2002年Text 1
If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses’ convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. Who is that? the new arrival asked St. Peter. On, that’s God, came the reply, but sometimes he thinks he’s a doctor.
If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it’ll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman’s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn’t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.examda.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it’s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote If at first you don’t succeed, give up or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pickout a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.
45. The best title for the text may be .
[A] Use Humor Effectively.
[B] Various Kinds of Humor.
[C] Add Humor to Speech.
[D] Different Humor Strategies.
[答案] A
[解題思路]
文章的第一、二、三段主要談論的是如何對不同的人用不同的話題表達幽默，第四段討論了如何取得好的幽默效果，最后一段則介紹了一種表達幽默的方法，可見作者的目的是在于教會讀者如何有效地利用幽默，與A選項相符合。其他三個選項都只概括了文章的一部分內容，而且也都是圍繞著第一個選項的內容來表述的。因此正確答案為A。
[題目譯文]
本文的標題可能是 。
[A] 有效地使用幽默
[B] 幽默種種
[C] 為談話增加幽默
[D] 不同的幽默策略 2003年Text 1
Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the great game of espionage-----spying as a profession. These days the Net, which has already re-made pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan’s vocation as well.
The last revolution isn’t simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemen’s e-mail. That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades. In the past three or four years, the world wide web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click spying. The spooks call it open source intelligence, and as the Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. in 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi. The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open-Source Solutions，whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.
Among the firms making the biggest splash in the new world is Straitford, Inc.], a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas. Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying(covering nations from Chile to Russia. to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International. Many of its predictions are available online at.
Straifford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymaster’s dream. Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine. As soon as that report runs, we’ll suddenly get 500 new internet sign-ups from Ukraine, says Friedman, a former political science professor. And we’ll hear back from some of them. Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. That’s where Straitford earns its keep.
Friedman relies on a lean staff in Austin. Several of his staff members have military-intelligence backgrounds. He sees the firm’s outsider status as the key to its success. Straitford’s briefs don’t sound like the usual Washington back-and forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong. Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.
42. Donovan’s story is mentioned in the text to
[A] introduce the topic of online spying.
[B] show how he fought for the U.S.
[C] give an episode of the information war.
[D] honor his unique services to the CIA
[答案] A
[解題思路]
文章第一段的前三句講了多諾汶作為間諜的經歷和故事，并在該段末尾通過間諜行業(yè)與網絡的關系來引出本文的主題，即網絡的關系來引出本文的主題，即網絡改變了情報搜集行業(yè)的發(fā)展，因而正確答案為A。而B、C、D選項均不涉及本文的主題。需要注意的是，英文報刊文章中經常通過一個故事來引出一篇文章的中心思想，目的在于通過故事來吸引讀者的注意力和興趣。在這種情況下，文章的主題一般出現在文章第一段的末尾。
[題目譯文]
文章中提到多諾汶故事的目的在于 。
[A] 引出網上諜報活動這個話題
[B] 說明他如何為美國而戰(zhàn)斗
[C] 舉出信息戰(zhàn)的一段插曲
[D] 贊揚他為中央情報局做出的特殊貢獻 2003年Text 4
It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional Small wonder. Americans’ life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minuts surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death-and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solve [D] Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it’s useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians-frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient-too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
In1950, the U.S. spent .7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age-----say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm have a duty todie and get out of the way, so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53.Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is in her 70s, and former Surgeon General Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s.These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. Ask a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people’s lives.
60. The text intends to express the idea that
[A] medicine will further prolong people’s lives.
[B] life beyond a certain limit is not worth living.
[C] death should be accepted as a fact of life.
[D] excessive demands increase the cost of health care
[答案] C
[解題思路]
文章第二段的前兩句話都直接指出Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved（死亡是正常的；我們的基因決定我們即使在最理想的環(huán)境里也會解體和滅亡。我們所有人在某種程度上都懂得這一點，但是作為醫(yī)療消費者，我們常常將死亡視為一個可以解決的問題）。全文從頭至尾也在傳遞這樣的信息，即我們應該努力提高自己的健康狀況和生活質量，而不要無謂地把精力都放在避免死亡上。相反，我們應該正視并接受死亡這一事實，因此C為正確答案。A選項的觀點是作者所反對的，B選項的表述過于極端，而D選項只是文章中的一個小細節(jié)，并不代表了中心思想。
[題目譯文]
本文意在表達的觀點是 。
[A] 醫(yī)學將延長人們的壽命
[B] 生命超過一定的限度就不值得繼續(xù)活下去
[C] 死亡應該作為生命的一種事實而被接受
[D] 過分的要求增加了保健方面的支出 2004年Text 3
When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn’t biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn’t cutting, filing or polishing as many nails as she’d like to. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. I’m a good economic indicator, she says. I provide a service that people can do without when they’re concerned about saving some dollars. So Spero is downscaling, shopping at a middle-brow Dillard’s department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. I don’t know if other clients are going to abandon me, too. she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan’s admission that America’s red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year’s pace. But don’t sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy’s long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they’re not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, there’s a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses, says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three, says John Deadly, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn’t mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan’s hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan Co. may still be worth toasting.
55. To which of the following is the author likely to agree?
[A] A new boom, on the horizon.
[B] Tighten the belt, the single remedy.
[C] Caution all right, panic not.
[D] The more ventures, the more chances.
[答案] C
[解題思路]
本題是對全文中心思想的概括。A選項是錯誤的，因為原文并沒有明確指出新的經濟繁榮即將來臨。B選項中的語氣過于悲觀，與原文的樂觀基調南轅北轍，因而也是錯誤的。D選項也不正確，因為本文主要談論的不是投資的問題。而C選項正確地表達了原文所要傳遞的信息，即面對經濟的不景氣人們要謹慎地關注，但仍要保持樂觀情緒。
[題目譯文]
作者可能會同意以下哪個觀點？
[A] 新的繁榮即將到來
[B] 勒緊腰帶是的辦法
[C] 需謹慎、莫恐慌
[D] 風險越大、機會越多
If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.
Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses’ convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. Who is that? the new arrival asked St. Peter. On, that’s God, came the reply, but sometimes he thinks he’s a doctor.
If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it’ll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman’s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn’t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.examda.
If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it’s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.
Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote If at first you don’t succeed, give up or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pickout a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.
45. The best title for the text may be .
[A] Use Humor Effectively.
[B] Various Kinds of Humor.
[C] Add Humor to Speech.
[D] Different Humor Strategies.
[答案] A
[解題思路]
文章的第一、二、三段主要談論的是如何對不同的人用不同的話題表達幽默，第四段討論了如何取得好的幽默效果，最后一段則介紹了一種表達幽默的方法，可見作者的目的是在于教會讀者如何有效地利用幽默，與A選項相符合。其他三個選項都只概括了文章的一部分內容，而且也都是圍繞著第一個選項的內容來表述的。因此正確答案為A。
[題目譯文]
本文的標題可能是 。
[A] 有效地使用幽默
[B] 幽默種種
[C] 為談話增加幽默
[D] 不同的幽默策略 2003年Text 1
Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War II and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the great game of espionage-----spying as a profession. These days the Net, which has already re-made pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan’s vocation as well.
The last revolution isn’t simply a matter of gentlemen reading other gentlemen’s e-mail. That kind of electronic spying has been going on for decades. In the past three or four years, the world wide web has given birth to a whole industry of point-and-click spying. The spooks call it open source intelligence, and as the Net grows, it is becoming increasingly influential. in 1995 the CIA held a contest to see who could compile the most data about Burundi. The winner, by a large margin, was a tiny Virginia company called Open-Source Solutions，whose clear advantage was its mastery of the electronic world.
Among the firms making the biggest splash in the new world is Straitford, Inc.], a private intelligence-analysis firm based in Austin, Texas. Straitford makes money by selling the results of spying(covering nations from Chile to Russia. to corporations like energy-services firm McDermott International. Many of its predictions are available online at.
Straifford president George Friedman says he sees the online world as a kind of mutually reinforcing tool for both information collection and distribution, a spymaster’s dream. Last week his firm was busy vacuuming up data bits from the far corners of the world and predicting a crisis in Ukraine. As soon as that report runs, we’ll suddenly get 500 new internet sign-ups from Ukraine, says Friedman, a former political science professor. And we’ll hear back from some of them. Open-source spying does have its risks, of course, since it can be difficult to tell good information from bad. That’s where Straitford earns its keep.
Friedman relies on a lean staff in Austin. Several of his staff members have military-intelligence backgrounds. He sees the firm’s outsider status as the key to its success. Straitford’s briefs don’t sound like the usual Washington back-and forthing, whereby agencies avoid dramatic declarations on the chance they might be wrong. Straitford, says Friedman, takes pride in its independent voice.
42. Donovan’s story is mentioned in the text to
[A] introduce the topic of online spying.
[B] show how he fought for the U.S.
[C] give an episode of the information war.
[D] honor his unique services to the CIA
[答案] A
[解題思路]
文章第一段的前三句講了多諾汶作為間諜的經歷和故事，并在該段末尾通過間諜行業(yè)與網絡的關系來引出本文的主題，即網絡的關系來引出本文的主題，即網絡改變了情報搜集行業(yè)的發(fā)展，因而正確答案為A。而B、C、D選項均不涉及本文的主題。需要注意的是，英文報刊文章中經常通過一個故事來引出一篇文章的中心思想，目的在于通過故事來吸引讀者的注意力和興趣。在這種情況下，文章的主題一般出現在文章第一段的末尾。
[題目譯文]
文章中提到多諾汶故事的目的在于 。
[A] 引出網上諜報活動這個話題
[B] 說明他如何為美國而戰(zhàn)斗
[C] 舉出信息戰(zhàn)的一段插曲
[D] 贊揚他為中央情報局做出的特殊貢獻 2003年Text 4
It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional Small wonder. Americans’ life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minuts surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death-and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.
Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solve [D] Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it’s useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians-frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient-too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.
In1950, the U.S. spent .7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age-----say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm have a duty todie and get out of the way, so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.
I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53.Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor is in her 70s, and former Surgeon General Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s.These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.
Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. Ask a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people’s lives.
60. The text intends to express the idea that
[A] medicine will further prolong people’s lives.
[B] life beyond a certain limit is not worth living.
[C] death should be accepted as a fact of life.
[D] excessive demands increase the cost of health care
[答案] C
[解題思路]
文章第二段的前兩句話都直接指出Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved（死亡是正常的；我們的基因決定我們即使在最理想的環(huán)境里也會解體和滅亡。我們所有人在某種程度上都懂得這一點，但是作為醫(yī)療消費者，我們常常將死亡視為一個可以解決的問題）。全文從頭至尾也在傳遞這樣的信息，即我們應該努力提高自己的健康狀況和生活質量，而不要無謂地把精力都放在避免死亡上。相反，我們應該正視并接受死亡這一事實，因此C為正確答案。A選項的觀點是作者所反對的，B選項的表述過于極端，而D選項只是文章中的一個小細節(jié)，并不代表了中心思想。
[題目譯文]
本文意在表達的觀點是 。
[A] 醫(yī)學將延長人們的壽命
[B] 生命超過一定的限度就不值得繼續(xù)活下去
[C] 死亡應該作為生命的一種事實而被接受
[D] 過分的要求增加了保健方面的支出 2004年Text 3
When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn’t biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn’t cutting, filing or polishing as many nails as she’d like to. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. I’m a good economic indicator, she says. I provide a service that people can do without when they’re concerned about saving some dollars. So Spero is downscaling, shopping at a middle-brow Dillard’s department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. I don’t know if other clients are going to abandon me, too. she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan’s admission that America’s red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year’s pace. But don’t sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy’s long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they’re not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, there’s a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses, says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three, says John Deadly, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn’t mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan’s hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan Co. may still be worth toasting.
55. To which of the following is the author likely to agree?
[A] A new boom, on the horizon.
[B] Tighten the belt, the single remedy.
[C] Caution all right, panic not.
[D] The more ventures, the more chances.
[答案] C
[解題思路]
本題是對全文中心思想的概括。A選項是錯誤的，因為原文并沒有明確指出新的經濟繁榮即將來臨。B選項中的語氣過于悲觀，與原文的樂觀基調南轅北轍，因而也是錯誤的。D選項也不正確，因為本文主要談論的不是投資的問題。而C選項正確地表達了原文所要傳遞的信息，即面對經濟的不景氣人們要謹慎地關注，但仍要保持樂觀情緒。
[題目譯文]
作者可能會同意以下哪個觀點？
[A] 新的繁榮即將到來
[B] 勒緊腰帶是的辦法
[C] 需謹慎、莫恐慌
[D] 風險越大、機會越多