2010年教育部考試中心考研英語(yǔ)模擬試題
----閱讀理解部分匯編
八、現(xiàn)代人對(duì)維多利亞時(shí)代的看法
One of the silliest things in our recent history was the use of “Victorian” as a term of contempt or abuse. It had been made fashionable by Lytton Strachey with his clever, superficial and ultimately empty book Eminent Victorians, in which he damned with faint praise such Victorian heroes as General Gordon and Florence Nightingale. Strachey’s demolition job was clever because it ridiculed the Victorians for exactly those qualities on which they prided themselves—their high mindedness, their marked moral intensity, their desire to improve the human condition and their confidence that they had done so.
Yet one saw, even before the 100th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria this year, that there were signs these sneering attitudes were beginning to change. Programmes on radio and television about Victoria and the age that was named after her managed to humble themselves only about half the time. People were beginning to realize that there was something heroic about that epoch and, perhaps, to fear that the Victorian age was the last age of greatness for this country.
Now a new book, What The Victorians Did For Us, aims further to redress the balance and remind us that, in most essentials, our own age is really an extension of what the Victorians created. You can start with the list of Victorian inventions. They were great lovers of gadgets from the smallest domestic ones to new ways of propelling ships throughout the far-flung Empire. In medicine, anaesthesia (developed both here and in America) allowed surgeons much greater time in which to operate—and hence to work on the inner organs of the body—not to mention reducing the level of pain and fear of patients.
To the Victorians we also owe lawn tennis, a nationwide football association under the modern rules, powered funfair rides, and theatres offering mass entertainment. And, of course, the modern seaside is almost entirely a Victorian invention. There is, of course, a darker side to the Victorian period. Everyone knows about it mostly because the Victorians catalogued it themselves. Henry Mayhew’s wonderful set of volumes on the lives of the London poor, and official reports on prostitution, on the workhouses and on child labour—reports and their statistics that were used by Marx when he wrote Das Kapital—testify to the social conscience that was at the center of “Victorian values”.
But now, surely, we can appreciate the Victorian achievement for what it was—the creation of the modern world. And when we compare the age of Tennyson and Darwin, of John Henry Newman and Carlyle, with our own, the only sensible reaction is one of humility: “We are our father’s shadows cast at noon”.
1.According to the author, Lytton Strachey’s book Eminent Victorians _____.
[A] accurately described the qualities of the people of the age
[B] superficially praised the heroic deeds of the Victorians
[C] was highly critical of the contemporary people and institutions
[D] was guilty of spreading prejudices against the Victorians
2. The change in the attidues towards the Vcitorians is revealed in the fact that _____.
[A] the 100th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria is celebrated
[B] the media publicizes events or people about the Victorian age
[C] people begin to highly praise Victorian heroes
[D] a new book regards Victorians as creators of the modern world
3. What is the meaning of the word “gadgets” (Paragraph 4)?
[A] devices [B] tools [C] appliances [D] engines
4. According to the text, the Victorians invented _____.
[A] surgery [B] seaside holiday [C] funfair [D] mass entertainment
5. The author talks about the darker side of the Victorian period to _____.
[A] disclose the social injustices and evils
[B] give proof to Karl Marx’s Das Kapital
[C] manifest the Victorians’ good sense of right and wrong
[D] show the age’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses
答案:1.D 2.D 3.A 4.B 5.C
核心詞匯與超綱詞匯
(1)damn sb./sth. with faint praise名褒實(shí)貶，用冷漠的贊揚(yáng)貶低，如She damned Reynolds with faint praise, calling him one of the best imitators in the world.
(2)demolition(n.)破壞，毀壞
(3)sneer(n./v.)冷笑，譏笑，嘲笑
(4)epoch(n.)新紀(jì)元，時(shí)代，時(shí)期
(5)redress(v)糾正，矯正;重新穿衣，重新調(diào)整
(6)essential(a.)本質(zhì)的，基本的;必不可少的;精華的(n.)基本必要的東西;本質(zhì)，實(shí)質(zhì)要素，要點(diǎn)
(7)far-flung(a.)蔓延的，廣泛的，廣泛傳播的，遼闊的
(8)anaesthesia(n.)感覺(jué)缺乏，麻木，麻醉(法);esthe詞根表示“感覺(jué)”，如esthetic感覺(jué)的
(9)catalogue(n.)目錄;一連串(糟糕)事，如a ~ of disasters接二連三的災(zāi)難(v.)列入目錄;記載，登記(某人某事的詳情)
(10)testify(v.)(出庭)作證;證實(shí)，證明;~ to sth.作為某事的證明，說(shuō)明，如The film testifies to the courage of ordinary people during the war(這部電影表明老百姓在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)期的英勇行為)
(11)humility(n.)謙卑[恭，遜]，[pl. ]謙讓的行為
全文翻譯
我們近代歷最愚蠢的事之一就是把“Victorian”作為鄙視和漫罵的名稱。而使這一說(shuō)法得以流傳開來(lái)的是萊頓·斯傳策斯那本言辭巧妙但膚淺空洞的《維多利亞時(shí)代的俊杰》，在這本書中他諷刺了如戈登將軍和弗洛倫斯·南丁格爾這樣的維多利亞時(shí)代的英雄。斯傳策斯破壞性的工作是巧妙的，因?yàn)樗靶Φ恼蔷S多利亞人引以自豪的品質(zhì)：清高、特別的道德強(qiáng)度、想改善人類條件的愿望以及他們認(rèn)為自己已經(jīng)做到了的信心。
然而，即使是今年維多利亞女王逝世一百周年紀(jì)念日到來(lái)之前，人們已看到這種嘲笑的態(tài)度正在開始轉(zhuǎn)變。廣播和電視中只有半數(shù)有關(guān)維多利亞及以她的名字命名的時(shí)代的節(jié)目設(shè)法進(jìn)行自我貶低。人們開始意識(shí)到那個(gè)時(shí)代有些英雄的意味，又或許是開始害怕維多利亞時(shí)代是這個(gè)國(guó)家最后一個(gè)偉大的時(shí)代。
現(xiàn)在的一本新書《維多利亞時(shí)代的人為我們作了什么?》旨在進(jìn)一步恢復(fù)平衡并提醒我們：在大多數(shù)基本方面，我們自己的時(shí)代實(shí)際上是維多利亞時(shí)代創(chuàng)造的東西的延伸?？梢詮牧信e維多利亞時(shí)代的發(fā)明開始。他們對(duì)設(shè)備十分癡迷——小到家用設(shè)備，大到為遠(yuǎn)航整個(gè)帝國(guó)的船只提供動(dòng)力的新途徑。在醫(yī)學(xué)方面，(在本國(guó)和美國(guó)都有發(fā)展的)麻醉法使外科大夫有更多的時(shí)間，從而可以對(duì)身體的內(nèi)部器官進(jìn)行手術(shù)，更不用說(shuō)減少病人的疼痛和恐懼了。
也因?yàn)橛辛司S多利亞人，我們才有了草地網(wǎng)球、在現(xiàn)代規(guī)則下的全國(guó)足球協(xié)會(huì)、露天游樂(lè)場(chǎng)的動(dòng)力旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬和提供大眾娛樂(lè)的劇院。當(dāng)然，現(xiàn)代海邊渡假幾乎完全就是維多利亞時(shí)代的發(fā)明。不過(guò)，維多利亞時(shí)期也有陰暗的一面。大家之所以都知道這一點(diǎn)，主要是因?yàn)榫S多利亞人自己已經(jīng)將它記錄下來(lái)了。亨利·梅休描寫倫敦貧苦人生活的精彩卷集，官方有關(guān)賣*、濟(jì)窮院和兒童勞工的報(bào)道(馬克思寫《資本論》時(shí)引用的這些方面的數(shù)據(jù))都表明了社會(huì)良知是“維多利亞價(jià)值觀”的核心內(nèi)容。
但是如今，我們應(yīng)該感激維多利亞創(chuàng)造現(xiàn)代世界所取得的成就。當(dāng)我們拿丁尼生、達(dá)爾文、約翰·亨利·紐曼和卡萊爾的時(shí)代與我們自己的時(shí)代相比較時(shí)，明智的反應(yīng)就是謙卑：“我們只是父輩在正午投射的影子”。
----閱讀理解部分匯編
八、現(xiàn)代人對(duì)維多利亞時(shí)代的看法
One of the silliest things in our recent history was the use of “Victorian” as a term of contempt or abuse. It had been made fashionable by Lytton Strachey with his clever, superficial and ultimately empty book Eminent Victorians, in which he damned with faint praise such Victorian heroes as General Gordon and Florence Nightingale. Strachey’s demolition job was clever because it ridiculed the Victorians for exactly those qualities on which they prided themselves—their high mindedness, their marked moral intensity, their desire to improve the human condition and their confidence that they had done so.
Yet one saw, even before the 100th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria this year, that there were signs these sneering attitudes were beginning to change. Programmes on radio and television about Victoria and the age that was named after her managed to humble themselves only about half the time. People were beginning to realize that there was something heroic about that epoch and, perhaps, to fear that the Victorian age was the last age of greatness for this country.
Now a new book, What The Victorians Did For Us, aims further to redress the balance and remind us that, in most essentials, our own age is really an extension of what the Victorians created. You can start with the list of Victorian inventions. They were great lovers of gadgets from the smallest domestic ones to new ways of propelling ships throughout the far-flung Empire. In medicine, anaesthesia (developed both here and in America) allowed surgeons much greater time in which to operate—and hence to work on the inner organs of the body—not to mention reducing the level of pain and fear of patients.
To the Victorians we also owe lawn tennis, a nationwide football association under the modern rules, powered funfair rides, and theatres offering mass entertainment. And, of course, the modern seaside is almost entirely a Victorian invention. There is, of course, a darker side to the Victorian period. Everyone knows about it mostly because the Victorians catalogued it themselves. Henry Mayhew’s wonderful set of volumes on the lives of the London poor, and official reports on prostitution, on the workhouses and on child labour—reports and their statistics that were used by Marx when he wrote Das Kapital—testify to the social conscience that was at the center of “Victorian values”.
But now, surely, we can appreciate the Victorian achievement for what it was—the creation of the modern world. And when we compare the age of Tennyson and Darwin, of John Henry Newman and Carlyle, with our own, the only sensible reaction is one of humility: “We are our father’s shadows cast at noon”.
1.According to the author, Lytton Strachey’s book Eminent Victorians _____.
[A] accurately described the qualities of the people of the age
[B] superficially praised the heroic deeds of the Victorians
[C] was highly critical of the contemporary people and institutions
[D] was guilty of spreading prejudices against the Victorians
2. The change in the attidues towards the Vcitorians is revealed in the fact that _____.
[A] the 100th anniversary of the death of Queen Victoria is celebrated
[B] the media publicizes events or people about the Victorian age
[C] people begin to highly praise Victorian heroes
[D] a new book regards Victorians as creators of the modern world
3. What is the meaning of the word “gadgets” (Paragraph 4)?
[A] devices [B] tools [C] appliances [D] engines
4. According to the text, the Victorians invented _____.
[A] surgery [B] seaside holiday [C] funfair [D] mass entertainment
5. The author talks about the darker side of the Victorian period to _____.
[A] disclose the social injustices and evils
[B] give proof to Karl Marx’s Das Kapital
[C] manifest the Victorians’ good sense of right and wrong
[D] show the age’s strengths outweigh its weaknesses
答案:1.D 2.D 3.A 4.B 5.C
核心詞匯與超綱詞匯
(1)damn sb./sth. with faint praise名褒實(shí)貶，用冷漠的贊揚(yáng)貶低，如She damned Reynolds with faint praise, calling him one of the best imitators in the world.
(2)demolition(n.)破壞，毀壞
(3)sneer(n./v.)冷笑，譏笑，嘲笑
(4)epoch(n.)新紀(jì)元，時(shí)代，時(shí)期
(5)redress(v)糾正，矯正;重新穿衣，重新調(diào)整
(6)essential(a.)本質(zhì)的，基本的;必不可少的;精華的(n.)基本必要的東西;本質(zhì)，實(shí)質(zhì)要素，要點(diǎn)
(7)far-flung(a.)蔓延的，廣泛的，廣泛傳播的，遼闊的
(8)anaesthesia(n.)感覺(jué)缺乏，麻木，麻醉(法);esthe詞根表示“感覺(jué)”，如esthetic感覺(jué)的
(9)catalogue(n.)目錄;一連串(糟糕)事，如a ~ of disasters接二連三的災(zāi)難(v.)列入目錄;記載，登記(某人某事的詳情)
(10)testify(v.)(出庭)作證;證實(shí)，證明;~ to sth.作為某事的證明，說(shuō)明，如The film testifies to the courage of ordinary people during the war(這部電影表明老百姓在戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)時(shí)期的英勇行為)
(11)humility(n.)謙卑[恭，遜]，[pl. ]謙讓的行為
全文翻譯
我們近代歷最愚蠢的事之一就是把“Victorian”作為鄙視和漫罵的名稱。而使這一說(shuō)法得以流傳開來(lái)的是萊頓·斯傳策斯那本言辭巧妙但膚淺空洞的《維多利亞時(shí)代的俊杰》，在這本書中他諷刺了如戈登將軍和弗洛倫斯·南丁格爾這樣的維多利亞時(shí)代的英雄。斯傳策斯破壞性的工作是巧妙的，因?yàn)樗靶Φ恼蔷S多利亞人引以自豪的品質(zhì)：清高、特別的道德強(qiáng)度、想改善人類條件的愿望以及他們認(rèn)為自己已經(jīng)做到了的信心。
然而，即使是今年維多利亞女王逝世一百周年紀(jì)念日到來(lái)之前，人們已看到這種嘲笑的態(tài)度正在開始轉(zhuǎn)變。廣播和電視中只有半數(shù)有關(guān)維多利亞及以她的名字命名的時(shí)代的節(jié)目設(shè)法進(jìn)行自我貶低。人們開始意識(shí)到那個(gè)時(shí)代有些英雄的意味，又或許是開始害怕維多利亞時(shí)代是這個(gè)國(guó)家最后一個(gè)偉大的時(shí)代。
現(xiàn)在的一本新書《維多利亞時(shí)代的人為我們作了什么?》旨在進(jìn)一步恢復(fù)平衡并提醒我們：在大多數(shù)基本方面，我們自己的時(shí)代實(shí)際上是維多利亞時(shí)代創(chuàng)造的東西的延伸?？梢詮牧信e維多利亞時(shí)代的發(fā)明開始。他們對(duì)設(shè)備十分癡迷——小到家用設(shè)備，大到為遠(yuǎn)航整個(gè)帝國(guó)的船只提供動(dòng)力的新途徑。在醫(yī)學(xué)方面，(在本國(guó)和美國(guó)都有發(fā)展的)麻醉法使外科大夫有更多的時(shí)間，從而可以對(duì)身體的內(nèi)部器官進(jìn)行手術(shù)，更不用說(shuō)減少病人的疼痛和恐懼了。
也因?yàn)橛辛司S多利亞人，我們才有了草地網(wǎng)球、在現(xiàn)代規(guī)則下的全國(guó)足球協(xié)會(huì)、露天游樂(lè)場(chǎng)的動(dòng)力旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬和提供大眾娛樂(lè)的劇院。當(dāng)然，現(xiàn)代海邊渡假幾乎完全就是維多利亞時(shí)代的發(fā)明。不過(guò)，維多利亞時(shí)期也有陰暗的一面。大家之所以都知道這一點(diǎn)，主要是因?yàn)榫S多利亞人自己已經(jīng)將它記錄下來(lái)了。亨利·梅休描寫倫敦貧苦人生活的精彩卷集，官方有關(guān)賣*、濟(jì)窮院和兒童勞工的報(bào)道(馬克思寫《資本論》時(shí)引用的這些方面的數(shù)據(jù))都表明了社會(huì)良知是“維多利亞價(jià)值觀”的核心內(nèi)容。
但是如今，我們應(yīng)該感激維多利亞創(chuàng)造現(xiàn)代世界所取得的成就。當(dāng)我們拿丁尼生、達(dá)爾文、約翰·亨利·紐曼和卡萊爾的時(shí)代與我們自己的時(shí)代相比較時(shí)，明智的反應(yīng)就是謙卑：“我們只是父輩在正午投射的影子”。