英語閱讀理解中級(jí)篇

　　The Causes of European Separation in 16th Century

　　For a thousand years and more, the people of Europe had fought about many things, but they had been united in believing one thing: that there existed a single “Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church” of which the Bishop of Rome, under the title of the Pope, was the visible and recognizable head in succession to St. Peter. But in 1517 a German monk, Martin Luther, challenged certain Catholic teachings and renounced his obedience to the papacy. Others had followed him, including Henry VIII.

　　Thus Europe was divided in every which way, the southern and eastern two-thirds still Catholic, the northern and western one-third what was coming to be called Protestant, though English-ruled Ireland solidly Catholic and the Spanish-ruled Netherlands, particularly the northern part approximating to modern Holland, grew increasingly Protestant; while in virtually every country, whether officially Catholic or Protestant, those of the contrary faith fiercely attempted to convert their neighbors and equally fiercely resisted their neighbor’s attempts to convert them. For this there was no simple, friendly solution to be reached on the principle of live-and-let-live. Each party believed that it had hold of the truth, the only truth that mattered, the one that led to eternal salvation, and its adversaries clung to falsehood which must necessarily head to eternal damnation: not only for themselves but for all who should permit them to survive and infect others with their errors. Toleration, even reasonable discussion, was impossible. God and the devil could not mix. Just as Elizabeth was to ardent Catholics that Jezebel, so to earnest Protestants the Pope was “that wolfish bloodsucker,” and their Catholic fellow-creatures mad dogs, toads and other such vermin to be cleansed off the face of the earth.

　　These feelings, dangerous enough in themselves, were made more so by questions of geography and money. The Catholic countries bordering on the Mediterranean were by far the richest. From the beginning of the Middle Ages the Republic of Venice had controlled the trade routes to the East, bringing the wares carried out of Persia, China and the Indies by camel to her depots in Syria and reloading them in her high, gorgeously painted vessels for transshipment to Italy and beyond. Since the end of the fifteen century, first Portugal by sailing round Africa to India, then Spain by the discovery of America, had likewise been in a position to bring for sale to Europe all the rare and wonderful things for which Europe longed—silks and precious woods, sugar and spices, gold and silver, works of exquisite art and strange animals from peacock to tigers. In 1494, two years after Columbus’s first voyage to America, Pope Alexander VI had divided the unexplored world beyond the seas between Spain and Portugal as reward for their enterprise and to keep them from fighting. The other countries had respected this division so long as they remained Catholic.

　　1. The best title for this passage is

　　[A]. The History of Europe in 16th Century.

　　[B]. The Religious History of Europe in 16th Century.

　　[C]. The Causes of European Separation in 16th Century.

　　2. What does we learn from the passage?

　　[A]. The Pope had the supreme power in religion before reform.

　　[B]. The Pope had the greatest power in every thing outside religion.

　　[C]. The Pope was the real king in Europe then.

　　[D]. The Pope was the real ruler in Europe then.

　　3. What did the sentence “The other countries had respected this division so long as they remained Catholic” imply?

　　[A]. It implied this division could not be respected long.

　　[B]. It implied this division would not face a challenge.

　　[C]. It implied this division would be respected forever.

　　[D]. It implied the power of the Pope would never decline.

　　4. Which of the following is not mentioned as a cause to deepen the dangerous feelings?

　　[A]. Money. [B]. Geology. [C]. Religion. [D]. Geography.

　　Vocabulary

　　1. Apostolic 羅馬教皇的，使徒的

　　2. in succession to 繼承，接班

　　3. Martin Luther 馬丁·路德 1483——1546德國(guó)宗教改革家

　　4. teachings 教義

　　5. renounce 拋棄，擯棄，否認(rèn)

　　6. papacy 羅馬教皇職位/制度，這里指羅馬教皇

　　7. cling to 堅(jiān)持

　　8. damnation 詛咒，永遠(yuǎn)的處罰

　　9. bloodsucker 吸血鬼

　　10. depot 倉(cāng)庫(kù)，補(bǔ)給站

　　11. gorgeous 華麗的，燦爛的，輝煌的

　　12. spice 香料

　　13. enterprise 事業(yè)，業(yè)績(jī)，功勛

　　難句譯注

　　1. Thus Europe was divided in every which way, the southern and eastern two-thirds still Catholic, the northern and western one-third what was coming to be called Protestant, though English-ruled Ireland solidly Catholic and the Spanish-ruled Netherlands, particularly the northern part approximating to modern Holland, grew increasingly Protestant; while in virtually every country, whether officially Catholic or Protestant, those of the contrary faith fiercely attempted to convert their neighbors and equally fiercely resisted their neighbor’s attempts to convert them.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析] every which way. 四面八方，散亂。這里指四分五裂。EX : Railroads cross the country in every which way. 鐵路四通八達(dá)，縱橫全國(guó)。

　　[參考譯文] 就這樣歐洲四分五裂：東南部2/3仍然是天主教，西北部1/3是后來被稱為的基督教，雖然英國(guó)統(tǒng)治的愛爾蘭是穩(wěn)固的天主教，而西班牙統(tǒng)治的荷蘭，特別是靠近現(xiàn)代荷蘭的北部地區(qū)越來越變成基督教。事實(shí)上，在每個(gè)國(guó)家，不論官方聲稱是天主教還是基督教，相反信仰的人都拼命想把他的鄰居變過來，也同樣強(qiáng)烈的抵制他們的鄰居企圖把他們變過去。

　　2. Each party believed that it had hold of the truth, the only truth that mattered, the one that led to eternal salvation, and its adversaries clung to falsehood which must necessarily head to eternal damnation: not only for themselves but for all who should permit them to survive and infect others with their errors.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析] believed 有兩個(gè)賓語從句，用and連接。第一個(gè)賓語從句that it had hold of the truth中，the only… the one…都說明truth,是它的同位語。And 后的賓語從句省略了連詞that，句中有定語從句which must 修飾falsehood，后面的who定從修飾all.

　　[參考譯文] 每一派都認(rèn)為他掌握了真理，唯一的至關(guān)重要的這里，通向永恒獲救解脫，而它的對(duì)手（敵人）死抓住錯(cuò)誤不放，這必然導(dǎo)致永恒的詛咒；不僅詛咒他們自己，還詛咒那些讓他們生存下去，讓他們錯(cuò)誤感染別人的人。

　　3. Just as Elizabeth was to ardent Catholics that Jezebel, so to earnest Protestants the Pope was “that wolfish bloodsucker,” and their Catholic fellow-creatures mad dogs, toads and other such vermin to be cleansed off the face of the earth.

　　[結(jié)構(gòu)簡(jiǎn)析] 注意just as…so …句型，so 后是部分倒裝。To cleanse off消減，清除出。Jezebel耶西別古代以色列國(guó)王亞哈的妻子，殘忍放蕩。后指無恥放蕩的女人，胭脂虎。這里指英國(guó)女王伊麗莎白。

　　[參考譯文] 就像伊麗莎白女王對(duì)狂熱的天主教徒來講那是個(gè)耶西別；對(duì)基督教徒來說羅馬教皇是那個(gè)殘忍的吸血鬼。天主教徒是瘋狗，蛤蟆，其他種種惡魔，應(yīng)從地球表面上清除出去。

　　寫作方法與文章大意

　　這是一篇論述“宗教改革后的'歐洲形勢(shì)”的文章。（16世紀(jì)歐洲的情況）。作者從三方面論及其分裂的原由，歐洲在宗教改革后的信仰分裂，造成新舊教勢(shì)不兩立的局面，地理位置和金錢兩個(gè)因素加劇了分裂的局面。

　　答案祥解

　　1. D. 16世紀(jì)歐洲分裂的因素。上面文章大意中作者是從三方面論及其分裂。見難句譯注1和第三段第一句：“這些情感，本身就危險(xiǎn)，再加上地理和金錢兩個(gè)問題，情況就更加不妙了�！�

　　A. 歐洲史。 B. 歐洲宗教史。這兩項(xiàng)涉及面更廣。 C. 宗教改革對(duì)16世紀(jì)歐洲的影響。和標(biāo)題有些接近。但第三段卻是和宗教無關(guān)的兩個(gè)因素。

　　2. C. 在改革前，羅馬教皇是歐洲真正的帝王。這在第一段中有明確的敘述“一千多年來，歐洲人們雖然在許多事情彼此斗爭(zhēng)過，可是在信仰上團(tuán)結(jié)一致，都信只有一個(gè)神圣的天主教和羅馬教皇的教會(huì)。那里的羅馬大主教，稱為教皇，是繼承圣·彼德之后有形的公認(rèn)領(lǐng)袖�？墒牵�1517年德國(guó)僧侶，馬丁·路德向某些天主教教義提出挑釁，拒絕服從羅馬教皇，其他追隨他，其中包括亨利八世（英王）”。

　　A. 在改革前，羅馬教皇在宗教上具有至高無上的權(quán)利。似乎很有道理。實(shí)際上，教皇雖是宗教領(lǐng)袖，管的事情遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)超出宗教范疇。這在最后一段倒數(shù)第二句話可見一般。結(jié)合第三題談。 B. 教皇在宗教之外的許多事情有著最高的權(quán)利。是明顯不對(duì)的。 D. 教皇是那時(shí)歐洲的真正統(tǒng)治者。Then 一詞可以指改革前后。

　　3. A. 這種分割不可能長(zhǎng)期得到尊重。最后一段的最后兩句話“1494年，哥倫布首次遠(yuǎn)航美洲后的兩年，教皇亞歷山大六世就把這塊大洋彼岸未曾勘探的世界分給西班牙和葡萄牙作為對(duì)他們業(yè)績(jī)的褒獎(jiǎng)（賞賜）和制止他們彼此開仗。其它國(guó)家只要他們依然信仰天主教，他們就會(huì)尊重這個(gè)瓜分�！盿s long as 是一個(gè)條件。一旦這個(gè)條件不存在，那就不會(huì)再尊重。另一方面也說明教皇不僅管宗教，見第2題A注釋，因此并不正確。

　　B. 不會(huì)面臨挑戰(zhàn)。 C. 永遠(yuǎn)得到尊重。 D. 教皇權(quán)力永不衰退。

　　4. B. 地質(zhì)學(xué)。其他三項(xiàng)：

　　A. 錢。 C. 宗教。 D. 地理位置。都提到。

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