发布时间： 2017年02月24日
Section II Reading Comprehension
Part A
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A], [B], [C] or [D]. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points)
Text 1
The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. “Hooray! At last!” wrote Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic。
One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert’s appointment in the Times, calls him “an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him。” As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise。
For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes。
Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. There recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today’s live performances; moreover, they can be “consumed” at a time and place of the listener’s choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert。
One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilbert’s own interest in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into “a markedly different, more vibrant organization。” But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra’s repertoire will not be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America’s oldest orchestra and the new audience it hops to attract。
`译文：
纽约爱乐乐团决定聘请Alan Gilbert作为下一任的音乐总监，这从2009年任命被宣布之日起就在古典音乐界引起了热议。别的不说，大部分人的反应是积极的。“好啊，终于好了！” Anthony Tommasini写道，他可是一个以严肃著称的古典音乐评论家。
但是，这个任命之所以一起人们惊讶的原因却是Gilbert相对而言并不是很有名。甚至在时代杂志上发文支持Gilbert任命的Tommasini都称其为：低调的音乐家，在他身上找不到那种飞扬跋扈的指挥家的气质。纽约爱乐乐团迄今为止都是由像Gustav Mahler(古斯塔夫•马勒)和Pierre Boulez布列兹那样的音乐家领导的。这样去描述这个乐团的下一位指挥，至少对于时代的读者而言，这是一种苍白的表扬。
就我看来，我不知道Gilbert是否是一个伟大的指挥家或者是一个好的指挥。但是我能确定的是，他能表现出很多有趣的乐章，但是我却应该不会去Avery Fisher Hall或者其他地方去听一场有趣的交响乐演出。我要做的事情就是去我的CD架上，或者打开的我的电脑从ITUNES上下载更多的唱片。
那些忠实的音乐会观众会讲唱片并不能代替现场的演出，但是他们忽略了一些事情。当下为了获得艺术爱好者的钱，时间，关注度，古典音乐的演奏家们(其实就是指交响乐团，同意复述)不仅要和剧院，舞蹈队，演出公司和博物馆竞争，而且还需要和那些记录了20世纪的伟大的古典音乐演奏者表演的唱片竞争。唱片很便宜，那里都能买到，并且比现在很多现场音乐会的艺术质量要高。进一步的讲，听众能选择听唱片的时间和地点。这些到处可以获得的唱片给传统的演出机构带来了危机。
对于古典音乐演奏者而言，他们可能的一个回应就是排练出唱片上没有的曲目。Gilbert对新音乐兴趣已经被广泛的关注了：Alex Ross，一名古典音乐的批评家，就这样描述道：他能够把爱乐乐团变成一个完全不同，更加有活力的组织。但是那种不同的性质也是什么呢？可能仅仅增加乐团演出的曲目是不够的，如果Gilbert和他的乐团要进步的话，他们就必须首先改变美国最古老的乐团(就是纽约爱乐乐团)同他们想吸引的新观众间的关系。
文章分析：
这篇文章来自Commentary 2007年9月刊的一篇文章Selling Classical Music by TERRY TEACHOUT。这个杂志可以说知名度并不高，这可以看出命题人的出题指向性，反反命题的倾向很严重。以前的经济学人，今年只有在B节入选。这篇文章的体裁是议论文。第一二段都是一个引入。三段提出了作者的观点。四段和五段是对于三段观点进一步的递进和展开。而在第一个第二段中是不同的人对于新任指挥的看法。所以阅读考研文章没有什么复杂的就是关注观点！分清论点和论据！
试题分析
21. We learn from Para.1 that Gilbert’s appointment has 。
[A]incurred criticism. [B]raised suspicion。
[C]received acclaim. [D]aroused curiosity。
解析：这个题目相对简单，文章在首段首句有这么一句话： The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. 纽约爱乐乐团决定聘请Alan Gilbert作为下一任的音乐总监，这从2009年任命被宣布之日起就在古典音乐界引起了热议。从这句话可以看出，人们对Gilbert’s appointment是众说纷纭，充满了一探究竟的气氛，所以这道题目的答案为D.
22. Tommasini regards Gilbert as an artist who is
[A]influential. [B]modest。
[C]respectable. [D]talented。
解析：这个题目关键就是要学会对论点和论据的敏感：Tommasini是个具体的人提他是有目的的。问他的看法，你可以直接看这样一句：“an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him。”但是这样的句子中的：unpretentious和formidable属于难词，真正知道其词义的同学不多，无法直接得出答案 而这个句子在段落中和第一句是一个递进的关系，他是进一步说明第一句的：One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known。这个句子难度不大。这个人相对来讲名气不大。A,C,D 都无从谈起了。只有modest和这个名气大不大能相关。
23. The author believes that the devoted concertgoers
[A]ignore the expenses of live performances。
[B]reject most kinds of recorded performances。
[C]exaggerate the variety of live performances。
[D]overestimate the value of live performances。
解析：作者的观点：The author believes，这个是在关注定位词devoted concertgoers后的另外一个关键点；作者认为concertgoers miss the point;但具体是什么，需要看选项了。A ,忽略了现场演奏的费用，B,拒绝大多数的唱片演奏。这两个是没有根据的属于未提及选项。C有一定的干扰性：the variety of live performances，二段中是有variety 这个单词的，并且在段落中出现了好多并列的成分，这样对于很多没有读懂原文的同学其实是会产生视觉干扰的。但是the value of live performances这个宾语和动词是没有原文依据的。最后一个选项之所以正确是由于：作者在一直说唱片的好，而前面又说concertgoers认为现场演奏不会被唱片代替。这样就是论点上的正话反说了。通过排除法我们直接可以把答案定位到最后一个：高估了现场表演的价值。
24. According to the text, which of the following is true of recordings?
[A]They are often inferior to live concerts in quality。
[B]They are easily accessible to the general public。
[C]They help improve the quality of music。
[D]They have only covered masterpieces。
解析：这是一道典型的细节题，通过题干中的关键词：recordings定位到倒数第二段：These recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today’s live performances; moreover, they can be “consumed” at a time and place of the listener’s choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert。一连串的描述就是B。干扰项是C : They help improve the quality of music。听Kevin的分析主谓宾，回文章中定位你会发现，文章中说的是唱片中的表演的质量要比现在的好，但是并没有说：help improve the quality of music。 [A]They are often inferior to live concerts in quality。和原文表述相反。[D]They have only covered masterpieces。原文没有提及。而且only的表意太绝对了。
25. Regarding Gilbert’s role in revitalizing the Philharmonic, the author feels
[A]doubtful. [B]enthusiastic。
[C]confident. [D]puzzled。
解析：问作者的态度，主体是作者，对象是Gilbert’s role in revitalizing the Philharmonic从具体表述出发寻找相应的态度表达词：But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra’s repertoire will not be enough。一个but ,一个？，一个not就把这种不确定性给出来了。于是这就是选A doubtful。
Text 2
When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up. Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuses, he came right out and said he was leaving “to pursue my goal of running a company。” Broadcasting his ambition was “very much my decision,” McGee says. Within two weeks, he was talking for the first time with the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, which named him CEO and chairman on September 29.
McGee says leaving without a position lined up gave him time to reflect on what kind of company he wanted to run. It also sent a clear message to the outside world about his aspirations. And McGee isn’t alone. In recent weeks the No.2 executives at Avon and American Express quit with the explanation that they were looking for a CEO post. As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who don’t get the nod also may wish to move on. A turbulent business environment also has senior managers cautious of letting vague pronouncements cloud their reputations。
As the first signs of recovery begin to take hold, deputy chiefs may be more willing to make the jump without a net. In the third quarter, CEO turnover was down 23% from a year ago as nervous boards stuck with the leaders they had, according to Liberum Research. As the economy picks up, opportunities will abound for aspiring leaders。
The decision to quit a senior position to look for a better one is unconventional. For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached. Says Korn Ferry， senior partner Dennis Carey :“I can’t think of a single search I’ve done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first。”
Those who jumped without a job haven’t always landed in top positions quickly. Ellen Marram quit as chief of Tropicana when the business became part of PepsiCo (PEP) a decade ago, saying she wanted to be a CEO. It was a year before she became head of a tiny Internet-based commodities exchange. Robert Willumstad left Citigroup in 2005 with ambitions to be a CEO. He finally took that post at a major financial institution three years later。
Many recruiters say the old disgrace is fading for top performers. The financial crisis has made it more acceptable to be between jobs or to leave a bad one. “The traditional rule was it’s safer to stay where you are, but that’s been fundamentally inverted,” says one headhunter. “The people who’ve been hurt the worst are those who’ve stayed too long。”
译文：
当八月份，Liam McGee以总裁的身份从美国银行离职的时候，他的解释出人意料的直白。他没有忸怩的用平常的模糊的理由来遮掩他的离开，他很坦诚的讲他离开就是为了去追求他经营一家公司的目标。McGee说宣扬自己的目标就是自己的决定。两周后，他第一次和Hartford Financial Services Group的董事会第一次会谈，这家公司在9月29日提名他为董事会主席和CEO。
他说在离开的时候并没有找好后面的职位(下家)，使他有时间去反思他到底想去经营一家什么样的公司。这同时也就他的激情和决心，给了外界一个清晰的信号。这样做的并不只是McGee一个人。最近几周，Avon and American Express的一些高级经理离职并解释说想需找一个CEO的职位。当董事会迫于股东的压力对一系列的计划进行审查的时候，那些计划被否定掉的经理们也会想离开。激烈的商业环境同样使得高级经理很小心，模糊的表态可能会破坏他们的声誉。
当经济复苏的标志开始确定的时候，二把手们可能更愿意在没有网(新的工作)情况下换工作。第三季度，根据Liberum的调查，CEO的更迭和一年前相比减少了23%，这是由于紧张的董事会紧盯着他们的CEO们。随着经济的复苏和好转，对有理想的头儿们，机会是很多的。
离开高管的职位去寻找一个更好的职位，并不是传统的做法。多年以来，经理们和猎头们都认同这样一个原则：最有吸引力的CEO的竞争是那些需要去挖来的人。Korn Ferry， senior partner Dennis Carey说道：我所做的每一次的招聘中，董事会都要求我从那些在任的CEO中寻找人选。
那些没有找到工作就离开的人并不是很快就能找到顶级的职位。10年前，Tropicana被PepsiCo (PEP)收购了，她以经理的身份离职了，她说他想当CEO。但是花了一年的时间她才成为一家小型互联网交换公司的头。2005年Robert Willumstad带着想成为CEO的梦想离开了Citigroup。可是三年后他才成为了一家主要的金融机构的CEO。
很多招聘的人都说对于高管而言，过去认为的丢脸的感觉(没有工作)已经慢慢消失了。金融危机已经使得跳槽，离开一个不好的工作变得更加可以接受了。一个猎头就说到： “传统的规则是待在你原来的地方会更加安全，但是现在已经彻底改变了. 那些受伤最厉害的就是那里在一个地方待太久的人。”
文章分析：
这篇文章来自：Business Week 商业周刊 2009年11月5日，Top Managers Are Quitting, Without a New Job by Jena McGregor：顶级经理人在离职，新工作还没着落。
文章从Liam McGee的跳槽为引子开始，引出第二段中跳槽的人很多。第三段进一步的讲金融危机会引起更多的人跳槽。四段和五段回顾过去。六段回到现在。借别人的嘴强化观点：就是该跳，并且要“裸跳”，在没有找到下家就跳。“裸跳”不丢人。
26. When McGee announced his departure, his manner can best be described as being
[A]arrogant. [B]frank。
[C]self-centered. [D]impulsive。
解析：根据题干中的McGee announced his departure定位到这两句：When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up. Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuses, he came right out and said he was leaving “to pursue my goal of running a company。” straight up是第一个线索，Rather than vague excuses答案直接可以锁定：B. frank。
27. According to Paragraph 2, senior executives’ quitting may be spurred by
[A]their expectation of better financial status。
[B]their need to reflect on their private life。
[C]their strained relations with the boards。
[D]their pursuit of new career goals。
解析：根据题干中的关键词senior executives’ quitting，寻找原因：文章中很明确的with the explanation that they were looking for a CEO post。答案和原文使用了上下义词的替换；new career goals= CEO post；也是上下义词的替换。有干扰性最大的就是C了，后文确实提到了和board 之间的关系，但是是讲在计划不被批准的时候，并不是和董事会关系紧张。并且董事会的审查是在股东的压力下才执行的。
28. The word “poached” (Line 3, Paragraph 4) most probably means
[A]approved of. [B]attended to。
[C]hunted for [D]guarded against。
解析：理解这句话：I can’t think of a single search I’ve done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first。我所做的每一次的招聘中，董事会都要求我从那些在任的CEO中寻找人选。这说明那些人都是要去挖的，那么对应的单词就是hunt for 了。
29. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that
[A]top performers used to cling to their posts。
[B]loyalty of top performers is getting out-dated。
[C]top performers care more about reputations。
[D]it’s safer to stick to the traditional rules。
解析：段落推理题。通过文章的这句话The traditional rule was it’s safer to stay where you are, but that’s been fundamentally inverted。我们可以直接得出答案A。
30. Which of the following is the best title for the text?
[A]CEOs: Where to Go? [B]CEOs: All the Way Up?
[C]Top Managers Jump without a Net [D]The Only Way Out for Top Performers
解析：强烈的干扰项是：[A]CEOs: Where to Go? [B]CEOs: All the Way Up?原因在于CEO在文中出现了很多次，同学们把CEO成了主体词。这也是反反命题的一个体现。文章的主体词其实是：top manager, CEO只是他们想去成为，而不是现在就是。不是主题词。这给了我们一个启示，要从文章的大意找结构。不要被其他的所谓技巧所迷惑。去掉A和B以后，c和d相比答案就比较容易了。只是要理解net 就是替换了new job。而原文的标题就是这样的top Managers Are Quitting, Without a New Job。
Text 3
The rough guide to marketing success used to be that you got what you paid for. No longer. While traditional “paid” media – such as television commercials and print advertisements – still play a major role, companies today can exploit many alternative forms of media. Consumers passionate about a product may create "earned" media by willingly promoting it to friends, and a company may leverage “owned” media by sending e-mail alerts about products and sales to customers registered with its Web site. In fact，the way consumers now approach the process of making purchase decisions means that marketing's impact stems from a broad range of factors beyond conventional paid media。
Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers promoting their own products. For earned media , such marketers act as the initiator for users’ responses. But in some cases, one marketer’s owned media become another marketer’s paid media – for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site. We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment. This trend ,which we believe is still in its infancy, effectively began with retailers and travel providers such as airlines and hotels and will no doubt go further. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has created BabyCenter, a stand-alone media property that promotes complementary and even competitive products. Besides generating income, the presence of other marketers makes the site seem objective, gives companies opportunities to learn valuable information about the appeal of other companies’ marketing, and may help expand user traffic for all companies concerned。
The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more (and more diverse) communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways. Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: an asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product. Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them。
If that happens, passionate consumers would try to persuade others to boycott products, putting the reputation of the target company at risk. In such a case, the company’s response may not be sufficiently quick or thoughtful, and the learning curve has been steep. Toyota Motor, for example, alleviated some of the damage from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg。
译文：
过去，市场营销的成功诀窍简而言之就是一分钱一分货。然而时过境迁。虽然传统的“付费”(paid)媒介，比如电视和广播广告、平面广告和路边广告牌等，仍然扮演着重要角色，但企业如今还可以利用许多其他形式的媒介。比如，痴迷于某种产品的消费者，可能会乐意将之推荐给朋友，从而为企业创造因产品的优良品质带来的“无偿”(earned)媒介。企业还可以利用“自有”(owned)媒介，通过邮件向其网站的注册用户发送产品和销售提示。事实上，如今消费者作出购买决定的方式，意味着市场营销的影响力来自于传统付费媒介之外的广泛因素。
营销人员通过付费和自有媒介推销其产品，而在“无偿”媒介方面，营销人员就像是触发用户响应的初始催化剂。在某些情况下，某营销者的自有媒介会成为另一个营销者的付费媒介。比如，当某电子商务零售商出售其网站的广告空间时，我们就将这种“售出”媒介定义为拥有巨大流量、以致其他机构纷纷前来投放内容或电子商务引擎的自有媒介。我们认为，这种趋势已蓬勃发端于零售商和航空、酒店等旅游供应商，虽然还处于初始阶段，但无疑可以走得更远。比如，强生公司创建了著名网站BabyCenter，借以推广互补性乃至竞争性产品，而其他营销者的出现不仅带来了收入，还令该网站看起来公正客观，并且使企业有机会从其他公司的营销活动中获得可贵的信息，最后还有助于扩大所有相关企业的用户流量。
剧烈的技术变革使营销人员获得了数量更多、种类更广的沟通选择，但同时也带来了更高的风险，因为激动的消费者能够以更迅速、更明显、更有害的方式来表达他们的意见。这就是与“无偿”媒介相对的“劫持”媒介：某项资产或活动变成了对某个品牌或产品不满的消费者、其他股东或积极分子的劫持物。比如，社交网络用户正领悟到，他们可以通过“劫持”媒介来对最初创建该媒介的企业施加压力。
如果那种事情发生，激动的消费者试图劝服其他人共同抵制两家公司的产品，从而危及企业声誉。当这种事情发生的时候，如果企业的回应不够快或不够好，那么就可能酿成悲剧。比如，在今年较早前发生的召回危机中，丰田汽车公司采取了较快且较有序的社交媒体回应行动，包括在Twitter和社会新闻网站Digg等网站上与客户进行直接交流，从而挽回了部分损失。
文章分析：
这篇文章是很典型的，节选性决定了其不完整性，这篇文章的原文长度要远远长于节选的部分。第一段介绍了除开传统的媒体之外还有新的媒体earned media 产生。第二段，Paid and owned media引出了sold media,第三段和第四段就hijacked media 提出看法，这篇文章是说明性质的议论文。还是要关注论点和论据的问题。
试题分析：
31.Consumers may create “earned” media when they are
[A] obsessed with online shopping at certain Web sites。
[B] inspired by product-promoting e-mails sent to them。
[C] eager to help their friends promote quality products。
[D] enthusiastic about recommending their favorite products。
解析：Consumers passionate about a product may create "earned" media by willingly promoting it to friends同义改写了一下，把passionate about a product 和by willingly promoting it to friends变成了when they are这样答案就直接指向了：enthusiastic about recommending their favorite products。这样的同意改写在表达方式上变了但是核心含义没有发生改变还是对语言多样性的考察,所以答案就是D
32. According to Paragraph 2,sold media feature
[A] a safe business environment. [B] random competition。
[C] strong user traffic. [D] flexibility in organization。
解析：根据题干关键词sold media回文定位：We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment。我们就将这种“售出”媒介定义为拥有巨大流量、以致其他机构纷纷前来投放内容或电子商务引擎的自有媒介。理解清楚答案：traffic除了有交通的意思外还有流量的意思是相对关键的。所以答案为：C
33. The author indicates in Paragraph 3 that earned media
[A] invite constant conflicts with passionate consumers。
[B] can be used to produce negative effects in marketing。
[C] may be responsible for fiercer competition。
[D] deserve all the negative comments about them。
解析：回文章定位：Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media:Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them。第二句中的they can hijack media，此处的的media就是earned media 。当它被劫持后就变成了hijacked media，进而成为了earned media 的反面那就是产生不利的影响,所以答案是B.
34. Toyota Motor’s experience is cited as an example of
[A] responding effectively to hijacked media。
[B] persuading customers into boycotting products。
[C] cooperating with supportive consumers。
[D] taking advantage of hijacked media。
解析：例证题，例证一定是为了某个观点服务的,这个例子对应的观点：In such a case, the company’s response may not be sufficiently quick or thoughtful, and the learning curve has been steep. 当这种事情发生的时候，如果企业的回应不够快或不够好，那么就可能酿成悲剧。按照惯性，丰田这次就应该是酿成杯具了。但是出题人没有给出丰田杯具了的答案，因为他们也知道这样出题不符合常规且不人道。考生在这个时候可能会慌张，准备认真读例子了，但是有个单词不认识alleviated到底是表示加剧还是表示减轻呢？继续往后看，with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign这说明他们的措施是得到的，所以应该是减轻。再回看前面的那一句：如果企业的回应不够快或不够好，那么就可能酿成悲剧。那么就说明丰田的例子在从好的方面例证他，也就是要是处理好了就不会有杯具。对应第一和第四个选项，两个选项区别很明显一个是被动回应，一个是主动利用这样就可得出答案：A
35. Which of the following is the text mainly about ?
[A] Alternatives to conventional paid media。
[B] Conflict between hijacked and earned media。
[C] Dominance of hijacked media。
[D] Popularity of owned media。
解析：主旨题，这篇文章是说明性质的议论文，后面三个选项都只是涉及到文中说的一个细节，只有A中的Alternatives 包括了所有文章提到的几种传媒形式。
Text 4
It’s no surprise that Jennifer Senior’s insightful, provocative magazine cover story, “I love My Children, I Hate My Life,” is arousing much chatter – nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that “the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight。”
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive – and newly single – mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual “Jennifer Aniston is pregnant” news. Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands。
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing ? It doesn’t seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn’t have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives。
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their “own” (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake。
It’s hard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it’s interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren’t in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting “ the Rachel” might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston。
译文：
毫无疑问，Jennifer Senior在有煸动意味的的杂志封面故事中表达了她的独到见解， “我爱我的孩子们，我讨厌我的生活”——这唤起了人们的谈兴。人们一谈到养孩子就会觉得这是一件完全令人愉悦、生活充实的事情。Jennifer Senior没有指出养孩子到底是使得父母快乐呢还是痛苦呢，她倒是认为，我们需要重新定义幸福：幸福不应该是一个个瞬间的快乐组合的可以被衡量的东西；我们应该把幸福视为一种过去式的状态。尽管抚养孩子的日子漫长难熬，令人筋疲力尽，但是Jennifer Senior认为，正是那些心绪沉重的时刻，日后却成为我们欢乐的源泉。
杂志封面上一位给力的母亲抱着一个可爱的婴儿，这种圣母与圣子(麦当娜和孩子)的图画这周在杂志上多次出现。例如杂志上讲到最近刚收养孩子的母亲——有时是刚变成单身母亲——桑德拉布鲁克，以及那种很常见的“詹尼弗阿尼斯顿怀孕了”的新闻。实际上，每周都有至少一位名人母亲、或者准母亲在杂志上笑迎读者。
在一个不断地庆祝生育的社会中，承认自己后悔生育孩子就相当于承认自己支持杀小猫，这难道不值得反思吗？把父母的后悔与孩子的后悔相比较，这显然并不合理。没有人会去让不情愿养孩子的父母去反思自己是否不该养孩子，但是那不幸福的没有孩子的人却为类似这样的信息所困扰：“孩子是世上唯一最可珍惜的东西”，显然，你们的不幸必须通过生儿育女才能得以消除。
当然，像美国周刊与人物这样的杂志提供的名人父母的形象是非常不切实际的。特别是像Bullock这样的单身母亲时更是如此。多项研究表明，有孩子的父母很少比没有孩子的夫妇更快乐，而单亲家庭是最不快乐的。这并不奇怪，因为一个人养一个孩子实在太麻烦了，没有人可以依靠。然而，你听听Sandra和Britney说的话：自己“一个人”养孩子，其实非常简单。(她们当然觉得简单了，因为她们是在周围有一帮人全天侯的侯着啊。)
很难想象有的人生孩子就只是很傻很天真因为Reese和Angelina这种名流使这种行为变的很光鲜，——多数成年人其实理解：养孩子可不是剪头发那样简单。但这确实有趣：反思一下我们每周看到的无忧无虑，幸福诱人的为人父母的生活会不会从一种微小的，无意识的方面加剧我们对于现实生活的不满。这种方式就好像：我们有那种想成为“ the Rachel”(老友记中的单身妈妈)的心理，这种心理，使得我们看上去有点像詹尼弗安尼斯顿(Rachel 的扮演者)。
文章分析：
源自：2010年9月7日的Newsweek 题目Not On Board With Baby：Parenthood—the condition, not the TV show—sucks. Or so everyone keeps saying。这篇文章是典型的观点议论文了。抓住观点很重要。一二段引入，后面表明作者的观点。
题目分析
36.Jennifer Senior suggests in her article that raising a child can bring
[A]temporary delight [B]enjoyment in progress
[C]happiness in retrospect [D]lasting reward
解析：题干关键词是suggest，这个题在问观点，那我们就找观点：在第一段Jennifer Senior两处表明了观点：信号词：suggests we need to redefine happiness: we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition 和Senior writes that “the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight。”the very things that in the moment dampen our moods=题干中的raising a child同义改写。can later be sources of intense gratification and delight.= happiness in retrospect，这样答案锁定为C。
37.We learn from Paragraph 2 that
[A]celebrity moms are a permanent source for gossip。
[B]single mothers with babies deserve greater attention。
[C]news about pregnant celebrities is entertaining。
[D]having children is highly valued by the public。
解析：这道题目的难度比较大，我们用排除法解题，A选项错在gossip，文章是关于娱乐的，和流言不是一回事；B选项中的single一词无来源依据；选项D，文章的第二段并未提到公众对生孩子是什么态度；而文章第二段强调的是娱乐杂志瞄准了这些做母亲的名人，大做文章，作为杂志的卖点，所以选C。
38.It is suggested in Paragraph 3 that childless folks
[A]are constantly exposed to criticism。
[B]are largely ignored by the media。
[C]fail to fulfill their social responsibilities。
[D]are less likely to be satisfied with their life。
解析：这个题有一定的难度，根据题干中的childless folks，定位到第三段的Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn’t have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives。 没有人会去让不情愿养孩子的父母去反思自己是否不该养孩子，但是那不幸福的没有孩子的人却为类似这样的信息所困扰：“孩子是世上唯一最可珍惜的东西”，显然，你们的不幸必须通过生儿育女才能得以消除。推出D选项为正确答案。
39.According to Paragraph 4, the message conveyed by celebrity magazines is
[A]soothing. [B]ambiguous。
[C]compensatory. [D]misleading。
解析：Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic,这句话中的unrealistic 有理由让我们觉得其他的选项都是浮云。
40.Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?
[A]Having children contributes little to the glamour of celebrity moms。
[B]Celebrity moms have influenced our attitude towards child rearing。
[C]Having children intensifies our dissatisfaction with life。
[D]We sometimes neglect the happiness from child rearing。
解析：该题是段落推理题。
[A]Having children contributes little to the glamour of celebrity moms。
[C]Having children intensifies our dissatisfaction with life。
文章中说道了我们对生活的不满，但是有没有讲有孩子加剧了我们对生活的不满，把句子的主干理出来就是：the images are contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience
同样的方法和视角来处理[D]We sometimes neglect the happiness from child rearing。
正确选项B 来自两个地方：首先是but的转折：前面说我们不会傻到由于这些明星的形象而要孩子的。那么转折就应该是：但是我们确实受了他们的影响。这样由转折而起的推理在我的阅读课堂中可以说是比比皆是。
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