焦作市新东方英语六级

What does it feel like to be approaching the wrong end of middle age? For the　moment at least, the differences between the young diplomat of 30 years ago and　the aging writer of today are more psychological than physical. Naturally. I can　hardly ignore the inevitable change in my outward appearance. My hair has gonewell, silver; the whites of my eyes occasionally look more like yolks; and I’ve　got heavier round the middle. But all this is merely on the surface inside. I’m　not really conscious of feeling very much older than I did my younger days.

　　Mentally, however, it’s another story. It is no longer a surprise to come into　a room and to find that I’m the oldest person in it, but notice the fact all the same. It’s a long time since I stopped worrying about policemen being younger　than me; when, on the other hand, I find generals, archbishops and High Court judges in the same happy situation. I tend to grow thoughtful …

　　Now for the compensations. And there are plenty of them, and by no means the least is a new found independence. Until now, responsibilities seem to have increased year by year; now, thankfully they begin to diminish, and are replaced by new opportunities.

　　These are positive compensations; there are also negative ones which can be appreciated just as much. Immense pleasure can be got from Putting Things Behind One. My own recent decisiontaken with immense reliefhas been to give up all efforts to understand modern music. There is more than enough music from the17th, 18th and 19th centuries to keep me happy for the rest of my life. Now, at　last, I can face the fact that I just don’t like 20th century music.

　　Finally, it’s goodbye to hypochondria. When I was young I constantly worried about my health and imagined I had all sorts of terrible diseases. Now those days　are over. I love every moment of my life and want it to go on for as long as possible until I become senile or a burden to my family and friends, at which point I would like it to stop at once. I can honestly say that I have had and am still having a wonderful time.

　　26.In the passage, what is the writer mainly talking about?

　　A) We should take an objective attitude towards the problem of getting old.

　　B) We can have compensations while getting old.

　　C) Getting old is a terrible thing.

　　D) We should refuse to accept the fact of getting old.

　　27.According to the passage, the changes of the writer while getting old

　　are the following except ____.

　　A) the hair has become white

　　B) the whites of the eyes look like yellow

　　C) the man becomes fat

　　D) the difference between the young and the aging writer is more in his o

　　utward appearance than in his inside

　　28.According to the writer, what is not the advantage of getting old?

　　A) New opportunities take the place of responsibilities.

　　B) Immense pleasure can be got from negative compensations.

　　C) Generals, archbishops and High Court judges are all happy while getting old.

　　D) Hypochondria will not disturb you any longer.

　　29.What is the meaning of Putting Things Behind One?

　　A) To put things that should be done after another one. B) To give up.

　　C) To do the things as you like. D) To delay the time of finishing the work.

　　30.What is the writer’s attitude towards the problem of getting old?

　　A) Optimistic.B) Pessimistic.C) Indifferent. D) Tolerant.

答案：

26. 答 案 A。

　　【参考译文】 在短文中，作者主要谈论的是什么?

　　【试题分析】本题是道考查综合能力的逻辑推理题。

　　【详细解答】作者在文章的一开始就直接提问：What does it feel like to be approaching the wrong end of middle age?(人到老年将是什么样的感觉?)此句点出本文所讨论的将是人到老年的问题。接着作者介绍了人到老年将会有是变化，用了大量的笔墨阐明了人到老年也有其有利的一面，其目的在于说明人到老年并非是一件极其可怕的事情，应该客观地面对它，因此A项对待人变老的问题应该采取客观态度是本题的最佳答 案。B项人变老有补偿只是作者用于陈述自己观点的理由，因此不全面，不能作为本题的答 案。C项人变老是一件可怕的事和D项我们应该拒绝接受人变老的事实，这两项明显与原文不相符，应该排除。

　　27. 答 案 D。

　　【参考译文】 根据短文，作者变老时与年青时相比，____是错误的。

　　【试题分析】本题测试的是对句意的理解。

　　【详细解答】文章在第一段中介绍了人进入老年的各种变化。Naturally, I can hardly ignore the inevitable change in my outward appearance. My hair has gonewell, silver;the whites of my eyes occasionally look more like yolks, and I’ve got heavier round the middle. (自然，我无法回避人到老年外表上的变化：头发花白，眼白开始变黄，肚子越来越大。)本题四个选项中A、B和C三个选项均与此相符。文章在第一段中还说明了… the differences between the young diplomat of 30 years ago and the aging writer of today are more psychological than physical. (… 从30年前的年轻的外交官变成了今天的中老年作者，这种变化更多的是心理上的，而非生理上的。)由此可见，D项所提及的外表变化要多于内部变化是错误的，符合题意，是本题的答 案。

　　28. 答 案 C。

　　【参考译文】 根据作者的观点，变老的不利因素是什么?

　　【试题分析】本题是道是非辨别题。

　　【详细解答】文章中介绍了老有老的好处。第三段中提到… now, thankfully, they begin to diminish, and are replaced by new opportunities. (现在，谢天谢地，它们开始消失，取而带之的是新的机遇。)这里they指的是前文所提的responsibilities(责任)。因此A项符合原文。B项也同样与文章内容相符，其根据在文章的第四段：… there are also negative ones which can be appreciated just as much. Immense pleasure can be got from Putting Things Behind One.同样文章的最后一段也提到 Finally, it’s goodbye　to hypochondria. I find generals archbishops and High Court judges in the same　happy situation, …这里in the same happy situation(处于同样的形势)指的是都在变化，因此C项符合题意，是本题的正确答 案。

　　29. 答 案 B。

　　【参考译文】 Putting Things Behind One的意思是什么?

　　【试题分析】本题测试的是根据上下文推测词义的能力。

　　【详细解答】Putting Things Behind One 从字面上看与A项的意思相同，但是仔细看下文我们就可以知道在文章中A项的解释并不准确。My own recent decision taken with immense relief has been to give up all efforts to understand modern music.这是作者所举的一例，用以说明Immense pleasure can be got from Putting Things Behind One.因此，本题的正确答 案应该是B项，意为放弃。

　　30. 答 案 A。

　　【参考译文】 作者对人变老的问题的态度是什么?

　　【试题分析】本题是道推测作者观点的题目。

　　【详细解答】通读全文，我们不难感觉到作者在文中透露出来的乐观情绪。作者在第一段最后说：… inside, I’m not really conscious of feeling very older than I did in　my younger days.(从内心来说，我并未比年轻时候感到更老些。)接着作者列举了人到老年的好处，同时文章在最后再次表达了 I can honestly say that I have had and am still having a wonderful time.(我能老实地说我已拥有并且仍在拥有生命中的美好时光。)因此不难判断出本题的最佳答 案应该是A项，尽管文章中并未直接明确说明。