公共英语四级辅导：PETS4阅读精讲（60）

　　American humor and American popular heroes were born together. The first popular heroes of the new nation were comic heroes, and the first popular humor of the new nation was the antics of its hero-clowns. The heroic and the comic were combined in novel American proportions in popular literature.
　　The heroic themes are obvious enough and not much different from those in the legends of other times and places: Achilles, Beowulf, Siegfried, Roland, and King Arthur. The American Davy Crockett legends repeat the familiar pattern of the old world heroic story: the pre-eminence of a mighty hero whose fame in myth has a tenuous basis in fact; the remarkable birth and precocious strength of the hero; single combats in which he distinguished himself against antagonists, both man and beast; vows and boasts; pride of the hero in his weapons, his dog, and his woman.
　　Davy Crockett conquered man and beast with a swaggering nonchalance. He overcame animals by force of body and will. He killed four wolves at the age of six. He hugged a bear to death; he killed a rattlesnake with his teeth. He mastered the forces of nature. Crockett’s most famous natural exploit was saving the earth on the coldest day in history. First, he climbed a mountain to determine the trouble. Then he rescued all creation by squeezing bear-grease on the earth’s frozen axis and over the sun’s icy face. He whistled, “ push along, keep moving!” The earth gave a grunt and began moving.
　　Neither the fearlessness nor the bold huntsman’s prowess was peculiarly American. Far more distinctive was the comic quality, all heroes are heroic; few are also clowns. What made the American popular hero heroic also made him comic. May be, said Crockett, you’ll laugh at me, and not at my book. The ambiguity of American life and the vagueness which laid the continent open to adventure, which made the land a rich storehouse of the unexpected, which kept vocabulary ungoverned and the language fluid----this same ambiguity suffused both the Crockett legends were never quite certain whether to laugh or to applaud, or whether what they saw and heard was wonderful, awful, or ridiculous.
　　11.
　　What is the main point the author makes in the passage?
　　A. American popular literature was based on the legends of other times and places.
　　B. American popular heroes were characteristically comic.
　　C. Davy Crockett wrote humorous stories about mastering the nature.
　　D. The Davy Crockett stories reflected the adventurous spirit of early America.
　　12.
　　Achilles, Beowulf, and other heroes are mentioned in paragraph 2 to
　　A. Conclude heroic deeds described in old world heroic legends.
　　B. Show the role they play in the world legend history.
　　C. Compare their popularity with that of the American heroes.
　　D. Show their similar heroic nature with the American heroes.
　　13.
　　Daviy Crockett is an example of
　　A. A hero-clown.
　　B. A popular writer.
　　C. An old world hero.
　　D. A heroic theme.
　　14.
　　Which of the following is the most well-known heroic act of David Crockett?
　　A. Saving the sun.
　　B. Rescuing all living things on the earth.
　　C. Killing four wolves.
　　D. Killing a rattlesnake.
　　15.
　　In paragraph 4, the author makes the point that
　　A. American writers strove to create a distinctively American literature.
　　B. American enjoyed laughing at other people.
　　C. Americans valued comic qualities more than heroic qualities.
　　D. American life was open to adventure and full of the unexpected.
　　答案及解析:
　　11.B
　　American humor and American popular heroes were born together. 这是文章的主题句。以下是对这句话的具体解释。
　　12.D
　　在文章的第二段开头，作者提到The heroic themes are obvious enough and not much different from those in the legends of other times and places: Achilles, Beowulf, Siegfried, Roland, and King Arthur.
　　13.A
　　Daviy Crockett有很多的英雄事迹，但同时这一段的开头就提到了的戏剧性格Davy Crockett conquered man and beast with a swaggering nonchalance.。
　　14.B
　　在第三段中直接提到了Crockett’s most famous natural exploit was saving the earth on the coldest day in history.
　　15.D
　　最后一段解释了美国作品中的英雄人物为什么具有这样的喜剧性。这是和美国的生活的模糊和不确定有关的。而且这是一个充满冒险的地方。