I had visited the capital before although my friend Arthur had not, I first visited London as a student, reluctantly released from the bosom of a tearful mum, with a traveling trunk stuffed full of home-made fruit cakes and woolly vests. I was ill-prepared for the Spartan standards of the South. Through even the grimmest post-war days, as kids we had ploughed our way through corner cuts of beef and steamed puddings. So you can imagine my dismay when I arrived, that first day, at my London digs to be faced with a plate of tuna-paste sandwiches and a thin slice of cake left curling under a tea-towel. And that was supposed to be Sunday lunch!
When I eventually caught up with my extremely irritating landlady, I met with a vision of splendor more in keeping with the Royal Enclosure at the races than the area in which she lived. Festooned with jewels and furs and plastered with exclusive cosmetics, she was a walking advert for Bond Street.
Now, we have a none too elegant but very apt phrase for this in the North of England, and it was the one my friend Arthur to describe London after three days there: “All fur coat and nothing underneath.”
Take our hotel. The reception area was plush and inviting, the lounge and dining-room poor enough to start Arthur speaking “properly”. But journey upstairs from one landing to the next, at the veneers of civilization fell away before your eyes. By the time we reached our room, all pretension to refinement and comfort had disappeared. The fur coat was off (back in the bands of the hire purchase company), and what we were really expected to put up with for a small fortune a night was exposed in all its shameful nakedness. It was little more than a garret, a shabby affair with patched and peeling walls. There was a stained sink with pipes that grumbled and muttered all night long and an assortment of furnishings that would have disgraced Her Majesty’s Prison Service. But the crowning glory was the view from the window. A peek behind the handsome facade of our fabled city, rank gardens choked with rubbish, all the debris of life piled against the back door. It was a good job the window didn’t open, because from it all arose the unmistakable odor of the abyss.
Arthur, whose mum still polishes her back step and disinfects her dustbin once a week, slumped on to the bed in a sudden fit of depression. “Never mind,” I said, drawing the curtains. “You can watch telly.” This was one of the hotel’s luxuries, which in the newspaper ad had persuaded us we were going to spend the week in style. It turned out to be a yellowing plastic thing with a picture which rolled over and over like a floundering fish until you took your fist to it. But Arthur wasn’t going to be consoled by any cheap technological gimmicks.
He was sure his dad had forgotten to feed his pigeons and that his dogs were pining away for him. He grew horribly homesick. After a terrible night spent tossing and turning to a ceaseless cacophony of pipes and fire doors, traffic, drunks and low-flying aircraft, Arthur surfaced next day like a claustrophobic mole. London had got squarely on top of him. Seven million people had sat on him all night, breathed his air, generally fouled his living space, and come between him and that daily quota of privacy and peace which prevents us all from degenerating into mad axemen or reservoir poisoners.
Arthur had to be got out of London for a while.
1.When the writer first came to the capital( ).
2.The writer was surprised at what he received for Sunday lunch because( ).
3.The landlady seemed to epitomize a phrase used in the North of England to indicate that things were( ).
4.The room which the writer and his friend were to share( ).
5.The writer feels that in order to remain sane, one needs a certain amount of( ).
问题1选项
A.he had been very reluctant to leave his mother
B.his mother had not wanted him to leave home
C.he had made no preparations for his journey south
D.he had sent his possessions on ahead in a trunk
问题2选项
A.food had always been plentiful at home
B.he had been used to grimmer times at home
C.things had been difficult after the war up North
D.beef had always been available from the butcher on the corner at home
问题3选项
A.tender underneath the surface
B.vulnerable to the outside world
C.more profound than they seemed
D.beautiful but only superficially
问题4选项
A.was more suited to housing prisoners than hotel guests
B.had a magnificent view from one of its windows
C.had a door which provided access to a rubbish tip
D.was situated above some foul-smelling gardens
问题5选项
A.physical exercise
B.fresh air
C.daily nourishment
D.breathing space
第1题:B
第2题:A
第3题:D
第4题:A
第5题:D
第1题:
【选项释义】
When the writer first came to the capital, _____. 笔者第一次到首都时,_____。
A. he had been very reluctant to leave his mother A. 他十分不愿意离开他的母亲
B. his mother had not wanted him to leave home B. 他的母亲不希望他离开家
C. he had made no preparations for his journey south C. 他没有为他的南下之旅做任何准备
D. he had sent his possessions on ahead in a trunk D. 他把他的东西装在箱子里提前送走了
【考查点】事实细节题
【解题思路】由题干可以定位到文章第一段第一句:I first visited London as a student, reluctantly released from the bosom of a tearful mum, with a traveling trunk stuffed full of home-made fruit cakes and woolly vests.(我第一次去伦敦是在学生时代,带着一个装满自制水果蛋糕和羊毛背心的旅行箱子,不情愿地离开泪流满面的妈妈的怀抱。)说明A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项根据解析可知,其说法言过其实了,属于过度推断;
C、D选项根据解析可知属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
The writer was surprised at what he received for Sunday lunch because _____. 作者对他收到的周日午餐感到惊讶,因为_____。
A. food had always been plentiful at home A. 家里的食物一直很充足
B. he had been used to grimmer times at home B. 他在家里已经习惯了更糟糕的日子
C. things had been difficult after the war up North C. 战争结束后,北方的情况一直很困难
D. beef had always been available from the butcher on the corner at home D. 家里街角的肉铺总是能买到牛肉
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】由题干可以定位到文章第一段后半部分:Through even the grimmest post-war days, as kids we had ploughed our way through corner cuts of beef and steamed puddings. So you can imagine my dismay when I arrived, that first day, at my London digs to be faced with a plate of tuna-paste sandwiches and a thin slice of cake left curling under a tea-towel. And that was supposed to be Sunday lunch!(尽管是在战后最艰苦的日子,还是孩子的我们依然能吃到牛排和蒸布丁。因此可以想象得出,当我第一天到达伦敦寓所面对着一盘金枪鱼酱三明治和薄薄一片卷在茶巾下面的蛋糕时,我的心情有多沮丧。而那就是星期天的午餐!),说明我在家里吃的东西很丰盛,所以对于在伦敦吃到的东西很沮丧。因此A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项根据解析可知属于曲解原文;
C、D选项,根据解析可知,文中虽然提到了牛肉和战争,但战争结束后,北方的情况是否一直很困难、家里街角的肉铺是否总是能买到牛肉不得而知,属于过度推断。
第3题:
【选项释义】
The landlady seemed to epitomize a phrase used in the North of England to indicate that things were _____. 这位女房东似乎是英格兰北部用来表示事情是_____的一个短语的缩影。
A. tender underneath the surface A. 表面下的温柔
B. vulnerable to the outside world B. 易受外界影响
C. more profound than they seemed C. 比看起来更深刻
D. beautiful but only superficially D. 美丽但只是表面上的
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】由题干可以定位到文章第二、三段:Festooned with jewels and furs and plastered with exclusive cosmetics, she was a walking advert for Bond Street.(她戴着珠宝和皮草,涂着高档化妆品,就像邦德街的活广告。)、…it was the one my friend Arthur came up with to describe London after three days there: “All fur coat and nothing underneath.”(……这是我的朋友亚瑟在伦敦待了三天之后想到的:“所有的都是毛皮外套,里面什么都没有。”),说明作者认为旅店老板注重表面功夫,而他的朋友亚瑟认为伦敦只是表面华丽,反映了英国北部地区金玉其外败絮其中,故D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】A、B、C选项不能根据文中信息推理出来。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The room which the writer and his friend were to share _____. 作家和他的朋友将要合住的房间_____。
A. was more suited to housing prisoners than hotel guests A. 比起让酒店客人住更适合容纳囚犯
B. had a magnificent view from one of its windows B. 从其中一扇窗户可以看到壮丽的景色
C. had a door which provided access to a rubbish tip C. 有一扇门通向垃圾堆
D. was situated above some foul-smelling gardens D. 位于一些臭气熏天的花园上面
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】由题干可以定位到文章第四段第六、七句:It was little more than a garret, a shabby affair with patched and peeling walls. There was a stained sink with pipes that grumbled and muttered all night long and an assortment of furnishings that would have disgraced Her Majesty’s Prison Service.(我们的房间并不比顶楼大多少,四周是斑驳的墙壁。有一个褪了色的水池,水管整夜响个不停,摆放的几件家具会玷污英国监狱局。),说明作者和朋友住的地方还比不上监狱的环境。因此A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】B、C、D选项在文中没有提及,属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The writer feels that in order to remain sane, one needs a certain amount of _____. 作者认为,为了保持理智,一个人需要一定量的_____。
A. physical exercise A. 体育锻炼
B. fresh air B. 新鲜空气
C. daily nourishment C. 每日营养
D. breathing space D. 喘息的空间
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】由题干可以定位到文章倒数第二段最后一句:…privacy and peace which prevents us all from degenerating into mad axemen or reservoir poisoners.(……日常的隐私和平静可以保护我们不会堕落成疯狂的用斧者或水库下毒者。),说明一个人需要休息的场所和喘息的时间。因此D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】A、B、C选项在文中没有提及,属于无中生有。