英語(yǔ)四級(jí)閱讀15篇

Passage1建議用時(shí)：8分鐘From:To:

WhenonelooksbackuponthefifteenhundredyearsthatarethelifespanoftheEnglishlanguage,heshouldbeabletonoticeanumberofsignificanttruths.Thehistoryofourlanguagehasalwaysbeenahistoryofconstantchange—attimesaslow,almostimperceptiblechange,atothertimesaviolentcollisionbetweentwolanguages.Ourlanguagehasalwaysbeenalivinggrowingorganism,ithasneverbeenstatic.Anothersignificanttruththatemergesfromsuchastudyisthatlanguageatalltimeshasbeenthepossessionnotofoneclassorgroupbutofmany.『Atoneextremeithasbeenthepropertyofthecommon,ignorantfolk,whohaveuseditinthedailybusinessoftheirliving,muchastheyhaveusedtheiranimalsorthekitchenpotsandpans.』①Attheotherextremeithasbeenthetreasureofthosewhohaverespecteditasaninstrumentandasignofcivilization,andwhohavestruggledbywritingitdowntogiveitsomepermanence,order,dignity,andifpossible,alittlebeauty.

Asweconsiderourchanginglanguage,weshouldnoteheretwodevelopmentsthatareofspecialandimmediateimportancetous.OneisthatsincethetimeoftheAnglo-Saxonstherehasbeenanalmostcompletereversalofthedifferentdevicesforshowingtherelationshipofwordsinasentence.Anglo-Saxon(oldEnglish)wasalanguageofmanyinflections.ModernEnglishhasfewinflections.Wemustnowdependlargelyonwordorderandfunctionwordstoconveythemeaningsthattheolderlanguagedidbymeansofchangesintheformsofwords.Functionwords,youshouldunderstand,arewordssuchasprepositions,conjunctions,andafewothersthatareusedprimarilytoshowrelationshipsamongotherwords.Afewinflections,however,havesurvived.Andwhensomewordinflectionscomeintoconflictwithwordorder,theremaybetroublefortheusersofthelanguage,asweshallseelaterwhenweturnourattentiontosuchmatersasWHOorWHOMandMEorI.Thesecondfactwemustconsideristhataslanguageitselfchanges,ourattitudestowardlanguageformschangealso.『Theeighteenthcentury,forexample,producedfromvarioussourcesatendencytofixthelanguageintopatternsnotalwayssetinandgrew,untilatthepresenttimethereisastrongtendencytorestudyandre-evaluatelanguagepracticesintermsofthewaysinwhichpeoplespeakandwrite.』②

1.Incontrasttotheearlierlinguists,modernlinguiststendto.

A.attempttocontinuethestandardizationofthelanguage

B.evaluatelanguagepracticesintermsofcurrentspeechratherthanstandardsorproperpatterns

C.bemoreconcernedabouttheimprovementofthelanguagethanitsanalysisorhistory

D.bemoreawareoftherulesofthelanguageusage

2.Choosetheappropriatemeaningfortheword“inflection”usedinline4ofparagraph2.

A.Changesintheformsofwords.

B.Changesinsentencestructures.

C.Changesinspellingrules.

D.Wordsthathavesimilarmeanings.

3.Whichofthefollowingstatementsisnotmentionedinthepassage?

A.Itisgenerallybelievedthattheyear1500canbesetasthebeginningofthemodernEnglishlanguage.

B.SomeotherlanguageshadgreatinfluenceontheEnglishlanguageatsomestagesofitsdevelopment.

C.TheEnglishlanguagehasbeenandstillinastateofrelativelyconstantchange.

D.ManyclassesorgroupshavecontributedtothedevelopmentoftheEnglishlanguage.

4.Theauthoroftheseparagraphsisprobablya(an).

A.historianB.philosopher

C.anthropologistD.linguist

5.Whichofthefollowingcanbebestusedasthetitleofthepassage?

A.ThehistoryoftheEnglishlanguage.

B.OurchangingattitudetowardstheEnglishlanguage.

C.Ourchanginglanguage.

D.SomecharacteristicsofmodernEnglish.

Vocabulary

1.spann.跨度，范圍，一段時(shí)間，期間

2.imperceptibleadj.感覺不到的，覺察不到的，極細(xì)微的

3.organismn.生物體，有機(jī)體

4.possessionn.擁有，占有，領(lǐng)土，領(lǐng)地

5.ignorantadj.無(wú)知的

6.folkn.人們，民族

7.permanencen.永久，持久

8.Anglo-Saxonsn.盎格魯—撒克遜語(yǔ)，盎格魯—撒克遜人，地道的英國(guó)人

9.reversaln.顛倒，反向，逆轉(zhuǎn)

10.inflectionn.詞尾變化

11.prepositionn.前置詞，介詞

12.conjunctionn.聯(lián)合，關(guān)聯(lián)，連接詞

13.intermsof根據(jù)，按照，用……的話，在……方面

長(zhǎng)難句解析

①【解析】“who”引導(dǎo)非限制性定語(yǔ)從句，修飾“thecommon,ignorantfolk”?！癿uchas”引導(dǎo)狀語(yǔ)從句?！発itchenpotsandpans”意為“鍋碗瓢盆”。

【譯文】一方面它是那些普通人甚至無(wú)知民眾的財(cái)產(chǎn)，他們每天都像使喚他們的牲畜和鍋碗瓢盆一樣用著語(yǔ)言。

②【解析】此句為一個(gè)復(fù)合倒裝句。“until”引導(dǎo)一個(gè)并列句，前一句的主語(yǔ)是“atendency”，“tofixthelanguageintopatternsnotalwayssetinandgrew”作“tendency”的定語(yǔ)，第二句的主語(yǔ)也是“atendency”，“to”后面的句子作“tendency”的定語(yǔ)，“inwhich”引導(dǎo)的定語(yǔ)從句修飾“ways”。

【譯文】例如在18世紀(jì)一種產(chǎn)生于各種來(lái)源的趨勢(shì)把語(yǔ)言固定在一個(gè)不常使用和不利于語(yǔ)言發(fā)展的模式中，而到了當(dāng)今，主流是要反復(fù)研究、評(píng)價(jià)人們說(shuō)話、寫作中的語(yǔ)言實(shí)踐。

答案與詳解

【短文大意】本文主要講述英語(yǔ)演變過(guò)程的一些特點(diǎn)，指出了古英語(yǔ)與現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)的不同，以及語(yǔ)言學(xué)家對(duì)待語(yǔ)言形式的態(tài)度的變化。

1.B細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)題干回原文中定位，閱讀文章時(shí)注意首末段及各段開頭的句子，這往往都是考點(diǎn)所在。這篇文章講的主要是英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言演變的一些特點(diǎn)，指出了古英語(yǔ)與現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)的不同，以及語(yǔ)言學(xué)家態(tài)度的轉(zhuǎn)變。本題問(wèn)的正是現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言學(xué)家與早期語(yǔ)言學(xué)家不同的傾向。根據(jù)文章末尾Theeighteenthcentury,forexample,producedfromvarioussourcesatendencytofixthelanguageintopatternsnotalwayssetinandgrew,untilatthepresenttimethereisastrongtendencytorestudyandre-evaluatelanguagepracticesintermsofthewaysinwhichpeoplespeakandwrite.現(xiàn)代語(yǔ)言學(xué)家傾向于根據(jù)人們說(shuō)和寫的方式評(píng)價(jià)語(yǔ)言實(shí)踐，而不是像早期的語(yǔ)言學(xué)家根據(jù)一定的模式評(píng)價(jià)語(yǔ)言。選項(xiàng)B符合文章的意思。

2.A詞匯題。要根據(jù)上下文的信息判斷單詞的意思。文章在第二段中間再次提到inflection時(shí)說(shuō)，Afewinflections,however,havesurvived.后面文章又舉了WHO/WHOM和ME/I為例說(shuō)明inflection，這是一篇關(guān)于語(yǔ)言學(xué)的文章，從例子可以看出inflection的意思應(yīng)該是“單詞的變形”，選項(xiàng)A正確。

3.A細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章的內(nèi)容，選項(xiàng)A“普遍認(rèn)為1500年是現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)的起點(diǎn)”在文章中沒有提及，故為正確答案。文章第二句說(shuō)Thehistoryofourlanguagehasalwaysbeenahistoryofconstantchange-attimesaslow,almostimperceptiblechange,atothertimesaviolentcollisionbetweentwolanguages.我們語(yǔ)言的歷史是一個(gè)不斷變化的歷史——在一些時(shí)間里緩慢得幾乎難以察覺，在另一些時(shí)間里則是兩種語(yǔ)言的激烈碰撞。由此可以推斷一些其他的語(yǔ)言對(duì)英語(yǔ)的發(fā)展有重大影響，選項(xiàng)B符合文章的意思。

4.D詞匯題。此題考查考生的推測(cè)能力和詞匯量，文章講述的是英國(guó)語(yǔ)言演進(jìn)的具體細(xì)節(jié)，最適當(dāng)?shù)拇鸢笐?yīng)該是D。作者很可能是一位語(yǔ)言學(xué)家。A答案(歷史學(xué)家)和C答案(人類學(xué)家)也可以有點(diǎn)迷惑性。B答案(哲學(xué)家)是最不符合的。

5.C主旨題。本文從各個(gè)方面談及英語(yǔ)作為一種語(yǔ)言的發(fā)展變化，但并不是講述英語(yǔ)的歷史。所以選項(xiàng)A不對(duì)，選項(xiàng)C作為文章的題目最為貼切。選項(xiàng)B只是文章闡述的一個(gè)方面，不夠全面。文章是在談到英語(yǔ)的不斷變化的時(shí)候談到了現(xiàn)代英語(yǔ)的一些特點(diǎn)，所以選項(xiàng)D也失之于片面。

Passage2建議用時(shí)：6.5分鐘From:To:

Cultureisoneofthemostchallengingelementsoftheinternationalmarketplace.『Thissystemoflearnedbehaviorpatternscharacteristicofthemembersofagivensocietyisconstantlyshapedbyasetofdynamicvariables:language,religion,valuesandattitudes,mannersandcustoms,aesthetics,technology,education,andsocialinstitutions.』①Tocopewiththissystem,aninternationalmanagerneedsbothfactualandinterpretiveknowledgeofculture.Tosomeextent,thefactualknowledgecanbelearned;itsinterpretationcomesonlythroughexperience.

Themostcomplicatedproblemsindealingwiththeculturalenvironmentstemfromthefactthatonecannotlearnculture—onehastoliveit.Twoschoolsofthoughtexistinthebusinessworldonhowtodealwithculturaldiversity.Oneisthatbusinessisbusinesstheworldaround,followingthemodelofPepsiandMcDonald’s.Insomecases,globalizationisafactoflife;however,culturaldifferencesarestillfarfromconverging.

Theotherschoolproposesthatcompaniesmusttailorbusinessapproachestoindividualcultures.Settinguppoliciesandproceduresineachcountryhasbeencomparedtoanorgantransplant;thecriticalquestioncentersaroundacceptanceorrejection.Themajorchallengetotheinternationalmanageristomakesurethatrejectionisnotaresultofculturalmyopiaorevenblindness.

Fortuneexaminedtheinternationalperformanceofadozenlargecompaniesthatearn20percentormoreoftheirrevenueoverseas.Theinternationallysuccessfulcompaniesallshareanimportantquality:patience.Theyhavenotrushedintosituationsbutratherbuilttheiroperationscarefullybyfollowingthemostbasicbusinessprinciples.Theseprinciplesaretoknowyouradversary,knowyouraudience,andknowyourcustomer.

1.Accordingtothepassage,whichofthefollowingistrue?

A.Allinternationalmanagerscanlearnculture.

B.Businessdiversityisnotnecessary.

C.Viewsdifferonhowtotreatcultureinbusinessworld.

D.Mostpeopledonotknowforeignculturewell.

2.Accordingtotheauthor,themodelofPepsi.

A.isinlinewiththetheoriesoftheschooladvocatingthebusinessisbusinesstheworldaround

B.isdifferentfromthemodelofMcDonald’s

C.showsthereverseofglobalization

D.hasconvergedculturaldifferences

3.Thetwoschoolsofthought.

A.bothproposethatcompaniesshouldtailorbusinessapproachestoindividualcultures

B.bothadvocatethatdifferentpoliciesbesetupindifferentcountries

C.admittheexistenceofculturaldiversityinbusinessworld

D.BothＡandＢ

4.Thisarticleissupposedtobemostusefulforthose.

A.whoareinterestedinresearchingthetopicofculturaldiversity

B.whohaveconnectionstomorethanonetypeofculture

C.whowanttotravelabroad

D.whowanttorunbusinessonInternationalScale

5.AccordingtoFortune,successfulinternationalcompanies.

A.earn20percentormoreoftheirrevenueoverseas

B.allhavethequalityofpatience

C.willfollowtheoverseaslocalcultures

D.adoptthepolicyofinternationalization

Vocabulary

1.dynamicadj.動(dòng)態(tài)的

2.variablen.變量

3.aestheticsn.美學(xué)

4.factualadj.事實(shí)的

5.interpretativeadj.解釋的

6.convergev.聚合

7.transplantv.移植

8.myopian.近視

9.adversaryn.對(duì)手

長(zhǎng)難句解析

①【解析】此句雖然很長(zhǎng)，但考生只要認(rèn)清它的主干，就很容易了解本句的意思。這個(gè)句子為一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單句，主語(yǔ)為：“thissystem”，謂語(yǔ)為“isshaped”。

【譯文】特定社會(huì)成員特點(diǎn)構(gòu)成的行為方式體系不斷地被一系列動(dòng)態(tài)變量所左右：如語(yǔ)言、信仰、價(jià)值與態(tài)度、禮儀與風(fēng)俗、審美、技術(shù)、教育及社會(huì)體制。

答案與詳解

【短文大意】本文主要講述文化背景對(duì)商業(yè)運(yùn)作的影響，文中列舉了商界中存在的對(duì)于文化多樣性的兩種觀點(diǎn)。

1.C推斷題。意為“對(duì)在商業(yè)中怎樣對(duì)待文化有著不同意見”。文化在商業(yè)中是一個(gè)很具挑戰(zhàn)性的因素。不同的國(guó)家與地區(qū)可能會(huì)有不同的文化體系。在商業(yè)中，應(yīng)該怎樣對(duì)待不同的文化，商業(yè)界存在著不同的看法。

2.Ａ細(xì)節(jié)題。意為“……與同意世界商業(yè)一體化的派別的主張是一致的”。Pepsi采納的是國(guó)際化的商業(yè)風(fēng)格，這與那些主張國(guó)際化的派別的意見是相一致的。

3.C推斷題。意為“承認(rèn)商業(yè)世界中文化的多元性”。兩個(gè)派別都承認(rèn)商業(yè)世界中文化的多元性。他們的不同在于，應(yīng)該對(duì)待不同的文化，應(yīng)該搞國(guó)際化還是對(duì)不同的文化采取不同的策略。

4.D主旨題。由文中的例子可以知道，作者主要關(guān)心的并不是研究多種文化形態(tài)，而是文化背景對(duì)商業(yè)運(yùn)作的影響。所以D是正確答案。

5.Ｂ細(xì)節(jié)題。意為“都具有耐心這一素質(zhì)”。并非所有成功的國(guó)際公司的海外收入都占總收入的20%或以上。它們也不一定全都接納海外的當(dāng)?shù)匚幕?，或是采納國(guó)際化策略。

Passage3建議用時(shí)：7.5分鐘From:To:

Asregardssocialconventions,wemustsayawordaboutthewell-knownEnglishclasssystem.『ThisisanembarrassingsubjectforEnglishpeople,andonetheytendtobeashamedof,thoughduringthepresentcenturyclass-consciousnesshasgrownlessandless,andtheclasssystemlessrigid.』①Butitstillexistsbelowthesurface.Broadlyspeaking,itmeanstherearetwoclasses,the“middleclass”andthe“workingclass”.(Weshallignoreforamomenttheold“upperclass”,includingthehereditaryaristocracy,sinceitisextremelysmallinnumbers;butsomeofitsmembershavetherighttositintheHouseofLords,andsomenewspaperstakeasurprisinginterestintheirprivatelife.)Themiddleclassconsistschieflyofwell-to-dobusinessmenandprofessionalpeopleofallkinds.Theworkingclassconsistschieflyofmanualandunskilledworkers.

Themostobviousdifferencebetweenthemisintheiraccent.Middle-classpeopleuseslightlyvaryingkindsof“receivedpronunciation”whichisthekindofEnglishspokenbyBBCannouncersandtaughttooverseaspupils.Typicalworking-classpeoplespeakinmanydifferentlocalaccentswhicharegenerallyfelttoberatheruglyanduneducated.OneofthebiggestbarriersofsocialequalityinEnglandisthetwo-classeducationsystem.Tohavebeentoaso-called“publicschool”immediatelymarksyououtasoneofthemiddleclass.Themiddleclassestendtoliveamoreformallifethanworking-classpeople,andareusuallymorecultured.Theirmiddaymealis“l(fā)unch”andtheyhavearatherformaleveningmealcalled“dinner”,whereastheworkingman’sdinner,ifhisworkinghourspermit,isatmidday,andhissmaller,late-eveningmealiscalledsupper.

Aswehavesaid,however,theclasssystemismuchlessrigidthanitwas,andforalongtimeithasbeengovernmentpolicytoreduceclassdistinctions.『Working-classstudentsverycommonlyreceiveauniversityeducationandentertheprofessions,andworking-classincomeshavegrownsomuchrecentlythatthedistinctionsbetweenthetwoclassesarebecominglessandlessclear.』②However,regardlessofone’ssocialstatus,certainstandardsofpolitenessareexpectedofeverybody,andawell-bredpersonispolitetoeveryonehemeets,andtreatsalabourerwiththesamerespecthegivesanimportantbusinessman.Servilityinspiresbothembarrassmentanddislike.Eventheword“sir”,exceptinschoolandincertainoccupations(e.g.commerce,thearmyetc.)soundstooserviletobecommonlyused.

1.Themiddleclassmainlyreferstopeople.

A.whowerebornasaristocrat

B.whohavetherighttositintheHouseofLords

C.whospeakinmanydifferentlocalaccents

D.whoareprosperousbusinessmenorwhoworkinsomeprofessions

2.ThemostobviousdifferencebetweentheworkingclassandthemiddleclassinEnglishistheir.

A.dressB.work

C.accentD.meal

3.Whyisn’ttheword“sir”commonlyusedinBritain?

A.Becauseitsoundstooservileandislikelytocauseembarrassment.

B.Becauseitcanonlybeusedinsomecertainoccupations.

C.Becauseitisanimpoliteword.

D.Becauseitshowsthatthespeakerisnotawell-bredperson.

4.The“upperclass”inEnglandtoday.

A.areextremelysmallinnumbersothatmediapaysnoattentiontothem

B.stillusesoldwordslike“Sir”intheireverydaylife

C.includesthehereditaryaristocracy

D.refersonlytotheroyalfamily

5.WhichofthefollowingisnottrueabouttheEnglishclasssystem?

A.ItisanembarrassingsubjectforEnglishpeople.

B.Working-classstudentscannotreceiveauniversityeducation.

C.Theclasssystemismuchlessrigidthanitwas.

D.Theclasssystemstillexistsbelowthesurface.

Vocabulary

1.conventionn.習(xí)俗

2.embarrassv.使困窘

3.rigidadj.嚴(yán)格

4.hereditaryadj.世襲的

5.manualadj.體力的

6.accentn.口音

7.receivedpronunciationadj.(英語(yǔ)的)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)發(fā)音

8.well-bredadj.有教養(yǎng)的

9.servilityn.卑屈

10.occupationn.職業(yè)

長(zhǎng)難句解析

①【解析】這是一個(gè)復(fù)合句，主句由“and”引導(dǎo)的兩個(gè)并列句組成，“though”引導(dǎo)的讓步狀語(yǔ)從句，也是由兩個(gè)并列的句子組成。

【譯文】盡管本世紀(jì)等級(jí)意識(shí)越來(lái)越淡，等級(jí)制度也越來(lái)越不嚴(yán)格，但對(duì)于英國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)它仍是一個(gè)尷尬的話題，仍舊引以為恥。

②【解析】這是一個(gè)復(fù)合句，由“and”引導(dǎo)的兩個(gè)并列句組成，“so…that”作“grown”的狀語(yǔ)。

【譯文】勞工家庭中的孩子上大學(xué)成為非常平常的事情，此后他們也加入各種專業(yè)行當(dāng)。勞工階層的工資近來(lái)也快速增長(zhǎng)，使得兩個(gè)階層間的界線越來(lái)越模糊。

答案與詳解

【短文大意】本文主要講述英國(guó)等級(jí)意識(shí)雖然越來(lái)越淡，但在表層下，等級(jí)仍然存在。而“階層”的最大區(qū)別是他們的口音。

1.D細(xì)節(jié)題。意為“那些比較富裕的生意人或有一定的職業(yè)的人”。見第一段的倒數(shù)第二句：中產(chǎn)階級(jí)主要包括富裕的生意人和有一定的職業(yè)的人。所以正確答案應(yīng)該是D。

2.C細(xì)節(jié)題。意為“口音”。見第二段的第一句：他們之間最明顯的區(qū)別是他們的口音。所以正確答案應(yīng)該是C。

3.Ａ推斷題。意為“因?yàn)樗犉饋?lái)太過(guò)謙卑，很可能會(huì)引起尷尬”。見文章的最后兩句：謙卑會(huì)引起尷尬和不悅。甚至像“先生”這樣的詞，除了在特定的職業(yè)中（如商業(yè)、軍隊(duì)）外，也不太常用，因?yàn)樗犉饋?lái)太過(guò)謙卑。所以正確答案應(yīng)該是A。

4.C細(xì)節(jié)題。A選項(xiàng)前半是對(duì)的。上流社會(huì)人數(shù)很少，后半是錯(cuò)的，媒體還在關(guān)注他們，注意一定要看清楚再選。B選項(xiàng)相關(guān)內(nèi)容在文末。D沒有提到。B在第一段中間出現(xiàn)，是正確答案。

5.B細(xì)節(jié)題。意為“來(lái)自工人階級(jí)家庭的學(xué)生不能接受大學(xué)教育”。見第三段第二句的前半句：來(lái)自工人階級(jí)家庭的學(xué)生接受大學(xué)教育并且某種職業(yè)的情況已十分普遍。所以選項(xiàng)B的答案與文章不相符，是正確答案。

Passage4建議用時(shí)：6分鐘From:To:

TherearepeopleinItalywhocan’tstandsoccer.NotallCanadianslovehockey.AsimilarsituationexistsinAmerica,wheretherearethoseindividualsyoumaybeoneofthemwhoyawnorevenfrownwhensomebodymentionsbaseball.『Baseballtothemmeansboringhourswatchinggrownmeninfunnytightoutfitsstandingaroundinafieldstaringawaywhileverylittleofanythinghappens.』①Theytellyouit’sagamebettersuitedtothe19thcentury,slow,quiet,gentlemanly.Thesearethesamepeopleyoumaybeoneofthemwholovefootballbecausethere’sthesportthatglorifies“thehit”.

Bycontrast,baseballseemsabstract,cool,silent,still.

OnTVthegameisfracturedintoadozenperspectives,replays,closeups.Thegeometryofthegame,however,isessentialtounderstandingit.Youwillcontemplatethegamefromonepointasapainterdoeshissubject;youmay,ofcourse,projectyourselfintothegame.Itisinthisprojectionthatthegameaffordssomuchspaceandtimeforinvolvement.TheTVwon’tdoitforyou.

Take,forexample,thethirdbaseman.Yousitbehindthethirdbasedugoutandyouwatchhimwatchinghomeplate.Hislegsareapart,kneesflexed.Hisarmshangloose.Hedoesalotofthis.Theskepticstillcannotthinkofanyothersportssostill,sopassive.『Butwatchwhathappenseverytimethepitcherthrows:thethirdbasemangoesuponhistoes,flexeshisarmsorbringtheglovetoapointinfrontofhim,takesasteprightorleft,backwardorforward,perhapsheglancesacrossthefieldtocheckhisfirstbaseman’sposition.』②Supposethepitchisaball.“Nothinghappened,”yousay.“Icouldhavehadmyeyesclosed.”

Theskepticandtheinnocentmustplaythegame.Andthisinvolvementinthestandsisnomoreintellectualthanlisteningtomusicis.Watchthethirdbaseman.Smooththedirtinfrontofyouwithonefoot;smooththepocketinyourglove;watchtheeyesofthebatter,thespeedofthebat,thesoundofhorsehideonwood.Iffootballisasymphonyofmovementandtheatre,baseballischambermusic,aspaciousinterlockingofnotes,choresandresponses.

1.Thepassageismainlyconcernedwith.

A.thedifferenttastesofpeopleforsports

B.thedifferentcharacteristicsofsports

C.theattractionoffootball

D.theattractionofbaseball

2.Thosewhodon’tlikebaseballmaycomplainthat.

A.itisonlytothetasteoftheold

B.itinvolvesfewerplayersthanfootball

C.itisnotexcitingenough

D.itispretentiousandlooksfunny

3.Theauthoradmitsthat.

A.baseballistoopeacefulfortheyoung

B.baseballmayseemboringwhenwatchedonTV

C.footballismoreattractingthanbaseball

D.baseballismoreinterestingthanfootball

4.Bystating“Icouldhavehadmyeyesclosed.”theauthormeans(4thparagraphlastsentence):

A.Thethirdbasemanwouldrathersleepthanplaythegame.

B.Evenifthethirdbasemanclosedhiseyesamomentago,itcouldmakenodifferenttotheresult.

C.Thethirdbasemanissogoodatbaseballthathecouldfinishthegamewitheyesclosedallthetimeanddohisworkwell.

D.Theconsequentwastoobadhecouldnotbeartoseeit.

5.Wecansafelyconcludethattheauthor.

A.likesfootballB.hatesfootball

C.hatesbaseballD.likesbaseball

Vocabulary

1.dugoutn.棒球場(chǎng)邊供球員休息的地方

2.pitchern.投手

3.symphonyn.交響樂

4.chambern.室內(nèi)

5.contemplatevt.沉思，注視

長(zhǎng)難句解析

①【解析】此句的主干是“Baseball…means…watching…”，其中“infunnytightoutfits”用來(lái)修飾“grownmen”,“standing…”和“staring”用來(lái)做“grownmen”的定語(yǔ)。

【譯文】對(duì)于他們來(lái)說(shuō)，棒球就是在無(wú)聊的幾個(gè)小時(shí)中幾個(gè)身著緊身衣的大人佇立在場(chǎng)地周圍沒事可做地東張西望。

②【解析】這是一個(gè)復(fù)合句，“goesup…”，“flexes…”“takes…”，“glances…”做“thethirdbaseman”的并列謂語(yǔ)。

【譯文】但每當(dāng)投球手?jǐn)S出球的那一瞬間，你再看吧，三壘運(yùn)動(dòng)員腳尖點(diǎn)地，屈臂或把接球手套直指前方，左右移動(dòng)步伐，或前或后，或許他還要越過(guò)場(chǎng)地盯著一壘球手的動(dòng)作。

答案與詳解

【短文大意】本文主要講述壘球的特征及欣賞。

1.D主旨題。文章第一段簡(jiǎn)述了人們對(duì)壘球所持的偏見——認(rèn)為它毫無(wú)活力、從容和緩，不像橄欖球那樣高潮迭起、令人激動(dòng)。文章的第二、三、四、五段探討了壘球的根本特征及欣賞角度，文章的最后一句話用一個(gè)比喻概括了壘球的魅力：“如果橄欖球是一曲交響樂的話，那么，壘球中所表現(xiàn)出來(lái)的運(yùn)動(dòng)恰似一曲優(yōu)美的室內(nèi)樂?！笨梢?，本文主要探討的是壘球的特點(diǎn)及其欣賞。A不對(duì)，第一段也確實(shí)提到了不同觀眾對(duì)不同運(yùn)動(dòng)形式的偏好，但這只是用以引出對(duì)壘球的特征及欣賞的討論。

2.C細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第一段指出：許多人不喜歡壘球，一提起壘球這些人就打哈欠甚至皺眉頭。對(duì)他們來(lái)說(shuō)，看壘球意味著眼巴巴地觀望著身著運(yùn)動(dòng)裝(outfit)的人呆立在球場(chǎng)上，東瞧瞧西望望，很少有什么(激動(dòng)人心的)事發(fā)生——沒意思透了。他們認(rèn)為這樣的運(yùn)動(dòng)更適合上個(gè)世紀(jì)的人的口味，不像橄欖球那樣充滿活力。A意為：“它只適合老年人的口味?！弊⒁猓涸恼f(shuō)的是適合上個(gè)世紀(jì)的人的口味，二者意味不一樣。D意為：“它矯揉造作、滑稽可笑?！边@與說(shuō)它gentlemanly(具有紳士風(fēng)度，矜持，即：沒有沖撞或拼搶)不一樣。

3.B推斷題。第三段指出，在電視上，壘球運(yùn)動(dòng)被切換成不同角度的畫面，而且不斷地使用重放、特寫等電視制作技術(shù)，這破壞了該運(yùn)動(dòng)的整體運(yùn)動(dòng)感，使觀眾無(wú)法將自己投入(project)到運(yùn)動(dòng)中去，以體會(huì)到這種寓動(dòng)于靜的運(yùn)動(dòng)之美。電視做不到這一點(diǎn)(TheTVwon’tdoitforyou)，因此，電視上的壘球比賽看上去(seems)孤孤單單、冷冷清清、沉沉靜靜、慢慢騰騰。C、D不對(duì)，作者僅指出了不同運(yùn)動(dòng)有不同運(yùn)動(dòng)的特征，并未說(shuō)哪種運(yùn)動(dòng)優(yōu)于哪種。參閱文章最后一句。

4.B推斷題。第四段整個(gè)都在描述壘球場(chǎng)上的一個(gè)場(chǎng)景：拿三壘的運(yùn)動(dòng)員假設(shè)對(duì)方全投出好球，作好了一切準(zhǔn)備，但是對(duì)方投出的并不是好球。所以在那時(shí)候他的準(zhǔn)備做不做都不會(huì)影響比賽結(jié)果。他說(shuō)本來(lái)可以閉上眼睛，意思就是B項(xiàng)所寫的。A、C、D都不符合作者的意圖。這道題需要完整地了解第四段內(nèi)容才能作好選擇。

5.D推斷題。在本文中，作者主要探討了壘球的特征及欣賞，作者著重指出的是：只有根據(jù)壘球的特征來(lái)欣賞它，才能體會(huì)到它的魅力。在他看來(lái)，觀察到壘球比賽中運(yùn)動(dòng)員的各種動(dòng)作、壘球位之間的關(guān)系等是欣賞它的關(guān)鍵(第三段第二句)。只有從整體來(lái)把握它，才能看到每一個(gè)小的動(dòng)作、每一個(gè)眼神乃至于“靜止”的意義，也只有這樣，才能全身心地投入比賽中，欣賞到它的魅力。可見，作者對(duì)壘球有很深的理解而且非常喜愛壘球。主要參考第三、四、五段。

Passage5建議用時(shí)：7.5分鐘From:To:

AmongthemorecolorfulcharactersofLeadville’sgoldenagewereH.A.W.Taborandhissecondwife,ElizabethMcCourt,betterknownas“BabyDoe”.TheirhistoryisfastbecomingoneofthelegendsoftheOldWest.HoraceAustinWarnerTaborwasaschoolteacherinVermont.WithhisfirstwifeandtwochildrenheleftVermontbycoveredwagonin1855tohomesteadinKansas.Perhapshedidnotfindfarmingtohisliking,orperhapshewasluredbyrumorsoffortunestobemadeinColoradomines.Atanyrate,afewyearslaterhemovedwesttothesmallColoradominingcampknownasCaliforniaGulch,whichhelaterrenamedLeadvillewhenhebecameitsleadingcitizen.“Greatdepositsofleadaresuretobefoundhere.”hesaid.

Asitturnedout,itwassilver,notlead,thatwastomakeLeadville’sfortuneandwealth.Taborknewlittleaboutmininghimself,soheopenedageneralstore,whichsoldeverythingfrombootstosalt,flour,andtobacco.『Itwashiscustomto“grubstake”prospectiveminers,inotherwords,tosupplythemwithfoodandsupplies,or“grub”,whiletheylookedforore,inreturnforwhichhewouldgetashareinthemineifonewasdiscovered.』①Hedidthisforanumberofyears,butnoonethatheaidedeverfoundanythingofvalue.

Finallyonedayintheyear1878,sothestorygoes,twominerscameinandaskedfor“grub”.Taborhaddecidedtoquitsupplyingitbecausehehadlosttoomuchmoneythatway.Thesewerepersistent,however,andTaborwastoobusytoarguewiththem.“Ohhelpyourself.Onemoretimewon’tmakeanydifference,”Hesaidandwentonsellingshoesandhatstoothercustomers.thetwominerstook$17worthofsupplies,inreturnforwhichtheygaveTaboraone-thirdinterestintheirfindings.Theypickedabarrenplaceonthemountainsideandbegantodig.Afterninedaystheystruckarichveinofsilver.Taborboughtthesharesoftheothertwomen,andsotheminebelongedtohimalone.Thismine,knownasthe“PittsburghMine,”made1300000forTaborinreturnforhis$17investment.

LaterTaborboughttheMatchlessMineonanotherbarrenhillsidejustoutsidethetownfor$117000.ThisturnedouttobeevenmorefabulousthanthePittsburgh,yielding$35000worthofsilverperdayatonetime.Leadvillegrew.Taborbecameitsfirstmayor,andlaterbecamelieutenantgovernorofthestate.

1.LeadvillegotitsnameforthefollowingreasonsEXCEPT.

A.becauseTaborbecameitsleadingcitizen

B.becausegreatdepositsofleadisexpectedtobefoundthere

C.becauseitcouldbringgoodfortunetoTabor

D.becauseitwasrenamed

2.Theword“grubstake”inparagraph2means.

A.tosupplyminerswithfoodandsupplies

B.toopenageneralstore

C.todoone’scontributiontothedevelopmentofthemine

D.tosupplyminerswithfoodandsuppliesandinreturngetashareinthemine,ifonewasdiscovered

3.Tabormadehisfirstfortune.

A.bysupplyingtwoprospectiveminersandgettinginreturnaone-thirdinterestinthefindings

B.becausehewaspersuadedbythetwominerstoquitsupplying

C.bybuyingthesharesoftheother

D.asalandspeculator

4.TheunderlyingreasonforTabor’slifecareeris.

A.purelyaccidental

B.basedontheanalysisofminer’sbeingverypoorandtheirpossibilityofdiscoveringprofitableminingsite

C.throughthehelpfromhissecondwife

D.heplannedwellandaccomplishedtargetsstepbystep

5.Ifthispassageisthefirstpartofanarticle,whomightbeintroducedinthefollowingpart?

A.Tabor’slife.

B.Tabor’ssecondwife,ElizabethMcCourt.

C.Othercolorfulcharacters.

D.Tabor’sothercareers.

Vocabulary

1.barrenadj.貧瘠的

2.fabulousadj.神話般的，難以置信的

3.lurevt.誘惑，引誘

4.depositn.沉淀，儲(chǔ)蓄

5.grubstakev.下注

長(zhǎng)難句解析

①【解析】“It”是形式主語(yǔ)，真正的主語(yǔ)是“to”后面的句子，“while”引導(dǎo)時(shí)間狀語(yǔ)從句。

【譯文】他的通常做法是對(duì)來(lái)采礦的人“下注”，說(shuō)得更明確一點(diǎn)就是泰勃供給這些人食品、用品等物品，作為回報(bào)，當(dāng)他們采到礦后就會(huì)分給他一部分股份。

答案與詳解

【短文大意】本文主要講述霍塞斯·奧斯汀·沃納·泰勃發(fā)家的故事。

1.C細(xì)節(jié)題。因?yàn)長(zhǎng)eadville可以為Tabor帶來(lái)巨富。這一點(diǎn)不是Leadville得名的原因，因?yàn)樵谖恼碌诙沃?，講到這一點(diǎn)時(shí)，提及三個(gè)原因：A.因?yàn)門abor成為當(dāng)?shù)氐木用翊砣宋铮珺.因?yàn)樵贚eadville有豐富的鉛的儲(chǔ)藏量。D.因?yàn)長(zhǎng)eadville是因?yàn)門abor重要而起的名，唯獨(dú)C沒有，因?yàn)榈胶髞?lái)發(fā)現(xiàn)是銀礦才給他帶來(lái)巨富。

2.D詞匯題。第二段中g(shù)rubstake的詞義與D所述內(nèi)容是相同的，即“供給探礦者資金，衣物，食品以及其他物品”。(可參閱英華大辭典修訂第二版64頁(yè))但此處還補(bǔ)充地講，作為回報(bào)，供給者可以獲得礦中資源一定份額。(見文章第二段第4行)

3.A細(xì)節(jié)題。Tabor第一次真正發(fā)財(cái)是他為兩名礦工提供資助，為此他獲得他們礦資源三分之一的股份。見文章第三段4-9行內(nèi)容：兩名開礦者從Tabor那兒借走價(jià)值17美元的物品，作為回報(bào)，Tabor獲得他們礦資源三分之一股份。于是兩位開礦者在一座山旁的不毛之地開始挖掘，九天之后，發(fā)現(xiàn)了銀的富礦，于是Tabor又將兩人的股份全買下，這樣，銀礦屬于Tabor一個(gè)人所有，這個(gè)礦就是后來(lái)著名的“匹茲堡”礦。Tabor用17美元的投資換來(lái)了130萬(wàn)美元的收獲。

4.B推斷題。由原文可知泰勃的財(cái)產(chǎn)來(lái)源是有一定偶然性的，但是畢竟也是基于他開創(chuàng)的“grubstake”模式，因?yàn)锳、D都不對(duì)，C更是沒有根據(jù)，因?yàn)樗€沒有娶第二位夫人這一切就發(fā)生了。分析泰勃的做法，會(huì)得出B選項(xiàng)所示的結(jié)論。

5.B推斷題。如果本文是一篇文章的第一部分，那么在文章的第二部分將介紹誰(shuí)呢?key可以從文章第一句分析出來(lái)，在Leadville的黃金年代，其多彩的特點(diǎn)當(dāng)中，Tabor及其第二任妻子ElizabethMcCourt是值得大書特書的，接著，文章都在講述有關(guān)H.A.W.Tabor發(fā)家致富的歷史，如先買下匹茲堡礦，后又買下Matchless礦，最后成為市長(zhǎng)，代理州長(zhǎng)，等等，所以涉及到的全是男主人公，因此下邊再講的話，應(yīng)成為女主人公即ElizabethMcCourt的天地了，她是Tabor的第二任妻子。這是順理成章的事。Passage6建議用時(shí)：6分鐘From:To:

WhilethecitiesofChinahaveundergonemodernizationevidentintherisingtowersandbrightlightsthathaveawakenedthesleepingcountry,thecountrysideremainslargelythesame.

『Rectangularrowsofricefieldslitterthelandscapeseparatedbylonglanesofwaterdesignedtoprovidetheconstantsupplyofwaterthatisvitaltoproducingthecrop.』