【例二】2000年1月四級(jí)Passage Two

　　Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.

　　30. What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?

　　A) They cannot be applied successfully to traffic circles.

　　B) They tend to be ignored by drivers in a short period of time.

　　C) They are falling out of use in the United States.

　　D) They are applicable only on broad roads

　　請(qǐng)用心體會(huì)一下initially 這個(gè)詞的內(nèi)涵，其實(shí)，你一看到這個(gè)詞，就必須準(zhǔn)確predict出后面可能會(huì)有考點(diǎn)，而且肯定會(huì)出現(xiàn)but, however, ultimately 一類的轉(zhuǎn)折、對(duì)比詞。答案B)。

　　【例三】六級(jí)2001年6月Passage Two

　　For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic and nationalistic. ……

　　Although their missions blended commercial and political-military imperatives, the explorers involved all accomplished some significant science simply by going where no scientists had gone before.

　　Today Mars looms as humanity’s next great terra incognita. And with doubtful prospects for a short-term financial return, with the cold war a rapidly fading memory and amid a growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventures, it is clear that imperatives other than profits or nationalism will have to compel human beings to leave their tracks on the planet’s reddish surface. Could it be science, which has long played a minor role in exploration, is at least destined to take a leading role? ……

　　With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been. …..

　　36. According to the passage, the chief purpose of explorers in going to unknown places in the past was_____ .

　　A) to display their country’s military might

　　B) to accomplish some significant science

　　C) to find new areas for colonization

　　D) to pursue commercial and state interests

　　37. At present, a probable inducement for countries to initiate large-scale space ventures is _____ .

　　A) international cooperation B) nationalistic reasons

　　C) scientific research D) long-term profits

　　同學(xué)們有沒(méi)有發(fā)現(xiàn)：economic / commercial / financial / profit ; nationalistic / political / military / cold war / nationalism; science / scientist/ scientific 都是近義詞或同一范疇的詞，也就是閱讀文章中經(jīng)常出現(xiàn)的同義換詞現(xiàn)象。如果一個(gè)詞的同義詞、相關(guān)詞在一篇文章中多次重復(fù)出現(xiàn)，必定是這篇文章的強(qiáng)調(diào)的地方，必定和考題相關(guān)。另外，請(qǐng)注意這兩到題的考法，先考過(guò)去，再考現(xiàn)在，一個(gè)是was, 一個(gè)是is。答案D、C。

　　【例四】考研2004年 Text 1

　　Hunting for a job late last year, lawyer Gant Redmon stumbled across CareerBuilder, a job database on the Internet. He searched it with no success but was attracted by the site’s “personal search agent”. It’s an interactive feature that lets visitors key in job criteria such as location, title, and salary, then emails them when a matching position is posted in the database.

　　….

　　Some sites design their agents to tempt job hunters to return. When CareerSite’s agent sends out messages to those who have signed up for its service, for example, it includes only three potential jobs – those it considers the best matches. There maybe more matches in the database; job hunters will have to visit the site again to find them – and they do.

　　44. Why does CareerSite’s agent offer each job hunter only three job options?

　　A) To focus on better job matches.

　　B) To attract more returning visits.

　　C) To reserve space for more messages.

　　D) To increase the rate of success.

　　請(qǐng)各位同學(xué)仔細(xì)看一下下面這句話中them是指代什么：then emails them when a matching position is posted in the database. 有的輔導(dǎo)書(shū)上是這么翻譯的：然后給網(wǎng)上貼出的對(duì)應(yīng)崗位發(fā)個(gè)郵件/ 當(dāng)……時(shí)，你就通過(guò)EMAIL給這些人寄去相關(guān)的資料。其實(shí)，這里them指visitors。比如說(shuō)你訪問(wèn)某個(gè)求職網(wǎng)站，登記了你的要求，那么該網(wǎng)站可能會(huì)根據(jù)你的要求給你發(fā)email通知你，這就是所謂的interactive feature.

　　44題答案B, 實(shí)際上考的是一個(gè)例證題，但是表面上不很容易看出來(lái)，這就是考研難的地方。如果你平時(shí)注意分析第一句話和后面句子的關(guān)系，那么你就會(huì)知道， 例證題的答案經(jīng)常指向段落第一句話。答案中attract替換原文tempt。如果你在解題的時(shí)候只注意后面幾句話，就可能會(huì)做錯(cuò)答案或者速度慢了。