专题20 上海高考说明文阅读技巧点睛（解析版）-【高频考点解密】2023年高考英语二轮复习讲义+分层训练（上海专用）

►专题20 上海高考说明文阅读技巧点睛

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【考情链接】

上海高考英语关于阅读理解要求考生读懂简易的英语文学作品、科普文章、公告、说明、广告以及书、报、杂志中关于一般性话题的简短文章并回答相关问题。文章题材广泛，体裁多样，包括记叙文、新闻报道、应用文、说明文、议论文等。以下梳理说明文体裁主要阅读技巧。

【要点梳理】

        [方法1]　细节理解题

说明文通常突出介绍事件的过程、步骤和方法，同时通过具体的事例、数字、定义或图表等加以说明，所以该文体中的细节理解题常常和这些过程、步骤、方法、事例、数字、定义、图表等相关。考生解题时一定要准确地理解这些事实细节，进而做好相关的细节理解题。

【典例】（2023宝山一模）

When disaster strikes a community, it is often critical that assistance be provided right away. The best first responders are the people who call that area home. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program teaches civilians how to prepare themselves for dangers that might affect their communities. Teams of volunteers are trained in basic skills such as fire safety and prevention, search and rescue, and first aid. After training, these volunteers can begin to provide immediate assistance in the consequence of disasters before professional rescuers arrive.

43. According to the passage, when do CERT members usually provide assistance?

A. Before those professional rescuers arrive. B. When uniformed emergency responders arrive.

C. During the early stages of a disastrous event. D. Throughout the process of rescue in a disaster.

【答案】43. D

【解析】这是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了社区应急响应小组（CERT）项目教平民如何为可能影响他们社区的危险做好准备。说明了CERT团队可以对社区产生巨大的影响，介绍了其积极作用以及人们对其的看法。

【43题详解】

细节理解题。根据第一段中“The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program teaches civilians how to prepare themselves for dangers that might affect their communities. .……(社区应急响应小组（CERT）项目教平民如何为可能影响他们社区的危险做好准备。志愿者队伍接受消防安全和预防、搜索和救援以及急救等基本技能的培训。经过培训，这些志愿者可以在专业救援人员到达之前，在灾难发生后立即提供援助)”可知，CERT成员通常在灾难中救援的整个过程提供帮助。故选D。

        [方法2]　主旨大意题

说明文中的主旨大意题通常会体现作者写作的目的、文章主题思想、段落大意及阅读人群、文章出处等。这样，考生需要根据文章或段落的主题句、作者说明的主要内容等信息确定和主旨大意相关的试题，从而做出正确的选择。

【典例】(2023静安一模)

As Christmas approached, the price of turkey went wild. It didn’t rocket, as some might suggest. Nor did it crash. It just started waving. We live in the age of the variable prices. In the eyes of sellers, the right price—the one that will draw the most profit from consumers’ wallets—has become the focus of huge experiments. These sorts of price experiments have become a routine part of finding that right price.

It may come as a surprise that, in buying a pie, you might be participating in a carefully designed social-science experiment. But this is what online comparison shopping has brought. Simply put, the convenience to know the price of anything, anytime, anywhere, has given us, the consumers, so much power that sellers—in a desperate effort to regain the upper hand, or at least avoid extinction—are now staring back through the screen. They are trying to “comparison shopping” us.

46. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The advantages of online shopping over traditional shopping.

B. Measures sellers take to maximize profits.

C. The analysis of pricing mechanism.

D. The battle between buyers and sellers in Internet age.

【答案】 46. C

【解析】

【导语】本文是说明文。文章主要讲述在网络时代，因为受到很多因素的影响，物品的价格不再是一成不变的了，文章对定价机制进行了分析

【46题详解】

主旨大意题。根据第二段“It may come as a surprise that, in buying a pie, you might be participating in a

carefully designed social-science experiment. But this is what online comparison shopping has brought. (买馅饼时，你可能会参加一个精心设计的社会科学实验，这可能会让人感到惊讶。但这就是网上比价购物所带来的。)”和最后一段““In the Internet era, I don’t think anyone could have predicted how complicated these strategies have become,” says Robert Dolan, a professor at Harvard. (哈佛大学教授罗伯特·多兰表示：“在互联网时代，我认为没有人能够预测这些策略会变得多么复杂。”。)”可知，这篇文章主要讲述在网络时代，因为受到很多因素的影响，物品的价格不再是一成不变的了，文章对定价机制进行了分析。故选C。

        [方法3]　标题判断题

科普说明文多出现标题判断题，考查考生对全文的理解，它常以What would be the best title for this passage? What can be a suitable title for the text?等为设问方式，文章标题可以是单词，短语，也可以是句子，它的特点是：短小精悍，多为一短语；涵盖性强，一般要求能覆盖全文，其确定的范围要恰当，既不能太大，也不能太小；精确性强，不能随意改变语言表意的程度及色彩。答案需要理解文章后归纳文章中心。

【典例】（2023长宁一模）

……

Taken as a whole, however, the book contributes much to the discussion of the origins of emotions, presenting a remarkable collection of cross-cultural studies intermixed with personal stories about foreign residents’ struggles to reunite  diverse  emotional  and  social worlds.  ……

The book’s take-home message is fundamental: There are no natural emotions, no inborn emotions, no universal emotions. Mesquita argues that emotions are “meaning making” and “a preparation for action” and that the idea of “emotions as inner states” is a Western construct. Instead, she suggests that emotions are a “dance” cocreated between people who live in a specific cultural context at a particular historical moment.

46. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. The cultural landscape of emotions B. The cultural origin of emotions

C. The cultural convention of emotions D. The cultural shock of emotions

【答案】46. B

【解析】【导语】本文是篇说明文。文章通过对书籍“In Between Us”中关于情感的描述，介绍了作者——心理学家Mesquita对于情感的概念和产生原因的理解，体现了社会文化背景对情感的影响。

【46题详解】

主旨大意题。根据第五段“Taken as a whole, however, the book contributes much to the discussion of the origins of emotions,”（然而，从整体上看，这本书对情感起源的讨论做出了很大贡献）和最后一段“ she suggests that emotions are a “dance” cocreated between people who live in a specific cultural context at a particular historical moment.”（她认为，情感是生活在特定文化背景下、特定历史时刻的人们共同创造的“舞蹈”。）并结合全文内容可知，文章主要是通过Mesquita在她的书中的观点讨论了情感的文化起源。故选B。

        [方法4]　推理判断题

为了考查考生的逻辑推理判断能力，说明文中的推理判断题通常要求考生推断出事件发展过程和步骤的重要环节以及作者使用举例和对比等写作手法的具体目的等。这时，考生需要联系文章的主题思想对推理判断题加以突破。

【典例】（2023青浦区一模）

A database that follows the world’s fossil fuel production, reserves, and release of carbon was launched on Monday. The launch comes out at the same time as two important climate talks happening at the international level. One is the climate talks at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York which began on September 13 . The other is COP27 in Sharm El Skeikh which began in November. It really matters to environmental sustainability.

……

Until now, there has been private data available for purchase, and research of the world’s fossil fuel usage and reserves. The International Energy Agency also keeps public data on oil, gas, and coal. But it centers on the demand for those fossil fuels. This new database, however, looks at what is yet to be burned. The information could help environmental groups to pressure leaders for stronger policies reducing the amount of carbon they release.

46. What’s the writer’s attitude towards the launch of the new database?

A. Positive. B. Flexible. C. Critical. D. Ironical.

【答案】  46. A

【解析】本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了全球首个化石燃料公共数据库上线。

【46题详解】

推理判断题。根据第一段“It really matters to environmental sustainability. (这对环境的可持续性非常重要。)”和第三段“The information could help environmental groups to pressure leaders for stronger policies reducing the amount of carbon they release.(这些信息可以帮助环保组织向领导人施压，要求他们制定更强有力的政策，减少碳排放。)”可推断，作者对新数据库的启动持积极的态度。故选A。

        [方法5]　生词词义猜测题

科普说明文往往揭示自然奥秘、动植物生存特点及产品工艺原理，易出现一些学术性较强的生词，因此常出现生词词义判断题，这种试题常以What does the underlined word mean?或What is the meaning of the underlined word?为设问方式考查对生词词义的判断。词义猜测题的设置通常和定义、概念、举例等有关，这有助于对词汇的理解，解题时考生要注意捕捉这些信息，正确理解相关词汇的意思。

【典例】（2023宝山一模）

A CERT team can make a huge difference to a community. During the early stages of a disastrous event, citizens will likely face extreme challenges on their own. Emergency services are usually overwhelmed, and communities may be isolated because of blocked roads. A CERT team can size up the situation in their neighborhood and provide help right away. In 1986, untrained volunteers saved more than 800 lives in the Mexico City earthquake. Unfortunately, at least 100 volunteers also died in the process. To ensure their community was better prepared in events like this, Los Angeles piloted the first CERT program in 1986, and many cities followed their lead.

44. The word “pilot” in the second paragraph most probably means ________.

A. conduct B. imitate C. pass D. discuss

【答案】44. C

【解析】词句猜测题。根据画线词后文“the first CERT program in 1986, and many cities followed their lead(第一个CERT计划在1986年，许多城市跟随他们的领导)”可知，洛杉矶在1986年通过了第一个CERT计划，许多城市效仿他们的做法。故画线词意思是“通过”。故选C。

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2019年上海秋季高考英语真题

Composite image of Europe and North Africa at night, 2016. Credit: NASA Earth Observatory images by Joshua Stevens, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data from Miguel Roman, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Artificial light is often seen as a sign of progress: the march of civilization shines a light in the dark; it takes back the night; it illuminates. But a chorus of scientists and advocates argues that unnaturally bright nights are bad not just for astronomers but also for nocturnal (夜间活动的) animals and even for human health.

Now research shows the night is getting even brighter. From 2012 to 2016 the earth’s artificially lit area expanded by an estimated 2.2 percent a year (map), according to a study published last November in Science Advances. Even that increase may understate the problem, however. The measurement excludes light from most of the energy-efficient LED lamps that have been replacing sodium-vapor technology in cities all over the world, says lead study author Christopher Kyba, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Research Center for Geosciences in Potsdam.

The new data came from a NASA satellite instrument called the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). It can measure long --- wavelengths of light, such as those produced by traditional yellow-and-orange sodium-vapor street lamps. But VIIRS cannot see the short - wavelength blue light produced by white LEDs. This light has been shown to disrupt human sleep cycles and nocturnal animals’ behavior.

Credit: Mapping Specialists; Source: “Artificially Lit Surface of Earth at Night Increasing in Radiance and Extent,” by Christopher C. M. Kyba et al., in Science Advances, Vol. 3 , No. 11, Article No. E1701528; November 22 , 2017.

The team believes the ongoing switch to LEDs caused already bright countries such as Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U. S. to register as having stable levels of illumination in the VIERS data. In contrast, most nations in South America, Africa and Asia brightened, suggesting increases in the use of traditional lighting. Australia actually appeared to lose lit area—but the researchers say that is because wildfires skewed the data.

“The fact that VIIRS finds an increase (in many countries), despite its blindness in the part of the spectrum that increased more, is very sad,” says FabioFalchi, a researcher at Italy’s Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute, who did not participate in the study. In 2016 Falchi, along with Kyba and several other members of his research team, published a global atlas of artificial lighting that showed one third of the world’s population currently lives under skies too bright to see the Milky Way at night.

The data also cast doubt on the idea that the LED lighting revolution will lead to energy cost savings. Between 2012 and 2016 the median nation pumped out 15 percent more long-wavelength light as its GDP increased by 13 percent. And overall, countries’ total light production correlated with their GDP. In other words, Kyba says, “we buy as much light as we are willing to spend money on.”

63.   Which is not true about the spread of lit areas?

A. Lit area expanded by an estimated 2. 2 percent a year. 

B. Artificial light is often seen as a sign of progress.

C. The increase in GDP is due to the increase in light.  

D. It is bad for nocturnal animals and even for human health.

64.   What is the function of VIIRS?

A. It can taking pictures of the Earth to solve problems.

B. It can record and analyse long wavelengths of light.

C. It is a NASA satellite around the earth.

D. It can find the light that is bad for human sleep cycles.

65.   According to the article, what we can know about the LEDs?

A. Unnaturally LED lights are bad for people.

B. It is a sign of civilization in modern society.

C. VIIRS can see the light produced by white LEDs.

D. Artificially lit surface of Earth increasing because of LEDs.

66.  The author writes this article to __________.

A. show the night is getting even brighter

B. tell people that VIIRS measure long wavelengths of light

C. complain that the Milky Way is not visible at night

D. attempt to arouse people’s awareness of light pollution

【答案】63. C    64. B    65.A   66.D

63.C  [解析]考查细节理解。定位到原文中 Between 2012 and 2016 the median nation pumped out15 percent more long-wavelength light as its GDP increased by 13 percent. And overall, countriestotal light production correlated with their GDP2012 年至2016 年期间，随着国内生产总值(GDP) 增长 13%，中值国家的长波光输出量增加了 15%。总的来说，各国的光生产总量与其国内生产总值相关。可知光的生产总量与 GDP 有关，但不是选项中的因果关系，故选 C

64.B [解析]考查细节理解。根据文中“But VIIRS cannot see the short-wavelength blue lightproduced by white LEDs. This light has been shown to disrupt human sleep cycles and nocturnalanimals'behavior”但 VIIRS 无法看到白色LED产生的短波蓝光。这种光已经被证明扰乱了人类的睡眠周期和夜间活动的动物的行为。可知 B 正确。其他选项表述错误。

65.A  [解析]考查细节理解。根据文中第一段“Butachorus ofscientists...are badnotjust for.even for human health”可知夜间非自然 LED灯光会对人的身体健康产生危害，故选A。

66.D  [解析]考查主旨概括。全文都在讨论全球照明水平的提高可能威胁动物生态和人类健康。由文中 The data also cast doubt on the idea that the LED lighting revolution will lead toenergy cost savings这些数据也使人们对 LED 照明命将导致能源成本节约的想法产生了怀疑。也可知作者是对照明革命保持怀疑态度的。故选 D。

2014年上海秋季高考英语真题

    If you could be anybody in the world, who would it be? Your neighbour or a super star? A few people have experienced what it might be like to step into the skin of another person, thanks to an unusual virtual reality（虚拟现实）device. Rikke Wahl, an actress, model and artist, was one of the participants in a body swapping experiment at the Be Another lab, a project developed by a group of artists based in Barcelona. She swapped with her partner, an actor, using a machine called The Machine to Be Another and temporarily became a man. "As I looked down, I saw my whole body as a man, dressed in my partner's pants," she said. "That's the picture I remember best."

The set-up is relatively simple. Both users wear a virtual reality headset with a camera on the top. The video from each camera is sent to the other person, so what you see is the exact view of your partner. If she moves her arm, you see it. If you move your arm, she sees it.

To get used to seeing another person's body without actually having control of it, participants start by raising their arms and legs very slowly, so that the other can follow along. Eventually, this kind of slow synchronised（同步的）movement becomes comfortable, and participants really start to feel as though they are living in another person's body.

Using such technology promises to alter people's behaviour afterwards-potentially for the better. Studies have shown that virtual reality can be effective in fighting racism-the bias（偏见）that humans have against those who don't look or sound like them. Researchers at the University of Barcelona gave people a questionnaire called the Implicit Association Test, which measures the strength of people's associations between, for instance, black people and adjectives such as good, bad, athletic or awkward. Then they asked them to control the body of a dark skinned digital character using virtual reality glasses, before taking the test again. This time, the participants' bias scores were lower. The idea is that once you've "put yourself in another's shoes" you're less likely to think ill of them, because your brain has internalised the feeling of being that person.

The creators of The Machine to Be Another hope to achieve a similar result. "At the end of body swapping, people feel like holding each other in their arms," says Arthur Pointeau, a programmer with the project. "It's a really nice way to have this kind of experience. I would really, really recommend it to everyone."

74. The word "swapping" (paragraph 1) is closest in meaning to______.

A. building        B. exchanging         C. controlling         D. transplanting

75. We can infer from the experiment at the Be Another lab that______.

A. our feelings are related to our bodily experience

B. we can learn to take control of other people's bodies

C. participants will live more passionately after the experiment

D. The Machine to Be Another can help people change their sexes

76. In the Implicit Association Test, before the participants used virtual reality glasses to control a dark skinned digital character, ______.

A. they fought strongly against racism

B. they scored lower on the test for racism

C. they changed their behaviour dramatically

D. they were more biased against those unlike them

77. It can be concluded from the passage that______.

A. technology helps people realize their dreams

B. our biases could be eliminated through experiments

C. virtual reality helps promote understanding among people

D. our points of view about others need changing constantly

【答案与解析】 74.B    75.A    76.D    77.C
[语篇导读] 本文是一篇说明文。如果你能成为世界上的任何人，可能是谁呢？本文介绍了了身体交换以及它带来的体验。

74. B根据上文中step into the skin of another person，以及机器的名字The Machine to Be Another 可知，swap表示“交换，故选B。

75. A由文章第三段第一句“To get used to……having control of it”可知，B错误，C原文中没有提到，排除，由第三段中最后一句“participants really start……person's body”可知，D错误，故选A。

76. D根据文章倒数第二段中最后一句you're less likely to think ill of them（测试后人们对不同人的偏见降低）可知，测试前他们对那些与他们不同的人有偏见，故选D。

77. C根据文章倒数第二段最后一句because your brain has internalised the feeling of being that person可知，应选C。

                                                                         _____

【上海市复旦大学附属中学2022-2023学年高三上学期11月教学质量检测英语试题】

That everyone’s too busy these days is a cliche. But one specific complaint is made frequently: There’s never any time to read. A professional reader the novelist and critic Tim Parks, wrote in a New York Review of Books essay: “Every moment of serious reading has to be fought for, planned for.” Parks wrote that in June; last month, I finally found time to read it.

What makes the problem thornier is that the usual time-management techniques don’t seem sufficient. The web’s full of articles offering tips on making time to read: “Give up TV” or “Carry a book with you at all times”. But in my experience, using such methods to free up the odd 30 minutes doesn’t work. Sit down to read and the flywheel of work-related thoughts keeps spinning — or else you’re so exhausted that a challenging book’s the last thing you need. “The modern mind,” Parks writes, “is overwhelmingly inclined toward communication ... It is not simply that one is interrupted; it is that one is actually inclined to interruption.” Deep reading requires not just time, but a special kind of time which can’t be obtained merely by becoming more efficient.

In fact, “becoming more efficient” is part of the problem. Thinking of time as a resource to be maximized means you approach it instrumentally, judging any given moment as well spent only in so far as it advances progress toward some goal. Immersive reading, by contrast, depends on being willing to risk inefficiency, goallessness, even time-wasting. Try to slot it as a to-do list item and you’ll manage only goal-focused reading — useful, sometimes, but not the most fulfilling kind. “The future comes at us like empty bottles along an unstoppable and nearly infinite convey or belt,” writes Gary Eberle in his book Sacred Time, and “we feel a pressure to fill these different-sized bottles (days, hours, minutes) as they pass, for if they get by without being filled, we will have wasted them”. No mind-set could be worse for losing yourself in a book.

So what does work? Perhaps surprisingly, scheduling regular times for reading. You’d think this might fuel the efficiency mind-set, but in fact, Eberle notes, such ritualistic behaviour helps us “step outside time’s flow” into “soul time”. You could limit distractions by reading only physical books, or on single-purpose e-readers. “Carry a book with you at all times” can actually work, too-providing you dip in often enough, so that reading becomes the default state from which you temporarily surface to take care of business, before dropping back down. On a really good day, it no longer feels as if you’re “making time to read,” but just reading, and making time for everything else.

43. The usual time-management techniques don’t work because _________.

A. what they can offer does not ease the modern mind

B. what challenging books demand it repetitive reading

C. what people often forget is carrying a book with them

D. what deep reading requires cannot be guaranteed

44. The “empty bottles” metaphor illustrates that people feel a pressure to _________.

A. update their to-do lists B. make passing time fulfilling

C. carry their plans through D. pursue carefree reading

45. Eberle would agree that scheduling regular times for reading helps __________.

A. encourage the efficiency mind-set B. develop online reading habits

C. promote ritualistic reading D. achieve immersive reading

46. “Carry a book with you at all times” can work if _________.

A. reading becomes your primary business of the day

B. all the daily business has been promptly dealt with

C. you are able to drop back to business after reading

D. time can be evenly split for reading and business

【答案】43. D    44. B    45. D    46. A

【解析】

【导语】这是一篇说明文。文章主要说明了人们经常抱怨没有时间阅读，而让这个问题更加棘手的是，通常的时间管理技巧似乎并不足够。因为深度阅读不仅需要时间，而且需要一种特殊的时间，而这种时间不能仅仅通过提高效率来获得。文章还介绍了如何实现沉浸式阅读的方法。

【43题详解】

细节理解题。根据第二段中“Deep reading requires not just time, but a special kind of time which can’t be obtained merely by becoming more efficient.(深度阅读不仅需要时间，而且需要一种特殊的时间，而这种时间不能仅仅通过提高效率来获得)”可知，通常的时间管理技巧并不奏效，因为深度阅读所需要的内容无法得到保证。故选D。

【44题详解】

细节理解题。根据倒数第二段中““The future comes at us like empty bottles along an unstoppable and nearly infinite convey or belt,” writes Gary Eberle in his book Sacred Time, and “we feel a pressure to fill these different-sized bottles (days, hours, minutes) as they pass, for if they get by without being filled, we will have wasted them”. No mind-set could be worse for losing yourself in a book. (Gary Eberle在他的《神圣的时间》一书中写道：“未来就像空瓶子沿着一条不可阻挡的、几乎无限的输送带向我们走来。当这些不同大小的瓶子（天、小时、分钟）经过时，我们感到一种把它们装满的压力，因为如果它们没有被装满就过去了，我们就浪费了它们。”)”可知，“空瓶子”的比喻说明，人们感到有一种压力，要让打发时间变得有意义。故选B。

【45题详解】

推理判断题。根据最后一段中“So what does work? Perhaps surprisingly, scheduling regular times for reading.(那么什么是有效的呢？也许令人惊讶的是，安排规律的阅读时间)”可推知，Eberle认同安排规律的阅读时间有助于实现沉浸式阅读。故选D。

【46题详解】

细节理解题。根据最后一段中““Carry a book with you at all times” can actually work, too-providing you dip in often enough, so that reading becomes the default state from which you temporarily surface to take care of business, before dropping back down. On a really good day, it no longer feels as if you’re “making time to read,” but just reading, and making time for everything else.(“随时随身携带一本书”实际上也能起作用——只要你经常阅读，那么阅读就会成为你的默认状态，你会暂时浮出水面处理事务，然后再回到原位。在一个非常好的日子里，你不会再觉得你“挤出时间来阅读”，而是只是阅读，并为其他事情腾出时间)”可知，如果阅读成为你每天的首要任务，“随身携带一本书”是可行的。故选A。

上海师范大学附属外国语中学高三第二学期四月线上诊断

Depending on whom you believe, the average American will, over a lifetime, wait in lines for two years (says national public radio) or five years (according to some customer-loyalty experts).

The crucial word is average, as wealthy Americans routinely avoid lines altogether. Once the most democratic of institutions, lines are rapidly becoming the exclusive province of suckers (people who still believe in and practice waiting in lines). Poor suckers, mostly.

Airports resemble France before the Revolution: first-class passengers enjoy "elite" security lines and priority boarding, and disembark before the unwashed in coach, held at bay by a flight attendant, are allowed to foul the Jet-way.

At amusement parks, too, you can now buy your way out of line. This summer I haplessly watched kids use a $52 Gold Flash Pass to jump the lines at Six Flags New England, and similar systems are in use in most major American theme parks, from Universal Orlando to Walt Disney World, where the haves get to watch the have-mores breeze past on their way to their seats.

Flash Pass teaches children a valuable lesson in real-world economics; that the rich are more important than you, especially when it comes to waiting. An NBA player once said to me, with a bemused chuckle of disbelief, that when playing in Canada—get this—"We have to wait in the same customs line as everybody else. "

Almost every line can be breached for a price. In several U. S. cities this summer, early arrivers among the early adopters waiting to buy iPhones offered to sell their spots in the lines. On Craigslist, prospective iPhone purchasers offered to pay "waiters" or "placeholders" to wait in line for them outside Apple stores.

Inevitably, some semi-populist politicians have seen the value of sort-of waiting in lines with the ordinary people. Billionaire New York mayor Michael Bloomberg often waits for the subway with his fellow citizens, though he's first driven by motorcade past the stop nearest his house to a station 22 blocks away, where the wait, or at least the ride, is shorter.

Nothing annoys a national lawmaker more than a person who will not wait in line, unless that line is in front of an elevator at the U. S. Capitol, where Senators and Representatives use private elevators, lest they have to queue with their constituents.

But compromising the integrity of the line is not just antidemocratic, it's out-of-date. There was something about the orderly boarding of Noah's Ark, two by two, that seemed to restore not just civilization but civility during the Great Flood.

How civil was your last flight? Southwest Airlines has first-come, first-served festival seating. But for $ 5 per flight, an unaffiliated company called Board First. com will secure you a coveted "A" boarding pass when that airline opens for online check-in 24 hours before departure. Thus, the savvy traveler doesn't even wait in line when he or she is online.

Some cultures are not renowned for lining up. Then again, some cultures are too adept at lining up: a citizen of the former Soviet Union would join a queue just so he could get to the head of that queue and see what everyone was queuing for.

And then there is the US, where society seems to be cleaving into two groups; Very Important Persons, who don’t wait, and Very Impatient Persons, who do-unhappy.

43. What does the following sentence mean? ”Once the most democratic of institution, lines are rapidly becoming the exclusive province of suckers… Poor suckers, mostly. ”(2 paragraph)

A. Lines are symbolic of America’s democracy

B. Lines still give Americans equal opportunities.

C. Lines are now for ordinary Americans only.

D. Lines are for people with democratic spirit only.

44. Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of breaching the line?

A. Going through the customs at a Canadian airport.

B. Using Gold Flash Passes in amusement parks.

C. First-class passenger status at airports.

D. Purchase of a place in a line from a placeholder.

45. We can infer from the passage that politicians (including mayors and Congressmen) ________.

A. prefer to stand in lines with ordinary people.

B. advocate the value of waiting in lines.

C. believe in and practice waiting in lines.

D. exploit waiting in lines for their own good.

46. What is the tone of the passage?

A. Instructive B. Humorous C. Serious D. Indifferent

【答案】43. C    44. A    45. D    46. B

【解析】

【导语】本文是说明文。作者用诙谐的语气讲述了美国人排队的这一社会问题。

【43题详解】

句意猜测题。根据第二段“The crucial word is average, as wealthy Americans routinely avoid lines altogether.”（这个关键字是“普通”，因为富裕的美国人通常会避免排队。）由此可知，现在只有普通的美国人才会排队。选项C符合原文。故选C。
【44题详解】

推理判断题。根据第五段“Flash Pass teaches children a valuable lesson in real-world economics; that the rich are more important than you, especially when it comes to waiting. An NBA player once said to me, with a bemused chuckle of disbelief, that when playing in Canada—get this—"We have to wait in the same customs line as everybody else. ”（Flash Pass给孩子们上了一堂有价值的现实经济课；富人比你更重要，尤其是在等待的时候。一位NBA球员曾经对我说，当我们在加拿大打球时——听着——“我们必须和其他人一样在海关排队。），可知，当NBA球员们在加拿大打球时，他们明白了“我们必须和其他人一样在海关排队等候。”由此可知，这不是一个插队的例子，故选A。

【45题详解】

推理判断题。根据第七段第一句“Inevitably, some semi-populist politicians have seen the value of sort-of waiting in lines with the ordinary people.”（不可避免的是，一些半民粹主义政客已经看到了与普通民众排队的价值。）可知我们可以从文章中推断，政客(包括市长和国会议员)利用排队为自己谋福利。故选D。

【46题详解】

推理判断题。根据倒数第二段和倒数第三段“How civil was your last flight? Southwest Airlines has first-come, first-served festival seating. But for $ 5 per flight, an unaffiliated company called Board First. com will secure you a coveted "A" boarding pass when that airline opens for online check-in 24 hours before departure. Thus, the savvy traveler doesn't even wait in line when he or she is online.Some cultures are not renowned for lining up. Then again, some cultures are too adept at lining up: a citizen of the former Soviet Union would join a queue just so he could get to the head of that queue and see what everyone was queuing for.”（你上一趟航班文明程度如何?西南航空公司提供先到先得的节日座位。但一家名为Board First的独立公司每趟航班收费5美元。当该航空公司在起飞前24小时开放在线办理登机手续时，com将为你确保一张令人垂涎的“a”登机牌。因此，精明的旅行者在上网时甚至不用排队。有些文化并不以排队闻名。不过话说回来，有些文化太擅长排队了:前苏联的公民会加入队伍，只是为了能走到队伍的最前面，看看大家在排队干什么。）可知，作者描述的时候语言是诙谐幽默的，A.Instructive 有指导性的；B.Humorous 幽默的；C.Serious 严肃的；D.Indifferent漠不关心的。故选B。