2. 职称英语
  3. There were a number of carved stone figures placed at intervals along the pa

There were a number of carved stone figures placed at intervals along the pa

游客2023-12-21  25
问题     There were a number of carved stone figures placed at intervals along the parapets of the old Cathedral; some of them represented angels, others kings and bishops, and nearly all were in attitudes of pious exaltation and composure. But one figure, low down on the cold north side of the building, had neither crown, mitre, nor nimbus, and its face was hard and bitter and downcast; it must be a demon, declared the fat blue pigeons that roosted and sunned themselves all day on the ledges of the parapet; but the old belfry jackdaw, who was an authority on ecclesiastical architecture, said it was a lost soul. And there the matter rested.
    One autumn day there fluttered on to the Cathedral roof a slender, sweet-voiced bird that had wandered away from the bare fields and thinning hedgerows in search of a winter roosting-place. It tried to rest its tired feet under the shade of a great angel-wing or to nestle in the sculptured folds of a kingly robe, but the fat pigeons hustled it away from wherever it settled, and the noisy sparrow-folk drove it off the ledges. No respectable bird sang with so much feeling they cheeped one to another, and the wanderer had to move on.
    Only the effigy of the Lost Soul offered a place of refuge. The pigeons did not consider it safe to perch on a projection that leaned so much out of the perpendicular, and was, besides, too much in the shadow. The figure did not cross its hands in the pious attitude of the other graven dignitaries, but its arms were folded as in defiance and their angle made a snug resting-place for the little bird. Every evening it crept trustfully into its corner against the stone breast of the image, and the darkling eyes seemed to keep watch over its slumbers. The lonely bird grew to love its lonely protector, and during the day it would sit from time to time on some rainshoot or other abutment and trill forth its sweetest music in grateful thanks for its nightly shelter. And, it may have been the work of wind and weather, or some other influence, but the wild drawn face seemed gradually to lose some of its hardness and unhappiness. Every day, through the long monotonous hours, the song of his little guest would come up in snatches to the lonely watcher, and at evening, when the vesper-bell was ringing and the great grey bats slid out of their hiding-places in the belfry roof, the brighteyed bird would return, twitter a few sleepy notes, and nestle into the arms that were waiting for him. Those were happy days for the Dark Image. Only the great bell of the Cathedral rang out daily its mocking message, "After joy... sorrow."
    The folk in the verger’s lodge noticed a little brown bird flitting about the Cathedral precincts, and admired its beautiful singing. They were poor, but they understood the principles of political economy. So they caught the bird and put it in a little wicker cage outside the lodge door. That night the little songster was missing from its accustomed haunt, and the Dark Image knew more than ever the bitterness of loneliness. When morning came there floated up to him, through the noise and bustle of the Cathedral world, a faint heart-aching message from the prisoner in the wicker cage far below. And every day, at high noon, the song of the little bird came up to the parapets—a song of hunger and longing and hopelessness, a cry that could never be answered. The pigeons remarked, between mealtimes, that the figure leaned forward more than ever out of the perpendicular.
    One day no song came up from the little wicker cage. There was a crackling sound in the night on the Cathedral roof and a noise as of falling masonry. The belfry jackdaw said the frost was affecting the fabric, and as he had experienced many frosts it must have been so. In the morning it was seen that the Figure of the Lost Soul had toppled from its cornice and lay now in a broken mass on the dustheap outside the verger’s lodge.
选项 A、was considered a lost soul.
B、was considered a demon.
C、has aroused great controversy.
D、was inconspicuous in the corner.
答案 A
解析 本题是语义理解题。由题干定位至首段。在指出教堂里主要的雕像之后，作者提到位于最北面的一个雕像：面带痛苦，神情阴郁。在栏杆架上栖息，在那儿终日晒太阳的肥鸽子说，那是一个魔鬼。而作为教堂建筑权威的钟楼寒鸦说，那是一个迷失的魂灵。之后出现了And there the matter rested．这个表达，从前面的an authority可以推断，既然寒鸦是权威人士，它说的话自然会具有权威性，因此可以判断这个人物被认为是一个迷失的魂灵，故[A]为答案，排除[B]。虽然鸽子和寒鸦对这个人物的看法不同，但不能由此推断出存在很大争议，排除[C]。[D]未提及，无根据。
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