阅读试题

Passage 3
Some marriages seem to collapse so suddenly that you’d need a crystal ball to predict their demise (灭亡).In other cases, though, the seeds of marital _1_ are not only easier to see but they may be planted even before the honeymoon bills come _2_ . According to UCLA psychologist Thomas Bradbury, Ph. D., the way a newlywed _3_ when his or her spouse is facing a personal problem is a surprisingly good window into their marital future.
Bradbury and Lauri Pasch, Ph. D., invited 57 couples, all married less than six months, to discuss a difficulty that each partner was having. While some couples proved to be superstars at providing emotional support, others were _4_ inept (笨拙的).
Two years later, nine of the couples had already _5_ and five other marriages were intact but hanging by a thread. These 14 couples, it turned out, had been far less likely to provide support to one another as newlyweds than the other 43 couples whose marriages were _6_ Bradbury thinks a couple’s _7_ to help each other through tough times is what often blossoms into full-fledged marital discord—and _8_ divorce.
All of which suggests an obvious antidote to the sky-high divorce rate: if couples can learn how to provide emotional support before they marry, they _9_ a better chance of staying together. The trouble, Bradbury says, is that couples who go for premarital _10_ —where they can learn such skills—tend to be the ones with a lesser risk for marital problems in the first place.
A) thriving B) comments C) inability D) regretfully
E) committing F) dissolution G) stand H) intends
I) due J) reacts K) ultimately L) durable
M) split N) regularly O) counseling

解题思路

Passage 3
解题思路
1.[F]介词of提示此处需填入名词。空格所在句承接上文话题继续讲离婚的事例，据此推断空格填入的名词应与上文的collapse意思相近，即婚姻的解体，故选dissolution“解散”。
2.[I] come可作系动词或动词，因此空格处可能是形容词或副词。根据before引导的从句主语the honeymoon bills可推知填入的词应说明蜜月账单怎样，due“应支付的，到期的”符合句意，指账单到期。
3.[J]此处需填入不及物动词第三人称单数形式，作a newlywed的谓语动词。根据when从句所讲的“当配偶遇到个人问题时”，可推测这里是讲夫妻俩在对方遇到问题时的行为表现。reacts意为“做出反应”，符合上下文语义和句法要求。
4.[D]空格位于be动词和形容词之间，应为副词修饰形容词，inept “笨拙的”含有消极含义，因此选regretfull“遗憾地”，与while分句中的providing emotional support形成对照。
5.[M]此处需填入不及物动词的过去分词形式。根据后面所说的hanging by a thread“岌岌可危”，可知该词表消极意义,split“分开”符合句意。
6.[A]此处需填人名词、形容词或动词的分词作表语。句中than提示,这43对夫妻与那14对互相扶持能力差的夫妻情况相反，因此thriving符合句意。
7.[C]空格前的名词所有格提示此处应填入名词。后面的marital discord“婚姻不和谐”提示此处的名词含消极含义，inability符合句意。
8.[K]此处需要填人副词，修饰动词divorce。这里讲夫妻没有互相扶持导致的两个结果：一是婚姻不和谐，二是离婚，后者是前者的深化,故选ultimately“最终”，突出递进关系。
9.[G]此处需填入及物动词原形，作谓语。根据宾语chance,可知答案为stand。stand a chance (of doing sth.)意为“有机会/希望（做某事）”。
10.[O]此处需填入名词作go for的宾语。空格后破折号的内容“学习这些技能”提示，夫妻婚前应该参加了婚姻方面的一些活动才可能学习到技能，名词库中的counseling“咨询服务”符合语境。