(单词翻译:单击)
Passage One
【真题再现】
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are unique—a speech of the hand. They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and throw new light on an old scientific controversy: whether language, complete with grammar, is something that we are born With, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D. C., the world’s only liberal arts university for deaf people.
When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd: among themselves, students signed differently from his classroom teacher.
Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language (ASL) was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English (混杂英语). But Stokoe believed the “hand talk” his students used looked richer. He wondered: Might deaf people actually: have a genuine language? And could that language be unlike any other on Earth? It was 1955, when even deaf people dismissed their signing as “substandard”. Stokoe’s idea was academic heresy (异端邪说).
It is 37 years later. Stokoe—now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture—is having lunch at a cafe near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, French and Japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech, the modulation (调节) of sound. But sign language is based on the movement of hands, the modulation of space. “What I said,” Stokoe explains, “is that language is not mouth stuff—it’s brain stuff.”
21. The study of sign language is thought to be ________.
A) a new way to look at the learning of language
B) a challenge to traditional, views on the nature of language
C) an approach: to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language
D) an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language(C)
22. The, present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by ________.
A) a famous scholar in the study of the human brain
B) a leading specialist in the study of liberal arts
C) an English teacher in a university for the deaf
D) some senior experts in American Sign Language(C)
23. According to Stokoe, sign language is ________.
A) a Substandard language
B) a genuine language
C) an artificial language
D) an international language(B)
24. Most educators objected to Stokoe’s idea because they thought ________.
A) sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people
B) sign language was too artificial to be widely accepted
C) a language should be easy to use and understand
D) a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds(D)
25. Stokoe’s argument is based on his belief that ________.
A) sign language is as efficient as any other language
B) sign language is derived from natural language
C) language is a system of meaningful codes
D) language is a product of the brain(D)
【精讲】
这篇文章内容核心是手语，以一位手语专家的研究历程为线索，粗略介绍了手语研究的新观点：手语是独立于语音的另一种语言。材料一共四段。开头介绍了手语研究的进展以及意义，“进展”指过去的20年研究人员发现了手语的独特性(realized that signed languages are unique)，意义是指手语的这一发现为研究大脑如何应用与理解语言开辟了新的方向(a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language)，同时为一个古老的科学论题带来了新的希望：语言到底是天生的还是后天习得的(whether language……is something that we are born With, or whether it is a learned behavior)。之后，文章简单介绍了这一研究发现的先驱人物，以后的内容全部都是围绕这位先驱的研究经历展开的。
第一段末介绍了这位先驱人物Stokoe的基*考试&大本信息：华盛顿特区一所聋人大学的教师。第二段便从他的教学经历讲起，谈到他被安排教授手语后发现了一个奇怪的现象：学生们的动作与教他的老师所讲的并不一样(students signed differently from his classroom teacher)。这就是新发现的契机。
接下来，文章先是简单说明一下当时的手语教育状况，以和他的新发现作为对比。首先是承接上文所说，讲他从老师那里学来的手语的基本特点：每个手势代表英语里的一个单词(each movement of the hands representing a word in English)，这可以理解为手语实际上是语言的附庸。其次是人们普遍认为美国手语不过是一种混杂英语(thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English)，这里也在强调手语从属于语言。之后是Stokoe自己的发现与思考：他认为学生们使用的手语意义比人们的普遍观点要更为丰富(the “hand talk” his students used looked richer)，同时受到了启发：或许聋人确实拥有一种真正的语言。
上一段最末一句说Stokoe的观点在当时过于超前，被视为学术异端，最后一段时空一下跳转到了37年以后，此时的Stokoe忙于写作、编辑、出品美国手语方面的书籍报刊和视频(writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials)，同时饶有兴致地为人讲述这场“革命”是如何开始的。从这里的信息可以看出，Stokoe的观点的地位已经是今非昔比了，否则如此多的出版物不会有市场需求，其称呼也不会从“异端”变为“革命”。不过，反对观点依然十分强大，这一派认为语言必须以语音为基础，是声音的变体(language must be based on speech, the modulation of sound)，而Stokoe则反驳手语恰恰以手的动作为基础(sign language is based on the movement of hands)，讥讽道“语言不是嘴巴层次的东西，而是大脑层次的东西(brain stuff)。
Passage Tow
【真题再现】
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the World were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,” she said. “But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like When I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.”
The Princess concluded, with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.
But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an, attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as “very ill-informed” and a “loose cannon (乱放炮的人).”
The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction (干扰) we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.”
Opposition parties, the media and the Public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess’s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government’s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government.
To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, claimed that the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was “working towards” a worldwide ban. The Defense Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or misunderstanding.”
For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the Chance to get closer to people and their problems.
26. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997 ________.
A) to voice her support for a total ban of landmines
B) to clarify the British government’s stand on landmines
C) to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there
D) to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims(A)
27. What did Diana mean when she said “... putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me” (Line 5, Para. 1)?
A) She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.
B) The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.
C) Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.
D) Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation.(D)
28. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because ________.
A) she was ill-informed of the government’s policy
B) they were actually opposed to banning landmines
C) she had not consulted the government before the visit
D) they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola(B)
29. How did Diana respond to the criticisms?
A) She paid no attention to them.
B) She made more appearances on TV.
C) She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.
D) She rose to argue with her opponents.(A)
30. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?
A) It had caused embarrassment to the British government.
B) It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.
C) It had greatly promoted her popularity.
D) It had affected her relations with the British government.(B)
【精讲】
这篇材料讲述了戴安娜王妃以反对使用地雷为目的的非洲之行的情况以及各界对此的反响。文章就是以针锋相对的两个派别的互动铺展开来的。
文章第一句话的surprise一词实际上就已经传递了一个信号，即这篇材料讲述的核心将是戴安娜王妃非洲之行所引起的反响。这是一个长句，It came as something of a surprise，意思是“这件事的发生使人惊诧不已”，it代指when后面所说的事件;事件是戴安娜王妃在1997年访问了安哥拉(made a trip to Angola in 1997)，访问目的是支持红十字会的禁用地雷运动(to support……)。
这次非洲之行到底引起了谁的Surprise(吃惊)呢?文章先是卖了一个关子，不马上回答，而是简单介绍戴安娜王妃非洲之行的情况。首先是全世界的电视屏幕都在播放她安抚地雷受害者的镜头，而后是她的个人感言。
基本情况介绍完以后，下一段言简意赅地总结出戴安娜王妃的立场：停止使用地雷(We must stop landmines)。这样反对这一立场的一派的出场就顺理成章了，他们也就是surprise的发出者。他们是谁呢?是伦敦的*考试&大英国政府官员。他们拒绝支持对地雷武器的禁用(refused to support a ban on these weapons)，甚至在媒体上对王妃发动攻击(attack on the Princess in the press)，他们的观点是王妃对此事根本就知之甚少(ill-informed)。
王妃的反应是无动于衷，不予理睬，心思完全放在救助上(All I’m trying to do is help)。
但赞同王妃的一派反应要强烈得多，反对党、媒体和大众立即表达了对王妃的支持。同时，针对反对派的核心观点(ill-informed)，有确凿消息说王妃的非洲之行是在确知了安哥拉的情况和英国政府的态度后才决定成行的。
上述反应使英国政府一时下不来台，为了减小影响，他们宣称政府的政策与王妃的观点相差不多(the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government)，政府甚至在为全球禁用地雷而努力(a worldwide ban)，国防部也跳出来说此事存在误会(misinterpretation or misunderstanding)。
事件显然是以王妃一派的胜利告终了，最后一段把视点重新放回到王妃非洲之行本身，解释了此事对于王妃的意义。
26. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997 ________.
A) to voice her support for a total ban of landmines
B) to clarify the British government’s stand on landmines
C) to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there
D) to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims(A)
本题问戴安娜王妃在1997年访问安哥拉……结合题支来看，应该问的是王妃此行的目的。
A，对彻底禁用地雷表达自己的支持。
B，阐明英国政府在地雷问题上的立场。
C，调查那里地雷受害者的痛苦。
D，树立自己地雷受害者朋友的形象。
第一道题一般出于第一段，看下这篇材料的第一段，句子很多，段落很长，可以肯定答案必出自第一段。第一段的第一句在前文已经分析过，to support……一句揭示了戴安娜王妃此行的目的是支持红十字会的禁用地雷运动，四个答案中A最接近这个意思。B的表述在后文有所提到，不过后文说英国政府的立场和戴安娜王妃是针锋相对的，王妃不可能为英国政府阐述立场。C、D的表述在第一段后半部分都有提到，但都属表面现象，而不是真正的目的。
27. What did Diana mean when she said “... putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me” (Line 5, Para. 1)?
A) She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.
B) The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.
C) Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.
D) Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation.(D)
本题问戴安娜所说的putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me是什么意思。
A，她不堪忍受和地雷受害者面对面。
B，安哥拉的真实情形使她有种回家的感觉。
C，与地雷受害者见面使她相信统计数据是对的。
D，看到受害者的所遭受的痛苦使她意识到了形势的严重性。
Putting a face to those figures，意思是与那些人面对面。brought the reality home to me，home是副词，修饰brought，这半句意思是“把现实带到了我面前”。看一看这个句子的上下文。前文说电视中在播放戴安娜王妃安慰地雷受害者的画面，这说明王妃已经和地雷受害者有过面对面接触了，后面应该就是她对此的感受。她说I knew the statistics，意思应该是她看过地雷受害者相关的数据;随后她说But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me，直译是“但是面对面与那些人接触后，现实才来到了我的眼前。”接下来是like When I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her，第一个like表示“像”，指王妃举的例子;第二个like也表示“像”，而不是喜欢的意思。这句意思是：像我遇到的那个13岁的女孩桑德拉，她失去了一条腿，还有别的和她一样的人。
值得的注意的是but这个词。But表示转折，前文说她已经知道了相关的数据，然后话锋一转，说面对面的接触将现实带到了眼前，说明数据只能是虚的，亲眼见到受害者后才真正认识到了现实的情形。四个题支中D的意思与此最为接近。
28. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because ________.
A) she was ill-informed of the government’s policy
B) they were actually opposed to banning landmines
C) she had not consulted the government before the visit
D) they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola(B)
题目问一些英国政府成员批评戴安娜王妃是因为什么。
A，她对政府的政策知之甚少。
B，他们实际上是在反对禁用地雷。
C，她在启程访问之前没有征求政府的意见。
D，他们认为她曲解了安哥拉的局势。
这个题目中的because之前的部分在文章中有类似句子，第三段第一行出现了some members of the British government，与题目中的一模一样，可以初步判断答案就在第三段。第三段直译如下：在伦敦，她的观点并没有被英国政府的一些成员所认同，他们拒绝支持对这些武器的禁令。愤怒的政客们还在媒体发动了对王妃的攻击，他们把她描述为“所知甚少”和“乱放炮的人”。从这些描述可以考试&大看出，政客批评王妃主要是因为与王妃观点相左(refused to support a ban)，反对地雷禁用，而说她对政府的政策知之甚少只是用来批评的一件武器而已。这样看来，B的说法是合理的，A相对于B来说太过表面化，不如B的说法深刻。C和A的意思是差不多的，都是说王妃对政府政策的无知。D所述的曲解一词misinterpret出现在倒数第二段，是在政府面对尴尬境地时的求全之词，与本题无关。
29. How did Diana respond to the criticisms?
A) She paid no attention to them.
B) She made more appearances on TV.
C) She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.
D) She rose to argue with her opponents.(A)
题目问戴安娜王妃如何回应批评之声。
第28题考查的即是政府官员对戴安娜王妃的批评之声，根据上面的分析可知，文章写到批评本身是在三段。那么戴妃对批评的反应很有可能是在第四段。查看文章可知，作者确实在第四段叙述了戴妃的反应：The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.” Brush aside是一个词组，本意是扫除，引申为“漠视”，即便不知道确切的引申义，也是可以从brush(清扫)和aside(到旁边)的本意大体推断出这个词组含有否定意味。这样由前半句可知戴妃对批评是采取漠视态度的。而后是戴妃的原话，意为“我们并不需要为此分心。我所要做的就是帮助人们。”到此可以判断戴妃对批评的态度是毫不在意的，A的说法正确。
A，她对批评毫不在意。
B，她更多地出现在电视上。文章只是在开头提到了电视，可以确认与本题无关。
C，她按照计划与那个13岁的女孩见了面。与B的错误一样。
D，她与对手们据理力争。如果不知道戴妃话中distraction(分心)的含义，或许会存在一些疑难。不过即便除去这一句，从前后两句应该也足以判断出戴妃的态度了：她无意与官员们说理。
30. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?
A) It had caused embarrassment to the British government.
B) It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.
C) It had greatly promoted her popularity.
D) It had affected her relations with the British government.
这道题问戴安娜王妃对自己的安哥拉之行是如何看待的。
题目已经到了最后一道，可以判断考查对象不是全篇(如问文章的主要论题是什么)就是最后一段。这道题问戴安娜王妃对自己安哥拉之行的看法，根据前面对全文的分析知道，最后一段讲的是安哥拉之行对于王妃的意义，与题目所说类似，可以判断答案就在最后一段。
For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the Chance to get closer to people and their problems.
现直译如下：
对于王妃来说，此次到这个饱受战争摧残国家的行程，是利用自己的知名度来告诉世界地雷能够带来多大的破坏和痛苦的一次好机会。她说这次经历也给了她机会接近民众，了解他们的困苦。
王妃的想法一共有两点，一是可以借这个机会把地雷之恶告诉世界，二是能与民众更加紧密的接触。
A，它引起了英国政府的尴尬。这个表述本身是事实，可惜并不是王妃个人的想法。
B，它拉近了她与普通民众的距离。这个说法符合上面分析中王妃的第二个想法。
C，它极大地提高了她的受欢迎程度。这句话是在考查对王妃第一个想法的理解。句子是个长句，有一定理解难度，出题者便抓出popularity一词，杜撰了一个C的说法。其实句子本意是王妃的popularity早已是事实，她只是用自己的popularity来更有效果地反对使用地雷。
D，它影响了她与英国政府的关系。这个说法与A的错误一样。
Passage Three
【真题再现】
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
I’m usually fairly skeptical about any research that concludes that people are either happier or unhappier or more or less certain of themselves than they were 50 years ago. While any of these statements might be true, they are practically impossible to prove scientifically. Still, I was struck by a report which concluded that today’s children are significantly more anxious than children in the 1950s. In fact, the analysis showed, normal children ages 9 to 17 exhibit a higher level of anxiety today than children who were treated for mental illness 50 years ago.
Why are America’s kids so stressed? The report cites two main causes: increasing physical isolation—brought on by high divorce rates and less involvement in community, among other things—and a growing perception that the world is a more dangerous place.
Given that we can’t turn the clock back, adults can still do plenty to help the next generation cope.
At the top of the list is nurturing (培育) a better appreciation of the limits of individualism. No child is an island. Strengthening social ties helps build communities and protect individuals against stress.
To help kids build stronger connections with others, you can pull the plug on TVs and computers. Your family will thank you later. They will have more time for face-to-face relationships, and they will get more sleep.
Limit the amount of virtual (虚拟的) violence your children are exposed to. It’s not just video games and movies; children see a lot of murder and crime on the local news.
Keep your expectations for your children reasonable. Many highly successful people never attended Harvard or Yale.
Make exercise part of your daily routine. It will help you cope with your own anxieties and provide a good model for your kids. Sometimes anxiety is unavoidable. But it doesn’t have to ruin your life.
21. The author thinks that the conclusions of any research about people’s state of mind are ________.
A) surprising
B) confusing
C) illogical
D) questionable(D)
22. What does the author mean when he says, “we can’t turn the clock back” (Line 1, Para. 3)?
A) It’s impossible to slow down the pace of change.
B) The social reality children are facing cannot be changed.
C) Lessons learned from the past should not be forgotten.
D) It’s impossible to forget the past.(B)
23. According to an analysis, compared with normal children today, children treated as mentally ill 50 years ago ________.
A) were less isolated physically
B) were probably less self-centered
C) probably suffered less from anxiety
D) were considered less individualistic(C)
24. The first and most important thing parents should do to help their children is ________.
A) to provide them with a safer environment
B) to lower their expectations for them
C) to get them more involved socially
D) to set a good model for them to follow(C)
25. What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
A) Anxiety, though unavoidable, can be coped with.
B) Children’s anxiety has been enormously exaggerated.
C) Children’s anxiety can be eliminated with more parental care.
D) Anxiety, if properly controlled, may help children become mature.(C)
这是一篇评论社会问题的文章，文章核心是当今儿童所肩负的压力问题。文章采用了经典的论说文结构：首先提出问题(第一段)，而后分析问题(第二段)，最后解决问题(其余部分)。
第一段很长，而且多是比较复杂的长句，这与它“提出问题”这一功能有关，长句往往信息容量更大，逻辑也较清晰，能够更好地向人呈现问题的方方面面，语气也较为客观。在解决问题阶段，作者多使用短句，是因为这时文章的功能已经转换为向父母们传授经验方法，短句接近口语，亲切感更强，有“谆谆教诲”的意思。
第一句话的基本结构是I’m skeptical about research(我怀疑某些研究的价值)，至于是什么样的研究，作者用从句做了详细说明，后面的that代指research。从句的意思是说这些研究总是得出结论说现在的人们如何比50年前的人或快乐或不快乐等等。作者在第一句首先表明了一个观点，就是把不同历史时代的人们进行对比是没有意义的。随后就道出了原因：这种对比有可能是正确的，但在实证上无法得到论证(While any of these statements might be true, they are practically impossible to prove scientifically)。前两句占了第一段内容的一半，但实际上与文章的核心内容(儿童压力问题)关系不大，作者之所以如此浓墨重彩是为了突出其对一项关于不同时代儿童所受压力的研究的惊讶之情，进而增加读者对文章核心论题的关注度。
第一段后半部分开始提出本文讨论的问题：normal children ages 9 to 17 exhibit a higher level of anxiety today than children who were treated for mental illness 50 years ago，现在的正常孩子比50年前接受精神治疗的孩子所受的压力还要大。这一观点确实耸人听闻，难怪作者要为此临时抛弃旧有的观念。
第二段第一句话是Why are America’s kids so stressed?为什么美国的孩子承受了如此重压?很显然这里是要分析原因了。后面给出了两个原因，一个是孤独(physical isolation)，另一个是认识到世界更加危险了(the world is a more dangerous place)。
后面的部分都是对如何解决这一问题提出的忠告。
首先就是要向孩子传达个人主义存在局限的观念(limits of individualism)，孩子不是孤岛，社会联系可以为孩子减轻压力的冲击。
为了帮助孩子与他人建立更加紧密的联系，可以拔掉电视和电脑的插头，这样他们就有了更多的时间与人面对面地交往，也有了更多的睡眠时间(They will have more time for face-to-face relationships, and they will get more sleep)。
减少孩子接触虚拟暴力的机会。不仅包括视频游戏、电影，在新闻上也出现了太多的谋杀、犯罪(children see a lot of murder and crime on the local news)。
不要对孩子的期望值过高。要知道许多成功人士从来没上过哈佛或是耶鲁大学(Many highly successful people never attended Harvard or Yale)。
最后是要给孩子们做出榜样，告诉他们如何应对压力。方法就是坚持锻炼身体，这可以向孩子传达一个信息：有时忧虑是不可避免的，但那不至于毁了你的生活。
