玩玩美国“高考”题(之二)

李豪

  美国“高考”纵横谈(之二)
上海前进进修学院于2005年10月底开办New SAT实战培训班。
前进New SAT实战培训班的做法是：每次上课前一周发一套New SAT试题，同时发相应试题的注释。要求学员在家不看注释限时完成试题，以培养实战感觉；完成试题后，结合注释研究试题。上课时再详细讲解，解答疑问。学员有任何疑问，还可通过e-mail得到详尽的答复。总之，举一反三，融会贯通。
下面是阅读部分的注释例子：

1. Soon after the first visitors arrived, increasing numbers
of the residents of the remote (僻静的) island thought it possible
that the outside world, instead of being ------- , could be
------- and worth exploring.
(A) insular(like an island; narrow-minded 岛屿的；心胸狭隘的)..unlimited
(B) friendly.. wicked
(C) amiable (agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly) ..cooperative
(D) threatening(威吓性的；凶兆的，险恶的)..fascinating
(E) forbidding (严峻的；险恶的).. harmful

2. Her dislike of ------- made her regard people who
tried to win her approval through praise as------- .
(A) autocrats (独裁者；专制君主).. dictators (独裁者)
(B) defiance(违抗).. toadies (谄媚者)
(C) tyrants (暴君)..connoisseurs (鉴定家，鉴赏家，行家)
(D) adulation (flattery; admiration 奉承；赞赏) ..superiors
(E) flattery..sycophants (servile flatterer 阿谀奉承者)

3. Some scientists speculate (推测) that a small pterosaur (翼手龙) of the
Jurassic (朱罗纪的) period known as Sordes pilosus had -------
wings that were thin, pliable (柔韧的), and somewhat transparent (透明的).
(A) callous (长老茧的) (B) arable (适于耕种的) (C) inflexible
(D) membranous (膜的；细胞膜的) (E) viscous (黏稠的，黏性的)

4. To reflect the ------- of that nation's spoken languages,
its writers often make use of a mixture of dialects (方言).
(A) articulation (说话；发音) (B) intonation (语调) (C) spontaneity (自然，不做作) (D) profundity (深刻) (E) heterogeneity (各种各样；多种多样)

5. She apologized profusely, only to discover that her
self-serving (只顾自己利益的) excuses failed to have a ------- effect.
(A) reprehensible (deserving blame 应受责备的) (B) palliative
(C) depreciatory (贬值的；贬低的) (D) litigious (好讼的)
(E) compendious (concise but comprehensive 简明扼要的)
【注】palliate v. 1 :to reduce the violence of (a disease) 减轻 (疾病等)
2 : to cover by excuses and apologies 掩饰
3 : to moderate the intensity of 缓和
palliative adj. serving to palliate 减轻的，缓和的；掩饰的

Questions 6-7 are based on the following passage.

Sometimes the meaning of old phrases is self-evident,
as with to move like greased lightning and a close shave.
But quite often we are left with language that seems to
have sprung out of the blue (出乎意外地“冒出来”) and does not appear to signify anything in particular — even steven, fit as a fiddle, or to paint the town red. Explanations are frequently posited (假定)
but are too often unpersuasive (不具说服力的). One popular dictionary, for example, suggests that to be joshing (开玩笑) might be connected to the humorist Josh Billings, but in fact the term was current (流行的) as early as 1845. Josh Billings was unknown outside his
neighborhood until 1860.
【注】like greased lightning 闪电似地，飞快地，一溜烟地
a closed shave a narrow escape from disaster 侥幸脱险
even steven <俚> 相等的；比分相等的；半斤八两的
fit as a fiddle in very good health 十分健康
paint the town red to go out to drink and have a good time; celebrate wildly; carouse <俚> 饮酒作乐；狂欢庆祝

6. Which of the following phrases would the author
be most likely to add to the list in lines 5-6 ?
(A) To take a chance (冒险)
(B) To jump for joy
(C) To lend an ear (听，注意)
(D) To talk through your hat
(E) To flare up (在熄火后又短暂地旺烧起来；突然发怒或激动)
【注】to talk through one’s hat to talk foolishly or ignorantly
<美口> 信口开河；胡说八道

7. The last sentence of the passage primarily
serves to
(A) cite a well-known fact
(B) invalidate (使无效；否定) a theory
(C) make a veiled (隐藏的；不明言的) accusation
(D) note a puzzling incident
(E) explain the origins of a phrase
【注】解题时从line 7 One popular dictionary…看起，注意suggests…意涵a theory；注意提到的两个时间。