. praise the rich people in the USA
B. call on others to turn against the government
C. let others know more about the native American experience
D. make more money and become famous
2. In Whitmans opinion， what were the three things that underlay the structure of modern poetry？
A. Education， democracy and spirituality.
B. Science， democracy and spirituality.
C. Poems， science and democracy.
D. Science， poems and spirituality.
3. The poet threw aside the traditional ornaments and prettiness of verse and had his own form because .
A. he thought the poetic form was not restrained but organic
B. all the poets did so
C. the readers didnt like the traditional ornaments and prettiness of verse
D. he wanted to make his poems special
4. According to the passage， we know Whitman was a poet who .
A. didnt like common people
B. was a selfish man
C. cared for common people
D. didnt have his own ideal
Passage B
American poetry differs from British or English poetry chiefly because Americas culturally different traditions exerted （施加） pressure on the English language， changing its tones， diction， forms， and rhythms until something identifiable as American English appeared. American poetry is verse written in this changed form of English.
The term American poetry is in some ways a contradiction （矛盾）①. America represents a break with tradition and the invention of a new culture separate from the European past. Poetry， on the other hand， represents tradition itself， a long history of expression carried to America from a European past. American poetry thus embodies （收录） a clearly identifiable tension （紧张） between tradition and innovation， past and future， and old forms and new forms. American poetry remains a hybrid （混合物）， a literature that tries to separate itself from the tradition of English literature even as it adds to and changes that tradition.
American poetry could be defined （定义） differently， however， especially if it is not limited to poetry in English②. Without that qualifying term， American poetry has its origins in the rich oral traditions of Native American cultures. Each of these cultures developed complex symbolic tales of the origins and history of its people， akin （类似的） to great poems in the European tradition. These tales were performed as part of rituals （仪式） and passed on through memorization from one generation to the next. Some of them have been translated into English. Yet these works tend to disappear from most histories of American poetry because they were part of ongoing performances based in spoken rather than written language. Moreover， their rhythms and sounds are bound to the native languages in which they developed. Similarly， there is a rich heritage of Spanishlanguage poetry written in America from the time of the earliest Spanish explorers to current Hispanic and Chicano and Chicana poetry. American poetry traditions also have thrived in many other languages， from Chinese to Yiddish， as the result of centuries of immigration to the ed States.
译注
① The term American poetry is in some ways a contradiction.
美国诗歌这个术语在某些方面自相矛盾。
② American poetry could be defined （定义） differently， however， especially if it is not limited to poetry in English.
然而，美国诗歌可以给予不同的定义，尤其他如果不被局限于英语诗歌。
根据文章内容，回答下列问题：
1. Whats the difference between American poetry and British or English poetry？
2. Why is American poetry a contradiction？
3. Where does American poetry have its origins？
4. Why does the symbolic tales of the origins tend to disappear from most of histories of American poetry？