2018年成人学位英阅读理词义题解题法
- 第3页：利用同义关系解题
- 第4页：利用语法和逻辑解题
2．利用同义关系解题
(1)所考词汇在文章中被同义词、同位语、定语从句等解释或定义时，那么它与提示词构成同义关系；这些解释有时伴随过渡词，如：namely(即)，in other words(换句话说)，this means，that is，this is。
下定义的主要方式有如下几种。
①名词(被定义对象)+定语从句(定义内容)
②名词(被定义对象)+be+名词(定义内容)
③名词(被定义对象)+同位语(定义内容)
④名词(被定义对象)+be called+名词(定义内容)
⑤by+名词(被定义对象)+be meant+名词(定义内容)
例36
Taste is such a subjective matter that we don't usually conduct preference tests for food. The most you can say about anyone's preference, is that it's one person's opin-ion. But because the two big cola (可乐饮料) companies--Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively, we've wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty. We set up a taste test that challenged people who identified themselves as either Coca-Cola or Pepsi fans: Find your brand in a blind tasting.
We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either Coca-Cola Classic(传统型) or Pepsi, Diet (低糖的) Coke, or Diet Pepsi. These were people who thought they'd have no trouble telling their brand from the other brand.
We eventually located 19 regular cola drinkers and 27 diet cola drinkers. Then we fed them four unidentified samples of cola one at a time, regular colas for the one group, diet versions for the other. We asked them to tell us whether each sample was Coke or Pepsi; then we analyzed the records statistically to compare the participants'choices with what mere guess-work could have accomplished.
Getting all four samples right was a tough test, but not too tough, we thought, for people who believed they could recognize their brand. In the end, only 7 out of 19 regular cola drinkers correctly identified their brand of choice in all four trials. The di-et-cola drinkers did a little worse--only 7 of 27 identified all four samples correctly.
While both groups did better than chance would predict, nearly half the partici- pants in each group made the wrong choice two or more times. Two people got all four samples wrong. Overall, hal{ the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first, so fatigue, or taste burnout, was not a factor. Our preference test results suggest that only a few Pepsi participants and Coke fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand by taste and price.
The word "burnout'(Para. 5) here refers to the state of
A. being seriously burnt in the skin
B. being unable to burn for lack of fuel
C. being badly damaged by fire
D. being unable to function because of excessive use
所考词汇在文中的相关句为“Overall，half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first，so fatigue，or taste burnout， was not a fac-tor",其中fatigue(疲劳，劳累)与taste burnout为同位语，而fatigue的意思由同句的前半部分可以看出：味觉疲劳，即因品尝过多而使味觉失灵，由此可知D为正确答案。
例37
Exchange a glance with someone, then look away. Do you realize that you have made a st.atement? Hold the glance for a second longer, and you have made a different statement. Hold it for 3 seconds, and the meaning has changed again. For every social situation, there is a permissible time that you can hold a person's gaze without being intimate, rude, or aggressive. If you are on an elevator, what gaze-time are you per-mitted? To answer this question, consider what you typically do. You very likely give other passengers a quick glance to size them up (打量) and to assure them that you mean no threat. Since being close to another person signals the possibility of interac-tion. You need to emit a signal telling others you want to be left alone. So you cut off eye contact, what sociologist Erving Goffman (1963) calls "a dimming of the lights. "
You look down at the floor, at the indicator lights, anywhere but into another passenger's eyes. Should you break the rule against staring at a stranger on an eleva- tor, you will make the other person exceedingly uncomfortable, and you are likely to feel a bit strange yourself.
If you hold eye contact for more than 3 seconds, what are you telling another per- son? Much depends on the person and the situation. For instance, a man and a woman communicate interest in this manner. They typically gaze at each other for about 3 sec- onds at a time, then drop their eyes down for 3 seconds, before letting their eyes meet again. But if one man gives another man a 3-second-plus stare, he signals, "I know you", "I am interested in you," or "You look peculiar and I am curious about you. "This type of stare often produces hostile feelings.
By "a dimming of the lights"(Para. 1) Erving Goffman means
A. closing one's eyes
B. turning off the lights
C. ceasing to glance at others
D. reducing gaze-time to the minimum
所考词组在文中的相关句为“So you cut off eye contact，what sociologist Erving Goffman(1963)calls‘a dimming of the lights．’’’由其中的“calls”可知“a dimming of the lights”是：“…cut off eye contact(停止目光接触)”的定义，就是不再用眼睛看人。
由此可知C为正确答案。当然，这句话后面的一句话对所考词组的意思做了进一步说明：You look down at the floor，at the indicator lights，anywhere but into another passenger’s eyes(……可以看任何地方，就是不能看另一个人的眼睛)。
例38
Can we pay too much attention to details?Absolutely．Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward．“To keep from losing the forest for the trees，”says Charles Garfield，associate professor at the University of California，San Francisco，“We must constantly ask ourselves how the details we’re working on fit into the larger picture．If they don’t，we should drop them and move to something else．”
The word“perfectionists”refers to those who
A．demand others to get everything absolutely right
B．know how to adj ust their goals according to the circumstances
C．pay too much attention to details only to lose their major objectives
D．are capable of achieving perfect results in whatever they do
这道题与原文第二句对Perfectionists的说明相联系：Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward．这个说明可以说是对perfectionists的一个简单定义，只要理解了这句话的意思：perfectionists为了小事而牺牲大目标，就能找到芷确答案c。
(2)并列或递进关系表示同义：假如所考词汇与线索提示词之间以如下结构连接，那么二者为同义关系。例如：and，indeed，just as，also，besides，almost，even，simi-larly，likewise，correspondingly(相应地)，accordingly(因此)，in the same way，not only…but also等均表示并列关系。
例39
From Boston to Los Angeles，from New York City to Chicago to Dallas，museums are eight planning，building，or wrapping up wholesale expansion programs．These programs already have radically altered facades and floor plans or are expected to do so in the not-too-distant future．
In New York City alone，six major institutions have spread up and out into the air space and neighborhoods around them or are preparing to do so．
The reasons for this confluence of'activity are complex，but one factor is a consid- eration evervwhere—space． With collections expanding，with the needs and functions of museums changing，empty space has become a very precious commodity.
Probably nowhere in the country is this more true than at the Philadelphia Muse-um of Art，which has needed additional space for decades and which received its last significant facelift ten years ago．Because of the space crunch，the Art Museum has be-come increasingly cautious in considering acquisitions and donations of arts，in some cases passing up opportunities to strengthen its collections．
Deaccessing--or selling off--works of art has taken on new importance because of the museum’s space problems． And increasingly，curators have been forced to juggle gallery space,rotating one masterpiece into public view while another is sent to storage．
Despite the clear need for additional gallery and storage space，however，“the mu-seum has no plan，no plan to break out of its envelope in the next fifteen years，”ac-cording to Philadelp is Museum of Art's president.
The author uses the word "facelift" to imply that the Philadelphia Museum of Art
A. added portraits to its collection
B. reduced its staff
C. raised money for poor artists
D. was remodeled
首先找到相关句：Probably nowhere in the country is this more true than at the Philadelphia Museum of Art，which has needed additional space for decades and which received its last significant facelift ten years a90。这一句并不能体现facelift的意思。
但是which…and which…表明两个从句的并行语义关系。如果说费城博物馆几十年来不断需要扩建，那么十年前的近一次搞的是什么呢?应当和扩建有关的。四个选项中，只有D the Philadeplphia Museum of Art was remodeled(进行改造)比较接近意思。而全文也是讲美国许多博物馆都面临空地紧缺，收藏品越来越多的问题，A、B和C都没提到。
(3)因果关系表示同义：假如所考词汇与线索提示词之间以如下结构连接，那么二者为同义关系。例如：because，since，for，if，thus，so that，so…that…，so…as to…，therefore，consequently(因此)，as a result，in that(因为)，result in(结果)，result from(由于)，cause(导致)，lead to(导致)，be due to(因为)。
(4)举例表示同义关系：假如所考词汇与线索提示词之间有如下过渡词，即所考词汇被一个例子所解释，那么例子的含义为所考词汇的意义。引出例证的常见词为for example，for instance，such as，to specify(说的具体一点)等。
例40
Right now in schools across the country children are busy selling Pepsi--Cola in the name of education. They are part of Pepsi's "Learn and Earn Project"--an annual competition set up by Pepsi that encourages students to sell the soft drink at parties, basketball games and other school functions.
Then, each spring, the students write up their Pepsi-selling success stories for a chance at national prizes: shares of stock in the Pepsi-Cola Company.
According to materials the company sends the teachers, the project declares "help strengthen students broad, understandings of business, particularly its broad market- ing and management.aspeCts. "
Whether it fulfills this objective or not, it does succeed in selling Pepsi.
The "Learn and EarnProject" is just one example of the hundreds of ways food companies (as well as other types of corporations, public utilities and trade associa-tions) promote their products in..schools..Particularly in the fields of nutrition and home economics, companies send numerous "teaching aids" : highly professional films, shiny workbooks and pamphlets, and available to teachers at well below commercial rates or free.
For example, the Savannah Sugar Refining Corp. Puts out a book for students called "Sugar Through the Ages" which includes statements much as "Scientists have found that generous amounts of sugar are a valuable part of well-balanced diets for growing children. "
By far the largest supplier of nutrition--education materials to schools is the Na- tional Dairy Council, which provides all sorts of pamphlets addressing questions ran- ging from " How am I doing socially?" to "How am I doing physically?" Woven throughout these materials are subtle references to dairy products, daily calcium re-quirements, etc. Drink milk, the message seems to be, and you too can be popular.
But nutrition and home economics are not the only areas where corporations have found a lucrative form of advertising.
The word "generous" most probably means
A. large
B. average
C. small
D. limited
generous这个词所在句一开头有for example的过渡词：For example，the Savannah Sugar
Refining Corp．puts out a book for students called“Sugar Through the Ages’’Which includes
statements such as“Scientists have found that generous amounts of children”。说明这一句是它前面观点的具体例子。回过去看它的前面一段，其段落主题句是：The“Learn and Earn Project”is just one example of the hun&eds of ways food companies(as well as other types of corporations，public utilities and trade associations)promote their products in schools．说的是许许多多食品厂通过广告宣传与课堂教学结合起来，来推销他们的产品。而这一句说的食糖厂就是具体例子。
因此他们向学校发的宣传资料必定是说多食糖对于身体发育是有益的。这样A large amounts
of sugar are a valuable part of well balanced diets for growing children应是合理的。
(5)标点符号暗示语义关系：破折号、冒号或括号均表示同义解释。
例41
Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental func-tioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine of an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don't realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase "substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine. "
We live in a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and ap- parently constructive uses of a substances become misuses? First of all, most sub- stances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense per-ceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the ap- pearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down.
Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (form the Greek word meaning "mind--manifesting") because they seemed to radically alter one's state of consciousness.
The word "pervasive" might mean
A. widespread
B. piercing
C. indifferent
D. fashionable
把pervasive所在的句子读一下：We live in a society in which the medical and social use of substances(drugs)is pervasive：an aspirin the quiet a headache，some wine to be sociable，coffee to get going in the mornin9，a cigarette for the nerves．暂且不管pervasive是什么意思。但根据pervasive后的冒号的语义功能，冒号后讲的东西应是具体说明pervasive的意思。用阿司匹林止头痛，在社交场合饮酒作兴，喝咖啡开始一天的工作，用吸烟安定情绪。这些例子都说明运用具有兴奋或镇静作用的物质达到医学或社交目的是很普遍的。因此A widespread是正确答案。D fashionable不对，因为用阿司匹林止头痛，或在社交场合饮酒作兴，或喝咖啡开始一天的工作，或吸烟安定情绪都已成习俗，并不时髦。
在以同义词表达同义关系时，这个同义词可能与被考词汇在同一句，有时甚至陷入一种模式：设所考词汇意思为X，有等式A：B=C：X，A、B、C是原句中的已知概念，那么X=B，即X对应于相应位置上的概念。这种根据三个已知概念推导第四个概念的题在三级考试中出现过几次，可以根据第四个概念(所考词汇)对应位置上的词得出同义答案。还有一种模式：文章开始提出一个主概念，在后面再谈到这一主概念时，为防重复，常常以其他同义词表达这一概念。用以替代主概念的词可能成为所考词汇，此时答案为文中开始提到的主概念词汇。
例42
I think it certain that in decades, not centuries, machines of silicon (硅) will arise first to rival and then exceed their human ancestors. Once they exceed us they will be capable of their own design. In a real sense they will be able to reproduce themselves.
Silicon will have ended carbon's long control. And we will no longer be able to claim ourselves to be the finest intelligence in the known universe.
The word carbon stands for
A. intelligent robots
C. an organic substance
B. a chemical element
D. human beings
所考词汇在文中的句子为Silicon will have ended carbon’S long contr01．而上文句即指出：I think it certain that in decades，not centuries，machines of silicon(硅) will arise first to rival and then exceed their human ancestors．根据上述的模式A：B=C：X，即silicon：their human ancestors=silicon：X，X对应于their human ancestors，那么D为正确答案。
例43
It has been thought and said that Africans are born with musical talent. Because music is so important in the lives of many Africans and because so much music is per-formed in Africa, we are inclined to think that all Africans are musicians. The impres-sion is strengthened when we look at ourselves and find that we have become largely a society of musical spectators (旁观者). Music is important to us, but most of us can be considered consumers rather than producers of music. We have records, television, concerts, and radio to fulfill many of our musical needs. In most situations where mu-sic is performed in our culture it is not difficult to distinguish the audience from the performers, but such is often not the case in Africa. Alban Ayipaga, a Kasena semi-professional musician from northern Ghana, says that when his flute (长笛) and drum ensemble (歌舞团) is performing. "Anybody can take part. " This is true, but Kasena musicians recognize that not all people are equally capable of taking part in the music.
Some can sing along with the drummers, but relatively few can drum and even fewer can play the flute along with the ensemble. It is fairly common in Africa for there to be an ensemble of expert musicians surrounded by others who join in by clapping, sing- ing, or somehow adding to the totality of musical sound. Performances often take place in an open area (that is, not on a stage) and so the lines between the performing nucleus and the additional performers, active spectators, and passive spectators may be difficult to draw from our point of view.
The word "nucleus" probably refers to
A. musicians famous in Africa
B. musicians at the centre of attention
C. musicians acting as the core in a performance
D. active participants in a musical performance
本文的中心对比(主概念)是真正的表演者与观众，但这一对概念在文中不同地方以不同方式表达。
表演者 观众
Musicians spectators
Producers consumers
Performers audience
Performing additional performers
active spectators
passive spectators
毫无疑问，左边一栏的人为核心表演者，而右边一栏的人为一般观众或参与者，那么正确答案为C；B项含义模糊，为干扰选项。
例44
Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation be-tween actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Cognitive (认知学派的) researchers, who study various aspects of mental life, maintain that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.
The latter view has gained many supporters, especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary (金钱的) rewards sparks creativity in grade-school chil- dren, suggesting that properly presented inducements (刺激) indeed aid inventive- ness, according to a study in the June Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
"If kids know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challeng- ing task, they show the most creativity,"says Robert Eisenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. "But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor per- formance or creating too much anticipation for rewards. "
A teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students, Eisenberger holds.
As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts at major universities to tighten grading standards and restore failing grades.
In earlier grades, the use of so-called token economies, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points toward valued rewards, shows promise in raising effort and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.
The phrase "token economies" probably refers to
A. ways to develop economy
B. systems of rewarding students
C. approaches to solving problems
D. methods of improving performance
token economies的意思由其后的一个非限制性定语从句解释：in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points toward valued rewards，根据这种办法，学生处理具有挑战性的问题，同时根据成绩获得一定的分数，直到得到宝贵的奖励，由此可知token economies为一种奖励方法，因此B为正确答案。
3．利用反义关系解题
凡是所考词汇与线索提示词之间以下列结构表示转折或对立关系的，两者之间可能构成反义关系。例如：but，yet，however，although，though，while，whereas，despite(尽管)，in spite of(尽管)，in contrast(形成对比)，on the contrary等。
例45
We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming (把...按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into ac- count the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!
By "held back" the author means " ".
A. made to remain in the same classes
B. forced to study in the lower classes
C. drawn to their studies
D. prevented from advancing
所考词汇在文中的相关句为We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed—ability teaching．它与紧接着的下一句(上文第二句)在语义上构成转折关系(由on the contrary提示)，由此可知held back为第二句中enrich(充实，丰富)在这个上下文中的反义词，意为“阻止……的发展”，所以D为正确答案。
例46
Most people would agree that, although our age exceeds all previous ages in knowledge, there has been no corresponding increase in wisdom. But agreement ceases as soon as we attempt to define "wisdom" and consider means of promoting it.
There are several factors that contribute to wisdom. Of there I should put first a sense of proportion: the capacity to take account of all the important factors in a prob- lem and to attach to each its due weight. This has become more difficult than it used to be owing to the extent and complexity of the special knowledge required of various kinds of technicians. Suppose, for example, that you are engaged in research in scien-tific medicine. The work is difficult and is likely to absorb the whole of your mind.
You have no time to consider the effect which your discoveries or inventions may have outside the field of medicine. You succeed (let us say) as modern medicine has succee- ded, in enormously lowering the infant death-rate, not only in Europe and America, but also in Asia and Africa. This has the entirely unintended result of making the food supply inadequate and lowering the standard of life in the parts of the world that have the greatest populations. To take an even more dramatic example, which is in everybody's mind at the present time; you study the makeup of the atom from a disin-terested (无利害关系的) desire for knowledge, and by chance place in the hands of a powerful mad man the means of destroying the human race.
Therefore, with every increase of knowledge and skill, wisdom becomes more necessary, for every such increase augments (增强) our capacity for realising our pur- poses, and therefore augments our capacity for evil, if our purposes are unwise.
According to the author, "wisdom" is the ability to
A. carefully consider the bad effects of any kind of research work
B. give each important problem some careful consideration
C. acquire a great deal of complex and special knowledge
D. give suitable consideration to all the possible elements in a problem
“wisdom”的含义只有通过上下文才能确定：There are several factors that contribute to wisdom．Of these I should put first a sense of proportion：the capacity to take account of all the important factors in a problem and to attach to each its due weight．
智慧由几个因素构成，其中我首先提出比例感：这是一种考虑问题中所有因素并对各个因素给予应有重视的能力，由此可知，这里的“wisdom”就是选项D的内容：对问题中的全部可能因素给予适当考虑，因此D为正确答案。
例47
After a year or so, however, I still hadn't gotten a break and began to doubt my-self. It was so hard to sell a story that barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering, What if? I would keep putting my dream to the test--even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the Shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
"... people who die wondering, What if?" refers to "those ."
A. who think too much of the dark side of life
B. who regret giving up their career halfway
C. who think a lot without making a decision
D. who are full of imagination even upon death
本题仍然可以依据题干出现的上下文来做。该部分的上文为：But I knew l wanted to write，I had dreamed about it for years．不过我知道自己想写。这是我多年的梦想；其下文为：I would keep putting my dream to the test--even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．我将继续考验我的梦想——即使这么做意味着生活在毫无把握与对失败的担心之中。纵观上下文，作者不想半途而废，与那些因中途放弃而很后悔的人形成一个对比。由此可见，B为正确答案。
"Shadowland"in the last sentence refers to
A. the wonderland one often dreams about
B. the bright future that one is looking forward to
C. the state of uncertainty before one's final goal is reached
D. a world that exists only in one's imagination
“Shadowland”所在的句子为：This is the Shadowland of hope，and anyone with a dream must learn to live there．由其中的“This”可知，对Shadowland的解释和说明在上一句：…even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．即使这么做意味着生活在毫无把握与对失败的担心之中。因此“Shadowland”就是指这种毫无把握与对失败的担心，那么C为正确答案；A项与D项为“Shadowland”的一般性解释，不是在此上下文中的意义。
例48
If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher's interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to "play safe". He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.
The expression "play safe"probably means
A. to write carefully
B. to do as teachers say
C. to use dictionaries frequently
D. to avoid using words one is not sure of
这道题可以根据play safe的上下文来做；其下文为He will tend to write only words within his spelling range，choosing to avoid adventurous language．他将倾向于只用会拼写的词，避免使用拼写无把握的词。这是对play safe所做的说明，因此D为正确答案。
(1)所考词汇在文章中被同义词、同位语、定语从句等解释或定义时，那么它与提示词构成同义关系；这些解释有时伴随过渡词，如：namely(即)，in other words(换句话说)，this means，that is，this is。
下定义的主要方式有如下几种。
①名词(被定义对象)+定语从句(定义内容)
②名词(被定义对象)+be+名词(定义内容)
③名词(被定义对象)+同位语(定义内容)
④名词(被定义对象)+be called+名词(定义内容)
⑤by+名词(被定义对象)+be meant+名词(定义内容)
例36
Taste is such a subjective matter that we don't usually conduct preference tests for food. The most you can say about anyone's preference, is that it's one person's opin-ion. But because the two big cola (可乐饮料) companies--Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively, we've wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty. We set up a taste test that challenged people who identified themselves as either Coca-Cola or Pepsi fans: Find your brand in a blind tasting.
We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either Coca-Cola Classic(传统型) or Pepsi, Diet (低糖的) Coke, or Diet Pepsi. These were people who thought they'd have no trouble telling their brand from the other brand.
We eventually located 19 regular cola drinkers and 27 diet cola drinkers. Then we fed them four unidentified samples of cola one at a time, regular colas for the one group, diet versions for the other. We asked them to tell us whether each sample was Coke or Pepsi; then we analyzed the records statistically to compare the participants'choices with what mere guess-work could have accomplished.
Getting all four samples right was a tough test, but not too tough, we thought, for people who believed they could recognize their brand. In the end, only 7 out of 19 regular cola drinkers correctly identified their brand of choice in all four trials. The di-et-cola drinkers did a little worse--only 7 of 27 identified all four samples correctly.
While both groups did better than chance would predict, nearly half the partici- pants in each group made the wrong choice two or more times. Two people got all four samples wrong. Overall, hal{ the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first, so fatigue, or taste burnout, was not a factor. Our preference test results suggest that only a few Pepsi participants and Coke fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand by taste and price.
The word "burnout'(Para. 5) here refers to the state of
A. being seriously burnt in the skin
B. being unable to burn for lack of fuel
C. being badly damaged by fire
D. being unable to function because of excessive use
所考词汇在文中的相关句为“Overall，half the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first，so fatigue，or taste burnout， was not a fac-tor",其中fatigue(疲劳，劳累)与taste burnout为同位语，而fatigue的意思由同句的前半部分可以看出：味觉疲劳，即因品尝过多而使味觉失灵，由此可知D为正确答案。
例37
Exchange a glance with someone, then look away. Do you realize that you have made a st.atement? Hold the glance for a second longer, and you have made a different statement. Hold it for 3 seconds, and the meaning has changed again. For every social situation, there is a permissible time that you can hold a person's gaze without being intimate, rude, or aggressive. If you are on an elevator, what gaze-time are you per-mitted? To answer this question, consider what you typically do. You very likely give other passengers a quick glance to size them up (打量) and to assure them that you mean no threat. Since being close to another person signals the possibility of interac-tion. You need to emit a signal telling others you want to be left alone. So you cut off eye contact, what sociologist Erving Goffman (1963) calls "a dimming of the lights. "
You look down at the floor, at the indicator lights, anywhere but into another passenger's eyes. Should you break the rule against staring at a stranger on an eleva- tor, you will make the other person exceedingly uncomfortable, and you are likely to feel a bit strange yourself.
If you hold eye contact for more than 3 seconds, what are you telling another per- son? Much depends on the person and the situation. For instance, a man and a woman communicate interest in this manner. They typically gaze at each other for about 3 sec- onds at a time, then drop their eyes down for 3 seconds, before letting their eyes meet again. But if one man gives another man a 3-second-plus stare, he signals, "I know you", "I am interested in you," or "You look peculiar and I am curious about you. "This type of stare often produces hostile feelings.
By "a dimming of the lights"(Para. 1) Erving Goffman means
A. closing one's eyes
B. turning off the lights
C. ceasing to glance at others
D. reducing gaze-time to the minimum
所考词组在文中的相关句为“So you cut off eye contact，what sociologist Erving Goffman(1963)calls‘a dimming of the lights．’’’由其中的“calls”可知“a dimming of the lights”是：“…cut off eye contact(停止目光接触)”的定义，就是不再用眼睛看人。
由此可知C为正确答案。当然，这句话后面的一句话对所考词组的意思做了进一步说明：You look down at the floor，at the indicator lights，anywhere but into another passenger’s eyes(……可以看任何地方，就是不能看另一个人的眼睛)。
例38
Can we pay too much attention to details?Absolutely．Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward．“To keep from losing the forest for the trees，”says Charles Garfield，associate professor at the University of California，San Francisco，“We must constantly ask ourselves how the details we’re working on fit into the larger picture．If they don’t，we should drop them and move to something else．”
The word“perfectionists”refers to those who
A．demand others to get everything absolutely right
B．know how to adj ust their goals according to the circumstances
C．pay too much attention to details only to lose their major objectives
D．are capable of achieving perfect results in whatever they do
这道题与原文第二句对Perfectionists的说明相联系：Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward．这个说明可以说是对perfectionists的一个简单定义，只要理解了这句话的意思：perfectionists为了小事而牺牲大目标，就能找到芷确答案c。
(2)并列或递进关系表示同义：假如所考词汇与线索提示词之间以如下结构连接，那么二者为同义关系。例如：and，indeed，just as，also，besides，almost，even，simi-larly，likewise，correspondingly(相应地)，accordingly(因此)，in the same way，not only…but also等均表示并列关系。
例39
From Boston to Los Angeles，from New York City to Chicago to Dallas，museums are eight planning，building，or wrapping up wholesale expansion programs．These programs already have radically altered facades and floor plans or are expected to do so in the not-too-distant future．
In New York City alone，six major institutions have spread up and out into the air space and neighborhoods around them or are preparing to do so．
The reasons for this confluence of'activity are complex，but one factor is a consid- eration evervwhere—space． With collections expanding，with the needs and functions of museums changing，empty space has become a very precious commodity.
Probably nowhere in the country is this more true than at the Philadelphia Muse-um of Art，which has needed additional space for decades and which received its last significant facelift ten years ago．Because of the space crunch，the Art Museum has be-come increasingly cautious in considering acquisitions and donations of arts，in some cases passing up opportunities to strengthen its collections．
Deaccessing--or selling off--works of art has taken on new importance because of the museum’s space problems． And increasingly，curators have been forced to juggle gallery space,rotating one masterpiece into public view while another is sent to storage．
Despite the clear need for additional gallery and storage space，however，“the mu-seum has no plan，no plan to break out of its envelope in the next fifteen years，”ac-cording to Philadelp is Museum of Art's president.
The author uses the word "facelift" to imply that the Philadelphia Museum of Art
A. added portraits to its collection
B. reduced its staff
C. raised money for poor artists
D. was remodeled
首先找到相关句：Probably nowhere in the country is this more true than at the Philadelphia Museum of Art，which has needed additional space for decades and which received its last significant facelift ten years a90。这一句并不能体现facelift的意思。
但是which…and which…表明两个从句的并行语义关系。如果说费城博物馆几十年来不断需要扩建，那么十年前的近一次搞的是什么呢?应当和扩建有关的。四个选项中，只有D the Philadeplphia Museum of Art was remodeled(进行改造)比较接近意思。而全文也是讲美国许多博物馆都面临空地紧缺，收藏品越来越多的问题，A、B和C都没提到。
(3)因果关系表示同义：假如所考词汇与线索提示词之间以如下结构连接，那么二者为同义关系。例如：because，since，for，if，thus，so that，so…that…，so…as to…，therefore，consequently(因此)，as a result，in that(因为)，result in(结果)，result from(由于)，cause(导致)，lead to(导致)，be due to(因为)。
(4)举例表示同义关系：假如所考词汇与线索提示词之间有如下过渡词，即所考词汇被一个例子所解释，那么例子的含义为所考词汇的意义。引出例证的常见词为for example，for instance，such as，to specify(说的具体一点)等。
例40
Right now in schools across the country children are busy selling Pepsi--Cola in the name of education. They are part of Pepsi's "Learn and Earn Project"--an annual competition set up by Pepsi that encourages students to sell the soft drink at parties, basketball games and other school functions.
Then, each spring, the students write up their Pepsi-selling success stories for a chance at national prizes: shares of stock in the Pepsi-Cola Company.
According to materials the company sends the teachers, the project declares "help strengthen students broad, understandings of business, particularly its broad market- ing and management.aspeCts. "
Whether it fulfills this objective or not, it does succeed in selling Pepsi.
The "Learn and EarnProject" is just one example of the hundreds of ways food companies (as well as other types of corporations, public utilities and trade associa-tions) promote their products in..schools..Particularly in the fields of nutrition and home economics, companies send numerous "teaching aids" : highly professional films, shiny workbooks and pamphlets, and available to teachers at well below commercial rates or free.
For example, the Savannah Sugar Refining Corp. Puts out a book for students called "Sugar Through the Ages" which includes statements much as "Scientists have found that generous amounts of sugar are a valuable part of well-balanced diets for growing children. "
By far the largest supplier of nutrition--education materials to schools is the Na- tional Dairy Council, which provides all sorts of pamphlets addressing questions ran- ging from " How am I doing socially?" to "How am I doing physically?" Woven throughout these materials are subtle references to dairy products, daily calcium re-quirements, etc. Drink milk, the message seems to be, and you too can be popular.
But nutrition and home economics are not the only areas where corporations have found a lucrative form of advertising.
The word "generous" most probably means
A. large
B. average
C. small
D. limited
generous这个词所在句一开头有for example的过渡词：For example，the Savannah Sugar
Refining Corp．puts out a book for students called“Sugar Through the Ages’’Which includes
statements such as“Scientists have found that generous amounts of children”。说明这一句是它前面观点的具体例子。回过去看它的前面一段，其段落主题句是：The“Learn and Earn Project”is just one example of the hun&eds of ways food companies(as well as other types of corporations，public utilities and trade associations)promote their products in schools．说的是许许多多食品厂通过广告宣传与课堂教学结合起来，来推销他们的产品。而这一句说的食糖厂就是具体例子。
因此他们向学校发的宣传资料必定是说多食糖对于身体发育是有益的。这样A large amounts
of sugar are a valuable part of well balanced diets for growing children应是合理的。
(5)标点符号暗示语义关系：破折号、冒号或括号均表示同义解释。
例41
Technically, any substance other than food that alters our bodily or mental func-tioning is a drug. Many people mistakenly believe the term drug refers only to some sort of medicine of an illegal chemical taken by drug addicts. They don't realize that familiar substances such as alcohol and tobacco are also drugs. This is why the more neutral term substance is now used by many physicians and psychologists. The phrase "substances such as alcohol and tobacco can be just as harmfully misused as heroin and cocaine. "
We live in a society in which the medicinal and social use of substances (drugs) is pervasive: an aspirin to quiet a headache, some wine to be sociable, coffee to get going in the morning, a cigarette for the nerves. When do these socially acceptable and ap- parently constructive uses of a substances become misuses? First of all, most sub- stances taken in excess will produce negative effects such as poisoning or intense per-ceptual distortions. Repeated use of a substance can also lead to physical addiction or substance dependence. Dependence is marked first by an increased tolerance, with more and more of substance required to produce the desired effect, and then by the ap- pearance of unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when the substance is discontinued.
Drugs (substances) that affect the central nervous system and alter perception, mood, and behavior are known as psychoactive substances. Psychoactive substances are commonly grouped according to whether they are stimulants, depressants, or hallucinogens. Stimulants initially speed up or activate the central nervous system, whereas depressants slow it down.
Hallucinogens have their primary effect on perception, distorting and altering it in a variety of ways including producing hallucinations. These are the substances often called psychedelic (form the Greek word meaning "mind--manifesting") because they seemed to radically alter one's state of consciousness.
The word "pervasive" might mean
A. widespread
B. piercing
C. indifferent
D. fashionable
把pervasive所在的句子读一下：We live in a society in which the medical and social use of substances(drugs)is pervasive：an aspirin the quiet a headache，some wine to be sociable，coffee to get going in the mornin9，a cigarette for the nerves．暂且不管pervasive是什么意思。但根据pervasive后的冒号的语义功能，冒号后讲的东西应是具体说明pervasive的意思。用阿司匹林止头痛，在社交场合饮酒作兴，喝咖啡开始一天的工作，用吸烟安定情绪。这些例子都说明运用具有兴奋或镇静作用的物质达到医学或社交目的是很普遍的。因此A widespread是正确答案。D fashionable不对，因为用阿司匹林止头痛，或在社交场合饮酒作兴，或喝咖啡开始一天的工作，或吸烟安定情绪都已成习俗，并不时髦。
在以同义词表达同义关系时，这个同义词可能与被考词汇在同一句，有时甚至陷入一种模式：设所考词汇意思为X，有等式A：B=C：X，A、B、C是原句中的已知概念，那么X=B，即X对应于相应位置上的概念。这种根据三个已知概念推导第四个概念的题在三级考试中出现过几次，可以根据第四个概念(所考词汇)对应位置上的词得出同义答案。还有一种模式：文章开始提出一个主概念，在后面再谈到这一主概念时，为防重复，常常以其他同义词表达这一概念。用以替代主概念的词可能成为所考词汇，此时答案为文中开始提到的主概念词汇。
例42
I think it certain that in decades, not centuries, machines of silicon (硅) will arise first to rival and then exceed their human ancestors. Once they exceed us they will be capable of their own design. In a real sense they will be able to reproduce themselves.
Silicon will have ended carbon's long control. And we will no longer be able to claim ourselves to be the finest intelligence in the known universe.
The word carbon stands for
A. intelligent robots
C. an organic substance
B. a chemical element
D. human beings
所考词汇在文中的句子为Silicon will have ended carbon’S long contr01．而上文句即指出：I think it certain that in decades，not centuries，machines of silicon(硅) will arise first to rival and then exceed their human ancestors．根据上述的模式A：B=C：X，即silicon：their human ancestors=silicon：X，X对应于their human ancestors，那么D为正确答案。
例43
It has been thought and said that Africans are born with musical talent. Because music is so important in the lives of many Africans and because so much music is per-formed in Africa, we are inclined to think that all Africans are musicians. The impres-sion is strengthened when we look at ourselves and find that we have become largely a society of musical spectators (旁观者). Music is important to us, but most of us can be considered consumers rather than producers of music. We have records, television, concerts, and radio to fulfill many of our musical needs. In most situations where mu-sic is performed in our culture it is not difficult to distinguish the audience from the performers, but such is often not the case in Africa. Alban Ayipaga, a Kasena semi-professional musician from northern Ghana, says that when his flute (长笛) and drum ensemble (歌舞团) is performing. "Anybody can take part. " This is true, but Kasena musicians recognize that not all people are equally capable of taking part in the music.
Some can sing along with the drummers, but relatively few can drum and even fewer can play the flute along with the ensemble. It is fairly common in Africa for there to be an ensemble of expert musicians surrounded by others who join in by clapping, sing- ing, or somehow adding to the totality of musical sound. Performances often take place in an open area (that is, not on a stage) and so the lines between the performing nucleus and the additional performers, active spectators, and passive spectators may be difficult to draw from our point of view.
The word "nucleus" probably refers to
A. musicians famous in Africa
B. musicians at the centre of attention
C. musicians acting as the core in a performance
D. active participants in a musical performance
本文的中心对比(主概念)是真正的表演者与观众，但这一对概念在文中不同地方以不同方式表达。
表演者 观众
Musicians spectators
Producers consumers
Performers audience
Performing additional performers
active spectators
passive spectators
毫无疑问，左边一栏的人为核心表演者，而右边一栏的人为一般观众或参与者，那么正确答案为C；B项含义模糊，为干扰选项。
例44
Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation be-tween actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Cognitive (认知学派的) researchers, who study various aspects of mental life, maintain that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.
The latter view has gained many supporters, especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary (金钱的) rewards sparks creativity in grade-school chil- dren, suggesting that properly presented inducements (刺激) indeed aid inventive- ness, according to a study in the June Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
"If kids know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challeng- ing task, they show the most creativity,"says Robert Eisenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. "But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor per- formance or creating too much anticipation for rewards. "
A teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students, Eisenberger holds.
As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts at major universities to tighten grading standards and restore failing grades.
In earlier grades, the use of so-called token economies, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points toward valued rewards, shows promise in raising effort and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.
The phrase "token economies" probably refers to
A. ways to develop economy
B. systems of rewarding students
C. approaches to solving problems
D. methods of improving performance
token economies的意思由其后的一个非限制性定语从句解释：in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points toward valued rewards，根据这种办法，学生处理具有挑战性的问题，同时根据成绩获得一定的分数，直到得到宝贵的奖励，由此可知token economies为一种奖励方法，因此B为正确答案。
3．利用反义关系解题
凡是所考词汇与线索提示词之间以下列结构表示转折或对立关系的，两者之间可能构成反义关系。例如：but，yet，however，although，though，while，whereas，despite(尽管)，in spite of(尽管)，in contrast(形成对比)，on the contrary等。
例45
We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming (把...按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into ac- count the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!
By "held back" the author means " ".
A. made to remain in the same classes
B. forced to study in the lower classes
C. drawn to their studies
D. prevented from advancing
所考词汇在文中的相关句为We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed—ability teaching．它与紧接着的下一句(上文第二句)在语义上构成转折关系(由on the contrary提示)，由此可知held back为第二句中enrich(充实，丰富)在这个上下文中的反义词，意为“阻止……的发展”，所以D为正确答案。
例46
Most people would agree that, although our age exceeds all previous ages in knowledge, there has been no corresponding increase in wisdom. But agreement ceases as soon as we attempt to define "wisdom" and consider means of promoting it.
There are several factors that contribute to wisdom. Of there I should put first a sense of proportion: the capacity to take account of all the important factors in a prob- lem and to attach to each its due weight. This has become more difficult than it used to be owing to the extent and complexity of the special knowledge required of various kinds of technicians. Suppose, for example, that you are engaged in research in scien-tific medicine. The work is difficult and is likely to absorb the whole of your mind.
You have no time to consider the effect which your discoveries or inventions may have outside the field of medicine. You succeed (let us say) as modern medicine has succee- ded, in enormously lowering the infant death-rate, not only in Europe and America, but also in Asia and Africa. This has the entirely unintended result of making the food supply inadequate and lowering the standard of life in the parts of the world that have the greatest populations. To take an even more dramatic example, which is in everybody's mind at the present time; you study the makeup of the atom from a disin-terested (无利害关系的) desire for knowledge, and by chance place in the hands of a powerful mad man the means of destroying the human race.
Therefore, with every increase of knowledge and skill, wisdom becomes more necessary, for every such increase augments (增强) our capacity for realising our pur- poses, and therefore augments our capacity for evil, if our purposes are unwise.
According to the author, "wisdom" is the ability to
A. carefully consider the bad effects of any kind of research work
B. give each important problem some careful consideration
C. acquire a great deal of complex and special knowledge
D. give suitable consideration to all the possible elements in a problem
“wisdom”的含义只有通过上下文才能确定：There are several factors that contribute to wisdom．Of these I should put first a sense of proportion：the capacity to take account of all the important factors in a problem and to attach to each its due weight．
智慧由几个因素构成，其中我首先提出比例感：这是一种考虑问题中所有因素并对各个因素给予应有重视的能力，由此可知，这里的“wisdom”就是选项D的内容：对问题中的全部可能因素给予适当考虑，因此D为正确答案。
例47
After a year or so, however, I still hadn't gotten a break and began to doubt my-self. It was so hard to sell a story that barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering, What if? I would keep putting my dream to the test--even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the Shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.
"... people who die wondering, What if?" refers to "those ."
A. who think too much of the dark side of life
B. who regret giving up their career halfway
C. who think a lot without making a decision
D. who are full of imagination even upon death
本题仍然可以依据题干出现的上下文来做。该部分的上文为：But I knew l wanted to write，I had dreamed about it for years．不过我知道自己想写。这是我多年的梦想；其下文为：I would keep putting my dream to the test--even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．我将继续考验我的梦想——即使这么做意味着生活在毫无把握与对失败的担心之中。纵观上下文，作者不想半途而废，与那些因中途放弃而很后悔的人形成一个对比。由此可见，B为正确答案。
"Shadowland"in the last sentence refers to
A. the wonderland one often dreams about
B. the bright future that one is looking forward to
C. the state of uncertainty before one's final goal is reached
D. a world that exists only in one's imagination
“Shadowland”所在的句子为：This is the Shadowland of hope，and anyone with a dream must learn to live there．由其中的“This”可知，对Shadowland的解释和说明在上一句：…even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure．即使这么做意味着生活在毫无把握与对失败的担心之中。因此“Shadowland”就是指这种毫无把握与对失败的担心，那么C为正确答案；A项与D项为“Shadowland”的一般性解释，不是在此上下文中的意义。
例48
If spelling becomes the only focal point of his teacher's interest, clearly a bright child will be likely to "play safe". He will tend to write only words within his spelling range, choosing to avoid adventurous language. That's why teachers often encourage the early use of dictionaries and pay attention to content rather than technical ability.
The expression "play safe"probably means
A. to write carefully
B. to do as teachers say
C. to use dictionaries frequently
D. to avoid using words one is not sure of
这道题可以根据play safe的上下文来做；其下文为He will tend to write only words within his spelling range，choosing to avoid adventurous language．他将倾向于只用会拼写的词，避免使用拼写无把握的词。这是对play safe所做的说明，因此D为正确答案。
编辑推荐：
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