考研英语阅读理解B型题(十三) 英语, 考研, 阅读

幽幽草

Directions:　　In the following article, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 1-5, choose the most suitable one from the list A—G to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps.
　　The attitude that intolerance is an evil is especially strong in Britain, where tolerance has been elevated into the Great National Virtue. 1) Listen to any public debate or radio phone-in about immigration and you will hear people reiterating this view. Only the British, they say, would have allowed so many black and brown people into their country, would have treated them so well, given them jobs, put them on the National Health Service, and so on. 2)
　　Their conclusion, of course, gives the game away, for the tolerance they are talking about does not in fact exist but is invented as a justification for present intolerance. 3) Tolerance, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is "the disposition to be patient with or indulgent to the opinions and practices of others" and "freedom from bigotry or undue severity in judging the conduct of others". Can we honestly claim to be more lavishly bestowed with these attributes than people of other nations? I do not think so.
　　4) But this does not mean they are particularly indulgent to other people's behaviour. Do anything out of the ordinary — give a party, for example — and your neighbours will soon begin to bare their teeth. Try starting a business or opening a restaurant in a predominantly residential area, and all hell breaks loose.
　　The British tend to be very critical of continental drivers, whom they accuse of uncontrolled aggressiveness. But while British drivers may be rather more reliable about sticking to the rules of the road, they are dangerously intolerant of other drivers who, in their view, are doing things they shouldn't be doing. 5) In fact, I am much more frightened of British drivers than I am of French or Italian ones, for you can at least be reasonably confident with the latter that, unlike the British, they are not prepared to die — and take you with them — in order to prove a point.
　　[A]I myself may sometimes be incompetent or a bit too pushy as a driver but I have often been a victim of verbal abuse and terrifying revenge manoeurres quite out of proportion to any offence that I may have committed.
　　[B]We believe ourselves to be unique among nations in our generosity of spirit and our readiness to put up with all kinds of people.
　　[C]What is called tolerance may often be just unassertiveness or timidity, for it is true that most English people do not relish public rows or confrontations and will go to some lengths to avoid them.
　　[D]I will exclude from my reproof the animal sentimentalists and those who consistently reject cruelty in any form.
　　[E]It is a thoroughly hypocritical posture which makes one wonder whether British claims to being especially tolerant have any validity at all.
　　[F]British attitudes to bad habits like smoking and drinking also tend to be intolerant and are getting more so.
　　[G]And this, they conclude, is why no more of them should be allowed in.
　　答案及详解
　　1.B。这句话的意思是说“我们认为我们宽宏大量的态度和愿意容忍各种人的行为的想法在各国之中是独一无二的”，可见，这句话是用来承接第一句的，进一步说明宽容已上升为英国的一种伟大的国家美德。
　　2.G。文章的第二段开头就指出，那个结论，使英国人的宽容之说露出了马脚（give the game away），那么当然在那之前，应该说明他们的结论到底是什么。
　　3.E。这句话的意思是“这是一种彻头彻尾的虚伪姿态，这种姿态使人们怀疑，英国人所声称的特别能容忍的说法是否能站得住”这也是用来承接前一句的，因为前面已经说明“他们所说的宽容并不是实际存在，而是编造出来为观念的偏狭辩护的”。
　　4.C。这句话的意思是“究竟什么是宽容有时也是不确定的，因为事实上大部分英国人并不愿意在公众中争吵和对抗，并且会尽量避免它们”。这里应注意下一句中的转折词“But ...”，可见，它是将这句话进行了否定，并例举了几个例子。“这并不意味着他们能够容忍人们的行为”这样就正好呼应上了。
　　5.A。这句话的意思是“（作为一个司机），有时我自己可能不太够格或者有点莽撞，但我经常遭到辱骂和可怕的报复，这对我可能犯过的过失而言，未免太过分了”，从文章的最后一段我们看出，全段都在讲述英国人对司机的严厉与偏狭，而这里插入这样一个例子，正好说明了问题。
　　F。这句话是说英国人对那些嗜烟酗酒的人的态度将更不能容忍，这句话是对的，可是在全文中没有涉及，故不能选填。
　　D。这句话的意思是“我不谴责那些同情动物者和那些一直反对任何形式的对动物的残酷行为的人”，这也从一个侧面反映了英国人对动物的冷淡，但同样没有在全文中提及，故不能选填。
　　中心思想
　　本文论的是英国人的“宽容”，可是它从多个角度，多个方面，论证了英国人宽容的虚伪性，揭露了他们宽容的本质。