今年閱讀理解Part A的文章中有些詞匯考生大多認識,但深層詞義沒有掌握,而考點又在這些詞匯的深層詞義上。所以考生在快速閱讀時的應對能力一落千丈。如compromise,大多數考生知道其詞義為“妥協,折衷”,部分考生知道此詞還有“讓步”之意。據筆者在今年3月400多人的講座上調查,沒有一個學生知道compromise還有“因錯誤行為使自己陷入困境”和“修改,更改(某事);減弱,減輕”的詞義。因而37題大部分考生做錯。又如fetch一詞,學生初中就學過這詞,意為“去取,去拿;去接來”,但幾乎沒有人知道fetch還有“(某貨物)賣得(多少錢)”之意,因而Text 4中下面的句子無法理解:These rules saythey must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the pricemanagers and regulators would like them to fetch. (這些規則寫道,銀行必須以第三方愿意支付的價格來估價一些資產,而不是以價格經理和管理者想要把這些資產賣出去的價格。) 再如 Text 2 第2段第1句:Now the nation’stop patent court appears completely ready to scale back on
business-method patents, which have been controversial ever since they werefirst authorized 10 years ago。(現在國家的高級專利法庭似乎完全準備好來限制經營方法專利的頒發,因為這些專利從10前首次批準以來一直是有爭議的。)其中scale back on 的確切含義400學生全部不知道,而26題考的就是這個詞組的含義。
We are even farther removed from the unfocusednewspaper reviews published in England between the turn of the 20th century andthe eve of World War II, at a time when newsprint was dirt-cheap and stylisharts criticism was considered an ornament to the publications in which itappeared. In those far-off days, it was taken for granted that the critics ofmajor papers would write in detail and at length about the events they covered.Theirs was a serious business, and even those reviewers who wore their learninglightly, like George Bernard Shaw and Ernest Newman, could be trusted to knowwhat they were about. These men believed in journalism as a calling, and wereproud to be published in the daily press. "So few authors have brainsenough or literary gift enough to keep their own end up in journalism,"Newman wrote, "that I am tempted to define ‘journalism’ as ‘a term ofcontempt applied by writers who are not read to writers who are’."
今年的完形填空和英譯漢難度適中,但閱讀理解的文章和題目難度太大。往年閱讀理解的4篇文章常常是第一、二篇文章通俗易懂,但題目有一定難度,如干擾項很難排除或在干擾項中有考生不熟悉的綱內詞匯或相關成語。而第三、四篇文章語言難度較大、理解上障礙較多、涉及的文化背景知識面較寬,可是題目往往偏重于對文章宏觀性的理解,考生只要把握住全文主題和上下文的邏輯聯系就能比較順利地解題,題目一般不糾纏于某個小的細節上。2005年的閱讀理解Part A,無論文章還是題目都是考研英語命題史上的典范,值得今后歷屆命題專家借鑒。此外,往年題干設計也比較通俗化、常規化。如:1) It can beinferred from Paragraph 4 that …. 今年這類題干一道沒有。 2) By mentioning …, the author intends toshow … 今年這類題干只有一道,即31題。 3) The last paragraph suggests that ….. 今年這類題干一道沒有。
往年全文主旨題考生的得分率比較正常,試題有很高的區分度, 如:2008年
30. Which of the followingbest summarizes the text?
[A] The Internet isposing a threat to publishers。
[B] A new mode ofpublication is emerging。
[C] Authors welcome thenew channel for publication。
[D] Publication is rendered easier by online service。