Question

There is no doubt that most of the readers will be students with little or no experience in reading poetry out loud, especially to such a large group. And we know that a poem will live or die depending on how it is read. The readers, by the way, should not read poems without getting any practice. They should be given their poems a few days in advance so that they have time to practice, maybe in the presence of a teacher.

Read the poem slowly. Most young people speak quickly, and a nervous reader will tend to do the same in order to get the reading over with. Reading a poem slowly is the best way to make sure that the poem will be read clearly and understood by its listeners. Learning to read a poem slowly will not always make the poem easier to hear, however. A poem should not be read too slowly, and a good way for a reader to set an easy pace is to pause for a few seconds between the title and the poem’s first line.

Read in a normal, relaxed tone of voice. It is not necessary to give any of these poems a dramatic reading, as if from a stage. The poems selected are mostly written in a natural style and should be read in that way. Let the words of the poem do the work. Just speak clearly and slowly.

Obviously, poems come in lines, but pausing at the end of every line will create a choppy (起伏的) effect and interrupt the flow of the poem. Readers should pause only where there is punctuation(標點), just as you would when reading prose(散文), only more slowly.

53. The passage mainly tells us _______.

   A. that we must read poems slowly

B. where to pause when reading a poem

C. how to use tones when reading a poem

D. how to read a poem out loud

54. How many suggestions did the author give us?

   A. Two                   B. Three                       C. Four                 D. Five

55. According to the passage, where should we pause when we read a poem?

   A. At the end of each line.                     B. In the middle of each line.

C. Where there is punctuation.        D. Every two lines.

56. According to the passage, we know that________.

   A. how a poem is read has no effect on the poem itself

B. when you read a poem, read it as slowly as possible

C. a nervous tone of voice is OK for the poetry

D. when you read the poetry, pause where the poet has shown you

Answer 1

53―56 DBCD