【试题分析】
今年阅读难度与往年相当,主要考察对文章的整体把握。考生需要考虑的是如何提高阅读理解能力。所谓阅读理解能力,通常指两个方面:其一是能够做到准确、有效,换句话说,就是在单位时间内尽可能得最多的信息,而理解错误则减至最少;其二是能够再现文章的内容以表明自己的理解程度,譬如能够总结短文的主旨大意,说出文章中隐含的意思,体味作者的意图,猜测文中生词的意思等。前者对于解答客观题、细节题、数字计算题大有帮助;而后者则对解答主观题、推理归纳题、逻辑判断题、句型转换题、词义解释题有所启迪。
【真题演练】
Language is, and should be, a living thing, constantly enriched with new words and forms of expression. But there is a vital distinction between good developments, which add to the language, enabling us to say things we could not say before, and bad developments, which subtract from the language by rendering it less precise. A vivacious, colorful use of words is not to be confused with mere slovenliness. The kind of slovenliness in which some professionals deliberately indulge is perhaps akin to the cult (迷信) of the unfinished work, which has eroded most of the arts in our time. And the true answer to it is the same that art is enhanced, not hindered, by discipline. You cannot carve satisfactorily in butter.
The corruption of written English has been accompanied by an even sharper decline in the standard of spoken English. We speak very much less well than was common among educated Englishmen a generation or two ago.
The modem theatre has played a baneful (有害的) part in dimming our appreciation of language. Instead of the immensely articulate dialogue of, for example, Shaw (who was also very insistent on good pronunciation),audiences are now subjected to streams of barely literate trivia, often designed, only too well, to exhibit \'lack of communication\', and larded (夹杂) with the obscenities (下流的话) and grammatical errors of the intellectually impoverished. Emily Post once advised her readers: "The theatre is the best possible place to hear correctly-enunciated speech. " Alas, no more. One young actress was recently reported to be taking lessons in how to speak badly, so that she should fit in better.
But the BBC is the worst traitor. After years of very successfully helping to raise the general standard of spoken English, it suddenly went into reverse. As the head of the Pronunciation Unit coyly (含蓄地) put it, "In the 1960s the BBC opened the field to a much wider range of speakers." To hear a BBC disc jockey talking to the latest ape-like pop idol is a truly shocking experience of verbal squalor. And the prospect seems to be of even worse to come. School teachers are actively encouraged to ignore little Johnny\'s incoherent grammar, atrocious spelling and haphazard punctuation, because worrying about such things might inhibit his creative genius.
61. The writer relates linguistic slovenliness to tendencies in the arts today in that they both __________.
A. occasionally aim at a certain fluidity
B. appear to shun perfection
C. from time to time show regard for the finishing touch
D. make use of economical short cuts
62. "Art is enhanced, not hindered, by discipline" (Lines 6~7, Paragraph 1 ) means __________.
A. an artist\'s work will be finer if he observes certain aesthetic standards
B. an unfinished work is bound to be comparatively inferior
C. the skill of certain artists conceals their slovenliness
D. artistic expression is inhibited by too many roles
63. Many modem plays, the author finds, frequently contain speech which__________.
A. is incoherent and linguistically objectionable
B. is far too ungrammatical for most people to follow
C. unintentionally shocks the audience
D. tries to hide the author\'s intellectual inadequacies
64. The author says that the standard of the spoken English of BBC__________.
A. is the worst among all broadcasting networks
B. has raised English-speaking up to a new level
C. has taken a turn for the worse since the 1960s
D. is terrible because of a few popular disc jockeys
65. Teachers are likely to overlook the linguistic lapses in their pupils since__________.
A. they find that children no longer respond to this kind of discipline nowadays
B. they fear the children may become less coherent
C. more importance is now attached to oral expression
D. the children may be discouraged from expressing their ideas
【参考译文】
语言是而且也应该是活的,不断有新的词汇和表达形式来使其丰富完善。但是发展有好有 坏,两种发展有着很大区别。前者为语言注入新的东西,让我们能够表达出之前不能表达的东西,而后者就不一样了.它通过减弱语言的精准度而降低语言层次。对 词汇灵活、生动的使用同对词汇邋遢、马虎的使用是不可混为一谈的。[61]有些语言工作者有意大量以邋遢、马虎的方式使用词汇,他们的这种做法同狂热地迷 信艺术品不需要润饰的做法很相似,而艺术品不润饰的做法也逐渐毁掉了我们这个时代的艺术品。[62]对于这种见象。解决的方法同艺术创作是一样的:规则是 对艺术的促进,而不是对艺术的阻碍。用黄油来雕刻永远也做不出令人满意的艺术品。
伴随着书面英语的惨淡现状,英语口语的水平更是大大降低了。我们现在说的口语要比一两代之前接受普通教育的英国人差很多。
我们对语言的欣赏水平越来越差,这一点,现代剧院难辞其咎。[63]相比以前吐字极为清晰的戏剧语言,倒如萧伯纳戏剧的语言(他本人说话时也坚持良好的 发音),现代观众不得不接受的是勉强识字的人所袁述的信息,而且常常被拙劣地设计成“(现代人)沟通缺乏”的体现,很多时候还夹杂缺乏教养的下流言语和语 法错误。埃米莉·波斯特曾建议她的读者:“剧院是你最有可能听得到清晰纯正发音的场所了。”唉,如今已然不是了。最近有报道称,为了在表演中更入戏,一名 年轻女演员正在上专门教授低劣言辞的课。
但最糟糕的背叛者要数BBC了。[64]BBC曾多年如一日地帮助提升英语的口语标准。并且卓有成效 \'但是随后它就突然倒行逆施了。诚如英国发音部门负责人所含蓄表示的那样:“20世纪60年代。BBC亚丝向更广泛的讲话者人群开放。”听BBC音乐节目 主持人与猿猴一般的最新流行偶像做访谈节目,绝对是一场震撼身心的言语悲剧。不仅如此,将来的情形似乎更糟。[65]现在学校都积极鼓励老师们不要苛责小 孩子语法不连贯、拼写糟糕、发音蹩脚。因为他们担心那样做可能会扼杀孩子的创造天赋。
【答案解析】
61.B
定位:根据题干信息词slovenliness和arts可将答案定位到第一段第四句。 解析:该句提到:“有些语言工作者有意大量以邋遢、马虎的方式使用词汇,他们的这种做法同狂热地迷信艺术品不需要润饰的做法很相似。”可见二者的共同点在于都不追求完美。故选B。
62.A
定位:根据题干信息可直接将答案定位到第一段倒数第二句。
解 析:第一段倒数第二句提到:And the true answer to it is the same that art is enhanced,not hindered,by discipline.从字面理解这句话,其意为:“„„规则是对艺术的促进,而不是对艺术的阻碍。”即:没有规矩,不成方圆;遵 守规范,才会有更好的艺术。故选A。
63.A
定位:根据题干信息modem plays可将答案定位到第三段第二句。
解 析:本题是问现代戏剧语言具有怎样的特点。第三段第二句提到:“相比以前吐字极为清晰的戏剧语言,现代观众不得不接受的是勉强识字的人所表述的信息,而且 常常被拙劣地设计成‘(现代人)沟通缺乏’的体现,很多时候还夹杂着缺乏教养的下流言语和语法错误。”故A为正确答案。incoherent和 linguistically objectionable是对文中streams ofbarely fiterate trivia的同义转述。
64.C
定位:根据题干信息词BBC可将答案定位到最后一段前半部分。
解 析:原文提到,BBC曾多年如一日地帮助提升英语的口语标准,并且卓有成效,但是随后它就突然倒行逆施了。自20世纪60年代起,BBC开始向更广泛的讲 话者人群开放。听BBC音乐节目主持人与猿猴一般的最新流行偶像做访谈节目,绝对是一场震撼身心的言语悲剧。可见,BBC主持语言的水平从20世纪60年 代起就急转直下,故选C。
65.D
定位:根据题干信息teachers和linguistic lapses in their pupils可将答案定位到文章最后一句。
解析:文章最后提到:“现在学校都积极鼓励老师们不要苛责小孩子语法不连贯、拼写糟糕、发音蹩脚,因为他们担心那样做可能会扼杀孩子的创造天赋。”也就是说,老师们害怕过多地纠正小学生的语言问题会使他们不再勇于表达自己的观点。故选D。