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专家解析大学英语四级考试历年阅读真题(八)

发帖者 吴怀唐 On 13:47
  Passage Two

  Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.

  In a country that defines itself by ideals, not by shared blood, who should be allowed to come work and live here? In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks these questions have never seemed more pressing.

  On Dec. 11, 2001, as part of the effort to increase homeland security, federal and local authorities in 14 states staged “Operation Safe Travel”—raids on airports to arrest employees with false identification (身份证明). In Salt Lake City there were 69 arrests. But those captured were anything but terrorists, most of them illegal immigrants from Central or South America. Authorities said the undocumented workers’ illegal status made them open to blackmail (讹诈) by terrorists.

  Many immigrants in Salt Lake City were angered by the arrests and said they felt as if they were being treated like disposable goods.

  Mayor Anderson said those feelings were justified to a certain extent. “We’re saying we want you to work in these places, we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are, and then when it’s convenient for us, or when we can try to make a point in terms of national security, especially after Sept. 11, then you’re disposable. There are whole families being uprooted for all of the wrong reasons,” Anderson said.

  If Sept. 11 had never happened, the airport workers would not have been arrested and could have gone on quietly living in America, probably indefinitely. Ana Castro, a manager at a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop at the airport had been working 10 years with the same false Social Security card when she was arrested in the December airport raid. Now she and her family are living under the threat of deportation (驱逐出境). Castro’s case is currently waiting to be settled. While she awaits the outcome, the government has granted her permission to work here and she has returned to her job at Ben & Jerry’s.

  62. According to the author, the United States claims to be a nation ________.

  A) composed of people having different values

  B) encouraging individual pursuits

  C) sharing common interests

  D) founded on shared ideals(D)

  63. How did the immigrants in Salt Lake City feel about “Operation Safe Travel”?

  A) Guilty.

  B) Offended.

  C) Disappointed.

  D) Discouraged.(B)

  64. Undocumented workers became the target of “Operation Safe Travel” because ________.

  A) evidence was found that they were potential terrorists

  B) most of them worked at airports under threat of terrorists

  C) terrorists might take advantage of their illegal status

  D) they were reportedly helping hide terrorists around the airport(C)

  65. By saying “... we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are” (Line 2, Para. 4), Mayor Anderson means “________”.

  A) we will turn a blind eye to your illegal status

  B) we will examine the laws in a different way

  C) there are other ways of enforcing the law

  D) the existing laws must not be ignored(C)

  66. What do we learn about Ana Castro from the last paragraph?

  A) She will be deported sooner or later.

  B) She is allowed to stay permanently.

  C) Her case has been dropped.

  D) Her fate remains uncertain.(D)

  这是一篇时事报道性文章,讲述在美国911恐怖袭击发生之后政府对工作在机场而无有效身份证明的人进行突击逮捕,以及此事对被逮捕人的影响。作者以探讨的笔调行文,开头提出问题,全篇叙述事实,对开头的问题进行解释。文章呈现问题后没有提出解决方案,这与其时事性有关,根据文意,此事的发展尚待明朗,作者也很难做出深入的评判。值得称道的是,这篇文章在写法上另辟蹊径,把文中所述事件上升为一种美国理想与权利问题,并在开头就提出,既吸引读者眼球,又能激起民众的响应情绪,效果好于平铺直叙式的报道。

  全文一共5段,开头没有直接叙述事件本身,而是提出与该事件相关的论题:In a country that defines itself by ideals, not by shared blood, who should be allowed to come work and live here?并指出911后该问题变得更为迫切,以此提起读者对为何如此的探询,有设置悬念的作用。

  文章后四部分解决了这个悬念,第二段叙述了美国911恐怖袭击发生之后政府对工作在机场而无有效身份证明的人进行突击逮捕的经过,并引述了官方如此做法的原因(open to blackmail by terrorists,这些人易受恐怖分子胁迫)。

  第三段简明交代了被逮捕人的反应:angerd(愤怒),being treated like disposable goods(受到货物一样的对待)。接下来的第四段引用Anderson的话支持了被逮捕者的这种感受。最后一段用Ana Castro的例子说明被逮捕者的窘迫境遇,透露出此事发展尚待继续的信息(吸引读者继续关注)。

  62. According to the author, the United States claims to be a nation ________.

  A) composed of people having different values

  B) encouraging individual pursuits

  C) sharing common interests

  D) founded on shared ideals(D)

  题目问根据作者的说法,美国声称是一个什么样的国家。

  第一道题的答案基本上都要到第一段去寻找。第一段的内容只有两句话,第一句是In a country that defines itself by ideals, not by shared blood, who should be allowed to come work and live here? 这里的that defines itself by ideals, not by shared blood是一个较长的宾语从句,修饰country。根据后文可知,这里的country指的就是美国,那么题目问的美国是什么样的国家,其答案就是that后面表述的内容。defines itself by ideals,以理想来定义自身,not by shared blood而不是以共同的血统。意思就是美国是一个因理想而凝聚起来的国家,而不是因其国民属于同一血统同一种族。事实上也确实如此,美国是一个移民国家,大部分居民都是外来移民,大家怀揣着同一个梦想——美国梦。而多数国家的国民则属于同一血统,如德国人主要是日耳曼民族,日本主要是大和民族等。

  A,由拥有不同价值观的人组成。

  B,鼓励个人追求。

  C,分享共同利益。

  D,建立在共同的理想之上。

  根据上文的分析,D的说法是正确的。

  63. How did the immigrants in Salt Lake City feel about “Operation Safe Travel”?

  A) Guilty.

  B) Offended.

  C) Disappointed.

  D) Discouraged.(B)

  题目问盐湖城的移民对Operation Safe Travel这一行动的感受如何。

  第二段叙述了美国911恐怖袭击发生之后政府对工作在机场而无有效身份证明的人进行突击逮捕的经过之后,第三段用一句话给出了这些移民的感受:were angered by the arrests and said they felt as if they were being treated like disposable goods。这里的关键词是angered,意思是“愤怒的”,可见移民的反应是愤怒。

  A,guilty,内疚的。

  B,offended。Offend是“使不高兴、不愉快、使恼怒”的意思,它的被动语态就是“不高兴、不愉快、恼怒”的意思。与angerd是同义词。

  C,disappointed,失望的。

  D,dicouraged。Dicourage是“使气馁”的意思,其被动形式就是“气馁的”。

  B是正确答案。

  64. Undocumented workers became the target of “Operation Safe Travel” because ________.

  A) evidence was found that they were potential terrorists

  B) most of them worked at airports under threat of terrorists

  C) terrorists might take advantage of their illegal status

  D) they were reportedly helping hide terrorists around the airport(C)

  题目问无入档工人成为Operation Safe Travel行动的目标,原因是什么。

  A,发现证据证明他们是潜在的恐怖主义分子。

  B,他们大多在机场工作,受到恐怖分子的威胁。

  C,恐怖分子可能利用他们的非法身份。

  D,据报他们在机场附近协助窝藏恐怖分子。

  文章第二段叙述了美国911恐怖袭击发生之后政府对工作在机场而无有效身份证明的人进行突击逮捕的经过和结果,以及官方给出的如此做法的原因。those captured were anything but terrorists,这里的but表示“除了”,除了恐怖分子之外可以是anything(任何东西),言下之意就是“绝对不是恐怖分子”。Anything but可以作为一个词组来记忆,意为“绝不是”。 Authorities said the undocumented workers’ illegal status made them open to blackmail (讹诈) by terrorists,这一句解释了官方逮捕未入档工人的原因。Be open to blackmail,是易受讹诈的意思,这里的open与vulnerable(脆弱的、易受攻击的)意思一致。易受讹诈的原因是illegal status,非法地位,联系起来可以明白大致的意思是:因为他们是非法移民,恐怖分子可能会利用这一点,以告发其身份为威胁,迫使他们与恐怖分子合作。

  观察题支可以判断A和D都存在明显错误,B也提到他们会受到恐怖分子威胁,但要注意这里的under threat of是“有……的危险”的意思,of后面接的是危险本身,如banks under threat of downgrade,排名有降级的危险。Under threat of terrorists本身的意义讲不通。而under the threat of才是受到……的威胁的意思。所以说,B选项本身就存在意义表达错误,是一个迷惑选项。

  65. By saying “... we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are” (Line 2, Para. 4), Mayor Anderson means “________”.

  A) we will turn a blind eye to your illegal status

  B) we will examine the laws in a different way

  C) there are other ways of enforcing the law

  D) the existing laws must not be ignored(C)

  题目问Anderson说的“we’re going to look the other way in terms of what our laws are”这句话的意思是什么。

  从这个句子本身来看,look the other way意思是用一种方式看,in terms of是“就……而言”的意思,what our laws are,法律是什么。联系起来看就是“用另一种方式来看法律[考试[大]是什么的问题”。

  从上下文来看,上一段讲到被逮捕者对这一事件的反应是愤怒,并称受到了货物一样的对待,第三段开头指出Anderson对他们的感受表示了支持。随后文章引用了Anderson的原话。

  Anderson的这段话是比较难以理解的,因为他使用了现在时态,而实际上应该用过去时。如果考生注意到了现在时态而认为他说的是现在和将来,那就会出现理解上的困难。判断他说的是过去的证据有especially after Sept. 11, then you’re disposable,前文已经说了工人们认为自己像被货物一样对待,当时使用了disposable一词,这里的disposable应该就是指的上文工人的话。此外还有There are whole families being uprooted for all of the wrong reasons这句,整个家庭遭到破坏的情形是正在发生的,而Anderson前面说的几条事实必然是过去发生的。

  这段引用的大意是:我们说过我们需要你们在这些地方工作,我们会look the other way in terms of what our laws are,然后,我们一觉得方便,或是想就国家安全发表一下观点,尤其是在911以后,你们就成了处理货了。这里说的第一点信息是美国需要这些人,第二点信息是在法律上是不允许这些人在美国工作的,那么“用另一种方式来看法律是什么的问题”可以理解为为这些人在法律上变通,以便他们能够为美国工作,同时又不受到追究。

  A,我们将对你们的非法地位睁一只眼闭一只眼。

  B,我们用另一种方式来考察(研究)法律。

  C,有其他执行法律的方式。

  D,现有法律不能被忽略。

  B和D的错误比较明显。A的说法在实际效果上可以说得过去,因为睁一只眼闭一只眼事实上保证了非法移民为美国工作同时又不受到追究。但文中说的在法律上变通可能不只官方无所作为这一项,也可以用其他方式来达到目的。因此C的说法更为准确些。

  66. What do we learn about Ana Castro from the last paragraph?

  A) She will be deported sooner or later.

  B) She is allowed to stay permanently.

  C) Her case has been dropped.

  D) Her fate remains uncertain.(D)

  题目问从最后一段可知Ana Castro的哪些事情。最后一段*考试&大的后半部分对Ana Castro的现状进行了描述,原文是:Now she and her family are living under the threat of deportation. Castro’s case is currently waiting to be settled. While she awaits the outcome, the government has granted her permission to work here and she has returned to her job at Ben & Jerry’s。只要理解了这段话的意思,选择出正确答案并不难。

  汉语直译为:现在,她与她的家庭生活在被驱逐出境的威胁之下。她的案子目前正等待审理中。在她等待结果期间,政府已经允许她在这里工作,她已经返回Ben & Jerry’s继续工作。

  A,她早晚都要被驱逐出境。从这段话可以看出,她处在被驱逐出境的威胁之下(under the threat of deportation),这就意味着她有可能被驱逐,也有可能不被驱逐,所以说A认为她早晚都要被驱逐是有些武断了。

  B, 她被允许永久停留在美国。文中的government has granted her permission to work here一句指出她被允许继续工作,是否可以永久停留,还有等待结果(awaits the outcome)。

  C,她的案子已经停止审理。Castro’s case is currently waiting to be settled这一句说明她的案子还在审理中,没有停止审理。

  D,她的命运依然未卜。从最后一段可以看到,她虽然已经被允许继续工作,但以后命运如何还要等待案件审理的结果,因此说她命运依然未卜是合适的。

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