题目内容
I played a racquetball game against my cousin Ed last week. It was one of the most __1__ and tiring games I’ve ever had．When Ed first phoned and __2__ we play, I laughed quietly, figuring on an __3__ victory. After all, Ed’s idea of __4__ has always been nothing more __5__ than lifting a fork to his mouth. __6__ I can remember, Ed’s been the least physically fit member in the family, and __7__ proud of himself. His big stomach has always ballooned out between his T shirt and trousers. Although the family often __8__ about that, Ed refused to buy a __9__ T-shirt or to lose weight. So when Ed __10__ for our game not only with the bottom of his shirt gathered inside his trousers but also with a stomach you could hardly __11__, I was so surprised that I was __12__. My cousin must have made an effort to get himself into shape. __13__, at the point in our game when I’d have predicted (预计) the score to be about 9 to 1 in my favor, it was __14__ 7 to 9—and Ed was __15__. The sudden realization was painful. We __16__ to play like two mad men. When the score was 16 up, I was having serious __17__ about staying alive until 21 years old, let alone __18__ that many points. When the game finally ended, both of us were lying flat on our backs, too tired to __19__. In a way, I think that おwe both won: I the game, but Cousin Ed my __20__.
1.
A．encouraging
B．hopeless
C．surprising
D．regular
2.
A．declared
B．mentioned
C．persuaded
D．suggested
3.
A．unforgettable
B．unexpected
C．easy
D．early
4.
A．exercise
B．preparation
C．joy
D．fitness
5.
A．time saving
B．comfortable
C．suitable
D．effort making
6.
A．As soon as
B．As long as
C．When
D．Since
7.
A．strangely
B．personally
C．reasonably
D．eagerly
8.
A．cared
B．forgot
C．quarreled
D．joked
9.
A．clean
B．larger
C．straight
D．darker
10.
A．set out
B．got ready
C．arrived
D．returned
11.
A．notice
B．admire
C．believe
D．measure
12.
A．nervous
B．curious
C．careless
D．speechless
13.
A．After all
B．As a result
C．Above all
D．At last
14.
A．mistakenly
B．then
C．instead
D．naturally
15.
A．leading
B．coming
C．waiting
D．counting
16.
A．pretended
B．stopped
C．continued
D．decided
17.
A．thoughts
B．doubts
C．situations
D．problems
18.
A．scoring
B．completing
C．receiving
D．keeping
19.
A．play
B．start
C．sleep
D．move
20.
A．friendship
B．respect
C．support
D．favor
解析：
1．短文开头句交待出故事背景：人物——I，my Cousin Ed；时间——last week；事件——played a racquetball game。以下情节围绕这场锻炼比赛展开。本空答案的选择需要从全文来考虑，下文中对于Ed印象和态度的转变(at the point in our game when I’d have predicted the score to be about 9 to 1 in my favor，it was...)，说明这场比赛既让人tiring，其结局却又令人surprising。 把握本句结构是前提：这里说的It指的是全文所记述的这场racquetball game。 从下文看，“我”本身并没从比赛中获得什么鼓舞，encouraging(选项A)不妥；比赛仍为“我”赢，但即使是我“输”，也谈不上是hopeless，B项不对；regular(D项)指常规式的平淡无奇，显然与文章内容不符。 2．Suggest (that) somebody (should) do something为固定搭配。其他选项没有这种用法。 3．此处描述“我”在接电话后的心理活动： laughed quietly，结合下文对于Ed的印象与看法，此处一定是figuring on an easy victory，赢他是“易如反掌”。 三个干扰项，从形式上看，都可以接在an后填入本空，但是从文意考虑不能满足要求： A．unforgettable：此时认为赢他一定不会费劲，怎会“令人难忘”? B．unexpected：既为figuring on(=expecting；planning)，自然不该是unexpected了； D．early：从前面对Ed的描述看，作者在乎的是赢得比赛的容易程度，而非早或晚。 4．本空与全文主题相关：这场比赛的出发点是“exercise”，讲的是Ed刻苦锻炼取得的成效令“我”刮目相看。此处所说的正是Ed关于“锻炼”方面的idea(= picture in mind；conception)。 部分考生对于fitness本身的词义似乎已了解，但对于本句句意把握不够准确：idea of fitness(关于健康的概念)与句子后面lifting fork to his mouth并非对应；idea of exercise(锻炼的概念)才与lifting...相关，为最佳答案。 5．与上空呼应，表明“我”对Ed的印象：锻炼对于Ed来说(Ed’s idea of exercise)只不过是lifting a fork to his mouth。答题时应该领会作者的幽默口吻(留心此处用的是lifting，可以“链接”到weight lifting)，比较的是哪方面更加effort making。 6．本句对上句做出进一步解释：在“我”的记忆里，Ed是家族中the least physically fit member。 正确选项中的As long as在此并非固定短语，其含义不是原固定短语的on condition that，而是“像……一样长久”，与短文中的内容(I can remember)结合后，其意思为“在我的记忆中”。 since引导一个时间状语从句时，是指从过去的某个时间算起，意思是after the past time when或from the(past)time when，用于此处显然不合适。 7．分析本空所在的句子后会看到，一方面，Ed’s been(=Ed has been)the least physically fit member in the family；另一方面，(He’s been)proud of himself。前后并列着的处境与心态似乎不合常情：不以为羞反觉自豪。突出这一反差的副词，在四个选项中自然应该是strangely。 8．从His big stomach has always ballooned out以及后面的lose weight可以看出他的肥胖问题，且此句主语为his family所以应该是善意的，所以选D项，joked。 9．因为His big stomach has always ballooned out between his T shirt and trousers，所以说明大腹便便，衣服应该偏小，根据上下文选B项。 10．上文为我们描述了Ed的形象，本句则开始讲此次racquetball game的过程。由过去过渡到面前的Ed自然应该是他出现(arrived)后的事情。 实际上，如果仅仅考虑与后面介词(for)的接续搭配，本题所给的四个选项都是可以成立的，这也是“完形填空”设题的重要特征之一。解题中主要考虑的还应该是文意内容。此处为：Ed arrived...not only with...but also with...，读完本句，便能理解此处是要交待Ed到达时面貌一新。 11．此时的Ed，shirt扎进裤子里(with the bottom of his shirt gathered inside his trousers)，同时，stomach也不再像原来那样ballooned out，也就是：with a stomach you could hardly notice，难以觉察到了。对本句的理解也为把握下文情节的发展埋下伏笔，因此，Ed打起球来自然会是“今非昔比”了。 显然我们不会说：believe a stomach；此外，汉语词义的干扰(could hardly believe=“难以置信”)也是导致一些考生误选C项的主要因素之一。“完形填空”就是在阅读理解的基础上考查词汇的综合运用能力，良好的语言基本功与语言意识是提高本题得分的基础。 12．看到Ed的变化后，作者自述非常吃惊，按照生活常识，吃惊到一定程度后常常会说不出话来(speechless)，而不会是拘谨(nervous)、好奇(curious)或毫不关心(careless)。 13．本题要求根据行文需要选择恰当的附加状语。精神面貌和体态都已焕然一新的Ed，打起比赛来的结果该会如何，应该选择As a result。前面说到Ed的外表变化令人“刮目相看”，后面要说球赛中的表现，结果也是顺理成章的了。 As a result用来表示一种“因果关系(causes)”，表示所说事实的存在是因为有了前面的事实，可以满足此处行文的需要。 Above all表示的语义(=most important of all)不合乎此处文理。此处并非强调一项更为重要之事而是想要表示一种“结局”，故用As a result才好。 14．从when I predicted与后文the sudden realization反映出预想与实际情况的不符，所以用instead. 15．由7比9的结果可以看出，Ed领先，故而用leading。 16．A项假装；B项不再，停止做某事；C项继续做某事；D项决定做某事，显然他们是在继续以前的游戏，故C。 17．比分打到16分时，超负荷的运动给他们带来心理上的某种效果，此时此刻，“我”对于自己的staying alive都产生了怀疑，本空选择doubts(=a feeling of uncertainty about something。esp. about how good or true it is)； doubts的类似用法又如： He says he can do it．but I still have my doubts about his ability． 答题过程中，需要注意此处作者通过第一人称对于人物心理状态进行的描写。 18．考虑到与本空之后that many points的搭配。 19．因为已经lying flat on our backs，仰面朝天躺下了，所以是累得动不了了，选D。 20．结尾点题：we both won：I the game，but cousin Ed my respect，Ed以其刻苦锻炼的成效和racquet ball技艺上的长进令作者不再小看，赢得的是“尊重”而不是其他。 如选择friendship(A项)主要是因为不能从全文角度考虑，仅凭通常情理认为“我”从球赛中得到的是“友谊”。D项则对中等分段上下的考生构成较大迷惑与干扰，一些误选者似乎对于favor一词如果用于此空的含义并未准确理解、掌握。
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A few days ago I asked my sons’ governess Julia to come into my study.
“Be seated, Julia,” I said. “Let’s settle our accounts. I guess you most likely need some money, but maybe you’re too polite to mention it. Now then, we agreed on thirty dollars a month...”
“Forty.”
“No, thirty. I made a note of it. I always pay our governess thirty. Well, hmm, you’ve been here two months, so...”
“Two months and five days.”
“Exactly two months. I made a special note of it. That means you have sixty dollars coming to you. Take off nine Sundays... You know you didn’t work with Tom on Sundays. You only took walks. And three holidays...”
Julia was biting her finger nail nervously, her face red, but—not a word.
“Three holidays, therefore take off twelve dollars. Four days Tom was sick and there were no lessons, as you were occupied only with Dick. Three days you had a toothache and my wife gave you permission not to work after lunch. Twelve and seven—nineteen. Take nineteen off...that leaves...hmm...forty one dollars. Correct?”
Julia’s left eye reddened with tears welling up. Her chin trembled；she coughed nervously and blew her nose, but—still not a word.
“Around New Year’s Day you broke a teacup and a saucer: take off two dollars. The cup cost more, it was a treasure of the family, but—forget it. When didn’t I take a loss?! Then, due to your carelessness the maid stole Dick’s shoes. You ought to watch everything! You get paid for it. So, that means five more dollars off. The tenth of January I gave you ten dollars.”
“You didn’t,” sobbed Julia.
“But I made a note of it.”
“Well...if you say so.”
“Take twenty seven from forty one—that leaves fourteen. ”
Both her eyes were filled with tears. Beads of sweat stood on the thin pretty little nose. Poor girl!
“Only once was I given any money,” she whispered, her voice trembling, “and that was by your wife. Three dollars, nothing more.”
“Really? You see now, and I didn’t know that! Take three from fourteen...leaves eleven. Here’s your money, my dear. Three, three, three, one and one. Here it is!”
I handed her eleven dollars. She took them and pocketed them.
“Merci(法语，谢谢),” she whispered.
I jumped to my feet and started pacing the room. I was overcome with anger.
“For what, this ‘merci’?”I asked.
“For the money.”
“But you know I’ve cheated you—robbed you! I have actually stolen from you! Why this ‘Merci’?”
“In my other places they didn’t give me anything at all. ”
“They didn’t give you anything? No wonder! I played a little joke on you, a cruel lesson, just to teach you...I’m going to give you all the eighty dollars! Here they are in the envelope all ready for you...Is it really possible to be so spineless（懦弱）? Why didn’t you protest? Why were you silent? Is it possible in this world to be without teeth and claws（爪）—to be such a fool?”
Embarrassed, she smiled. And I could read her expression: “It is possible.”
I asked her pardon for the cruel lesson and, to her great surprise, gave her the eighty dollars. She murmured her little “merci” several times and went out. I looked after her and thought: “How easy it is to crush the weak in this world!”
【小题1】While talking to Julia, the writer expected ____________ from her.
| A．protest | B．gratitude | C．obedience | D．an explanation |
| A．nervousness in front of her boss | B．acceptance of injustice |
| C．shyness when talking about money | D．unwillingness to express herself |
| A．to be more aggressive | B．to be more careful in her work |
| C．to protect her own right | D．to live independently |
| A．his understanding of Julia’s anxiety |
| B．his worry about Julia’s future |
| C．his concern on the living conditions of working-class people |
| D．his sympathy for the mental state of those exploited(被剥削的) |
| A．greedy but honest | B．ill-tempered but warm-hearted |
| C．strict but forgiving | D．honest, kind and worried |