The English men and women who fled their farms and villages in the late 18th century to seek a better life in the factories of burgeoning Manchester, Leeds and Bradford found no streets paved with gold. Rather, they encountered disease, malnutrition and often brutality. In his book The City, Joel Kotkin cites the West Indian slave-holder who, on a visit to Bradford, could not believe that anyone could “be so cruel as to require a child of nine to work 12½ hours a day.” Yet by 1850, says Mr. Kotkin, this time quoting Alexis de Tocqueville, there was in Britain “at every step... something to make the tourist’s heart leap.” Social activists and enlightened professionals had brought about legislative reforms; and the benefits of mechanization, plus wages pushed up by trade unions, had enabled the poor to start buying the sort of cheap goods they were helping to make. Cities now seemed almost heroic. Can today’s urban poor expect to see a similar transformation?
In many places, such as India, says Eduardo Lopez-Moreno, head of the UN’s Global Urban Observatory, new migrants to the towns are no better off than they were in the country. And in poorer nations generally the proportion of urban poor is actually increasing faster than the rate of urbanization. But the hope that keeps poor people in cities is not always vain. Asia shows that even a region in which 40% of the inhabitants already live in cities, and which is urbanizing almost as fast as Africa, is not condemned to misery forever.
In the early 1970s over half of Asians were poor; they could expect to live, on average, to an age of only 48 years; and two-fifths of adults were illiterate. Today the proportion of poor people is about a quarter, life expectancy has risen to 69 years, and about 70% can read and write. That does not mean that everyone has benefited. Far from it: Asia still accounts for two-thirds of the world’s poor, of whom 250 million are in cities. But even the urban poor of South Asia, who have been largely by-passed by the growth that has lifted East Asia, have reason to hope for better times.
Not much of it is coming the way it did in the 19th century, though. It is true that activists and donors are beginning to take an interest in cities, and ideas are now circulating about upgrading slums and attacking urban poverty. Some of these concern the problems of illegal squatting, which are now well known. With no title to your shack you have no incentive to improve it, no way to insure it, no collateral with which to secure a loan: you are locked in poverty. Yet there is money in slums, and enterprise. One way to unlock the enterprise is to encourage a majority of the local residents to form a savings group or a cooperative and ask the municipality to grant collective development rights, some of which may be used in the slum and some sold out.
1. Which word best describes the English peasants after they came to the cities in the late 18th century?
2. Alexis de Tocqueville ________.
3. Which of the following statements is true?
4. The word it in the first line of the last paragraph refers to ________.
5. The author believes that the solution to urban poverty in slums is to ________.
问题1选项
A.Uncultivated.
B.Disillusioned.
C.Money-oriented.
D.Fully-prepared.
问题2选项
A.was amazed to see Britain’s rapid social progress
B.was satisfied with the service he received as a tourist
C.found it hard to keep up with the pace of life in Britain
D.disagreed with the comment by the Western Indian slave-holder
问题3选项
A.In India, peasants can have a higher standard of living if they move to cities.
B.In underdeveloped countries, urbanization has reduced the poor population.
C.In South Asia, people have shared the benefit of the growth in East Asia.
D.In Asia, great progress has been made in elimination of poverty and illiteracy.
问题4选项
A.the interest of activists and donors
B.the urbanization of South Asia
C.the growth in Africa
D.better times
问题5选项
A.form poor people’s cooperative groups in the slums
B.draw on the experience of the 19th century British cities
C.encourage the participation by social activists and donors
D.solve the well-known problem of illegal squatting in cities
第1题:B
第2题:A
第3题:D
第4题:A
第5题:A
第1题:
【选项释义】
Which word best describes the English peasants after they came to the cities in the late 18th century? 哪个词最能描述18世纪末英国农民来到城市后的情况？
A. Uncultivated. A. 未开垦的。
B. Disillusioned. B. 幻灭的。
C. Money-oriented. C. 以金钱为导向。
D. Fully-prepared. D. 完全准备好了。
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词English peasants可以定位到文章第一段第一、二句“18世纪晚期，英国男男女女逃离了他们的农场和村庄（fled their farms and villages），到蓬勃发展的曼彻斯特、利兹和布拉德福德的工厂里寻求更好的生活，他们发现没有铺满黄金的街道（found no streets paved with gold）。相反，他们遇到的是疾病、营养不良，往往还有暴行（encountered disease, malnutrition and often brutality）”，说明这些农民在城市中遭遇到疾病、营养不良和暴行，没有发现他们期望中的繁荣生活，可以推断出他们的幻想破灭了，对于在城市中获得更好生活的期望感到失望。因此B选项“幻灭的”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“未开垦的。”，C选项“以金钱为导向。”和D选项“完全准备好了。”在文中均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
Alexis de Tocqueville ________. 亚历克西斯•德•托克维尔________。
A. was amazed to see Britain’s rapid social progress A. 看到英国快速的社会进步，感到很惊讶
B. was satisfied with the service he received as a tourist B. 对他作为游客得到的服务感到满意
C. found it hard to keep up with the pace of life in Britain C. 发现很难跟上英国的生活节奏
D. disagreed with the comment by the Western Indian slave-holder D. 不同意西方印度奴隶主的评论
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词Alexis de Tocqueville可以定位到文章第一段第四句“然而到了1850年，科特金先生引用了亚历克西斯•德•托克维尔的话，他说，在英国，‘每一步（at every step）……让游客怦然心动的东西（something to make the tourist’s heart leap）’”，说明亚历克西斯•德•托克维尔为英国的快速社会进步感到惊讶，觉得到处都是让人怦然心动的新事物。因此A选项“看到英国快速的社会进步，感到很惊讶”正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“对他作为游客得到的服务感到满意”，C选项“发现很难跟上英国的生活节奏”和D选项“不同意西方印度奴隶主的评论”在文中均没有提及，属于无中生有。
第3题:
【选项释义】
Which of the following statements is true? 以下哪项陈述是正确的？
A. In India, peasants can have a higher standard of living if they move to cities. A. 在印度，如果农民搬到城市，他们可以有更高的生活水平。
B. In underdeveloped countries, urbanization has reduced the poor population. B. 在不发达国家，城市化使贫困人口减少。
C. In South Asia, people have shared the benefit of the growth in East Asia. C. 在南亚，人们分享了东亚发展的好处。
D. In Asia, great progress has been made in elimination of poverty and illiteracy. D. 在亚洲，在消除贫困和文盲方面取得了巨大进展。
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据选项关键词poverty and illiteracy可以定位到文章第三段第一、二句“20世纪70年代初，超过一半的亚洲人是穷人；他们的平均预期寿命只有48岁；五分之二的成年人是文盲。今天，贫困人口的比例约为四分之一（Today the proportion of poor people is about a quarter），预期寿命已提高到69岁，约70%的人会读写（about 70% can read and write）”，说明亚洲的贫困人口比例和文盲率大幅减少。因此D选项“在亚洲，在消除贫困和文盲方面取得了巨大进展。”正确。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“在印度，如果农民搬到城市，他们可以有更高的生活水平。”，由In many places, such as India, says Eduardo Lopez-Moreno, head of the UN’s Global Urban Observatory, new migrants to the towns are no better off than they were in the country.（联合国全球城市观察站的负责人爱德华多•洛佩兹-莫雷诺说，在许多地方，比如印度，新移民到城镇的情况并不比他们在乡村时好。）可知，印度的农民搬到城市并没有更高的生活水平，属于反向干扰；
B选项“在不发达国家，城市化使贫困人口减少。”，由And in poorer nations generally the proportion of urban poor is actually increasing faster than the rate of urbanization.（在较贫穷的国家，城市贫困人口的比例实际上比城市化速度增长得更快。）可知，城市化没有使不发达国家的贫困人口减少，属于反向干扰；
C选项“在南亚，人们分享了东亚发展的好处。”，由But even the urban poor of South Asia, who have been largely by-passed by the growth that has lifted East Asia, have reason to hope for better times.（但即使是南亚的城市穷人，他们在很大程度上被提升了东亚的经济增长所忽略，也有理由期待更好的时代。）可知，南亚没有分享到东亚经济增长的好处，属于反向干扰。
第4题:
【选项释义】
The word it in the first line of the last paragraph refers to ________. 最后一段第一行中的单词it指的是________。
A. the interest of activists and donors A. 活动家和捐助者的兴趣
B. the urbanization of South Asia B. 南亚的城市化
C. the growth in Africa C. 非洲的增长
D. better times D. 更好的时代
【考查点】词汇推断题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词it可以定位到文章最后一段第一句“不过，现在的it并不像19世纪那样”，说明文章将现在和19世纪的某种情况进行对比，文章对19世纪的描述是“社会活动家和开明的专业人士促成了立法改革（Social activists and enlightened professionals had brought about legislative reforms）；机械化带来的好处，加上工会推动的工资上涨，使得穷人开始购买他们帮助生产的廉价商品”，而下文说到“的确，活动人士和捐助者开始对城市产生兴趣（activists and donors are beginning to take an interest in cities），有关改造贫民窟和消除城市贫困的想法正在流传”，说明活动人士和捐助者的兴趣发生了改变。因此A选项“活动家和捐助者的兴趣”正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“南亚的城市化”，C选项“非洲的增长”和D选项“更好的时代”均不能体现19世纪和现在的不同，属于出处错位。
第5题:
【选项释义】
The author believes that the solution to urban poverty in slums is to ________. 作者认为，解决贫民窟的城市贫困问题的办法是________。
A. form poor people’s cooperative groups in the slums A. 在贫民窟中形成穷人的合作团体
B. draw on the experience of the 19th century British cities B. 借鉴19世纪英国城市的经验
C. encourage the participation by social activists and donors C. 鼓励社会活动家和捐助者的参与
D. solve the well-known problem of illegal squatting in cities D. 解决众所周知的城市中的非法占用问题
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干关键词solution可以定位到文章最后一段最后一句“打开企业大门的一种方法是鼓励大多数当地居民组成储蓄组织或合作社（encourage a majority of the local residents to form a savings group or a cooperative），并要求市政当局授予集体发展权，其中一些可能用于贫民窟，另一些则被出售”，说明作者认为解决方法是通过在贫民窟中成立贫困人群的合作组织，要求市政当局授予集体发展权利。因此A选项“在贫民窟中形成穷人的合作团体”正确。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“借鉴19世纪英国城市的经验”，由Not much of it is coming the way it did in the 19th century, though.（不过，现在的情况并不像19世纪那样。）可知，作者不建议借鉴19世纪的经验，属于反向干扰；
C选项“鼓励社会活动家和捐助者的参与”，由Some of these concern the problems of illegal squatting, which are now well known. With no title to your shack you have no incentive to improve it, no way to insure it, no collateral with which to secure a loan: you are locked in poverty.（其中一些问题涉及现在众所周知的非法占用问题。你的小屋没有所有权，你就没有动力去改善它，没有办法为它投保，没有抵押品来获得贷款：你被困在贫困中。）可知，社会活动家和捐助者的参与不能解决根本问题，属于本末倒置；
D选项“解决众所周知的城市中的非法占用问题”，非法占用问题只是文中举例说明的问题之一，不是唯一或主要需要解决的问题，属于以偏概全。
