(二)
W:If youre in your 20s,you own your first car,your career is more or less launched,and youre starting to look forward to owning a home.But youre worried,too.Perhaps youve got some debt.You probably dont have much in the way of savings.And with all your expenses,it doesnt look like youll be able to improve that situation soon.
If you wonder how to cut corners,theres an obvious place to look-at your spending habits.
Do you buy a soda each weekend?Waste $ 1 a day for 40 years and,when youre set to retire,youll find your account is short by $ 190,000.Grab a calculator and youll discover that,over 40 years going out to dinner twice a month at $ 40 each time amounts to half a million.Even a pack-a day cigarette habit will lighten your retirement account by $ 330,000.And the same with cable TV and those cool earrings.They will probably amount to as much as one million.
So,the first clue to accumulating wealth is this:focus on your spending habits.Here are a couple of tricks to help you save even if you swear you cant afford to. Stop buying things that fall rather than rise in value.Pay yourself first:Before you pay the monthly bills,send $ 25 to a mutual fund. Stop spending coins.From nwo on,spend only paper currency,and keep the change every day.Get your family involved,and youll double your savings.Use discount tickets at the supermarket—but use them correctly.How? If you really want to make these tickets worthwhile,you actually must invest into your mutual fund the amount you save by using the tickets.Otherwise,youre wasting your time—and your money.
M:You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Questions 14-16.
(三)
W:Mr. Glieberman,do you see any change in the high rate of broken marriages?
M:The divorce rate is beginning to level off and probably will begin to drop in the next year or two,though not significantly.The tight economy has made it more difficult for troubled couples to handle all the costs associated with setting up separate house-holds.Also,I believe theres a comeback of thought—after the turbulent60s and70s—that the family does have value.In the midst of change and family disintegration, people seem to have a greater desire now to create stability in their lives.
W:What is the divorce rate now?
M:About 1 in 3 marriages ends in divorce,a ratio far higher than it was 20 years ago when the philosophy was “Well tough it out no matter what.Society demands that,for appearances sake,we stay together.”
Divorce no longer carries much disgrace.Theres no way,for example,that Ronald Reagan,a divorced man,could have been elected President in 1960.And there are countless other divorced politicians who years ago would have been voted out of office if they had even considered a divorce, let alone gotten one.
The same was true in the corporate structure,where divorced people rarely moved up the executive ladder.Now corporations welcome a divorced man,because they can shift him around the country without worrying about relocating his family or making certain that they are happy.
W:You now have 40 seconds to check your answers to Questions 17-20.
Section Ⅱ Use of English
21[答案]A
[注释]本题固然涉及副词的使用知识,然而,更重要的是考查考生句与句之间语义逻辑的理解能力。本题考察对上下文句意的理解。第一句指出:人们常拿二十世纪电视的发展同十五六世纪印刷术的普及作比较。第二句承上转折,但在(十五六世纪到二十世纪)这段时间内发生了许多事,强调两者是不能相提并论的。四个选项都是时间副词,但只有between…A and …B结构,而忽略了它可以作为副词,表示介于某两从此时间或地点之间的时间或地点,此时between=in between adv.
22[答案]D
[注释]本题考查考生对“it was not until……that……”句型的把握。until表示“直到……才”,在it was not until+时间 that+句子中,句中谓语动词用一般过去时,句意直到十九世纪,报纸才成为主要媒介。如果使用by,是句子时态应改为完成时,即“by the 19th century the newspaper had become the dominant medium”,在19世纪之前,报纸已成为主要媒介。而选[A]、[C]均不符合历史事实,报纸就是在19世纪开始发展成为主要媒体的。
23[答案]C
[注释]本题考查考生的词汇知识。medium是媒体,媒介的意思,复数形式为media,mass media指大众传媒,大众传播工具(尤指电视、报纸、无线电等)考生往往熟知media,却不知道其单数形式medium.
24[答案]B
[注释]本题主要考查介词短语知识。从the pamphlet和the book推断the periodical应该也是和newspaper处于并列关系。in the compary of sth.=together with 表示“与……一起”的意思。全句意思为:继宣传小册子和书本之后,直到十九世纪,报纸同杂志期刊一起成为电子时代之前的主要媒体。
25[答案]B
[注释]本题考查动词短语知识。speed up 不及物动词短语,是“加速”的意思,只有此选项符合题意,全句是说,通讯革命也是在19世纪加速发展,从铁路运输开始,经过电报、电话、无线电和动画片,直到20世纪的摩托车和飞机。gather是“聚集”的意思;work up一般作及物动词短语,如:work up a business拓展一家商店,work up the feelings of an audience,煽动听众情绪;pick up是“拾起,捡起”的意思。
26[答案]A
[注释]本题考查副词的使用知识。on表示“进展,向前,继续活动”,是一个持续的状态,与句意“从铁路运输开始,一直经过一系列的发明(电报、电话……)”相符。短语lead off是“开始”的意思,与句意不符。
27[答案]D
[注释]本题考查介词的使用知识。该句从“the communications revolution”开始的主要骨干为:the revolution speeded up, beginning with …, and leading on through…, …, …, into the world of …
28[答案]D
[注释]本题考查介词短语知识。短语in perspective=in the right perspective,意指“以正确的观点;正确地”,这句话意思是:“并不是每个人都能正确地看待这一进程”。in cocept “在概念上”,in effect则指“规则、法律仍在实施中,仍然有效”,或指“in fact actually”,都与句意不符。
29[答案]C
[注释]本题考查考生语篇层次上的语义逻辑的把握能力。从上下文句意推断,上文强调并“并不是每个人都能正确地看待这一进程”,这里却说“20世纪初电子计算机的出现极大地改变了这一进程,这一观点是大家公认的。”很显然这里是一种转折关系,只有however符合题意,indeed表示强调,hence和therefore则是顺承的关系(因此,所以)。
30[答案]B
[注释]本题考查词汇知识。从上下文时间关系上推断,20世纪60年代集成电路的发明②应该是在20世纪初电子计算机的使用①之后,因此用“followed by”,而brought by则指②带来①,stimulated by 指②刺激了①的产生,明显颠倒了两者之间的前后关系,chacterized by则是说②是①的特征,也与事实不符。
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