We sometimes hear that essays are an old-fashioned form, that so-and-so is the "last essayist", but the facts of the marketplace argue quite otherwise. Essays of nearly any kind are so much easier than short stories for a writer to sell, so many more see print, it’s strange that though two fine anthologies (collections) remain that publish the year’s best stories, no comparable collection exists for essays. Such changes in the reading public’s taste aren’t always to the good, needless to say. The art of telling stories predated even cave painting, surely; and if we ever find ourselves living in caves again, it (with painting and drumming) will be the only art left, after movies, novels, photography, essays, biography, and all the rest have gone down the drain — the art to build from.
Essays, however, hang somewhere on a line between two sturdy poles: this is what I
A. contribute to the incompatibility of essays with stories
B. often result in unfavorable effect, to say the least
C. sometimes come to something undesirable, of course
D. usually bring about beneficial outcome, so to say
We sometimes hear that essays are an old-fashioned form, that so-and-so is the "last essayist", but the facts of the marketplace argue quite otherwise. Essays of nearly any kind are so much easier than short stories for a writer to sell, so many more see print, it’s strange that though two fine anthologies (collections) remain that publish the year’s best stories, no comparable collection exists for essays. Such changes in the reading public’s taste aren’t always to the good, needless to say. The art of telling stories predated even cave painting, surely; and if we ever find ourselves living in caves again, it (with painting and drumming) will be the only art left, after movies, novels, photography, essays, biography, and all the rest have gone down the drain — the art to build from.
Essays, however, hang somewhere on a line between two sturdy poles: this is what I
A. the art of essay-writing would lose its foundation
B. the art and literature would most totally vanish
C. the art of story-telling would remain in caves alone
D. the life of art would be thoroughly drained away
| We sometimes hear that essays are an
old-fashioned form, that so-and-so is the "last essayist", but the facts of the
marketplace argue quite otherwise. Essays of nearly any kind are so much easier
than short stories for a writer to sell, so many more see print, it’s strange
that though two fine anthologies (collections) remain that publish the year’s
best stories, no comparable collection exists for essays. Such changes in the
reading public’s taste aren’t always to the good, needless to say. The art of
telling stories predated even cave painting, surely; and if we ever find
ourselves living in caves again, it (with painting and drumming) will be the
only art left, after movies, novels, photography, essays, biography, and all the
rest have gone down the drain--the art to build from. Essays, however, hang somewhere on a line be A. contribute to the incompatibility of essays with stories B. often result in unfavorable effect, to say the least C. sometimes come to something undesirable, of course D. usually bring about beneficial outcome, so to say [单项选择]Passage Three
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