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 Passage Sixteen 2007-8-24 9:02:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
New and bizarre crimes have come into being with the advent of computer technology. Organized crime to has been directly involved; the new technology offers it unlimited opportunities, such as data crimes, theft of services, property-related crimes, industrial sabotage, politically related sabotage, vandalism, crimes against the individual and financially related crimes… Theft of data, or data crime, has attracted the interest of organized criminal syndicates. This is usually the theft or copying of valuable computer grogram. An international market already exists for computerized data, and specialized fences are said to be playing a key role in this rapidly expanding criminal market. Buyers for stolen programs may range from a firm’s competitors to foreign nations. A competitor sabotages a company’s computer system to destroy or cripple the firm’s operational ability, thus neutralizing its competitive capability either in the private or the government sector. This computer sabotage may also be tied to an attempt by affluent investors to acquire the victim firm. With the growing reliance by firms on computers for their recordkeeping and daily operations, sabotage of their computers can result in internal havoc, after which the group interested in acquiring the firm can easily buy it at a substantially lower price. Criminal groups could also resort to sabotage if the company is a competitor of a business owned or controlled by organized crime. Politically motivated sabotage is on the increase; political extremist groups have sprouted on every continent. Sophisticated computer technology arms these groups with awesome powers and opens technologically advanced nations to their attack. Several attempts have already been made to destroy computer facility at an air force base. A university computer facility involved in national defence work suffered more than $2 million in damages as a result of a bombing. Computer vulnerability has been amply documented. One congressional study concluded that neither government nor private computer systems are adequately protected against sabotage. Organized criminal syndicates have shown their willingness to work with politically motivated groups. Investigators have uncovered evidence of cooperation between criminal groups and foreign governments in narcotics. Criminal groups have taken attempts in assassinating political leaders…. Computers are used in hospital life-support system, in laboratories, and in major surgery. Criminals could easily turn these computers into tools of devastation. By sabotaging the computer of a life-support system, criminals could kill an individual as easily as they had used a gun. By manipulating a computer, they could guide awesome tools of terror against large urban centers. Cities and nations could become hostages. Homicide could take a now form. The computer may become the hit man of the twentieth century. The computer opens vast areas of crime to organized criminal groups, both national and international. It calls on them to pool their resources and increase their cooperative efforts, because many of these crimes are too complex for one group to handle, especially those requiting a vast network of fences. Although criminals have adapted to computer technology, law enforcement has not. Many still think in terms of traditional criminology. 1. How many kinds of crimes are mentioned in the passage? [A]. 7. [B]. 8. [C]. 9. [D]. 10 2. What is the purpose of a competitor to sabotage a company’s computer? [A]. His purpose is to destroy or weaken the firm’s operational ability. [B]. His purpose is to weaken firm’s competitive capability and get it. [C]. His purpose is to buy the rival’s company at a relatively low price. [D]. His purpose is to steal important data. 3. Which of the following can be labeled as a politically motivated sabotage of a computer system? [A]. Sabotage of a university computer. [B]. Sabotage of a hospital computer. [C]. Sabotage of computer at a secret training base. [D]. Sabotage of a factory computer. 4. What does the author mean by “Homicide could take a new form”? [A]. There is no need to use a gun in killing a person. [B]. Criminals can kill whoever they want by a computer. [C]. The computer can replace any weapons. [D]. The function of a computer is just like a gun. Vocabulary 1. bizarre 奇怪的 2. vandalism 破坏，故意破坏文化，艺术的行为 3. cripple 使瘫痪，削弱 4. fence 贼市，脏品买卖处 5. neutralize 使成为无效 6. affluent 富裕的 7. recordkeeping 记录存贮 8. havoc 浩劫，大破坏 9. resort to 求助于，借助于 10. motivate 作为……的动机，激发 11. extremist 过激分子，极端主义分子 12. sprout 萌发迅速发展 13. awesome 令人惊惧的，引起敬畏的 14. vulnerability 易受攻击，脆弱 15. devastation 劫持，破坏 16. hospital life-support system 医院的生命维持系统 17. hit man 职业凶手（杀手） 18. pool 集中（资金）合办，入股 19. criminology 犯罪学，刑事学 难句译注 1. Organized crime to has been directly involved; the new technology offers it unlimited opportunities, such as data crimes, theft of services, property-related crimes, industrial sabotage, politically related sabotage, vandalism, crimes against the individual and financially related crimes… [结构简析] 句子很长，都是简单句，中间有分号隔开，后面是举例。 [参考译文] 有组织犯罪团伙也直接参与：计算机新技术较为犯罪提供了无限的机会，如数据信息犯罪，偷窃服务项目，跟财产有关的犯罪，工业破坏，跟政治有关的破坏，破坏文化艺术，对个人和财经方面的罪行等等。 2. An international market already exists for computerized data, and specialized fences are said to be playing a key role in this rapidly expanding criminal market. [结构简析] 并列句，and 作对比连接词用。 [参考译文] 一个计算机信息的国际市场已经存在，而专门从事脏品交易的市场据说在迅速扩展的犯罪市场中起着关键的作用。 3. A competitor sabotages a company’s computer system to destroy or cripple the firm’s operational ability, thus neutralizing its competitive capability either in the private or the government sector. [结构简析] 主谓宾补结构，后跟thus+从句表示结果。 [参考译文] 竞争对手破坏一个公司的计算机系统为的是摧毁或削弱公司的操作运行能力，从而使其丧失在私人或政府部门中的竞争力。 4. The computer opens vast areas of crime to organized criminal groups, both national and international. It calls on them to pool their resources and increase their cooperative efforts, because many of these crimes are too complex for one group to handle, especially those requiting a vast network of fences. [结构简析] 两句话。前一句为主谓宾，后一句为主从句，从句内采用too…to 句型，后跟分词独立结构进一步说明。 [参考译文] 计算机为国内和国际有组织犯罪集团开辟了犯罪的广泛领域。它要求它们集中资源，提高通力协作力量，因为许多犯罪太复杂，一个集团难以驾驭，特别是那些需要巨大的脏品交易时常网络的罪行。 写作方法与文章大意 文章介绍“计算机犯罪”，采用分类写作手法，先列出种种计算机犯罪项，下面逐一说明。文本只选四种犯罪——信息数据偷窃或信息（数据）犯罪，产业破坏，政治破坏，对个人生命破坏。分四段叙述，每段为一种罪行，最后是对比罪犯势力越来越有组织，势力请大，而司法部门却没有准备好。 答案祥解 1. B. ８种，具体罪行。见难句译注１。 2. B. 他的目的是削弱公司竞争力进而得到它。答案见难句译注２及第二段第二句起：“计算机破坏也可以和富裕的投资者欲得到对手的公司的企图相连。随着公司对计算机记录存储的信赖性加强，破坏他们的计算机可以造成内部大破坏。之后，对取得这个公司感性趣的集团很容易在级低价格上买进。” A. 削弱公司运转能力。 C. 在相当低的价格上买进对手的公司。这两个选项都只是破坏目的的一个方面。 D. 偷窃重要资料，文内没有讲。 3. C 破坏秘密训练基础。这可以标以政治目的的破坏计算机。 A. 大学 B. 医院 D. 工厂。 这三个地方都难以和政治直接相连，第三段讲的大学是“参与国防保卫工作的大学计算机措施”，和一般大学不一样。只有秘密训练的基地和真正相连的可能性最大，所以选C. 4. B. 犯罪可以通过计算机任意杀人。答案在第五段：“犯罪集团曾采取步骤暗杀政治领袖。医院的生命维护系统，实验室，大型外科手术中都用计算机。罪犯们很容易把这些计算机转变成破坏的工具。通过破坏生命维护系统计算机，罪犯们就像用枪一样很容易杀死人。通过控制计算机，他们可以指导这可怖的工具攻击大城市中心。城市和国家都可以成为人质。谋杀具有新的形式，计算机可能成为２１世纪的事业杀手。” A. 杀人不需要用枪。这话太笼统，不用枪，用什么。用毒药，用刀？ C. 计算机可以取代任何武器。 D. 计算机的功能就像枪，错误的。 |
| Passage Two (The Tourist Trade Contributes Absolut 2007-8-21 9:18:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
The tourist trade is booming. With all this coming and going, you’d expect greater understanding to develop between the nations of the world. Not a bit of it! Superb systems of communication by air, sea and land make it possible for us to visit each other’s countries at a moderate cost. What was once the ‘grand tour’, reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody’s grasp? The package tour and chartered flights are not to be sneered at. Modern travelers enjoy a level of comfort which the lords and ladies on grand tours in the old days couldn’t have dreamed of. But what’s the sense of this mass exchange of populations if the nations of the world remain basically ignorant of each other? Many tourist organizations are directly responsible for this state of affairs. They deliberately set out to protect their clients from too much contact with the local population. The modern tourist leads a cosseted, sheltered life. He lives at international hotels, where he eats his international food and sips his international drink while he gazes at the natives from a distance. Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully censored. The tourist is allowed to see only what the organizers want him to see and no more. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist to wander off on his own; and anyway, language is always a barrier, so he is only too happy to be protected in this way. At its very worst, this leads to a new and hideous kind of colonization. The summer quarters of the inhabitants of the cite universitaire: are temporarily reestablished on the island of Corfu. Blackpool is recreated at Torremolinos where the traveler goes not to eat paella, but fish and chips. The sad thing about this situation is that it leads to the persistence of national stereotypes. We don’t see the people of other nations as they really are, but as we have been brought up to believe they are. You can test this for yourself. Take five nationalities, say, French, German, English, American and Italian. Now in your mind, match them with these five adjectives: musical, amorous, cold, pedantic, native. Far from providing us with any insight into the national characteristics of the peoples just mentioned, these adjectives actually act as barriers. So when you set out on your travels, the only characteristics you notice are those which confirm your preconceptions. You come away with the highly unoriginal and inaccurate impression that, say, ‘Anglo-Saxons are hypocrites’ of that ‘Latin peoples shout a lot’. You only have to make a few foreign friends to understand how absurd and harmful national stereotypes are. But how can you make foreign friends when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you? Carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous. Wild generalizations stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic fact—how trite it sounds! – That all people are human. We are all similar to each other and at the same time all unique. 1. The best title for this passage is [A] tourism contributes nothing to increasing understanding between nations. [B] Tourism is tiresome. [C] Conducted tour is dull. [D] tourism really does something to one’s country. 2. What is the author’s attitude toward tourism? [A] apprehensive. [B] negative. [C] critical. [D] appreciative. 3. Which word in the following is the best to summarize Latin people shout a lot? [A] silent. [B] noisy. [C] lively. [D] active. 4. The purpose of the author’s criticism is to point out [A] conducted tour is disappointing. [B] the way of touring should be changed. [C] when traveling, you notice characteristics which confirm preconception. [D] national stereotypes should be changed. 5. What is ‘grand tour’ now? [A] moderate cost. [B] local sight-seeing is investigated by the tourist organization. [C] people enjoy the first-rate comforts. [D] everybody can enjoy the ‘grand tour’. Vocabulary 1. superb 卓越的，杰出的，第一流的 2. moderate 中庸的，中等的，适度的 3. grand tour 大旅行，指旧时英国富家子弟教育中，到欧洲大陆观光的旅行，为学业必经阶段。 4. package tour 由旅行社代办而费用与路线、日程固定的假日旅游。也可用package holiday。 5. chartered flight 包机航班 6. set out to do sth. = begin a job with a particular aim 开始做某事，决心/打算做…… 7. cosset 宠爱，溺爱，纵容 8. conducted tour = guided tour 有人指导/引到下的参观，有导游的旅游 9. censor 检查 10. wander off 离开原处/正道，离群，漫步，漫游 11. quarters 住处，营 12. paella 西班牙什锦饭 13. chip 炸马铃薯条（土豆条） 14. amorous 多情的，色情的 15. pedantic 学究式的，卖弄学问的 16. generalization 归纳，概括 17. stir up 惹起，煽动，挑起 18. trite 陈腐的，老一套的 难句译注 1. What was once the ‘grand tour’, reserved for only the very rich, is now within everybody’s grasp. 【结构简析】within sb.’s grasp.某人理解/了解，为某人所能抓到的。 【参考译文】一度只有最富有者专享的“大旅行”现在人人都可获得。 2. The package tour and chartered flights are not to be sneered at. 【参考译文】旅行社包办的旅游，包机航班决不会遭人耻笑。 3. They deliberately set out to protect their clients from too much contact with the local population. 【参考译文】旅行社有意使他们的谷底和当地居民少接触。 4. The modern tourist heads a cosseted sheltered life. 【参考译文】现代旅行者过的使爱护有加与世隔绝的生活。 5. Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully censored. 【参考译文】有人指导下参观一些静电收到组织者――旅行社仔细的检查核准。 6. A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist to wander off on his own; and anyway, language is always barrier, so he is only too happy to be protected in this way. 【结构简析】only too + 形容词/分词 = very非常。 【参考译文】严格致密的计划值得旅行者不可能自己一个人到处闲逛；再说，至少语言总是个障碍，所以他对这样保护非常高兴。 7. At its very worst, this leads to a new and hideous kind of colonization. 【结构简析】at one’s worst 在情况最坏的时候。 【参考译文】最糟的时候，这种保护会导致形成一种新型而又可怕的殖民现象。 8. Carried to an extreme, stereotypes can be positively dangerous. 【结构简析】carried to an extreme (to an excess )如果做得过分。 【参考译文】如果走向极端，模式化的想法会非常危险。 9. Wild generalizations stir up racial hatred and blind us to the basic fact. 【参考译文】野蛮（乱七八糟）的概括/归纳会激起种族仇恨，使我们对这基本事实视而不见。 写作方法与文章大意 文章主要采用因果写法。虽然旅游业发展，人们可享受以前只有最富有者享受的大旅游，但由于旅行社种种限制/呵护及其它，使旅游者难以和当地居民接触。陈旧的固定的想――对民族的模式化想法，只有通过接触才能接触模式。而旅行社的种种都使人相互难以理解。 答案详解 1. A 旅游对增进民族了解毫无建树。第二段开始点出，许多旅游组织直接负责旅游事宜，他们有意识不让旅游者接触当地居民，让他们过着一种关怀备至又与世隔绝的生活。住的是国际饭店，吃的是国际食品，喝的是国际饮料，在原处观看当地居民。严格有序的计划使旅游者难以自己一人闲逛，语言的障碍，又使他们乐意接受保护。第三段涉及坚持民族模式化――老一套的想法，所以一开始旅游，你见到的民族特性就只是证实了你自己设想的基本事实――所有人民都是人类。只有交朋友才能知道民族模式是多么荒谬、有害，可是旅行社竭力制止，你又怎么能交上外国朋友呢？这一切说明A项对。 B.旅游很累。C.导游观光很单调乏味。D.旅游确实对国家有贡献。 2. C 批评。 3. B 吵吵闹闹的。 4. B 旅游的方式应改变。整篇文章（除第一段外）都环绕旅游方式不理想来进行批评。第二段集中在导游观光使旅游者难以和当地人民接触。第三段，见到的只是证实了旅游者本人事先形成的思想/先入之见，旅游根本达不到了解对方的目的。第四段讲了民族固定模式（先入之见的模式）的可怕后果。要使人懂得所有的人们都是人类，彼此相似，又各具特点，就得改变旅游的方式。 A.导游观光令人失望。C.旅游时，你见到的 特性证实了你的先入之见。D.民族模式应当改变。这三条都是批评的具体内容。 5. D 人人都能享受大旅游。大旅行是专指英国富家子弟上学中的一门课程－到欧洲大陆观光。不是人人都能享受。这里用grand tour表示人人都能享受类似grand tour的一切，甚至超过，如第一段指出：现代旅游者享受的舒适设施，达到了大旅行中老爷、小姐们做梦都没有想到的水平。海陆空高级交流联络通讯系统，使人们有可能钱花得不多就能访问、观光别的国家。所以说，曾是有钱人专享的大旅行，普通人也能领略。“grand tour”有引号，表明作为比喻。 A.费用不高。文内是费用合适、中等、恰当。B.当地观光受组织审查。C.人们喜欢一流舒适设施。 |
| Passage Three (Pop Stars Earn Much) 2007-8-21 9:18:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
And why not? Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly. The great days of Hollywood have become legendary: famous stars enjoyed fame, wealth and adulation on an unprecedented scale. By today’s standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular. A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than the films of the past ever did. The competition for the title ‘Top of the Pops’ is fierce, but the rewards are truly colossal. It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way. Don’t the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services they perform to their companies and their countries? Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency – often more than large industrial concerns – and the taxman can only be grateful fro their massive annual contributions to the exchequer. So who would begrudge them their rewards? It’s all very well for people in humdrum jobs to moan about the successes and rewards of others. People who make envious remarks should remember that the most famous stars represent only the tip of the iceberg. For every famous star, there are hundreds of others struggling to earn a living. A man working in a steady job and looking forward to a pension at the end of it has no right to expect very high rewards. He has chosen security and peace of mind, so there will always be a limit to what he can earn. But a man who attempts to become a star is taking enormous risks. He knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors ever get to the very top. He knows that years of concentrated effort may be rewarded with complete failure. But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed: they are the recompense for the huge risks involved and if he achieves them, he has certainly earned them. That’s the essence of private enterprise. 1. The sentence Pop stars’ style of living was once the prerogative only of Royalty means [A] their life was as luxurious as that of royalty. [B] They enjoy what once only belonged to the royalty. [C] They are rather rich. [D] Their way of living was the same as that of the royalty. 2. What is the author’s attitude toward top stars’ high income? [A] Approval. [B] Disapproval. [C] Ironical. [D] Critical. 3. It can be inferred from the passage [A] there exists fierce competition in climbing to the top. [B] People are blind in idolizing stars. [C] Successful Pop stars give great entertainment. [D] The tax they have paid are great. 4. What can we learn from the passage? [A] Successful man should get high-income repayment. [B] Pop stars made great contribution to a country. [C] Pop stars can enjoy the life of royalty. [D] Successful men represent the tip of the iceberg. 5. Which paragraph covers the main idea? [A] The first. [B] The second. [C] The third. [D] The fourth. Vocabulary 1. prerogative 权力，（尤指）特权 2. chauffeur 受雇开车人，（尤指富人、要人的）司机 3. entourage 随行人员，伴随者，近侍；建筑物周围 4. astronomical 庞大的，天文的 5. adulation 奉承 6. gramophone 灌音 7. colossal 巨大的 8. exchequer 国库，财源 Exchequer Bond 国库债券 9. begrudge 感到不快/不满，忌妒 10. humdrum 平淡的，单调的 11. moan 呻吟声 moan about 发牢骚 难句译注 1. the prerogative of Royalty或the royal prerogative 皇家的特权（再英国指国王名义上享有不经议会认可而采取行动的权力）。 2. People turn out in their thousands to greet them. 【结构简析】turn out露面、集合、出席。EX: A vast crowd turned out to watch the match.大批观众到场观看比赛。 【参考译文】成千上万的人们出来欢迎他们。 3. The great days of Hollywood have become legendry. 【参考译文】好莱坞鼎盛时期成了神话。 4. By today’s standards, the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular. 【参考译文】按今天的标准来看，好莱坞的奢华（过分的行为）似乎并不那么引人注目。 5. A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties than the films of the past ever did. 【参考译文】今天单张录音唱片挣的版税要比过去一步电影还要多得多。 写作方法与文章大意 作者以对比、因果写作手法，写出歌星享受者贵族般生活方式，出门受千万人群欢迎，出入高级车、机，身后保镖、经纪人、新闻记者，来去都有报道，这一切是社会对高级演员的慷慨赠予。公司的高级人员享受高薪，歌星也应享受。再则顶尖歌星冒有很大风险。 答案详解 1. B 他们享受一度只属于贵族享用的一切。第一段集中谈了这些：他们走到哪里，成千上万人们出来欢迎，却中发疯地要看一眼穿着花哨的偶像的笑容。这些歌星坐着司机开动的Rolls-Royces汽车、私人直升飞机，高级长官飞机到处走，永远围着一批经纪人、报界记者和保镖随从人员。他们的照片定期登在报刊上，因为歌星象贵族一样是新闻人物。 A.他们的生活和贵族一样奢侈。C.他们很富。D.他们的生活方式和贵族生活方式一个样。 2. A 赞成。在第一段最后一句：“他们为他们的牺牲所获取的报酬难以计算，支付率惊人。”第二段一开始就点明“为什么不惊人？社会对高级表演者总是慷慨解囊。好莱坞的鼎盛时期名扬天下，著名歌星先手空前绝后的名、利、奉承。”第三段更明确指出：应该这样支付星族，这完全正确。企业中的顶尖人物因为他们为公司和国家所作的一切不也挣得高额工资？税务员应感谢他们每年为国库做出了巨大的贡献。所以谁会忌妒他们的报酬呢？最后一段进一步说明：欲成为星族的人冒着很大的风险，谁都知道只有一小撮人能成为顶尖人物，也可能多年的努力以彻底失败而告终，而成功的报酬确实很高，这是对他们冒险的补偿。这些内容都说明作者赞成巨额报酬。 A.不同意。C.讽刺的。D.批评的。 3. A 在攀登顶峰中存在着激烈的竞争。这在第三段最后一句明确指出：获取顶尖的流行歌星的称号竞争激烈，但其报酬确实惊人。最后一段的风险说。还有最后一段第二句：说忌妒话的人应记住：最有名的星族代表的只是冰山之巅――人极少。每个成名的歌星身后就有成千上百个其他歌者为生存而奋斗。这都说明“竞争激烈”。 B.人们盲目崇拜偶像歌星。C.成功的流行歌星演出给人极大的享受。D.他们支付的税收巨大。 4. D 成功者只是冰山的顶尖――少极了。 A.成功的人应当获得高收入。B.流行歌星对国家做出巨大贡献。C.流行歌星能享受贵族生活。 5. D 第四段。主旨句是倒数第一、二句，成功的报酬确实很高，这是对其高度风险的还报补偿，如果他成功了，他肯定挣得多。那就是私人事业的根本/本质。 A.第一段。这段之对比了贵族和歌星的生活方式。B.第二段。这段讲了挣得多，但竞争激烈。C.第三段。歌星和企业顶尖人物对比。 |
| Passage Four (Examinations Exert a Pernicious Infl 2007-8-21 9:19:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the mark of success of failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t count: the exam goes on. No one can give of his best when he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of vicious competition where success and failure are clearly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of ‘drop-outs’: young people who are written off as utter failures before they have even embarked on a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students? A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus, so the student is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the standards of teaching, for they deprive the teacher of all freedoms. Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques which they despise. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under duress. The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous examiner. Examiners are only human. They get tired and hungry; they make mistakes. Yet they have to mark stacks of hastily scrawled scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates. And their word carries weight. After a judge’s decision you have the right of appeal, but not after an examiner’s. There must surely be many simpler and more effective ways of assessing a person’s true abilities. Is it cynical to suggest that examinations are merely a profitable business for the institutions that run them? This is what it boils down to in the last analysis. The best comment on the system is this illiterate message recently scrawled on a wall: ‘I were a teenage drop-out and now I are a teenage millionaire.’ 1. The main idea of this passage is [A] examinations exert a pernicious influence on education. [B] examinations are ineffective. [C] examinations are profitable for institutions. [D] examinations are a burden on students. 2. The author’s attitude toward examinations is [A]detest. [B] approval. [C] critical. [D] indifferent. 3. The fate of students is decided by [A] education. [B] institutions. [C] examinations. [D] students themselves. 4. According to the author, the most important of a good education is [A] to encourage students to read widely. [B] to train students to think on their own. [C] to teach students how to tackle exams. [D] to master his fate. 5. Why does the author mention court? [A] Give an example. [B] For comparison. [C] It shows that teachers’ evolutions depend on the results of examinations. [D] It shows the results of court is more effectise. Vocabulary 1. pernicious 有害的，恶性的，破坏性的 2. knack 窍门，诀窍 3. embark 乘船，登记 4. write off 勾销，注销。确认某食物已损失或无效 5. syllabus 教学大纲 6. cram 塞入，把某物塞进，突击式学习（尤指应考），以注入方式教人 7. duress 威胁，逼迫 8. stack 堆，垛 9. scrawl 写/画（的内容不工整，不仔细）潦草的笔迹，七扭八歪的字 10. script 讲稿，剧本，脚本，笔试答卷 11. cynical 愤世嫉俗的，自私得为人不齿的 12. boil down 熬浓，浓缩，归纳 难句译注 1. For all the pious claim that examinations test what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. 【参考译文】尽管所有那些虔诚的说法说考试能测定你所知道的东西，但其结果常常是适得其反，这是众所周之的常识。 2. As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. 【结构简析】second to none固定搭配，义：不亚于任何人或事物。 【参考译文】（测）考试作为忧虑的制造者，真是出类拔萃。 3. induce cramming 诱人采用突击式学习方式。Cram尽力塞入，应试突击学习。EX: cram for a chemistry test.为应付化学考试而临时抱佛脚。Cram pupils以填鸭式教学生。 4. Yet you have to mark stacks of hastily scrawled scripts in a limited amount of time. 【参考译文】他们不得不在限定的时间内，给一大堆匆忙涂写而成的笔试答卷批分。 5. And their word carries weight. 【参考译文】可他们的话/文字（这里指分数）有份量（有影响）。 6. This is what it boils down to in the last analysis. 【参考译文】这就是最终分析所归纳的一切。 写作方法与文章大意 这是一篇类似分类写作的文章。罗列了考试种种恶果。作者首先指出考试难以测定人的真正能力和水平，反而是适得其反。二是考试是忧虑的制造者，因为它决定了人的成败命运。三是考试促使学校进行应试技巧教育，否定了教会人独立思考、扩大视野。四是教师或者说测试人又累又饿，犯错误，还得在限定时间披阅成堆的试卷，他们的压力和考试者一样很大，而他们的话――分数有份量，审判官的裁决，你有权上诉，而他们的裁决――一笔定终身。 最后引用“辍学者成为百万富翁”来点明测试这种形式对教育的坏影响。 答案详解 1. A 考试对教育具有有害的影响。文章第一段就点明：考试是测试记忆的好方法，是测试在巨大压力下快速工作的技巧的好方法，却测不出一个人的真正能力和水平。第三段集中指出：考试不是促进学生广泛阅读，反而限制其阅读；考试不能使学生追求更多的知识，而是诱导学生进行应付考试的突击式学习。他们降低了教学水平，因为他们剥夺了老师的一切自由。常常以考试结果而不是所教课程来评定老师，是他们不得不以他们所轻视的考试技巧来培训学生。第二段和第四段也涉及其后果。 B.考试无效。这是考试后果的一个方面。C.考试对教育机构有利。这也是一个方面。D.考试对学生是一种负担。 2. C 批评的。第一段中作者明确指出，考试方法依旧，不能测出人的能力和水平。第二段点名，这种无用的考试决定人生的成败。第三段说考试最成功的考试者经常不是最佳的受教育者，他们是在胁迫下最佳获得考试技巧者，而好的教育应能培养人的独立思考。第四段涉及阅卷者又累又饿，常犯错误，不得不在限定时间披阅一大堆匆忙中七扭八歪写出的卷子。最后一句“我过去是一个是来岁的辍学者，现在我是一个年轻的百万富翁”画龙点睛地指出，考试指挥下的教育的失败。这一切都说明作者对考试的批评态度。 A.嫌恶，厌恶。此答案从意义上说是对的。但语法不通，因为这是个东西，而is后要求是名词或形容词。B.赞成。D.漠不关心的。 3. C 考试。答案在第二段，考试是最终忧虑制造者，那是因为许多事情取决于考试：它们是我们社会中成功或失败的标志。你的未来可能全取决于这决定性的一天。 A.教育。B.教育机构。D.学生自己。 4. B 培养学生进行独立思考。第三段第一句话点明：好的教育应该是培养学生自己独立思考。 A.鼓励学生广泛阅读。教学生如何应考。C.教学生如何应考。D.掌握自己命运。 5. B 作对比，答案在最后一段倒数第二句“审判官裁决后，你有权力上诉，而披阅考卷人给分后，学生可没有上诉权”后面又谈及“一想到考试只对进行考试的机构有礼，未免太自私了。这酒是最终分析归纳的东西。”所以作者呼吁，可定还有许多更简便，更有效的评估人真正能力的方法。 A.给出一个例子。C.表示老师是由考试结果评定好坏。这是第三段讲的不分内容，教师他们自己常由考试结果而不是所教课程优劣来评定。所以他们不得不对学生进行应试技巧教育，降低教学水平。D.表明审判官裁决更有效。 |
| Passage Five 2007-8-21 9:19:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
How could faith beget such evil? After hundreds of members of a Ugandan cult, the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God, died in what first appeared to be a suicidal fire in the village of Kanungu two weeks age, police found 153 bodies buried in a compound used by the cult in Buhunga, 25 miles away. When investigators searched the house of a cult leader in yet another village, they discovered 155 bodies, many buried under the concrete floor of the house. Then scores more were dug up at a cult member’s home. Some had been poisoned; others, often-young children, strangled. By week’s end, Ugandan police had counted 924 victims – including at least 530 who burned to death inside the sealed church – exceeding the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide and killings by followers of American cult leader Jim Jones that claimed 913 lives. Authorities believe two of the cult’s leaders, Joseph Kibwetere, a 68-year-old former Roman Catholic catechism teacher who started the cult in 1987, and his “prophetess, ” Credonia Mwerinde, by some accounts a former prostitute who claimed to speak for the Virgin Mary, may still be alive and on the run. The pair had predicted the world would end on Dec. 31, 1999. When that didn’t happen, followers who demanded the return of their possessions, which they had to surrender on joining the cult, may have been systematically killed. The Ugandan carnage focuses attention on the proliferation of religious cults in East Africa’s impoverished rural areas and city slums. According to the institute for the study of American religion, which researches cults and sects, there are now more than 5,000 indigenous churches in Africa, some with apocalyptic or revolutionary leanings. One such group is the Jerusalem Church of Christ in Nairobi’s Kawangwara slums, led by Mary Snaida-Akatsa, or “mommy” as she is known to her thousands of followers. She prophesies about the end of the world and accuses some members of being witches. One day the brought a “special visitor” to church, an Indian Sikh man she claimed was Jesus, and told her followers to “repent or pay the consequences.” Most experts say Africa’s hardships push people to seek hope in religious cults. “These groups thrive because of poverty,” says Charles Onyango Obbo, editor of the Monitor, an independent newspaper in Uganda, and a close observer of cults. “People have no support, and they’re susceptible to anyone who is able to tap into their insecurity.” Additionally, they say, AIDS, which has ravaged East Africa, may also breed a fatalism that helps apocalyptic notions take root. Some Africans turn to cults after rejecting mainstream Christian churches as “Western” or “non-African.” Agnes Masitsa, 30, who used to attend a Catholic church before she joined the Jerusalem Church of Christ, says of Catholicism: “It’s dull.” Catholic icons. Yet, the Ugandan doomsday cult, like many of the sects, drew on features of Roman Catholicism, a strong force in the region. Catholic icons were prominent in its buildings, and some of its leaders were defrocked priests, such as Dominic Kataribabo, 32, who reportedly studied theology in the Los Angeles area in the mid-1980s. He had told neighbors he was digging a pit in his house to install a refrigerator; police have now recovered 81 bodies from under the floor and 74 from a field nearby. Police are unsure whether Kataribabo died in the church fire. Still, there is the question: How could so many killings have been carried out without drawing attention? Villagers were aware of Kibwetere’s sect, whose followers communicated mainly through sign language and apparently were apprehensive about violating any of the cult’s commandments. There were suspicions. Ugandan president Yoweri Mseveni told the BBC that intelligence reports about the dangerous nature of the group had been suppressed by some government officials. On Thursday, police arrested an assistant district commissioner, the Rev. Amooti Mutazindwa, for allegedly holding back a report suggesting the cult posed a security threat. Now, there are calls for African governments to monitor cults more closely. Says Gilbert Ogutu, a professor of religious studies at the University of Nairobi: “When cult leaders lose support, they become dangerous.” 1. Why did so may Ugandans die in faith? [A] Many of them were killed for asking for the return of their possessions. [B] They found the cult’s leaders had cheated them. [C] They lost faith in cults. [D] They are willing to die. 2. The main reason of people’s joining the cults is [A] poverty. [B] insecurity. [C] AIDS. [D] fatalism. 3. What does Mary Snaide Akatsa prophesy? [A] She prophesies the world will be flooded. [B] She prophesies the world will be in fire. [C] She prophesies about the end of the world. [D] She prophesies he followers should die in faith. 4. Why do some Africans reject Christian Churches? [A] They feel Christianity is dull. [B] They reject Christian Churches as Western or non-African. [C] They are susceptible. [D] They are dangerous persons. 5. How could so many killing have been carried out without drawing attention? [A] The cult acted secretly. [B] The government officials did not see through its dangerous nature. [C] There were no preventive measures. [D] People were frightened. Vocabulary 1. beget 产生，引起，招致 2. cult 祭礼，狂烈的崇拜（者），迷信，邪教 3. compound 院子，场地 4. strangle 扼死，闷死 5. carnage 残杀，大屠杀，成堆的尸体 6. catechism 教理问答 7. prophet 预言者，先知 8. on the run 在逃 9. proliferation 扩散，繁殖 10. indigenous 本土的，土生土张的 11. apocalypse （基督教）启事（录）《圣经新约》 12. be susceptible 易受人影响 13. ravage 蹂躏，劫掠 14. fatalism 宿命论 15. apocalyptic 预警的 16. icon （东正教）圣像 17. doomsday 世界末日 18. Jerusalem 耶路撒冷，喻：天堂 19. Kenya 肯尼亚 20. Nairobi 内罗毕，肯尼亚首都 21. mommy 嬷嬷＝mother 22. repent 忏悔 23. Sikh 锡克教（信徒） 24. defrock 免去…圣职的。这里指：免去圣职的牧师 25. sect 宗教小组 26. pose 提问 难句译注 1. …the Movement for the restoration of the Ten Commandments of God… 【结构简析】Ten commandments 十戒，是圣经中上帝再西奈山上给予摩西（犹太人的古代领袖）十大行为的神圣准则： a) have no other god. b) Do not make or warship idols. c) Do not take the word of the lord in vain. d) Keep the Sabbath holy. e) Honor one’s father and mother. f) Do not kill. g) Do not commit adultery. h) Do not steal. i) Do not give false evidence. j) Do not covet another’s property or wife. 这十戒为犹太教、基督教的教条。 【参考译文】这是乌干达回复上帝十戒运动头目以上帝的名义在2000年屠杀了924名信徒。 2. the 1978 Jonestown mass suicide and killings by followers of American cult leader Jim Jones that claimed 913 lives. 这是指美国的一个邪教组织――人民圣殿教。1978年11月19日教徒在教主Jim Jones的蒙骗或胁迫下在圭亚那集体自杀或扼杀（或强制和下Kool-Aid）或遭袭击而死。人数高达913。此后Jones一词意为残忍的人。杀人的地点就成为Jonestown。 3. they are susceptible to any one who is able to tap into their insecurity. 【参考译文】他们易受任何人的影响，这些人能利用他们不安的情绪。 4. drew on features of Roman Catholicism. 【参考译文】利用罗马天主教义等特点。 写作方法与文章大意 文章以因果写作方法，先提出各种邪教残害的人数，然后一一点出邪教兴起的原因：人民贫穷、艾滋病之猖獗，为宿命论提供了温床。加上邪教头目种种欺骗手段：如世界末日来临利用一些正教教义或以基督、圣母玛利亚的身份出现控制、麻木信徒，一旦欺骗手段暴露信徒就惨遭杀害。 答案详解 1. A 许多人由于要归还他们的财产而遭到杀害。答案见第二段倒数第二句，这一对邪教领袖曾预言世界将于1999年12月31日借宿――世界末日来临。结果并没有发生，追随者就要求归还他们在入教时献上的一切，而遭到有计划有步骤地杀害。 B. 他们发现邪教头目欺骗他们。这只是起因之一，如果发现后不吭声也许不会遭劫。C.他们对邪教失去了信任。D. 他们愿意去死。 2. A 贫穷。主要原因就是穷。答案见第四段。许多专家认为非洲之艰苦生活促使人民在邪教中寻找希望。这些邪教群体之兴起就是因为贫穷。人民没有支柱、保障，很容易受影响。任何人都可利用他们不安的情绪。其次艾滋病在东非之猖獗，培育出宿命论观点，从而帮助预示可怕事情即将来临的思想扎根于心灵。 B.不安全。C.艾滋病。D.宿命论。 3. C 她预言世界末日。 A.她预言世界将遭水淹。B.她预言世界将烧光。D.她预言她的追随者将死于信仰。 4. B 他们把基督教会视为西方的或非非洲的而拒之门外。见第五段：有些非洲人在把基督教会视作西方的或非非洲的而拒之门外后皈依邪教。 A.认为基督教非常沉闷单调。C.他们易受影响。D.他们是一伙危险人物。 5. A 邪教行动神秘。例：第一段中描述的好几百乌干达邪教组织成员死于初看好像是自杀性的火焰之中（自焚），在一个场院诱发现了153具尸体，在搜查邪教头目的房子中又发现了156具尸体，许多埋于房子的混凝土地板下面，还有好几十具从邪教成员家中挖出，其中有些人被毒死。其他，特别是孩子都是扼杀（窒息而死）。共计924人，至少有530人烧死在封闭的教堂里。倒数第三段，乌干达世界末日邪教一个头目――免去圣职的牧师，据说80年代中他研究神学，他告诉邻居他在家挖一个地窖放冰箱。现在警察发现地板下81具尸体，附近一场地74具尸体。上述两例都是神秘杀害，至于要归还财产之人更遭神秘杀害了。 B.政府官员没有看出邪教的危险性（原因之一）。C.没有防范措施。D.人民害怕。 |
| Passage Six 2007-8-22 10:03:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
These days we hear a lot of nonsense about the ‘great classless society’. The idea that the twentieth century is the age of the common man has become one of the great clichés of our time. The same old arguments are put forward in evidence. Here are some of them: monarchy as a system of government has been completely discredited. The monarchies that survive have been deprived of all political power. Inherited wealth has been savagely reduced by taxation and, in time, the great fortunes will disappear altogether. In a number of countries the victory has been complete. The people rule; the great millennium has become a political reality. But has it? Close examination doesn’t bear out the claim. It is a fallacy to suppose that all men are equal and that society will be leveled out if you provide everybody with the same educational opportunities. (It is debatable whether you can ever provide everyone with the same educational opportunities, but that is another question.) The fact is that nature dispenses brains and ability with a total disregard for the principle of equality. The old rules of the jungle, ‘survival of the fittest’, and ‘might is right’ are still with us. The spread of education has destroyed the old class system and created a new one. Rewards are based on merit. For ‘aristocracy’ read ‘meritocracy’; in other respects, society remains unaltered: the class system is rigidly maintained. Genuine ability, animal cunning, skill, the knack of seizing opportunities, all bring material rewards. And what is the first thing people do when they become rich? They use their wealth to secure the best possible opportunities for their children, to give them ‘a good start in life’. For all the lip service we pay to the idea of equality, we do not consider this wrong in the western world. Private schools which offer unfair advantages over state schools are not banned because one of the principles in a democracy is that people should be free to choose how they will educate their children. In this way, the new meritocracy can perpetuate itself to a certain extent: an able child from a wealthy home can succeed far more rapidly than his poorer counterpart. Wealth is also used indiscriminately to further political ends. It would be almost impossible to become the leader of a democracy without massive financial backing. Money is as powerful a weapon as ever it was. In societies wholly dedicated to the principle of social equality, privileged private education is forbidden. But even here people are rewarded according to their abilities. In fact, so great is the need for skilled workers that the least able may be neglected. Bright children are carefully and expensively trained to become future rulers. In the end, all political ideologies boil down to the same thing: class divisions persist whether you are ruled by a feudal king or an educated peasant. 1. What is the main idea of this passage? [A] Equality of opportunity in the twentieth century has not destroyed the class system. [B] Equality means money. [C] There is no such society as classless society. [D] Nature can’t give you a classless society. 2. According to the author, the same educational opportunities can’t get rid of inequality because [A] the principle ‘survival of the fittest’ exists. [B] Nature ignores equality in dispensing brains and ability. [C] Material rewards are for genuine ability. [D] People have the freedom how to educate their children. 3. Who can obtain more rapid success [A] those with wealth. [B] Those with the best brains. [C] Those with the best opportunities. [D] Those who have the ability to catch at opportunities. 4. Why does the author say the new meritocracy can perpetuate itself to a certain extent? Because [A] money decides everything. [B] Private schools offer advantages over state schools. [C] People are free to choose the way of educating their children. [D] Wealth is used for political ends. 5. According to the author, ‘class divisions’ refers to [A] the rich and the poor. [B] Different opportunities for people. [C] Oppressor and the oppressed. [D] Genius and stupidity. Vocabulary 1. discredit 损害，破坏，败坏（某人的名声），不可信 2. monarch 国王，女皇，君主政体 3. millennium 千年 the millennium 千僖年 4. bear out 证实 5. level out （升跌之后）呈平稳状态 6. meritocracy 英才管理，英才教育，能人统治 7. knack 技巧，诀窍 8. perpetuate 使永久，永存或持续 9. indiscriminate 不加鉴别的，不加分析的，任意的 10. boil down 归结为…… 难句译注 1. Close examination doesn’t bear out the claim. 【参考译文】深入探索证实此断言不确。（也就是说太平盛世并没有成为政治现实）。 2. might is right 谚语：强权即公理。 3. For all the lip service we pay to the idea of equality, we do not consider this wrong in the western world. 【结构简析】lip-service口惠而实不至。EX: He pays lip-service to feminism but his wife still does all the housework.他口口声声说支持女权主义，但全部家务仍是他妻子的事。 【参考译文】我们口口声声赞扬平等思想，我们在西方世界中并不认为这一思想事错误的。 4. In the end, all political ideologies boil down to the same thing: class divisions persist whether you are ruled by a feudal king or an educated person. 【参考译文】最终，一切政治意识，都归结为一件事：不论你是由封建国王统治还是英才统治，阶级区分依然存在。 写作方法与文章大意 这是一篇对“无阶级社会和人人平等”论点的驳斥文章。作者从四个方面进行论述。1、天赋的才能和智慧与平等原则无关。2、“适者生存，强权即公理”依然存在。3、人获得的报酬是取决于人的才能而不是平等。4、金钱的作用，它不仅可以培育有能力的人，还是政治的后盾。只有金钱加能力是成功的关键。所以所谓平等不存在，更没有无阶级的社会。 答案详解 1. A 二十世纪平等的机遇并没有摧毁阶级。文章一开始就对无阶级社会的论点进行了反驳：有人认为君主整体已完全摧毁，幸存下来的王公贵族已经被剥夺了一切政治权力，继承的财产为税收大幅度的削减，到时候，巨大的财富将消失殆尽，在许多国家中，已全面胜利，人民进行统治，伟大的太平盛世已成为政治显示。作者认为：深入检查证实这一断言不实。第二段提出了即使人人都获同样的受教育的机会，可人的天然智慧和能力与平等原则无关，适者生存，强权即公理依然存在。教育的普及摧毁了老的阶级体制，却创造新的，报酬是机遇才干成就。贵族统治就是英才统治，可在其他方面，社会依然，阶级确实存在。后面两段集中论述了金钱的作用。 B.金钱意味着平等是错误的。C.不存在无阶级社会。内容是对的，但不是本文的主题思想。D.自然界不会赋予你一个无阶级社会。 2. B 自然界在分赋人智慧和能力是不会顾及平等。 A.适者生存的原则存在。根据这一原则无智慧和能力者难以生存于社会。C.物质报偿是根据人的真正能力。D.人们有自由选择如何教育自己的孩子。这三项都基于一点――人的智慧和能力。有智慧能力才能生存，才能获报偿，这已经是不平等，即使获同样的受教育的机会，也不可能铲除不平等。 3. A 有钱的人。第三段一开始就点明：真正的能力、动物般机敏狡猾、技能、善抓机会的诀窍，这一切都带来物质报偿。有了钱的人首要作的事情就是给孩子最佳教育机会，而私人学校教育优于公立学校，人们又有自由选择如何教育自己的孩子。在这个意义上，英才教育在某种程度上是永存的。一个来自富有家庭的有能力的孩子要比其对立面获得成功要快得多得多。 B.具有很高智慧的人，若没有钱是难以成功的。第三段的最后一句话也点明这一点，金钱同从前一样是强有力的武器。文章最后一段即使在完全遵循社会平等原则的社会里，禁止特权的私人教育，人们也是按能力获报酬。小心翼翼而又耗费巨大地把聪明的孩子培养成未来的统治者。C.具有最佳机遇的人。D.是B和C的结合。 4. A金钱决定一切。新的英才教育在一定程度上永存。没有钱，上不起私立学校，谈不上机会，更不用说英才教育。有了钱才能为孩子创造机会。 B.私立学校提供的优越性高于公立学校。C.人们有自由选择教育孩子的方式方法。D.财富用于政治目的。第三段最后三句话：“财富也可以不加区别地用于更远的政治目的。没有强大的财政作后盾，成为民主国家的元首几乎是不可能。金钱和过去一样是强有力的武器，这也说明了金钱的力量，决定一切。” 5. A 富人和穷人。纵然作者提及，同样的教育机会也不可能铲除不平等，因为上天赋予人之智慧是不可能考虑平等原则，可是作者也提到适者生存、强权即公理。贵族政治可读成英才教育。这已说明英才指的是贵族的英才。第四段进一步指出有钱的人首先要做的就是给子女一个良好的教育机会。而私立学校的教育质量优于公立学校。有钱人家的有能力的孩子成功机遇就高。财产还可用于政治目的，要成为民主国家的领袖就得有雄厚的财力支持。钱财和过去一样强有力。即使在以社会平等为原则的社会中，私立学校被禁，酬劳还是以人的能力为准，大量需要有技能的工作人员，而差劲的人没有人关注。天才的孩子予以仔细而又及其昂贵的培养以成为未来的统治者。 总之，政治意识归结为同一个东西――阶级划分存在，不论你是为封建帝王统治，还是为受过教育的农民统治，从这里看，作者的class division指的是A项。 B.人们不同的机遇。C.压迫者和被压迫者。D.天才和笨蛋。 |
| Passage Seven 2007-8-22 10:03:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from animals: the ability to laugh. In a universe which appears to be utterly devoid of humor, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a luxury, for unlike any other bodily process, laughter does not seem to serve a biologically useful purpose. In a divide world, laughter is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human qualities: a sense of humor Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. This can best be seen from the world-wide popularity of Charlie Chaplin’s early films. The little man at odds with society never fails to amuse no matter which country we come from. As that great commentator on human affairs, Dr. Samuel Johnson, once remarked, ‘Men have been wise in very different modes; but they have always laughed in the same way.’ A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be anything from a refined tingle to an earth quaking roar, but the effect is always the same. Humor helps us to maintain a correct sense of values. It is the one quality which political fanatics appear to lack. If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lop sided view of things. This is one of the chief functions of satire and irony. Human pain and suffering are so grim; we hover so often on the brink of war; political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of somber political events redress the balance. They take the wind out of pompous and arrogant politicians who have lost their sense of proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist like Swift writes about war in Gulliver’s Travels. The Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they can’t agree which end to break an egg. We laugh because we meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. It is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish. The sense of humor must be singled out as man’s most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination, initiative – these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key. 1. The most important of all human qualities is [A] a sense of humor. [B] A sense of satire. [C] A sense of laughter. [D] A sense of history. 2. The author mentions about Charlie Chaplin’s early films because [A] they can amuse people. [B] Human beings are different from animals. [C] They show that certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. [D] They show that people have the same ability to laugh. 3. One of the chief functions of irony and satire is [A] to show absurdity of actions. [B] to redress balance. [C] to take the wind out of politicians. [D] to show too much grimness in the world. 4. What do we learn from the sentence ‘it is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish in totalitarian regimes?’ [A] It can reveal the truth of political events with satire. [B] It can arouse people to riot. [C] It shows tragedy and comedy are related. [D] It can make people laugh. 5. Who is Swift? [A] A novelist. [B] A poet. [C] A dramatist. [D] A essayist. Vocabulary 1. devoid 没有，缺乏 2. plague n.瘟疫，惹人烦恼的人和事v.给……造成麻烦，痛苦，困难 3. faction 派别 4. comic stereotype 可笑/滑稽的模式 5. commentator （集注）作者，评论员，解说员 6. tinkle n.一连串的丁零声，电话声，v.使发出丁零声 7. fanatic 狂热者（尤指宗教、政治的狂热） 8. lop-sided 不均匀的 9. hover 翱翔，盘旋；彷徨 10. somber 低沉的，暗淡的，严峻的 11. redress 纠正，补偿 12. pompous 自大的，浮夸的 13. arrogant 傲慢的 14. proportion 均衡，匀称，平衡，比例 15. Lilliputian 微型的，极小的，源自《格列佛游记》中的小人国里的人 16. totalitarian 极权主义的 17. regime 政体，政权，统治方式或制度 难句译注 1． In a divided world, laughter is a unifying force. 【参考译文】在分裂的世界中，笑是一种促成一致（团结）的力量。 2． Human relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps, 【参考译文】人际关系可能因思想意识派别和政治阵营的不同而受侵扰。 3． Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. 【参考译文】某些滑稽的模式具有全球性的效果。 4． Charlie Chaplin查理•卓别林1889-1977，英国讽刺滑稽剧及电影演员，导演及制片人。 5． At odds with society和社会格格不入。 6． Dr. Samuel Johnson撒缪尔•约翰生，1709-1784，英国辞典编撰者及作家。 7． A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be anything from a refined tinkle to an earth quaking roar. 【参考译文】幽默感表现的方式多种多样，笑也许是银铃般优雅轻笑，也许是震耳欲聋的放声大笑。 8． If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. 【参考译文】如果我们能见到可笑的一面，我们就不会犯这种错误：对自己看得过重（自以为了不起）。 9． We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lop-sided view of things. 【参考译文】我们会经常提醒自己祸兮福所伏（悲剧离喜剧实际并不遥远），那我们决不会偏执一词地看事物。 10． Take the wind out of sb’s sails使某人气馁或泄气。 11． Swift Jonathan swift乔纳森•思维福特1667-1745，英国作家，生于都柏林，曾获牛津大学硕士，三一学院神学博士学位，1688年到英国，后加入英国国教会。他同情英国统治下的爱尔兰人民，积极参加他们为争取自由和民族独立的斗争。他以政治讽刺文著世，其文笔犀利、讽刺尖锐、文章推理严密，用词简洁、语言朴实清晰，被认为是英语的典范，《格列佛游记》是他的代表作之一。 12． We laugh because we are meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. 【结构简析】mean to do是打算或注定要…，一般用于被动。 【参考译文】我们笑是因为想笑，可是我们也想哭。是指小人国和邻国仅仅为打鸡蛋一类小事而打仗可笑，确实也是可悲。作者结合现实指出是人类悲剧之所在。 写作方法与文章大意 文章以部部深入，一般到具体的写作手法论及笑是人类特有的功能。 形式多种、效果一样。天下人有各种观点、制度、人际关系，对滑稽的东西都会报之以笑――一种一致的力量。 笑基于幽默感，有了它，人们会乐观、愉快、轻松，不偏不倚地对待一切，悲剧中寓以喜剧，幽默感又是人类开启幸福之门的钥匙。 论及的同时作者佐以例子，卓别林的早期电影，《格列佛游记》中的小人国战争等。 答案详解 1. A 幽默感。文章一开始就提出人类有别于动物是人有笑的功能，世界纷争繁杂、人际关系因意识观点差异而对峙，国家制度不一，但人们都能笑。笑基于人类最复杂而又微妙的品质――幽默感。反过来说没有幽默感的人恐怕难以笑。第二段正式指出：幽默感表现形式多种多样，而笑可由微笑到狂笑种种，但其效果相同，幽默感有助于我们保持正确的价值观。这是政治狂热者所缺乏的特征。如果我们能看见滑稽可笑的一面，我们就不会犯过于看重自己的错误。我们总会记得悲剧离喜剧不愿，因此，我们不会有偏重某一测的观点。第四段画龙点睛的指出幽默是人类最重要的特征，因为它和笑声结合在一起。而笑又是和幸福联系在一起。勇气、决心、创造力特征，我们和其他生命形式共享，而幽默感是人类所独有的。如果幸福是我们生活的伟大目标，那幽默感就是开启幸福的钥匙。 B.讽刺感。这是第三段讲的内容，讽刺的功能，但不是人类最重要的特征。C.笑感。D.历史观点。 2. C 作者提卓别林的电影的目的是证明某些喜剧模式对全世界都有吸引力。 A.它可以取悦任何人。B.人类和动物不同。D.证明人有同样笑的功能。 3. B使各种事情重新相等和均衡。第三段着重讲了这一点。人类在痛苦中挣扎，常处于战争的边缘。政治实现令人绝望，在这种处境中，对某些政治事物的讽刺挖苦和漫画可以使各种心理重新平衡，可使失去均衡感的政客地下高傲头颅；可使我看见许多深邃的事情荒谬可笑。 A.表现行为的荒唐。C.使政治家气馁。D.表现世界上太多的令人沮丧之事。 4. A它可以以讽刺的手法解释政治时间的真相。 B.这可促使人民暴动。C.它表示了悲剧和喜剧相联系。D.它能使人哭。 5. A小说家。 B.诗人。C.戏剧家。D.散文家。 |
| Passage Eight 2007-8-22 10:04:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
It has a balanced budget. Although more than one drachma out of four goes for defense, the government ended a recent year with a slight surplus -- $66 million. Greece has a decent reserve of almost a third of a billion dollars in gold and foreign exchange. It has a government not dependent on coalescing incompatible parties to obtain parliamentary majorities. In thus summarizing a few happy highlights, I don’t mean to minimize the vast extent of Greece’s problems. It is the poorest country by a wide margin in Free Europe, and poverty is widespread. At best an annual income of $60 to $70 is the lot of many a peasant, and substantial unemployment plagues the countryside, cities, and towns of Greece. There are few natural resources on which to build any substantial industrial base. Some years ago I wrote here: “Greek statesmanship will have to create an atmosphere in which home and foreign savings will willingly seek investment opportunities in the back ward economy of Greece. So far, most American and other foreign attempt have bogged down in the Greek government’s red tape and shrewdness about small points.” Great strides have been made. As far back as 1956, expanding tourism seemed a logical way to bring needed foreign currencies and additional jobs to Greece. At that time I talked with the Hilton Hotel people, who had been examining hotel possibilities, and to the Greek government division responsible for this area of the economy. They were hopelessly deadlocked in almost total differences of opinion and outlook. Today most of the incredibly varied, beautiful, historical sights of Greece have new, if in many cases modest, tourist facilities. Tourism itself has jumped from approximately $31 million to over $90 million. There is both a magnificent new Hilton Hotel in Athens and a completely modernized, greatly expanded Grande Bretagne, as well as other first-rate new hotels. And the advent of jets has made Athens as accessible as Paris or Rome – without the sky-high prices of traffic-choked streets of either. 1. The title below that best expresses the ideas of this passage is [A] Greek income and expenditures. [B] The improving economic situation in Greece. [C] The value of tourism. [D] Military expenditures. 2. Many peasants earn less than [A] $60 a week. [B] $2 a week. [C] $1 a day. [D] $10 a month. 3. The Greek Government spends [A] more than 25%of its budget on military terms. [B] More than its collects. [C] A third of a billion dollars in gold. [D] Less than 25% of its budget on military terms. 4. According to the passage, Greece has [A] a dictatorship. [B] a monarchy. [C] a single majority party. [D] too much red tape. 5. Greece imports annually goods and materials [A] totaling almost $700 million. [B] that balance exports. [C] that are paid by tourists. [D] costing $66 million. Vocabulary 1. remittance 汇款（额） 2. wash out 洗掉，取消、告吹、冲掉、筋疲力尽 3. drachma 古希腊银币 德拉克马（现代希腊货币单位） 4. lot 份额 5. incompatible 水火不相容的，不能共存的 6. coalesce （政党）联合，愈合，接合 7. highlight 光线最强处，最重要部分，最精彩场面 8. margin （成本和售价的）差额，空白，边缘 9. bog down 陷于困境，使停顿 10. red tape 官样文章，烦琐和拖拉的公务程序 11. shrewdness 清明，机灵 12. deadlock 僵局，僵持；使陷于僵局 难句译注 1. Greece, economically is in the black. 【参考译文】希腊经济上说是赢利/富裕的 2. With very little export other than such farm products as tobacco, cotton and fruit, the country earns enough from invisible earnings to pay its needed, growing imports. 【参考译文】除了农产品，如烟草、棉花和水果之外，希腊没有什么出口货，但它从“无形的收益”中挣不少，足够致富所需的一切――日益增长的进口货。 3. This washes out almost $400 million by which imports exceed exports. 【参考译文】这笔钱冲掉了进口超过出口近4亿美元的差额。 4. So far most American and other foreign attempts have bogged down in the Greek government’s red tape and shrewdness about small points. 【参考译文】到目前为止由于希腊政府那种繁琐而又拖拉的公务程序和对小事的精明，大多数美国和其他国家的尝试的工作都陷入困境。 5. They were hopelessly deadlocked in almost total differences of opinion and outlook. 【参考译文】他们绝望地陷于意见和观点完全分歧的僵局之中。 6. And the advent of jets has made Athens as accessible as Paris and Rome – without the sky-high prices of traffic chocked streets of either. 【参考译文】喷气式飞机的发展使雅典和巴黎、罗马一样很容易到达，却没有那两个城市的交通堵塞的接到的高昂代价。 写作方法与文章大意 这是一篇以过去和现在对比的手法，论述了希腊经济，主要是旅游业的发展。过去，希腊以无形资产赢得之利润，来消除赤字，还可稍有节余。但贫穷、事业情况严重，政府办事拖拉、繁琐也影响国外的投资，虽然早在1956年就准备扩展旅游业，但意见分歧。现在，情况大变，就旅游一项年收入由3100万增至9000万美元。 答案详解 1. B 希腊经济形式的改善。文章围绕这一中心而写。文章一开始就提出希腊出口除了农产品之外，没有什么东西，而无形资产如旅游、运输和国外的汇款等可挣得37500万美元。两项加在一起来抵消入超赤字近4亿美元，稍有结余。第三段指出，希腊是自由欧洲最穷的国家，许多农民年收入为60－70美元。失业现象席卷城市乡镇，建立工业基地的自然资源极少。政府的繁琐事务程序，关注琐事等情况使美国和其他国家试图展开工作陷于停滞状态。第四段开始指出1956年起开拓旅游业，不过意见还是分歧。第五断提出今天惊人的变化，美丽的历史古城呈现新貌，就旅游一项收入由3100万增至9000万美元。旅馆面貌大变。 A.希腊的收支。C.旅游的价值。D.军事费用。 2. B少于2美元一星期。文章第三段第三句：最佳情况，年收入为60－70美元使大多数农民的份额。所以B项最接近年收入。 A.60美元一星期。C.一天一美元。D.一个月10美元。 3. A 百分之25以上用于军事。第二段：虽然四个德拉克马中有一个用于国防，政府最终还稍有结余――6600万美元。 B.比收入的还多。C.十亿金子中的三分之一。D.少于百分之25。 4. C单一大党。第二段：希腊的政府不依靠水火不相容的政党之间的合作来取得一会的多数席位，这说明是单一大党。 A.独裁、专政。B.君主政体。D.太多的繁琐程序。 5. A总计几乎在7亿美元左右。第一段中提到希腊出口商品价值28500万美元，而进口超出出口4亿美元。两者相加为6亿2千5百万美元，相当于几乎在7亿美元左右。 B.和出口平衡。C.由旅游者支付。D.花费6600万美元。 |
| Passage Nine 2007-8-22 10:04:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
Federal efforts to aid minority businesses began in the 1960’s when the Small Business Administration (SBA) began making federally guaranteed loans and government-sponsored management and technical assistance available to minority business enterprises. While this program enabled many minority entrepreneurs to form new businesses, the results were disappointing, since managerial inexperience, unfavorable locations, and capital shortages led to high failure rates. Even 15 years after the program was implemented, minority business receipts were not quite two percent of the national economy’s total receipts. Recently federal policymakers have adopted an approach intended to accelerate development of the minority business sector by moving away from directly aiding small minority enterprises and toward supporting large, growth-oriented minority firms through intermediary companies. In this approach, large corporations participate in the development of successful and stable minority businesses by making use of government-sponsored venture capital. The capital is used by a participating company to establish a Minority Enterprise Small Businesses that have potential to become future suppliers of customers of the sponsoring company. MESBIC’s are the result of the belief that providing established firms with easier access to relevant management techniques and more job-specific experience, as well as substantial amounts of capital, gives those firms a greater opportunity to develop sound business foundations than does simply making general management experience and small amounts of capital available. Further, since potential markets for the minority businesses already exist through the sponsoring companies, the minority businesses face considerably less risk in terms of location and market fluctuation. Following early financial and operating problems, sponsoring corporations began to capitalize MESBIC’s far above the legal minimum of $500,000 in order to generate sufficient income and to sustain the quality of management needed. MESBIC’s are now emerging as increasingly important financing sources for minority enterprises. Ironically, MESBIC staffs, which usually consist of Hispanic and Black professionals, tend to approach investments in minority firms more pragmatically than do many MESBIC directors, who are usually senior managers from sponsoring corporations. The latter often still think mainly in terms of the ‘social responsibility approach’ and thus seem to prefer deals that are riskier and less attractive than normal investment criteria would warrant. Such differences in viewpoint have produced uneasiness among many minority staff members, who feel that minority entrepreneurs and businesses should be judged by established business considerations. These staff members believe their point of view is closer to the original philosophy of MESBIC’s and they are concerned that, unless a more prudent course if followed, MESBIC directors may revert to policies likely to re-create the disappointing results of the original SBA approach. 1. Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage? [A] The use of MESBIC’s for aiding minority entrepreneurs seems to have greater potential for success than does the original SBA approach. [B] There is a crucial difference in point of view between the staff and directors of some MESBIC’s. [C] After initial problems with management and marketing, minority businesses have begun to expand at a steady rate. [D] Minority entrepreneurs wishing to form new businesses now have several equally successful federal programs on which to rely. 2. According to the passage, the MESBIC approach differ s from the SBA approach in that MESBIC’s [A] seek federal contracts to provide market for minority businesses. [B] Encourage minority businesses to provide markets for other minority businesses. [C] Attempt to maintain a specified rate of growth in the minority business sector. [D] Rely on the participation of large corporations to finance minority businesses. 3. Which of the following statements about the SBA program can be inferred from the passage? [A] The maximum term for loans made to recipient businesses was 15 years. [B] Business loans were considered to be more useful to recipient businesses than was management and technical assistance. [C] The anticipated failure rate for recipient businesses was significantly lower than the rate that actually resulted. [D] Recipient businesses were encouraged to relocate to areas more favorable for business development. 4. The author refers to the ‘financial and operating problems’ encountered by MESBIC’s primarily in order to [A] broaden the scope of the discussion to include the legal considerations of funding MESBIC’s through sponsoring companies. [B] call attention to the fact that MESBIC’s must receive adequate funding in order to function effectively. [C] show that sponsoring companies were willing to invest only $500,000 of government-sponsored venture capital in the original MESBIC’s. [D] Compare SBA and MESBIC limits on minimum funding. 5. It can be inferred from the passage that the attitude of some MESBIC staff member toward the investments preferred by some MESBIC directors can be best described as [A] disappointing. [B] Indifferent. [C] Shocked. [D] Defensive. Vocabulary 1. implement 执行，履行 2. growth-oriented 增长潜力的，有发展性的 3. intermediary company 中介公司，中间公司 4. venture capital 风险资本 5. entrepreneur 企业家，创业者 6. fluctuation 波动，涨落，起伏 7. pragmatically 实用地 难句译注 1. Even 15 years after the program was implemented minority business receipts were not quite two percent of the national economy’s total receipts. 【参考译文】甚至在这个计划执行后15年，少数民族工业的收入还不到全国总收入的2％。 2. Recently federal policy makers have adopted an approach intended to accelerate development of the supporting large, growth oriented minority firms through intermediary companies. 【参考译文】最近，联邦决策者采取一项措施，旨在加速少数民族工商业的发展，他们不再直接帮助小型的少数民族企业，而是转向通过中间公司来支持规模较大、有发展潜力的少数民族公司。 3. By making use of government-sponsored venture capital. 利用政府资助的风险资本。 4. The MESBIC then provides capital and guidance to minority businesses that have potential to become future suppliers or customers of the sponsoring company. 【参考译文】然后再由MESBIC向那些少数民族企业提供资金、进行指导。这些企业是有成为赞助公司的未来供应商或客户的潜力的。 5. MESBIC – minority enterprise small business investment company 少数民族小型企业投资公司。 6. MESBIC’s are the result of the belief that providing established firms with easier access to relevant management techniques and more job-specific experience, as well as substantial amounts of capital, gives those firms a greater opportunity to develop sound business foundations than does simply making general management experience and small amounts of capital available. 【参考译文】MESBIC的建立基于这种信念：为已建公司提供方便，使它更容易获得相关的管理技术更具体的工作经验以及大笔资金要比简单地给予一般管理经验和小笔资金更能使它们获得机会去建立稳固的商业基础。 7. The latter often still think mainly in terms of the ‘social responsibility approach’ and thus seem to prefer deals that are riskier and less attractive than normal investment criteria would warrant. 【参考译文】后者――高级经理们――在有大多数情况下，仍然常常从“社会责任的角度”来考虑问题，因此，他们似乎更倾向于选择那些比正常投资标准更具风险性，而不太引人注目的项目。 写作方法与文章大意 文章主要采用因果以及对比的写作方法。先点出SBA计划――联邦政府对少数民族去也的赞助（）的失败及其原因。 为此，联邦决策者改变方法，通过中介公司，建立MESBIC。由它来帮助少数民族企业――使其获得相应的管理技术、具体工作经验和大量资金，甚至潜在的市场――取得了成功。 可内部存在问题，MESBIC的职工和领导者之间的意见分歧，职工的投资观点更切实际，而领导者仍从“社会责任的角度”来考虑问题，若不改变，有可能重蹈SBA之覆辙。 答案详解 1. A 运用MESBIC来帮助少数民族企业似乎比原来SBA的方法更具成功的可能性。文章一开始就点名SBA（小型企业管理局）向少数民族企业提供联邦保证贷款，政府资助管理和技术方面的帮助，结果令人失望。组建成的少数民族新企业由于管理上缺乏经验、地点不佳、资金短缺而导致失败的情况很多。其他见难句译注1、2、3。总之在MESBIC支持下：为它的潜在市场提供大量资金等，使它们在地点和市场流通方面风险小的多，从而带来足够的收入和保持所需的管理质量。这一切都说明MESBIC比SBA的成功可能性大。 B.MESBIC中的领导者和职工方面在观点上有着至关重要的分歧。C.经历了早期管理和市场问题后，少数民族企业已开始稳步发展。D.希望组建新公司的少数民族企业家已有好几个成功的联邦计划可依靠。 2. D 依靠打工四向少数民族企业投资。见第二段第二句：大公司利用政府资助的风险资本参与成功而又稳固的少数民族企业的发展。参与的大公司用这笔资金建立了“少数民族小型企业投资公司”（MESBIC） A.寻求为少数民族企业提供市场联邦合同。B.鼓励少数民族企业为其他少数民族企业提供市场。C.试图在少数民族部门保持特定的增长率。 3. C 预期加入SBA项目中的公司的失败率比实际失败率低得多。文内没有直接点出，而是从（见第一题注释）SBA帮助的企业失败率很高――令人失望，从而推断C项结论。 A.给企业贷款最高期限为15年。B.商业贷款对企业来说远笔管理和技术帮助重要。D.鼓励接受贷款企业重新寻找利于企业发展的地区。 4. B 为的是引人注意这一实际情况：MESBIC必须取得足够的资金才能有效地运转。这在第三段最后一句：在经历了早期财政和运行问题后，赞助公司给MESBIC注入的资金远远超过了50万美元的法定最低限额，以获得足够的收入并保持所需的管理质量。MESBIC现在正成为日益重要的少数民族企业的资金来源。这说明没有足够的资金是难以有效运转的。 A.扩大讨论范围以包括通过赞助公司投资MESBIC的合理性。C.表明赞助公司愿意在原来的MESBIC只投资50万政府资助的风险资本。D.对比SBA和MESBIC最低投资限额。 5. A 失望。文章最后一段MESBIC的职工――一般是拉美和黑人专业人员在少数民族公司的投资上比MEBSIC的领导者更切实际。这些高级经理从社会责任角度看问题，会选择更具风险性，不太吸引人的项目。观点分歧使许多少数民族职工感到不安，他们认为应以公司的业务爆出来评价少数民族企业家及其企业。者充分说明MEBSIC的职工对领导所青睐的投资项目不满意和失望。 B.漠不关心。C.震惊。D.持保留态度。 |
| Passage Ten 2007-8-22 10:05:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
No one can be a great thinker who does not realize that as a thinker it is her first duty to follow her intellect to whatever conclusions it may lead. Truth gains more even by the errors of one who with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, than by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. No that it is solely, of chiefly, to form great thinkers that freedom of thinking is required. One the contrary, it is as much or even more indispensable to enable average human beings to attain the mental stature which they are capable of. There have been and many again be great individual thinkers in a general atmosphere of mental slavery. But there never has been, nor ever will be, in that atmosphere an intellectually active people. Where any of heterodox speculation was for a time suspended, where there is a tacit convention that principles are not to be disputed: where the discussion of the greatest questions which can occupy humanity is considered to be closed, we cannot hope to find that generally high scale of mental activity which has made some periods of history so remarkable. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large and important enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up fro9m its foundation and the impulse given which raised even persons of the most ordinary intellect to something of the dignity of thinking beings. She who knows only her own side of the case knows little of that. Her reasons may be food, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if she s equally unable to refute the reasons of the opposite side; if she does not so much as know what they are, she has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for her would be suspension of judgment, and unless she contents herself with that, she is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world the side to which she feels the most inclination. Nor is it enough that she should heat the arguments of adversaries from her own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations, That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with her own mind. She must be able to hear them form persons who actually believe them; who defend them in earnest, and do their very utmost for them. She must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; she must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else she will never really possess herself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty. Ninety-nine in a hundred of what are called educated persons are in this condition; even of those who can argue fluently for their opinions. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they know; they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently form them and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrines which they themselves profess. 1. The best title for this passage is [A] The Age of Reason [B] The need for Independent Thinking [C] The Value of Reason [D] Stirring People’s Minds 2. According to the author, it is always advisable to [A] have opinions which cannot be refuted. [B] adopt the point of view to which one feels the most inclination. [C] be acquainted with the arguments favoring the point of view with which one disagrees, [D] suspend heterodox speculation in favor of doctrinaire approaches. 3. According to the author, in a great period such as the Renaissance we may expect to find [A] acceptance of truth [B] controversy over principles [C] inordinate enthusiasm [D] a dread of heterodox speculation 4. According to the author, the person who holds orthodox beliefs without examination may be described in all of the following ways EXCEPT as [A] enslaved by tradition [B] less than fully rational [C] determinded on controversy [D] having a closed mind 5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements [A] A truly great thinker makes no mistakes. [B] Periods of intellectual achievement are periods of unorthodox reflection, [C] The refutation of accepted ideas can best be provided by one’s own teachers. [D] excessive controversy prevents clear thinking, Vocabulary 1. stature 高度，境界，状况 2. heterodox 不合乎公认的标准的，异端的，异教的 3. tacit 心照不宣 4. refute 反驳 5. adversary 对立面，对手，敌人 6. plausible 善于花言巧语的/辞令的，似乎有理的/有可能的 7. doctrine 教义，学说 8. profess 表示，明言，承认，自称，信奉 难句译注 1. True gains more even by the errors of one who with due study and preparation, thinks for himself, then by the true opinions of those who only hold them because they do not suffer themselves to think. [参考译文] 真理甚至从一个经过恰当研究和准备进行独立思考的人的错误中获得更多的东西，而从那些只是因为不予思考却持有正确的观点中获得的少（一种经过恰当的研究和准备进行独立思考的人犯的错误，另一种人是不予思考的却持有正确的观点，真理从前者错误中获得的东西比从后者的正确观点中获得的要多）。 2. mental slavery 思想禁锢，精神受奴役状态 3. Never when controversy avoided the subjects which are large and important enough to kindle enthusiasm was the mind of a people stirred up from its foundation and the impulse given which raised even persons of the most ordinary intellect to something of the dignity of thinking beings. [结构简析] 这是一句以Never否定词开头的倒装句，正常的句序应把never放在句中，形成：the mind of people was never stirred up from its foundations [参考译文] 当辩论比开重大课题，重大到足以燃起/激起人们激/热情的课题时，那么一个民族的思想绝不会从天赋的情感和原始的基础上升华，甚至使最普通智力的人上升到优点庄严的思想家水平上。 4. The rational position for her would be suspension of judgement, and unless she contents herself with that, she is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world, the side to which she feels the most inclination. [参考译文] 对她来说理智的立场是停止判断，而且除非她满足于这一点，否则，她不是为权威人物的观点所左右，后者就像世界上芸芸众生一样，倒向她感觉最倾向的一边。 5. That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into teal contact with her own mind. [结构简析] do justice to 公平对待，适当处理。 Bring……into contact with 使和……接触／联系。 [参考译文] 这不是对正确观点评价的方法，也不能使自己的思想真正接触到论点的实质。 6. She must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; she must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else she will never really possess herself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty. [结构简析] most plausible and persuasive form 很善于辞令和有说服力形式。 possess oneself of 获得，据有，把……占为己有。 them=arguments。 else 否则的话。 7. Their conclusion may be true, but it might be false for anything they know; they have never thrown themselves into the mental position of those who think differently form them and considered what such persons may have to say; and consequently they do not, in any proper sense of the word, know the doctrines which they themselves profess. [结构简析] throw oneself into…position 设身处地，使自己处于……位置／地点。 写作方法与文章大意 这是一篇由一般到具体，重要采用正反对比，推理的写作方法的文章，逻辑性强，正反论证，句子结构复杂冗长，分两段给出内容，第一段重点在：伟大的思想家的首要责任是奠定遵循自己智力所得出的结论。由此引起思想家和思想活跃的人民同时代环境的关系。只有思想后月的时期，才有伟大的思想家和活跃的人民，因为他们可以讨论重大主题，而在思想禁锢时期，只能产生个别伟大思想家。第二段具体的论证了独立思考涉及两方面，既如自己一方种种，也得知对手的一方种种（内容，推理，论点），才能真正获得真理。 答案详解 １. B 独立思考的必要性。见难句译注１。这里说明进行独立思考的人即使犯错误，真理也能从中获得东西，而那些懒于思考人，即使持有正确的观点，真理也难以获得东西。第一段还点明思想禁锢时期，即不能进行独立思考时期，难以讨论重大议题，产生不了活跃的人民，绝不会出现像辉煌的文艺复兴那种时期（见第二题注）。第二段也是围绕独立思考而写，只是从具体点着眼：人只知自己，不知对方无法获得真理，只有独立思考两方，才能不为权威所左右，不会跟着自己感觉走，最终知道自己的真正主张。 A. 理性时代。 C. 驳斥的价值。 D. 激发人民的思想。 ２. C 熟悉有利于自己不同意／反对观点的论点。这是作者在第二段讲述的重要论点。他认为一个人只知自己一方，推理极好，无人能反驳，却不知对方的推理，也不能够予以反驳的话，他就无权选择两方的任一论点，其理智位置是停止判断。否则她就会（像世界上芸芸众生那样）不是为权威所“引导”，就是跟着感觉（的倾向）走。其二，作者提出：光听自己的老师讲述对立面的论点，以及他们所提出的反驳论点。只是不够的，必须倾听那些人（他们真正相信对立的观点）的论点，并为此积极热情，竭尽全力辩护，才能使自己的思想和独立论点接触，公正的作出公正的判断。 A. 具有不能驳斥的观点。 B. 采取个人感觉最倾向的观点。 D. 停止有利于教条主义研究的异端思考。 ３. B 辩论原则问题。答案在第一段：在思想禁锢的气氛中，过去，现在可能会产生个别的思想家，但绝不会有思想活跃的人民，在那里有一种心照不宣的惯律：原则决不能讨论——认为占据人类心灵的最重大问题的讨论应封闭，我们不能期望看到一般高级的思想活动。这种思想活动曾使历史上某些时期光辉灿烂。而文艺复兴就是思想活动的顶峰时期，必然会讨论原则问题，所以选B 。 A. 接受真理，周经过讨论才能接受真理。 C. 过度的热情。 D. 害怕异端思考。 ４. C. 在辩论上，坚定不移。这是一道推断题，一般讲：持有未经检验的正统信仰的人不会独立思考，更不会怀疑他所信仰的东西。 A. 为传统所奴役。 B. 不怎么理智。 D. 头脑闭塞。这种人必然受传统思想控制，不理智更不愿接受外界新鲜事物。 ５. B. 在思想方面取得成就的时期就是进行非正统反思的时期。见３题注释。 A. 一个真正的思想家不犯错误。 C. 一个人的老师最能提供所接受思想观点的反驳。 D. 过度的辩论会制止清晰的思考。 |
| Passage Eleven 2007-8-23 8:54:00 | ||
| 作者：mpacc // 本版专辑 // 发贴数：1162 // 积分：4777 // 注册：2005-7-14 | ||
Can electricity cause cancer? In a society that literally runs on electric power, the very idea seems preposterous. But for more than a decade, a growing band of scientists and journalists has pointed to studies that seem to link exposure to electromagnetic fields with increased risk of leukemia and other malignancies. The implications are unsettling, to say the least, since everyone comes into contact with such fields, which are generated by everything electrical, from power lines and antennas to personal computers and micro-wave ovens. Because evidence on the subject is inconclusive and often contradictory, it has been hard to decide whether concern about the health effects of electricity is legitimate—or the worst kind of paranoia. Now the alarmists have gained some qualified support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the executive summary of a new scientific review, released in draft form late last week, the EPA has put forward what amounts to the most serious government warning to date. The agency tentatively concludes that scientific evidence “suggests a casual link” between extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields—those having very longwave-lengths—and leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancer, While the report falls short of classifying ELF fields as probable carcinogens, it does identify the common 60-hertz magnetic field as “a possible, but not proven, cause of cancer in humans.” The report is no reason to panic—or even to lost sleep. If there is a cancer risk, it is a small one. The evidence is still so controversial that the draft stirred a great deal of debate within the Bush Administration, and the EPA released it over strong objections from the Pentagon and the Whit House. But now no one can deny that the issue must be taken seriously and that much more research is needed. At the heart of the debate is a simple and well-understood physical phenomenon: When an electric current passes through a wire, tit generates an electromagnetic field that exerts forces on surrounding objects, For many years, scientists dismissed any suggestion that such forces might be harmful, primarily because they are so extraordinarily weak. The ELF magnetic field generated by a video terminal measures only a few milligauss, or about one-hundredth the strength of the earth’s own magnetic field, The electric fields surrounding a power line can be as high as 10 kilovolts per meter, but the corresponding field induced in human cells will be only about 1 millivolt per meter. This is far less than the electric fields that the cells themselves generate. How could such minuscule forces pose a health danger? The consensus used to be that they could not, and for decades scientists concentrated on more powerful kinds of radiation, like X-rays, that pack sufficient wallop to knock electrons out of the molecules that make up the human body. Such “ionizing” radiations have been clearly linked to increased cancer risks and there are regulations to control emissions. But epidemiological studies, which find statistical associations between sets of data, do not prove cause and effect. Though there is a body of laboratory work showing that exposure to ELF fields can have biological effects on animal tissues, a mechanism by which those effects could lead to cancerous growths has never been found. The Pentagon is for from persuaded. In a blistering 33-page critique of the EPA report, Air Force scientists charge its authors with having “biased the entire document” toward proving a link. “Our reviewers are convinced that there is no suggestion that (electromagnetic fields) present in the environment induce or promote cancer,” the Air Force concludes. “It is astonishing that the EPA would lend its imprimatur on this report.” Then Pentagon’s concern is understandable. There is hardly a unit of the modern military that does not depend on the heavy use of some kind of electronic equipment, from huge ground-based radar towers to the defense systems built into every warship and plane. 1. The main idea of this passage is [A]. studies on the cause of cancer [B]. controversial view-points in the cause of cancer [C]. the relationship between electricity and cancer. [D]. different ideas about the effect of electricity on caner. 2. The view-point of the EPA is [A]. there is casual link between electricity and cancer. [B]. electricity really affects cancer. [C]. controversial. [D].low frequency electromagnetic field is a possible cause of cancer 3. Why did the Pentagon and Whit House object to the release of the report? Because [A]. it may stir a great deal of debate among the Bush Administration. [B]. every unit of the modern military has depended on the heavy use of some kind of electronic equipment. [C]. the Pentagon’s concern was understandable. [D]. they had different arguments. 4. It can be inferred from physical phenomenon [A]. the force of the electromagnetic field is too weak to be harmful. [B]. the force of the electromagnetic field is weaker than the electric field that the cells generate. [C]. electromagnetic field may affect health. [D]. only more powerful radiation can knock electron out of human body. 5. What do you think ordinary citizens may do after reading the different arguments? [A].They are indifferent. [B]. They are worried very much. [C]. The may exercise prudent avoidance. [C]. They are shocked. Vocabulary 1. preposterous 反常的，十分荒谬的，乖戾的 2. leukemia 白血病 3. malignancy 恶性肿瘤 4. legitimate 合法的，合理的 5. paranoia 偏执狂，妄想狂。这里指：无根据的担心。 6. lymphoma 淋巴瘤 7. carcinogen 致癌物 8. minuscule 很小的，很不重要 9. consensus 舆论 10. wallop 乱窜，猛冲，冲击力 11. epidemiological 流行病学的 12. blistering 罗嗦的，胡扯的 13. critique 评论，批评 14. imprimatur 出版许可（官方审查后的），批准 难句译注 1. Because evidence on the subject is inconclusive and often contradictory, it has been hard to decide whether concern about the health effects of electricity is legitimate—or the worst kind of paranoia. [参考译文] 由于这问题的证据还不是结论性的，而且常常是矛盾的，所以就难以断定有关电力对身体的影响的顾虑是合乎情理，还是毫无根据的怀疑。 2. EPA——U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 美国环境保护署 3． While the report falls short (缺乏，不够) of classifying ELF fields as probable carcinogens, it does identify the common 60-hertz magnetic field as “a possible, but not proven, cause of cancer in humans.” [参考译文] 虽然报告没有把极低频磁场归类为可能致癌物，但它确实指出通常60赫兹的磁场是“一种虽尚未证实，但可能导致人患癌症的因素。” 4． The evidence is still so controversial that the draft stirred a great deal of debate within the Bush Administration, and the EPA released it over strong objections from the Pentagon and the Whit House [参考译文] 证据争议性仍然很大，所以报告草案在布什政府内引起巨大的争辩，而环保署无视无角大楼和白宫的强烈反对，公布了这份报告。 5. This is far less than the electric fields that the cells themselves generate. [参考译文] 这远比细胞所产生的电磁场低的多。 6. …and for decades scientists concentrated on more powerful kinds of radiation, like X-rays, that pack sufficient wallop to knock electrons out of the molecules that make up the human body. [参考译文] 而且几十年来，科学家专注于更为强大的辐射类别，如Ｘ光射线，其聚合的冲击力足以把电子从组成人体的分子中撞出来。 7. But epidemiological studies, which find statistical associations between sets of data, do not prove cause and effect. [参考译文] 可是流行病学的研究发现，几组资料在数据方面有所关联，却没有证实其因果关系。 8. a body of laboratory work 一批研究成果。 9. In a blistering 33-page critique of the EPA report, Air Force scientists charge its authors with having “biased the entire document” toward proving a link. [参考译文] 在长达33页的对环保署文件的十分尖锐的批评中，空军方面的科学家指责，作者歪曲整个文件以证明癌症和电磁场之间的关联。 10. It is astonishing that the EPA would lend its imprimatur on this report. [参考译文] 令人惊讶的是环保署竟然批准许可这份报告的出笼。 写作方法与文章大意 文章以问答的方式，对比的写作方法，写出了围绕电力是否影响健康——是否致癌因素的两种观点，及其观点的依据。一种是美国环境保护署为代表的：极低频磁场是一种可能但还未被证实的致癌因素，而且无视白宫和五角大楼反对，公布了这份报告。理由是科学证据提出了两者之间的关联偶然性。另一种以空军中科学家为主的观点：电磁场不会诱发或触发癌症，而且以歪曲整个文件来证明两者之关系，批评了环保署。其理由人人皆知。因军队中任一单位都有点——从地面雷达到舰艇飞机防卫系统。 答案祥解 1. D 电力对癌症影响的不同观点。文章一开始就提出了“电会致癌吗？”这个问题。十多年来，一大批科学家和新闻界人士都指出：研究结果似乎表示：接触电磁场可能会增加患白血病和其他恶性肿瘤的危险性。所以说到目前为止还难以确定电力对健康的影响究竟是理性的，还是杞人忧天。见难句注释1。第二段公布了环保署的报告，见难句注释3。第三段说明：即使有致癌危险也是极微的。但应予以认真对待，进行更多的研究。而第七段中空军方面的科学家还没有被说服（见难句注释9），明确提出，我们的评论员认为没有迹象说明环境中存在的电力会诱发或促发癌症。 A. 对致癌因素的研究。 B. 致癌原因方面有争议的观点，这两项根本部队，和文内电力毫无关系。 C. 电力和癌症的关系，文中涉及的是电力究竟会不会致癌的两种观点，而不是两者之关系。 2. A. 电和致癌有一定难以确定的关系。答案在第二段第三句，环保署目前的结论是据科学证据指出极低频电磁场——具有长波的电磁场——和白血病，淋巴瘤及脑癌之间有着难以确定的联系，见难句注释3。 A. 电确实致癌，不对。 C. 有争议的。说的不够清楚，争议什么。 D. 低频磁场是一个可能致癌因素。这只是论点的一面。 3. B. 现代军事的任何部门都一直依赖于应用大量应用电子设备。五角大楼和白宫所以反对环保署公布报告之理由就在此。空军方面的专家所以说环保署方面的报告“歪曲了整个文件以证明两者之间的关系”也在此。见难句注释4。所以文内说“角大楼的关注是可以理解的。” A. 报告会在布什政府内引起大规模的辩论，这是结果。 C. 五角大楼的关注是可以理解的，这不是原因。 D. 他们有不同的观点。 4. 磁场力太弱不会产生有害作用。答案在第四段第二，三句，当电流通过电缆，产生磁场，对周围物体产生（影响）力。许多年来，科学家把任何有关“这些力可能有害的想法”置于一边（不予考虑），主要是因为它们（所产生的力）非常弱。 B. 磁场力比细胞产生的电磁场弱。只是明确指出的事实。 C. 磁场力对人的健康有害。不对。 D. 只有更强的辐射才能把人体中的电子击出来。不对。 5. C. 他们会采取谨慎小心避开电器的途径。因为他们不可能象A项那样漠不关心。这种问题直接影响人的生命。 B. 他们非常担忧。 D. 他们感到震惊，这两项都不可能，因为还在争议中，唯一的途径是尽量避开和电器接触。 |
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