Under my desk I kept a large carton of cassette tapes. Though they have all been transcribed, I still like to listen to them from time to time.
Some are quiet and easy to understand. They are filled with the voices of American doctors, interrupted occasionally by the clink of a coffee cup or beep of a pager. The rest—more than half of them—are very noisy. They are filled with the voices of the Lees family, Hmong refugees from Laos who came to the United States in 1980. Against a background of babies crying, children playing, doors slamming, dishes clattering, a television yammering, and an air conditioner wheezing. I can hear the mother’s voice, by turns breathy, nasal, gargly, or humlike as it slides up and down the Hmong language s eight tones; the father’s voice, louder, slower, more vehement; and my interpreter’s voice, mediating in Hmong and English, low and deferential in each. The hubbub summons sense-memories; the coolness of the red metal folding chair, reserved for guests, that was always set up when I arrived in the apartment; the shadows cast by the amulet that hung from the ceiling and swung in the breeze on its length of grocer’s twine; the tastes of Hmong food.
I sat on the Lee’s red chair for the first time on May 19, 1988. Earlier that spring I had to Merced, California, because I had heard that there were some misunderstandings at the county hospital between its Hmong patients and medical staff. One doctor called them “collisions,” which made it sound as if two different kinds of people had rammed into each other, head on, to the accompaniment of squealing brakes and breaking glass. As it turned out, the encounters were messy but rarely frontal. Both sides were wounded, but neither side seemed to know what had hit it or how to avoid another crash.
I have always felt that the action most worth watching occurs not at the center of things but where edges meet. I like shorelines, weather fronts, international borders. These places have interesting frictions and incongruities, and often, if you stand at the point of tangency, you can see both sides better than if you were in the middle of either one. This is especially true when the apposition is cultural. When I first came to Merced, I hoped that the culture of American medicine, about which I knew a little, and the culture of the Hmong, about which I knew nothing, would somehow illuminate each other if I could position myself between the two and manage not to get caught in the crossfire. But after getting to know the Lees family and their daughter’s doctors and realizing how hard it was to blame anyone, I stopped analyzing the situation in such linear terms. Now, when I play the tapes late at night, I imagine what they would sound like if I could splice them together, so the voices of the Hmong and those of the American doctors could be heard on a single tape, speaking a common language.
36. In Paragraph 2, the word of “summons” most nearly means ______.
37. It can be inferred from the underlined sentences in Paragraph 3 that “collisions” was NOT an apt description because the ______.
38. Which of the following views of conflict is best supported by the first underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 (“These ... one”)?
39. According to the second underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 (“When I ... crossfire”), the author’s initial goal was to ______.
40. At the end of the passage, the author suggests that it would be ideal if the ______.
问题1选项
A.sends for
B.calls forth
C.requests
D.orders
问题2选项
A.clash between Hmong patients and medical staff was indirect and baffling
B.Hmong patients and the medical staff were not significantly affected by the encounters
C.medical staff was not responsible for the dissatisfaction of the Hmong patients
D.disagreement reached beyond particular individuals to the community at large
问题3选项
A.Efforts to prevent conflicts are not always successful.
B.Conflict can occur in many different guises.
C.You can understand two parties that have resolved their conflicts better than two parties that are currently in conflict.
D.In most conflicts, both parties are to blame.
问题4选项
A.acquire a greater knowledge of how the American medical culture serves patients
B.serve as a counselor to the county hospital’s Hmong patients in order to ease their anxieties
C.work out a compromise between the American doctors and the Lee family
D.consider the perspectives of both the American doctors and the Lees family to see what insights might develop
问题5选项
A.differences between the Lees family and the American doctors could be resolved quickly
B.concerns and opinions of the Lees family and the American doctors could be merged
C.American doctors could take the time to learn more about their Hmong patients
D.Hmong patients could become more vocal in defense of their rights
第1题:B
第2题:A
第3题:C
第4题:D
第5题:B
第1题:
【选项释义】
In Paragraph 2, the word of “summons” most nearly means ________. 在第二段中，“summons”一词的意思几乎是________。
A. sends for A. 派人去请
B. calls forth B. 唤起，使起作用
C. requests C. 要求
D. orders D. 命令
【答案】B
【考查点】词义推测题。
【解题思路】定位第二段最后一句“喧闹summons感官记忆（sense-memories）：当我一进公寓，红色金属折叠椅的凉爽，那是为客人准备的，当我到达公寓时，它总是摆放在那里；悬挂在天花板上的辟邪物投下的阴影，在微风中摇曳在杂货商的绳子上；还有赫蒙族食物的味道。”，可知，折叠椅的冰冷、辟邪物的阴影和赫蒙族食物的味道都是由喧闹带来的感官记忆（sense-memories），所以推测summon的意思和“使人想起”有关，四个选项中B项意思与之相近，因此正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项均不符合原文意思，属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
It can be inferred from the underlined sentences in Paragraph 3 that “collisions” was NOT an apt description because the ________. 从第三段中划线的句子可以推断出“collisions”不是一个恰当的描述，因为________。
A. clash between Hmong patients and medical staff was indirect and baffling A. 赫蒙族病人和医务人员之间的冲突是间接的和令人困惑的
B. Hmong patients and the medical staff were not significantly affected by the encounters B. 赫蒙族病人和医务人员没有受到碰撞的重大影响
C. medical staff was not responsible for the dissatisfaction of the Hmong patients C. 医务人员对赫蒙族病人的不满没有责任
D. disagreement reached beyond particular individuals to the community at large D. 分歧超越了特定的个人，影响了整个社会
【答案】A
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】定位第三段第三句“一位医生称之为‘碰撞’，听起来就像两个不同的人迎面相撞，伴随着刺耳的刹车声和破碎的玻璃”，结合后面两句“事实证明，他们的遭遇很混乱，但很少正面交锋（rarely frontal）。双方都受伤了，但双方似乎都不知道是什么击中了它（what had hit it），也不知道如何避免再次碰撞。（how to avoid another crash）”，从中我们可知，赫蒙族病人和医务人员之间没有正面冲突，而且他们都不知道是什么原因也不知道如何避免；而collision是指两个人有正面交锋，所以collisions并不是一个恰当的描述，是因为赫蒙族病人和医务人员之间的冲突是非正面的，也不知道原因，所以A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项并不符合原文意思，属于曲解原文；
C选项没有提到医务人员对赫蒙族病人的dissatisfaction，属于无中生有；
D选项中的“影响整个社会”范围太大，该段没有体现，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following views of conflict is best supported by the first underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 (“These ... one”)? 下列哪一种冲突观点最能得到第4段的第一句下划线的支持？
A. Efforts to prevent conflicts are not always successful. A. 防止冲突的努力并不总是成功的。
B. Conflict can occur in many different guises. B. 冲突可能以许多不同的伪装形式发生。
C. You can understand two parties that have resolved their conflicts better than two parties that are currently in conflict. C. 比起当前处于冲突中的两方，你可以更好地理解已经解决了冲突的两方。
D. In most conflicts, both parties are to blame. D. 在大多数冲突中，双方都有责任。
【答案】C
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】定位第四段第一句下划线“这些地方有有趣的摩擦和不协调，通常，如果你站在边缘上，这会比站在任何一个的中间还要更好地看到两边（see both sides better）”，结合第四段第一句“我一直觉得（always felt）最值得观看的动作不是发生在事物的中心，而是发生在边缘交汇的地方”，从中可知，作者在这里清楚的表达了自己对冲突一直以来的观点和态度，即倾向于站在问题两方的交界线上来看待问题，因为比起置身其中的人来说，观察者能将双方的情况了解更透彻，所以C选项最能得到该句下划线的支持。
【干扰项排除】
A选项中的efforts to prevent conflicts并不符合作者对于冲突的态度，属于反向干扰；
B、D选项没有体现，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
According to the second underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 (“When I ... crossfire”), the author’s initial goal was to ________. 根据第4段中的第二个划线句子，作者最初的目标是________。
A. acquire a greater knowledge of how the American medical culture serves patients A. 了解美国的医疗文化是如何为病人服务的
B. serve as a counselor to the county hospital’s Hmong patients in order to ease their anxieties B. 为县医院的赫蒙族病人担任顾问，以缓解他们的焦虑
C. work out a compromise between the American doctors and the Lee family C. 在美国医生和李氏家族之间达成妥协
D. consider the perspectives of both the American doctors and the Lees family to see what insights might develop D. 考虑一下美国医生和李氏家族的观点，看看能得出什么结论
【答案】D
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】定位第四段第二句下划线句子“当我第一次来到默塞德时，如果我能把自己置于两者之间（position myself between the two），并设法不被夹在交火中，我希望我了解一点点的美国医学文化和我一无所知的赫蒙族文化能以某种方式相互解释（illuminate each other）”，从中可知，对于美国医生和赫蒙族病人之间的冲突，作者的做法是不干涉其中的站在两者之间，来了解美国医学文化和赫蒙族文化；那么由此推断，作者最初的目的是分析双方的观点来找出结论，所以D项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、B选项并不符合作者站在问题两方的交界线上来看待问题的观点，属于曲解原文；
C选项中的compromise没有体现，属于无中生有。
第5题:
【选项释义】
At the end of the passage, the author suggests that it would be ideal if the ________. 在文章的最后，作者建议，如果________，那将是理想的。
A. differences between the Lees family and the American doctors could be resolved quickly A. 李氏家族和美国医生之间的分歧能够迅速解决
B. concerns and opinions of the Lees family and the American doctors could be merged B. 李氏家族和美国医生的关注和意见可以合并
C. American doctors could take the time to learn more about their Hmong patients C. 美国医生能够花时间更多地了解他们的赫蒙族病人
D. Hmong patients could become more vocal in defense of their rights D. 赫蒙族患者能够更加直言不讳地捍卫自己的权利
【答案】B
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】定位最后一句“现在，当我在深夜播放这些磁带时，我想象着如果我能把它们拼接在一起（splice them together），那么赫蒙族人和美国医生的声音就能在一盘磁带上听到，并且说着相同的语言”，上一句有一个强烈的转折信号词but，从中我们可知道，作者在这里提示我们他的观点发生了变化，作者不再是站在交界线上看问题，而是“想象把这些磁带结合在一起”，那么可以推断，作者是建议能够把赫蒙族病人和美国医生的关注和想法合并在一起，所以B项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项没体现，属于无中生有；
C、D选项不符合原文，文章最后，作者是希望能够将双方合并，并不是站在某一方的角度来思考，所以这两项属于曲解原文。
【文章来源】《The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down》Anne Fadiman 1998
【参考译文】
在我的桌子底下，我放了一大箱磁带。虽然他们都已被转录，但我仍然喜欢不时地听它们。
有些很安静，很容易理解。房间里充斥着美国医生的声音，偶尔会被咖啡杯的叮当声或寻呼机的哔哔声打断。其余的——超过一半——则非常嘈杂。它们中充满了李氏一家的声音，他们是1980年从老挝来到美国的赫蒙族难民。背景是婴儿的哭声，孩子们在玩耍，门摔得很响，盘子哗啦哗啦作响，电视在嗡嗡作响，空调在呼哧呼哧地喘气。我能听到母亲的声音，有呼吸声、鼻音、漱口声、哼哼声，在赫蒙族语的八种音调之间来回滑动。父亲的声音更大、更慢、更激烈；还有我翻译的声音，用赫蒙族语和英语进行调解，低沉而恭敬。喧闹声唤起了我的感官记忆；红色金属折叠椅的凉爽，那是为客人准备的，当我到达公寓时，它总是摆放在那里；挂在天花板上的护身符投下的阴影，在微风中摇曳在杂货商的绳子上；还有赫蒙族食物的味道。
1988年5月19日，我第一次坐在李氏的红色椅子上。那年春天早些时候，我来到加利福尼亚州的默塞德，因为我听说县医院的赫蒙族病人和医务人员之间发生了一些误会。一位医生称之为“碰撞”，听起来好像是两种不同的人迎头相撞，伴随着刺耳的刹车声和玻璃破碎声。事实证明，遭遇战很混乱，但很少正面交锋。双方都受伤了，但似乎都不知道自己被什么撞了，也不知道如何避免另一次碰撞。
我一直觉得，最值得关注的行动不是发生在事物的中心，而是发生在边缘交汇的地方。我喜欢海岸线、天气前线、国际边界。这些地方有有趣的摩擦和不协调，通常，如果你站在边缘上，这会比站在任何一个的中间还要更好地看到两边。当这种对立是文化上时尤其如此。当我第一次来到默塞德时，我希望我略知一解的美国医学文化和我一无所知的赫蒙族文化能够相互启发，如果我能够将自己置于两者之间，并设法不被卷入交火之中。但在了解了李氏一家和他们女儿的医生之后，我意识到很难去责怪任何人，我就不再以这种线性方式分析情况了。现在，当我在深夜播放这些磁带时，我会想象如果我能把它们拼接在一起，那么赫蒙族人和美国医生的声音可以在一盘磁带上听到，说一种共同的语言，听起来会是什么样。
