職稱英語考試基礎篇精讀薈萃(12)

Passage Twelve (We Should All Grow Fat and Be Happy)
　　Here’s a familiar version of the boy-meets-girl situation. A young man has at last plucked up courage to invite a dazzling young lady out to dinner. She has accepted his invitation and he is overjoyed. He is determined to take her to the best restaurant in town, even if it means that he will have to live on memories and hopes during the month to come. When they get to the restaurant, he discovers that this ethereal creature is on a diet. She mustn’t eat this and she mustn’t that. Oh, but of course, she doesn’t want to spoil his enjoyment. Let him by all means eat as much fattening food as he wants: it’s the surest way to an early grave. They spend a truly memorable evening together and never see each other again.

　　What a miserable lot dieters are! You can always recognize them from the sour expression on their faces. They spend most of their time turning their noses up at food. They are forever consulting calorie charts; gazing at themselves in mirrors; and leaping on to weighing-machines in the bathroom. They spend a lifetime fighting a losing battle against spreading hips, protruding tummies and double chins. Some wage all-out war on FAT. Mere dieting is not enough. They exhaust themselves doing exercises, sweating in sauna baths, being pummeled and massaged by weird machines. The really wealthy diet-mongers pay vast sums for ‘health cures’. For two weeks they can enter a nature clinic and be starved to death for a hundred guineas a week. Don’t think it’s only the middle-aged who go in for these fads either. Many of these bright young things you see are suffering from chronic malnutrition: they are living on nothing but air, water and the goodwill of God.
　　Dieters undertake to starve themselves of their own free will; so why are they so miserable? Well, for one thing, they’re always hungry. You can’t be hungry and happy at the same time. All the horrible concoctions they eat instead of food leave them permanently dissatisfied. Wonderfood is a complete food, the advertisement says. ‘Just dissolve a teaspoonful in water…’. A complete food it may be, but not quite as complete as a juicy steak. And, of course, they’re always miserable because they feel so guilty. Hunger just proves too much for them and in the end they lash out and devour five huge guilt-inducing cream cakes at a sitting. And who can blame them? At least three times a day they are exposed to temptation. What utter torture it is always watching others tucking into piles of mouth-watering food while you munch a water biscuit and sip unsweetened lemon juice!
　　What’s all this self-inflicted torture for? Saintly people deprive themselves of food to attain a state of grace. Unsaintly people do so to attain a state of misery. It will be a great day when all the dieters in the world abandon their slimming courses; when they hold out their plates and demand second helpings!
　　1. The best title for this passage is
　　[A] On Fat.
　　[B] We Should All Grow Fat and Be Happy.
　　[C] Many Diseases Are Connected with Fat.
　　[D] Diet Deprives People of Normal Life.
　　2. Why do they never see each other again?
　　[A] Because it is a memorable evening.
　　[B] Because she lets him eat as much fattening food as he wants.
　　[C] Because she does not eat this and drink that.
　　[D] Because eating fattening food is the surest way to an early grave.
　　3. Which of the following ways is NOT mentioned for diet?
　　[A] Doing exercises.
　　[B] Not eating sugar.
　　[C] Not eating fat.
　　[D] Taking sauna baths.
　　4. What is the author’s attitude toward diet?
　　[A] Persuasive.
　　[B] Critical.
　　[C] Indifferent.
　　[D] Adversative.
　　Vocabulary
　　1. ethereal 優(yōu)雅的，飄渺的
　　2. sour 愁眉不展的
　　3. tummy 肚子
　　4. protrude 突出的，突起的
　　5. wage 作(戰(zhàn))，實行
　　6. all-out 全面的
　　7. sauna bath 桑拿浴
　　8. pummel = pommel 用拳頭連打
　　9. massage 按摩
　　10. weird 不可思議的，離奇的
　　11. monger 商人，販子
　　12. fad 一時流行的風尚
　　13. concoction 調(diào)制品，葷素混合菜，調(diào)和物
　　14. wonderfood 奇妙的食物
　　15. lash out 痛斥，鞭打
　　16. at a/one sitting 一口氣
　　17. munch 用力嚼
　　18. inflict 予以打擊，使遭受
　　19. slim 苗條的，不足取的，無價值的　　寫作方法與文章大意
　　文章論及“減肥及痛苦”。以先聲奪人的男女約會入手，引入減肥的痛苦過程：首先是各種減肥的方法(全面戰(zhàn)斗);其次是痛苦的難熬;最后點出減肥的目的。號召人放棄減肥。三段式文章：引言，正文和結(jié)論。以諷刺的筆調(diào)，步步深入的手法勸人放棄減肥，過愉快的生活。
答案詳解
　　1. B 我們都該長得胖乎乎，心情愉快。這是文章的目的，也是文章最佳標題。答案見最后一段：“這一切自我折磨為了什么?圣潔的人們不吃飯菜是為了身材優(yōu)美，不圣潔的人們不吃飯菜得到的是痛苦。當世界上所有的節(jié)食者都拋棄這減輕體重顯得苗條的課程時當他們伸出盤子，要求再來一份(第二份食物)時，這將是一個偉大的日子?！?br/>　　A. 論脂肪。似乎有點兒接近文章的內(nèi)容。但文章涉及到的各個方面并不是單講脂肪食品或飲食問題。C. 許多疾病和脂肪有關。文內(nèi)第一段提到這方面的問題。D. 節(jié)食剝奪了人們正常生活。文內(nèi)提到，但不是文章的總目的和內(nèi)容。
　　2. D吃脂肪食品早死。答案就在第一段“當他們來到飯店，他發(fā)現(xiàn)這位優(yōu)雅的少女(飄逸的少女)是個忌口節(jié)食者。決不能吃這個，一定不能喝那個。喔，當然，她不想掃他的興，讓他想吃多少脂肪的食品就盡量吃。這是早早接近死亡的最有把握的途徑。”這里傳遞兩點信息。一個吃，一個不吃已經(jīng)是格格不入，再加上“多吃脂肪東西早死亡”姑娘怎能嫁他，他一個人吃而那位姑娘瞧著，確實是難以忘懷的夜晚，他受得了?所以D是最接近不再見面的原因。
　　A. 因為這是一個值得紀念的夜晚。B. 她讓他愛吃多少脂肪食物就吃多少。C.因為她不吃這個也不吃那個。這三項都是單獨的事實或情況。
　　3. B不吃糖。答案再第二段第二句開始“他們大部分時間對食品都不屑一顧。他們永遠向熱量表討教咨詢，照鏡子，跳到浴室的磅秤上稱重量。他們一聲都在向臀部大，肚子突出，雙下巴綻開一個準輸無疑的戰(zhàn)斗。有的對脂肪開展了全面戰(zhàn)斗。光節(jié)食是不夠的，他們運動以消耗體重，洗桑拿浴出汗，用奇異的機器按摩和擊打?！?br/>　　A. 運動做操。C.不吃脂肪。D.洗桑拿浴。

　　4. B批評的態(tài)度。這在第二、三段都有明顯的表示。第二段開始：“這些節(jié)食者是多么可憐的一群人啊!你總是可以從他們愁眉不展的表情上認出他們?！钡诙蔚箶?shù)第四句開始：“這些真正有錢的節(jié)食大款為健康治療支付大筆的款項。他們進到“自然門診”。兩個星期餓得要死，每星期付一百畿尼。別以為僅僅是中年人參與這種時尚活動。你可以見到許多青年正由于長期營養(yǎng)不良而遭罪。他們就靠空氣、水和上帝的善意而活著?！钡谌?，“節(jié)食者甘愿忍饑挨餓，那么他們?yōu)槭裁茨菢与y受悲慘呢?得，首先，他們總是感到饑餓。你不可能餓著肚子高興。他們吃的不是食物，全是搭配好的東西，這永遠不能使他們滿意……”第三段倒數(shù)第三句“饑餓確實令他們感到太受不了了。最終，他們破釜沉舟，一口氣就吞下了五大塊使人內(nèi)疚的奶油蛋糕。誰能責怪他們!他們一天至少三次面對引誘，老是看著別人大口吃著饞涎欲滴的食品，而你自己用力嚼一口水餅干和喝一口沒有甜味的檸檬汁。這是一種什么樣的折磨啊!”
　　A.勸導的。 C.漠不關心。這兩項不對。D. 敵意的。不合適。