People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too。(2006.4)
37. The word “bummer” (Line 5, paragraph 5) most probably means something ________。
[A] religious [B] unpleasant [C] entertaining [D] commercial
根據題干中的提示”Line 5, paragraph 5”我們很容易地定位到本段末句,通過分析段落,不難發現本段共包括4句話,前三句之間并沒有出現表示邏輯關系的詞匯,因此沒有轉折現象發生,而最后兩句之間出現Give all this作為連接,很明顯四句話之間均為順承關系,通過閱讀文章我們不難發現前三句中出現的諸如misery, worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young, their souls were in danger and that they would someday be meat for worms等信息都是負性詞匯,因此bummer一詞必然表達了一種負面的含義,通過選項的分析,AD都為中性詞,只有B表達了負面含義,因此本題選擇B作為正確選項。
在不涉及到正負評價的題目中,通過邏輯關系把握語義同樣可以適用,例如:
In spite of “endless talk of difference,” American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is “the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference” characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into “a culture of consumption” launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered “vast s of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite,” these were stores “anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act。” The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization. (2006 1)
21.The word “homogenizing” (Line 2, Paragraph 1) most probably means ________。
The townsfolk don’t see it this way and local council does not contribute directly to the subsidy of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stratford cries poor traditionally. Nevertheless every hotel in town seems to be adding a new wing or cocktail lounge. Hilton is building its own hotel there, which you may be sure will be decorated with Hamlet Hamburger Bars, the Lear Lounge, the Banquo Banqueting Room, and so forth, and will be very expensive。
28. By saying “Stratford cries poor traditionally” (Line 2-3, Paragraph 4), the author implies that ________。
[A] Stratford cannot afford the expansion projects [B] Stratford has long been in financial difficulties
[C] the town is not really short of money [D] the townsfolk used to be poorly paid
通過題干信息我們得知,Stratford這個地方一直在“哭窮”,通過前后銜接處的搜索,我們發現本句只有出現了nevertheless一詞,因此我們知道,Stratford其實并不“窮”,比較四個選項,A中的cannot afford, B中的financial difficulties以及D中的poorly paid都說明Stratford確實“窮”,只有[C] the town is not really short of money說明這里其實并不窮,因此本題選擇C選項。
第一段:Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return?
第二段:The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports。
第三段:Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s。
第四段:Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price。
第五段:One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand。
在這幾個首句中,第一句的bad old days of economic decline表明了一個負性事件的發生,并且首句設問(問題答案型文章),我們需要格外把握對問題的回答,第二句中another一詞說明本段是對第一段的延伸,第三段首句出現Yet一詞,并且之后的less severe一詞表明本段是正性態度,第四段中的also以及less dependent on oil和less sensitive to swings in the oil price說明本段與之前一段的順承關系,末段首句的One more reason表明了最終作者的態度,因此通過邏輯關系和正負評價的思路我們很容易發現,前兩段給出負性事件,后三段分別說明不需要過于擔心的原因,題干橫線上可以標明+,選項中CD都為-所以首先排除,比較A樂觀的B敏感的,很容易得出作者的態度為A optimistic。