英語真題閱讀理解試題及名師解析（十）
When I decided to quit my full time employment it never occurred to me that I might become a part of a new international trend. A lateral move that hurt my pride and blocked my professional progress prompted me to abandon my relatively high profile career although, in the manner of a disgraced government minister, I covered my exit by claiming “I wanted to spend more time with my family".
Curiously, some two-and-a-half years and two novels later, my experiment in what the Americans term "downshifting" has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality. I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of the philosophy of “have it all", preached by Linda Kelsey for the past seven years in the pages of She magazine, into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit of everything.
I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of "juggling your life", and making the alternative move into “downshifting” brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status. Nothing could persuade me to return to the kind of life Kelsey used to advocate and I once enjoyed: 12-hour working days, pressured deadlines, the fearful strain of office politics and the limitations of being a parent on “quality time”.
In America, the move away from juggling to a simpler, less materialistic lifestyle is a well-established trend. Downshifting — also known in America as “voluntary simplicity” — has, ironically, even bred a new area of what might be termed anti-consumerism. There are a number of best-selling downshifting self-help books for people who want to simplify their lives; there are newsletters, such as The Tightwad Gazette, that give hundreds of thousands of Americans useful tips on anything from recycling their cling-film to making their own soap; there are even support groups for those who want to achieve the mid-'90s equivalent of dropping out.
While in America the trend started as a reaction to the economic decline―after the mass redundancies caused by downsizing in the late’ 80s―and is still linked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least among the middle-class downshifters of my acquaintance, we have different reasons for seeking to simplify our lives.
For the women of my generation who were urged to keep juggling through the '80s, downshifting in the mid-'90s is not so much a search for the mythical good life—growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one—as a personal recognition of your limitations.
37. Which of the following is true according to paragraph 1?
[A]Full-time employment is a new international trend.
[B]The writer was compelled by circumstances to leave her job.
[C]“A lateral move” means stepping out of full-time employment.
[D]The writer was only too eager to spend more time with her family.
38. The writer's experiment shows that downshifting _________.
[A]enables her to realize her dream
[B]helps her mold a new philosophy of life
[C]prompts her to abandon her high social status
[D]leads her to accept the doctrine of She magazine
39. “Juggling one's life” probably means living a life characterized by _________.
[A]non-materialistic lifestyle
[B]a bit of everything
[C]extreme stress
[D]anti-consumerism
40. According to the passage, downshifting emerged in the U.S. as a result of _________.
[A]the quick pace of modern life
[B]man's adventurous spirit
[C]man's search for mythical experiences
[D]the economic situation
37. Which of the following is true according to paragraph 1?
根據第一段，下文哪一個是正確的？
[A] Full-time employment is a new international trend.
[B] The writer was compelled by circumstances to leave her job.
作者因爲環境所迫而辭職。
[C]“A lateral move” means stepping out of full-time employment.
“平級調動”指的是退出全職工作。
[D] The writer was only too eager to spend more time with her family.
【答案】 B
【分析】 根據第一段，當決定辭去自己的全職工作時作者絕對沒有想到自己竟然變成了一種新的國際性潮流的一部分。作者寫道“一次平行的調動傷了我的自尊，並阻礙了我的事業發展，這促使我放棄自己地位較高的職業，就像面子掃盡的政府部長那樣，我也掩飾自己的離開，以‘我想花更多的時間與家人待在一起’爲藉口”。因此我們可以得出結論，作者是“被迫離開的”。答案爲[B]。第一句中所說的“新時尚”實際上指下文提到的“放鬆生活節奏”，因此[A]錯誤。[C]指的是平行調動，而不是退出工作。[D]僅僅是作者的一個藉口。
38. The writer’s experiment shows that downshifting _______.
[A] enables her to realize her dream
使她能夠實現她的夢想
[B] helps her mold a new philosophy of life
幫助她塑造一種新的人生哲學
[C] prompts her to abandon her high social status
迫使她放棄了自己很高的社會地位
[D] leads her to accept the doctrine of She magazine
【答案】 B
【考點】 事實細節題。
【分析】 根據題幹可以定位到第二段第二句，作者這個被美國人稱爲“放慢生活節奏”的試驗，卻使自己老掉牙的藉口變成了現實。作者已經從一個“佔有一切”哲學(琳達·凱茜過去七年中在《她》這本雜誌所宣揚的)的狂熱支持者，變成了一個樂於接受任何東西，凡事只要一丁點的女人。[A]不對，因爲新的生活方式是從來沒有想過的。[C]的錯誤在於她放棄很高的社會地位不是因爲這個實驗。[D]錯在作者後來自己放棄了這一生活哲學。
39.“Juggling one’s life” probably means living a life characterized by _________.
“Juggling one’s life”這個詞組指的是過一種_________的生活。
[A]non-materialistic lifestyle 非物質主義生活方式
[B]a bit of everything 什麼都有一點
[C]extreme stress 壓力極大
[D]anti-consumerism 反消費主義
【答案】 C
【考點】 詞義題。
【分析】 根據“juggle”一詞可以定位到文中第三段，文中提到放棄“juggling your life”的生活哲學，轉而過一種“downshifting”的生活所帶來的回報，比經濟成功和社會地位更有價值。“juggling your life”和“downshifting”相對立，因此可以推斷“juggling one's life”應該和第二段第二句中的“having it all”同義。根據第四段，“downshifting”本文指“過於簡樸、自在的生活”，那麼“juggling one's life”當指“緊張的生活方式”。[A]是“downshifting”的生活特點。[B]也是“downshifting”的生活特點。[D] “反消費主義”與“自願過簡樸的生活”是一致的。仍然是“downshifting”的生活特點。
40. According to the passage, downshifting emerged in the U.S. as a result of _________.
根據本文，美國出現的“放慢生活節奏”是______的結果。
[A]the quick pace of modern life 現代生活的快節奏
[B]man’s adventurous spirit 人類的冒險精神
[C]man’s search for mythical experiences 人類尋求神秘經歷的追求
[D]the economic situation 經濟狀況
【答案】 D
【考點】 事實細節題。
【分析】 之所以出現“downshifting”的生活方式，各國原因不一樣，這一點在最後兩段提到了。但是作者問的是美國的情況，而且用的“emerge”這個單詞，因此可以認爲答題點就是“在美國，這種趨勢一開始是對經濟衰落所做出的一種反應”。因此可以判斷答案爲[D]。
難句解析：
1. A lateral move that hurt my pride and blocked my professional progress promoted me to abandon my relatively high profile career although, in the manner of a disgraced government minister, I covered my exit by claiming“I wanted to spend more time with my family”.
【結構分析】 本句的主句是“a lateral move promoted me to abandon my relatively high profile career”。“although”引導一個讓步狀語從句。“that hurt my pride and blocked my professional progress”是“a lateral move”的定語，“in the manner of a disgraced government minister”是插入語，表示方式。
2. Curiously, some two-and-a-half years and two novels later, my experiment in what the Americans term“downshifting”has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality.
【結構分析】 本句主幹是“my experiment has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality”。注意其謂語是一個“turn sth. into sth.”的結構。“some two-and-a-half years and two novels later”是時間狀語。“what”引導一個賓語從句。
3. I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of“juggling your life”, and making the alternative move into“downshifting”brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status.
【結構分析】 “I have discovered that abandoning…and making…brings with it far greater rewards…”是句子主幹。其中“abandoning the doctrine of‘juggling your life’, and making the alternative move into‘downshifting’”爲賓語從句的主語，“brings”爲謂語。“as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress”既是伴隨狀語，又是插入語，其主語爲“Kelsey”，而“after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress”是本插入語中的時間狀語。
全文翻譯：
當決定辭去自己的全職工作時我絕對沒有想到自己竟然變成了一種新的國際性潮流的一部分。一次平行的調動傷了我的自尊，並阻礙了我的事業發展，這促使我放棄自己地位較高的職業，就像顏面丟盡的政府部長那樣，我也掩飾自己的離開，說“我想花更多的時間與家人待在一起”。
奇怪的是，在大約兩年半我寫完兩部小說後，我這個被美國人稱爲“放慢生活節奏”的試驗，卻使我老掉牙的藉口變成了絕對的現實。我曾經是“佔有一切”哲學(琳達·凱茜過去七年中在《她》這本雜誌所宣揚的)的狂熱支持者，現在已經變成了什麼都只要一點點的女人。
我已經發現——凱茜由於壓力過大已多次公開宣稱要辭去《她》雜誌編輯的職務，在這之後她也許會有同樣發現——放棄“耍弄生活”的生活哲學，轉而過一種“放慢生活節奏”的生活所帶來的回報，比經濟成功和社會地位更有價值。沒有什麼能夠說服我再回到過去那種凱茜所宣揚的、我也很享受的生活中去。那個時候，工作日每天工作12小時，有壓力很大的的最後期限，壓抑的的辦公室的政治，以及連做母親也得“高效率”。
在美國，擺脫忙碌，轉而過一種簡單、不再那麼物質化的生活已成確定趨勢。具有諷刺意味的是，“放慢生活節奏”——在美國也稱“自願簡單”——甚至孕育了一個嶄新的、可稱之爲反消費主義的生活方式。對於那些想簡單生活的人來說，有許多很暢銷的的自助書籍幫你輕鬆生活；有各種簡訊，例如省錢簡報，會給美國人提供成千上萬條有用的點子去做事，從回收保鮮膜到自制肥皂；甚至還有一些幫助團體，幫人按90年代中期脫離傳統社會的人的生活方式去生活。
在美國，這種趨勢出現之初是對經濟衰落所做出的一種反應——出現於80年代後期縮小經濟規模所引起的大量人員冗餘之後——在英國，至少在我所認識的中產階級的簡化生活者中，這種趨勢仍被認爲與節儉政治有關聯，雖然如此，然而我們有着不同的緣由去尋求使自己的生活簡單化。
對我們這一代女性來說，整個80年代我們曾被迫忙碌地生活，90年代中期的簡化生活與其說是尋求神話般的好生活——自己種有機蔬菜以及冒險進入一個仙境——倒不如說我們都認識了自身的侷限。