SATog5阅读真题解析.doc

　　SAT test 5
　　1.　For a long time, most doctors maintained that taking massive doses of vitamins was relatively harmless; now, however, some are warning that excessive dosages can be _________.
　　(A) healthy adj. 健康的
　　(B) expensive adj. 昂贵的
　　(C) wasteful adj. 浪费的
　　(D) toxic adj. 有毒的
　　(E) inane adj. 愚蠢的
　　解析：D，在很长的一段时间里，大多数医生认为用大量的维他命是无害的;不过现在有些人警告过量食用会----。这里however表示转折与前面的harmless是相反的意思。
　　2. 　In Jamaica Kincaid's novel Lucy, the west Indian heroine _________ her employers' world, critically examining its assumptions and values.
　　(A) idealizes v. 理想化
　　(B) avoids v. 避开
　　(C) beautifies v. 美化
　　(D) scrutinizes v. 仔细检查
　　(E) excludes v. 排除，
解析：E，在牙买加金彩的小说露西，这个西印度群岛英雄----她的雇主的世界，精细的审视他的猜测和价值。这个句子中前后两句意思是一致的，没有转折词，所以空格所需的东西与examining是同义词，所以D。
　　3.The frequent name changes that the country has undergone _________ the political turbulence that has attended its recent history.
　　(A) argue against v. 真钞，辩论
　　(B) contrast with v. 对比，差异
　　(C) testify to v. 证明
　　(D) jeopardize v. 危及
　　(E) sustain v. 支撑
　　解析：C，这个国家经历了频繁的国名变更---这个国家的近点史上的政治动乱。从句意可以看后句和前句是因果关系，前面证明了后面。
　　4.Brachiopods, clamlike bivalves of prehistoric times, were one of the most _________ forms of life on the Earth: more than 30,000 species have been _________ from fossil records.
　　(A) plentiful adj. 丰富的...subtracted v. 减去
　　(B) ornate adj. 华丽的...retrieved v. 重新取回
　　(C) multifarious adj. 多方面的...catalogued v. 登记分类
　　(D) scarce adj. 缺乏的，罕见的...extracted v. 萃取的
　　(E) anachronistic adj. 时代错误的...extrapolated v. 推算，推断
　　解析：C，腕足类就像远古时代的双壳蚌一样，是地球上—生物形式的一种：30000多种已经从化石记录上---。从后面的species 可以看出与前面的空格是同义词，多样性的种类。后面可以看出从化石记录中登记了。
　　5 Some interactive computer games are so elaborately contrived and require such _________ strategies that only the most __________ player can master them.
　　(A) byzantine adj. 错综复杂的...adroit adj. 熟练的，机敏的
　　(B) nefarious adj. 极坏的，恶毒的...conscientious adj. 认真的，勤奋的
　　(C) devious adj. 迂回的，狡猾的...lackadaisical adj. 无精打采的
　　(D) onerous adj. 困难的，繁重...slipshod adj. 穿着不整齐的，潦草的
　　(E) predictable adj. 可预言的pulsive adj. 强制的，强迫的
解析：A，一些电脑互动的游戏设计的如此精致巧妙需要----策略只有那些最—玩家能够驾驭他们。这里前面空格与elaborately 是同义词，所以A。
Questions 6-7 are based on the following passage.
The critic Edmund Wilson was not a self-conscious
letter writer or one who tried to sustain studied mannerisms.
Nor did he resort to artifice or entangle himself in
circumlocutions. The young, middle-aged, and old Wilson
5 speaks directly through his letters, which are informal for
the most part and which undisguisedly reflect his changing
moods. On occasion-in response, perhaps, to the misery
of a friend or a public outrage or a personal challenge-he
can become eloquent, even passionate, but that is not his
10 prevailing tone.
文章大意：文章主要讲评论家埃德蒙威尔逊在写信的风格上不拘一格，直言不讳，他的一生都是这样的风格不扭捏拘谨，应对各种挑战时候也能从容不会能言善辩。
长难词：mannerisms特殊习惯，矫揉造作，artifice 欺骗entangle 是纠缠，混乱circumlocution委婉的说法 eloquent雄辩的，有口才的， outrage 愤怒 undisguisedly公开的，不伪装的。
6. Based on the information in the passage,Wilson's letters can best be described as
(A) cynical冷嘲的
(B) spontaneous自发的无意识的
(C) critical批判的
(D) preachy爱唠叨的
(E) witty诙谐的，机智的
解析：B，这是主旨题，考察对文章全文的把控，文章开篇就提到埃德蒙的写信风格是不矫揉造作的，直言的。
7. The reference 10 the "young, middle-aged, andold Wilson" (line 4) serves to suggest the
(A) multifaceted nature of Wilson's literary
persona
(B) maturity Wilson displayed even as a youth
(C) effect aging had on Wilson's temperament
(D) longevity of Wilson's literary career
(E) consistency of Wilson's letter-writing style
解析：E，这里说从青年，中年，到老年他的写作风格都是informal和undisguisedly,一直都没有变过。
Questions 8-9 are based on the following passage.
The belief that it is harmful to the Black community
for authors to explore the humanity of our leaders can
have troubling effects. At the least, it promotes the belief
that our heroes have to be perfect to be useful. At worst.
5 it censors our full investigation of Black life. If our paintings
of that life are stock and cramped, their colors drab
and predictable, the representations of our culture are likely
to be untrue. They will not capture the breadth and
complexity of Black identity.
文章大意：文中描述对于黑人区的探索，对黑人生活的描述过于晦涩难懂的话很可能我们展现的形式会失真，所以整篇文段是对黑人生活展现形式的讨论。
长难词：censor监察官 cramp难懂的狭隘的 drab无生气的，褐色的 breadth宽度幅度
8. The passage implies that Black leaders have sometimes been portrayed as being
(A) overly sentimental
(B) deeply complex
(C) above reproach
(D) without regret
(E) beyond understanding
解析：C，文中提到“At the least, it promotes the belief that our heroes have to be perfect to be useful.”暗示有时候将领导人展现为不可挑剔的英雄。
9. In context, the "paintings" (lines 5-6) are bestunderstood as a reference to
(A) realistic sculptures
(B) historical biographies
(C) whimsical novels
(D) political cartoons
(E) colorful theorems
解析：B，paiting这里是对黑人领导生活的描述，那么一般就是我们所说的历史传记。
Questions 10-18 a re based on the following passage.
The following passage was written by a physicist in 1986.
When astronomers point their telescopes to the nearest
galaxy, Andromeda, they see it as it was two million years
ago. That's about the lime Auslralopithecus was basking
in the African sun. This little bit of lime travel is possible
5 because tight takes two mill ion years to make the trip from
there to here. Too bad we couldn’t turn things around and
observe Earth from some cozy planet in Andromeda.
But looking at light from distant objects isn't real time
travel, the in-the-flesh participation in past and future found
10 in literature. Ever since I've been old enough 10 read science
fiction. I've dreamed of time traveling. The possibilities
are staggering. You could take medicine back to fourteenth century
Europe and stop the spread of plague, or you could
travel to the twenty-third century, where people take their
15 annual holidays in space stations.
Being a scientist myself. I know that time travel is
quite unlikely according to the laws of physics. For one
thing, there would be a causality violation. If you could
travel backward in time, you could alter a chain of events
20 with the knowledge of how they would have turned out.
Cause would no longer always precede effect. For example,
you could prevent your parents from ever meeting.
Contemplating the consequences of that will give you a
headache. and science fiction writers for decades have
25 delighted in the paradoxes that can arise from traveling
through time.
Physicists are, of course. horrified at the thought of
causality violation. Differential equations for the way
things should behave under a given set of forces and
30 initial conditions would no longer be valid. since what
happens in one instant would not necessarily determine
what happens in the next. Physicists do rely on a deterministic
universe in which to operate. and time travel would
almost certainly put them and most other scientists
35 permanently out of work.
Still. I dream of time travel. There is something very
personal about lime. When the first mechanical clocks
were invented. marking off time in crisp. regular intervals,
it must have surprised people 10 discover that time
40 flowed outside their own mental and physiological processes.
Body time flows at its own variable rate, oblivious
to the most precise clocks in the laboratory. In fact, the
human body contains its own exquisite timepieces, all with
their separate rhythms. There are the alpha waves in the
45 brain; another clock is the heart. And all the while tick the
mysterious, ruthless clocks that regulate aging.
Recently, I found my great-grandfather's favorite pipe.
Papa Joe, as he was called, died more than seventy years
ago, long before I was born. There are few surviving photo-
50 graphs or other memorabilia of Papa Joe. Butl do have his
pipe, which had been tucked away in a drawer somewhere
for years and was in good condition when I found il. I ran
a pipe cleaner through it, filled it with some tobacco I had
on hand. and settled down to read and smoke. After a cou-
55 pic of minutes. the most wonderful and foreign blend of
smells began wafting from the pipe. All the different occasions
when Papa Joe had lit his pipe, all the different places
he had been that I will never know-all had been locked
up in that pipe and now poured out into the room. I was
60 vaguely aware that something had got delightfully twisted
in time for a moment, skipped upward on the page. There
is a kind of time travel 10 be had, if you don't insist on how
it happens.
文章大意：文中主要通过描写现下最流行的穿越小说，穿越时空，很多科幻小说都选取穿越题材，过度到作者物理学上的时间，人类心理对于时间的概念，人的生物钟。
长难词：basking晒太阳staggering蹒跚的 paradox 悖论equation 方程式crisp脆的新鲜的 timepiece 钟等计时器alpha 希腊第一个字母，开端ruthless无情的残忍的 memorabilia大事记 waft含糊的 vaguely 飘荡吹拂

10. The author mentions Australopithecus in line 3in order to
(A) note an evolutionary progression in the physical
world
(B) dramatize how different Earth was two million
years ago
(C) commend the superior work of astronomers in
isolating a moment early in time
(D) establish a link between the length of time that
Africa has been inhabited and the discovery of
the Andromeda galaxy
(E) emphasize the relatively long period of human
life compared to the age of the universe
解析：B，文中提到“they see it as it was two million years ago. That's about the lime Auslralopithecus was basking in the African sun.”好像两百万年前南方古猿在非洲享受日光浴的时代，这里戏剧化的想掉了地球两百万年前与现在的不同。
11. The statement in lines 6·7 ("Too bad ... Andromeda")suggests that
(A) scientists would like to observe events that
occurred on Earth in the distant past
(B) there may be planets in Andromeda that are
reachable through space travel
(C) the study of Andromeda would offer interesting
comparisons to planet Earth
(D) a planet in Andromeda will be a likely
observation point for Earth in the future
(E) Andromeda is much older than Earth
解析：E，这里指的是想从一些想仙女座这样比较舒适的星球来观察地球，这里说的是仙女座要比地球
12. The author mentions "plague" (line 13) and "space stations" (line 15) primarily to
(A) give an example of the themes of novels about
lime travel
(B) suggest contrasting views of the future
(C) scoff at the scientific consequences of time travel
(D) give examples of the subjects that scientists are
interested in
(E) suggest why time travel is such a fascinating topic
解析：A，这里句“瘟疫”和“太空站”的意思就是针对穿越小说给大家举例。
13. The author introduces the third paragraph with thewords "Being a scientist" in order to
A) explain an in tense personal interest in the topic
(B) lend an air of authority to the discussion of time
travel
(C) suggest why certain forms of literature are so
appealing
(D) provoke those who defend science fiction
(E) help illustrate the term "causality violation"
解析：B，在这里作者前面提到的是穿越时间接着作者说这与物理学是不符合的，表明自己是科学家这里更有权威性。
14. In discussing causality violations (lines 16·35), theauthor addresses concerns about all of the following EXCEPT
CA) anticipatory knowledge of events
(B) the belief in a deterministic universe
(C) the mechanics of space travel
(D) cause-and-effect relationships
(E) differential equations based on known forces
解析：C，作者在这里提到因果关系时ABED这四个选项文中都有提到，但是C时空穿越的机械性是没有提到的。
15. Which of the following, if true, would undermine the validity of the author's assumption about the impact of mechanical clocks ("When the first ... the laboratory")in lines 37-42 ?
(A) People were oblivious to time on a physical level
before clocks were in vented.
(B) People have always perceived time as composed
of discrete. uniform intervals.
(C) Concern about time was unnecessary until clocks
were invented.
(D) Mental and physiological processes are very
predictable.
(E) Body lime does not move at a constant rate.
解析：B，下面哪一个成立会削弱机械钟的影响力这一假设，那么如果人们总是能够非常准确一致的感知时间机械钟也就不那么重要了，所以直接排除法选择B。
16. The author mentions the brain and the heart(lines 44-45) in order to
(A) demonstrate the rhythmical qualities of timepieces
(B) explain the historical significance of mechanical
clocks
(C) emphasize how the two organs interact to regulate
internal rhythms
(D) illustrate the body's different internal clocks
(E) demystify the precision of organic processes
解析：D，这里就是解释人体不同器官所反射的一种生物钟。
17. The author uses the word '"ruthless" (line 46) to
suggest that
(A) people are bewildered by the prospect of aging
(B) the human body has mysterious capacities
(C) some people age more rapidly than others do
(D) people's sense of time changes as they age
(E) the process of aging is relentless
解析：E，这里我们可以找到文中的位置，大脑是一个生物钟，心脏是另一个，他们每天都在滴滴答答的无情的推着我们变老，所以选择E。
18. The author mentions that "something ... skipped
upward on the page" (lines 60-61) to suggest that
(A) he reread a portion of the page
(B) his vision was affected by the smoke
(C) he traveled back in time in his imagination
(D) his reading reminded him of Papa Joe
(E) he believes that reading is the best way to recreatethe past
解析：C，这里文中说“I was vaguely aware that something had got delightfully twisted in time for a moment, skipped upward on the page. Thereis a kind of time travel to be had,”这里作者接着烟雾想象自己穿越旅行。
Questions 19-24 are based on the following passage.
The following passage is an excerpt from a book about
twentieth-century development in art. The author refers
here to the modern art that emerged shortly after the film
of the century. Many people found this art shocking.
If the new art is not accessible to everyone, which
certainly seems 10 be the case, this implies that its impulses
are not of a generically human kind. It is an art not for
people in general but for a special class who may not be
5 better but who are evidently different.
Before we go further, one point must be clarified. What
is it that the majority of people call 3esthetic pleasure?
What happens in their minds when they "like" a work of
art: for example, a play? The answer is easy. They like a
10 play when they become interested in the human destinies
that are represented. when the love and hatred. the joys and
sorrows of the dramatic personages so move them that they
participate in it all as though it were happening in real life.
And they call a work "good" if it succeeds in creating the
15 illusion necessary to make the imaginary personages appear
like living persons. In poetry the majority of people seek
the passion and pain of the human being behind the poet.
Paintings attract them if they find in them figures of men or
women it would be interesting to meet.
20 It thus appears that to the majority of people aesthetic
pleasure means a state of mind that is essentially
indistinguishable from their ordinary behavior. II differs
merely in accidental qualities. being perhaps less utilitarian.
more intense. and free from painful consequences. But the
25 object toward which their attention and. consequently, all
their other mental activities are directed is the same as in
daily life: people and passions. When forced to consider
artistic forms proper-for example. in some surrealistic or
abstract an-most people will only tolerate them if they do
30 not interfere with their perception of human forms and
fates. As