Unit 5 Poems：重要题型专练-【帮课堂】2023-2024学年高二英语同步学与练（人教2019版选择性必修第三册）

选择性必修第三册Unit 5 Poems 重要题型专练 一、阅读理解 A Not Waving but Drowning Stevie Smith (1902-1971) Nobody heard him, the dead man, but still he lay moaning: I was much further out than you thought, and not waving but drowning. Poor chap, he always loved larking, and now he's dead. It must have been too cold for him, his heart gave away, they said. Oh, no no no, it was too cold always （Still the dead one lay moaning）. I was much too far out all my life, and not waving but drowning. ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ by Stevie Smith describes the emotional situation of a speaker whose true sufferings go unnoticed by all those around her. The poem begins with the speaker stating that there is a dead man who is not really dead. He is not dead because his story has more to offer to the world. His death came at the hands of apathy (冷漠). The speaker knows this to be true as she is struggling out in the ocean waters. She’s trying desperately to get someone’s attention but all the onlookers believe her to be “waving” rather than “drowning”. Then the speaker criticizes the emotionless reaction of the beach-goers by describing their words regarding the dead man. They see him, attempt to recall something about his life, and then declare him dead without ceremony They believe that it must have been “too cold” for him and that his heart gave out. The speaker continues to say that it has always been “too cold” for her. She has always been too far out to the sea to make people understand her, especially now when she needs understanding the most. On the surface the poem is about a man who drowns because his movements are mistaken for friendly waving. Taken less literally, however, it speaks to the pain of being misunderstood and the frequent failure of communication between human beings, closely related to which is its potential suggestion of mental illness. That is, the poem can be taken as an extended metaphor (暗喻) for the specific pain of diseases like depression, which makes the man feel like “dro