Though England was on the whole prosperous and hopeful, though by comparison with her neighbors she enjoyed internal peace, she could not evade the fact that the world of which she formed a part was torn by hatred and strife as fierce as any in human history. Men were still for from recognizing that two religions could exist side by side in the same society; they believed that the toleration of another religion different from their own. And hence necessarily false, must inevitably destroy such a society and bring the souls of all its members into danger of hell. So the struggle went on with increasing fury within each nation to impose a single creed upon every subject, and within the general society of Christendom to impose it upon every nation. In England the Reformers, or Protestants, aided by the power of the Crown, had at this stage triumphed, but over Europe as a whole Rome was beginning to recover some of the ground it had lost after Martin Luther’s revolt in the earlier part of the century. It did this in two ways, by the activities of its missionaries, as in parts of Germany, or by the military might of the Catholic Powers, as in the Low Countries, where the Dutch provinces were sometimes near their last extremity under the pressure of Spanish arms. Against England, the most important of all the Protestant nations to reconquer, military might was not yet possible because the Catholic Powers were too occupied and divided: and so, in the 1570’s Rome bent her efforts, as she had done a thousand years before in the days of Saint Augustine, to win England back by means of her missionaries.
These were young Englishmen who had either never given up the old faith, or having done so, had returned to it and felt called to become priests. There being, of course, no Catholic seminaries left in England, they went abroad, at first quite easily, later with difficulty and danger, to study in the English colleges at Douai or Rome: the former established for the training of ordinary or secular clergy, the other for the member of the Society of Jesus, commonly known as Jesuits, a new Order established by St, Ignatius Loyola same thirty years before. The seculars came first; they achieved a success which even the most eager could hardly have expected. Cool-minded and well-informed men, like Cecil, had long surmised that the conversion of the English people to Protestantism was for from complete; many—Cecil thought even the majority—had conformed out of fear, self-interest or—possibly the commonest reason of all—sheer bewilderment at the rapid changes in doctrine and forms of worship imposed on them in so short a time. Thus it happened that the missionaries found a welcome, not only with the families who had secretly offered them hospitality if they came, but with many others whom their first hosts invited to meet them or passed them on to. They would land at the ports in disguise, as merchants, courtiers or what not, professing some plausible business in the country, and make by devious may for their first house of refuge. There they would administer the Sacraments and preach to the house holds and to such of the neighbors as their hosts trusted and presently go on to some other locality to which they were directed or from which they received a call.
1. The main idea of this passage is
[A]. The continuity of the religious struggle in Britain in new ways.
[B]. The conversion of religion in Britain.
[C]. The victory of the New religion in Britain.
[D]. England became prosperous.
2. What was Martin Luther’s religions?
[A]. Buddhism. [B]. Protestantism. [C]. Catholicism. [D]. Orthodox.
3. Through what way did the Rome recover some of the lost land?
[A]. Civil and military ways. [B]. Propaganda and attack.
[C]. Persuasion and criticism. [D]. Religious and military ways.
4. What did the second paragraph mainly describe?
[A]. The activities of missionaries in Britain.
[B]. The conversion of English people to Protestantism was far from complete.
[C]. The young in Britain began to convert to Catholicism
[D]. Most families offered hospitality to missionaries.
Vocabulary
1. evade 避开，回避
2. creed 教义，信条，主义
3. the Crown 原义皇冠，在英国代表王权，王室/君主
4. low Countries 低地国，指荷兰，卢森堡，比利时
5. last extremity 最后阶段，绝境，临终。这里指那里人民临近 无可选择只能信奉天主教。
6. bend one’s effort 竭尽全力
7. seminary 高等中学，神学院/校
8. surmise 猜度，臆测
9. doctrine 教义
10. plausible 貌似合理/公平的
11. courtier 朝臣
12. devious 绕来绕去的，迂回曲折的
13. Sacrament 圣礼，圣事/餐
14. secular 修道院外的，世俗的
15. the society of Jesus 天主教的耶酥会
16. Douai 杜埃(法国地名)
17. Jesuit 天主耶酥会会士
难句译注
1. The Douay Bible 杜埃圣经(罗马天主教会核定的英译本圣经，于1582年及1609——1610你年又罗马天主教学者将新旧约分别从拉丁文译成英语在杜埃出版，可见当时杜埃是天主教势力的集中地之一。
2. St. Ignatius Loyola 圣•罗耀拉 1491——1556 西班牙军人及天主教教士，耶酥会的创始人。
3. Cecil (William Cecil) 西塞尔 1520——1598，英国政治家，女王伊丽莎白的得力大臣。
4. Men were still for from recognizing that two religions could exist side by side in the same society; they believed that the toleration of another religion different from their own. And hence necessarily false, must inevitably destroy such a society and bring the souls of all its members into danger of hell.
[结构简析] 用分号连接的两个分句，分句中都有that 是引导的宾从。
[参考译文] 人们远远没有意识到两个宗教可以并存于同一个社会中;他们认为容忍不同于他们自己的宗教，因为也必然是错误的教派，不可避免的会破坏这样一个社会，从而把所有的成员的灵魂带进地狱的危险。
5. Against England, the most important of all the Protestant nations to reconquer, military might was not yet possible because the Catholic Powers were too occupied and divided: and so, in the 1570’s Rome bent her efforts, as she had done a thousand years before in the days of Saint Augustine, to win England back by means of her missionaries
[结构简析] the most important of all the Protestant nations to reconquer, 这句话是同位语，说明England. As she had done a thousand… ，这里的as =just to 义：就像，正如。
[参考译文] 对付英国，需要重新征服的所有基督教国家中最重要的一国，动用军事力量不可能。因为天主教大国们太忙，太分裂;因此罗马于1570年代就像一千年前，在圣•奥古斯都统治时期它曾做过的那样，竭尽权力想通过传教方式把英国赢回来。
写作方法与文章大意
这篇文章论及“罗马教皇采用文武两手政策在欧洲，特别在英国，恢复旧教——天主教。”采用一般到具体的写作手法。可以说由大到小。大的欧洲背景，最后落实在英国的具体做法。重点在英国。
答案详解
1. A. 这篇文章的中心思想是“英国宗教斗争以新的方式继续进行。”
B. 英国宗教的转变。 C. 新教在英国的胜利。 D. 英国变得繁荣。这三项都是文内谈到具体事情，不能作主题思想。
2. B. 新教，基督教。因为罗马教皇推行的是天主教。这在第 一段第四句明确点明：“在英国，宗教改革者，或者说基督教，在英国皇权的协助下，此时已取得胜利;而作为整个欧洲来说，罗马教皇已经开始恢复世纪初马丁•路德反叛后所失去的一些地盘。”马丁•路德是改革者，也就是基督教。
A. 佛教。 C. 天主教。 D. 东正教
3. D. 宗教和武力。第 一段第五句说明：“教皇用两种办法进行恢复，一种就像在部分德国地区进行的那样通过传教士的活动，另一种象在低地国里进行的，通过天主教国家的军事力量。那里荷兰的几个省份在西班牙的军事压力下，常常是被逼迫得几乎走投无路了。
A. civil and military ways文武两手，civil范围太广，特别指民事的，非宗教的，文职的。这里不合适。 B. 宣传和抨击。 C. 劝说和批评。都不对。
4. A. 传教士活动在英国。第二段的开始就讲到，“这些英国青年或者根本没有放弃老的信仰，或者放弃以后又重新归反旧教，应召成为牧师。英国当然没有剩下天主教神学院，他们就出国，开始很容易，后来，有困难甚至有危险，到杜埃或罗马英文学院就读。前者专为培养一般或修道院外的牧师而建。后者是培养耶酥会教士，通称天主耶酥会会士，是约三十年前圣•罗耀拉创建的一种神职。”在杜埃学习的牧师先回来，他们取得了令人意想不到的成功。下面就是他们(这样指第 一类修道士在英国活动情况)。“头脑冷静，信息灵通人士，像西塞尔这种政治家，长期以来，一直猜度，英国人归反基督教新教的过程远远没有完成。许多人——因他们被在那么短的时期内强加到他们身上的信仰形式，飞快变更的教义搞糊涂了。”
B. 英国人归反基督教的事情远远没有完成。 C. 在英国青年开始归反天主教。两项选择见上文解释。都是传教活动开始的原因。 D. 大多数家庭礼待传教士。这是第二段最后几行谈到这些传教士秘密来到英国后的情况。他们不仅受到老关系家庭欢迎。也受到第 一次邀请他们的家庭欢迎。主人还把他们介绍给其它家庭。
【责任编辑：Xiaoxu】
关注文都四六级微信
