Now that it’s clear that John Kerry will be the Democratic nominee for president, the question is how George W. Bush and Karl Rove, his chief political strategist, will attack him. Tom Toles, whose editorial cartoons appear regularly in the centrist Washington Post, has a hunch: as an advocate of massive social programs and big federal budgets to pay for them (translation: someone who raises taxed) who is also soft on terrorism.
Toles depicts Kerry and an advisor strolling past the White House, atop which workmen are busy covering a billboard with an anti-Kerry ad. The ad says：“Beware the Massalqaeda liborrist.”
Don’t look for the last two words in your dictionary. Toles has concocted them by blending first Massachusetts and al-Qaeda (Osama bin Laden’s terrorist organization), second “liberal" and “terrorist”. The second blend is reminiscent of the kind of word that President Bush actually does utter when he’s not mindful of his speech — which, it must be said, is a fair amount of the time.
A Chinese observer will understand the reference to al-Qaeda and terrorists. Kerry is linked with neither, but he was at best a lukewarm supporter of Bush’s invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein. But what is so politically significant about denouncing Kerry as a “Massachusetts liberal”?
Massachusetts, dominated by Boston, with its concentration of elite universities, acquired a reputation in the 20th century as a relatively left-wing US state. Lawmakers there support an extensive and often innovative welfare system — not on the European scale, but still bigger than in most US states and not cheap. Hence Massachusetts has high taxes; critics deride the state as “Taxachusetts”, and occasionally even as the “People’s Republic of Massachusetts” because of the warm reception allegedly given to socialist ideas.
In America (but not in Europe）“liberals” are people who believe that government regulatory and taxing authority should be used to protect ordinary citizens from the power of big business. They also seek to remedy social inequality through government programs. Having build America’s social welfare system, they want to maintain or even extend it. The problem is that many voters see the liberal programs that were put into place in the 1960s and 1970s as wasteful and ineffective, or as examples of wrong-headed social engineering — the sort of thing Harvard professors and similar overweening boobies would dream up to burden taxpayers with. For these critics, a 1iberal is bad enough. A “MASSACHUSETTS liberal” is the very worst of a bossy, free-spending, irresponsible tribe.
1. From the passage, we can infer that this passage was written _______.
2. What concerning John Kerry would NOT be assaulted on?
3. What word does Bush often say when he is not careful enough?
4. Which of the following is wrong about Massachusetts?
5. What do many voters think of the liberal programs?
问题1选项
A.before the American presidential election
B.after the American presidential election
C.before the launch of Iraq War
D.before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks in September
问题2选项
A.Big social welfare system.
B.Increase of taxes.
C.Soft attitude towards terrorism.
D.Advocate of more freedom.
问题3选项
A.Massachusetts liberal
B.Taxachusetts
C.Massalqaeda
D.Liborrist
问题4选项
A.Socialist ideas are popular in that state.
B.A large number of famous universities are situated there.
C.It can also be called People’s Republic of Massachusetts.
D.The welfare system there keeps innovating.
问题5选项
A.Effective.
B.Helpful in remedying social inequality.
C.Misguiding in social projects.
D.Promising.
第1题:A
第2题:D
第3题:D
第4题:D
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
From the passage, we can infer that this passage was written ____. 从文章中，我们可以推断出这篇文章写于____。
A. before the American presidential election A. 美国总统大选之前
B. after the American presidential election B. 美国总统大选之后
C. before the launch of Iraq War C. 伊拉克战争爆发前
D. before the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks in September D. 9月世贸中心和五角大楼遭到袭击之前
【考查点】推理判断题
【解题思路】文章第一段第一句讲“如今事态已经明了，民主党将提名约翰•克里（John Kerry）角逐美国总统之位，但问题在于，乔治•布什（George W. Bush）和他的首席政治战略顾问卡尔•娄福（Karl Rove）将如何攻击克里。”由此可推断，这篇文章写于美国总统大选之前，讨论针对克里的战略，A选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“美国总统大选之后”显然不符合上下文的内容，属于曲解原文；
C选项“伊拉克战争爆发前”定位到第三段“中国的观察家明白基地组织和恐怖分子指的是谁，克里与它们中的任何一个都毫无瓜葛。但在布什看来，克里充其量只是勉强支持了自己攻占伊拉克推翻萨达姆的政策（Bush’s invasion of Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein）”。这意味着在撰写本文时，伊拉克战争已经发生，属于曲解原文；
D选项“9月世贸中心和五角大楼遭到袭击之前”定位到第二段第四句“托尔斯先是将英文的‘Massachusetts’和阿拉伯文的‘al-Qaeda（本拉登的恐怖主义组织）’合在一起组成了Massalqaeda，然后将‘liberal’和‘terrorist’合在一起组成了liborrist”。世贸中心和五角大楼遭到袭击涉及恐怖主义和基地组织，但结合下文“中国的观察家明白基地组织和恐怖分子指的是谁，克里与它们中的任何一个都毫无瓜葛”可知，该袭击已经发生，属于曲解原文。
第2题:
【选项释义】
What concerning John Kerry would NOT be assaulted on? 关于约翰•克里不会受到攻击的是什么？
A. Big social welfare system. A. 庞大的社会福利制度。
B. Increase of taxes. B. 增加税收。
C. Soft attitude towards terrorism. C. 对恐怖主义的软弱态度。
D. Advocate of more freedom. D. 倡导更多自由。
【考查点】细节事实题
【解题思路】第一段提到“如今事态已经明了，民主党将提名约翰•克里角逐美国总统之位，但问题在于，乔治•布什和他的首席政治战略顾问卡尔•娄福将如何攻击克里。汤姆•托尔斯，其时政漫画定期刊登于中立的《华盛顿邮报》的漫画家，他有一种预感：布什会将克里描绘成极力倡导庞大的社会福利项目（massive social programs），并且要求大笔的联邦预算来支付（也就是说他要提高税收（raises taxed）），同时对恐怖主义也是软弱无力的（soft on terrorism）。”由此可知，布什会就“庞大的社会福利制度”、“增加税收”和“对恐怖主义的软弱态度”对克里进行抨击，故D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
根据以上分析可知，A、B、C选项均是约翰•克里受到攻击的原因，属于答非所问。
第3题:
【选项释义】
What word does Bush often say when he is not careful enough? 当布什不够谨慎时，他经常说什么词？
A. Massachusetts liberal. A. 马萨诸塞州自由主义派。
B. Taxachusetts. B. 税收诸塞州。
C. Massalqaeda. C. Massalqaeda。
D. Liborrist. D. Liborrist。
【答案】D
【考查点】细节事实题
【解题思路】根据“Bush”和“when he is not careful enough”定位到第二段最后一句“The second blend is reminiscent of the kind of word that President Bush actually does utter when he’s not mindful of his speech—which, it must be said, is a fair amount of the time.（而后一个词则让人想起布什总统讲话一不留意就真能说出的那类词——必须说明的是，他的这种不留意可是经常发生的。）”句中“The second blend”指的是上文中的由“liberal”和“terrorist”合成的“liborrist”，故D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“Massachusetts liberal”定位到第三段最后一句“但是，将克里斥为‘马萨诸塞州自由主义派’又有什么特别的政治意义呢？（But what is so politically significant about denouncing Kerry as a ‘Massachusetts liberal’?）”和最后一段最后一句“在这些批评家看来，一个自由派分子是非常坏的，而‘马萨诸塞州自由派’则是一帮最坏的专横霸道、花钱无度、不负责任的人。（For these critics, a 1iberal is bad enough. A ‘MASSACHUSETTS liberal’ is the very worst of a bossy, free-spending, irresponsible tribe.）”，以上内容均与题干无关，属于出处错位；
B选项“Taxachusetts”定位到第四段最后一句“因此，马萨诸塞州的税收就很高，批评家将该州戏称为‘税收诸塞州’（critics deride the state as ‘Taxachusetts’），甚至有时将其称为‘马萨诸塞人民共和国’，因为社会主义理念据说在该州受到热烈欢迎。”这也与题干无关，属于出处错位；
C选项“Massalqaeda”定位到第二段第二至四句“标语是：‘警惕马萨诸塞州基地组织的自由恐怖主义分子’。请不要到你的字典中去找这句话中的后两个英语单词，因为它们是托尔斯造出来的。托尔斯先是将英文的‘Massachusetts’和阿拉伯文的‘al-Qaeda’（本拉登的恐怖主义组织）合在一起组成了Massalqaeda，……”这也与题干无关，属于出处错位。
第4题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following is wrong about Massachusetts? 关于马萨诸塞州，下列哪项是错误的？
A. Socialist ideas are popular in that state. A. 社会主义思想在该州很流行。
B. A large number of famous universities are situated there. B. 那里有许多著名的大学。
C. It can also be called People’s Republic of Massachusetts. C. 它也可以被称为马萨诸塞人民共和国。
D. The welfare system there keeps innovating. D. 那里的福利制度不断创新。
【考查点】细节事实题
【解题思路】文章第四段主要介绍了“Massachusetts”，所以可将本题答案锁定在第四段。该段讲“马萨诸塞州，主要城市是波士顿，该州名校云集（with its concentration of elite universities），在20世纪获得了左翼州的名声。该州的议员支持大范围的且不断创新的社会福利体系（Lawmakers there support an extensive and often innovative welfare system）——虽然不如欧洲国家的福利体系规模大，但与美国大多数州相比，其规模还是最大的，且政府支出的费用不菲。因此，马萨诸塞州的税收就很高，批评家将该州戏称为‘税收诸塞州’，甚至有时将其称为‘马萨诸塞人民共和国’（occasionally even as the ‘People’s Republic of Massachusetts’），因为社会主义理念据说在该州受到热烈欢迎（because of the warm reception allegedly given to socialist ideas）。”由此可知，A、B、C选项均表述正确；D选项“那里的福利制度不断创新”是对原文“该州的议员支持大范围的且不断创新的社会福利体系”的曲解，故D选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
根据以上分析可知，A、B、C选项均表述正确，属于答非所问。
第5题:
【选项释义】
What do many voters think of the liberal programs? 许多选民对自由派福利体系项目有什么看法？
A. Effective. A. 有效的。
B. Helpful in remedying social inequality. B. 有助于纠正社会不平等。
C. Misguiding in social projects. C. 误导社会项目。
D. Promising. D. 有前途的。
【考查点】细节事实题
【解题思路】根据“the liberal programs”定位到最后一段第四句“而问题在于，许多选民将60年代和70年代建立起来的自由派福利体系项目看作既劳民伤财又不奏效，或将其视为被误导了方向的社会工程的实例（many voters see the liberal programs that were put into place in the 1960s and 1970s as wasteful and ineffective, or as examples of wrong-headed social engineering）——那种由学究气的哈佛教授和类似的傲慢蠢才们才想得出来给纳税人加税的名堂。”句中“wrong-headed social engineering”与“Misguiding in social projects”属于同义替换，故C选项正确。
【干扰项排除】
A、D选项与原文“许多选民将60年代和70年代建立起来的自由派福利体系项目看作既劳民伤财又不奏效”不相符，属于反向干扰；
B选项“有助于纠正社会不平等”定位到最后一段第一句“‘自由派’是指这样一些人：他们相信政府的管理和税收当局应该保护普通公民免受大公司权力的侵害。他们还想通过政府实施的各项规划来纠正社会不公（They also seek to remedy social inequality through government programs.）。”这里说的是“自由派”的人对政府实施的项目的看法，而不是选民，属于张冠李戴。
