If you add to this the effects of a sonar set mounted in the small nose of a torpedo rushing through the water at speeds up to 80 miles per hour with its consequent noise and vibration，plus hullborne vibrations from the power plant，it can be seen that only the most advanced electronic filtering gives any chance of success.
it前边不是句子的主要部分，而是一个由if 所引领的长长的状语从句。（如果说“主＋谓＋宾”是树干的话，定、状则像树叶，要繁杂和麻烦得多。）在整个if...这样一个句子构成的状语中，if you（主语）add （谓语）the effects to this（双宾语）为基本框架;那第二个宾语为何要倒过来呢？因为第一个宾语effects 后面跟了那么长那么多的定语。（注意：英语常将定语写在名词后，这一点与中文大相径庭：中文的定语一律放在名词前）
第一个定语为介词词组“of a sonar set ”，修饰effects，译为：“一套声纳设施的效果”;第二个定语为“mounted in the small nose”，过去分词当定语：“被安装在一个小鼻子上的”;第三个定语“of a torpedo”：“一个鱼雷的”;第四个定语“rushing...”译为：“以每小时80英里速度穿行于水里的”;后边还有一个“with...”(“plus...”为两逗号间的插入语) 英文定语在名词后，中文却将定语放在名词effects前边。若定语不止一个，常采用倒着翻译的方法，我们称之为“倒解连环”。
第二、阅读中最忌讳的是一个字一个字地去读，那样又慢又差。正确的方法是用眼去抓句子的大致结构（叫意群阅读法）。还记得前面那个长难句吗？郭老师并没有孤零零地去看每一个词，而是先找到了it后面的主句，前头的if句虽然很长，只不过是个状语而已。而在主句中，我又抓住了它的主语that only the most advanced electronic filtering gives any chance of success和谓语can be seen。这种提纲挈领的读法，不仅可以使速度加快，更可以使准确率提高。
在开始研究历年真题阅读理解之前，有一件特别重要的事必须提醒广大读者：要使自己的阅读水平真正提高，必须先做题，后看答案和解析。如果顺序倒过来，阅读水平丝毫得不到提高。做题时间为一篇文章17至20分钟，Part A四篇文章时间控制在70~80分钟。下面，以最近考过的2008年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语试题中的阅读理解题为开篇，请同学们以这几篇真题阅读文章为练习，在规定的时间内，检测自己的真实水平。无论做的结果如何，都保持一种从零开始的心态，认真研读此书，一定会获益匪浅！作者: tonymessi 时间: 2008-7-9 22:41 标题: 2009考研英语历年真题阅读理解精读笔记（二） TEXT 1
While still catchingup to men in some spheres of modern life, women appear to be way ahead in at least one undesirable category. “Women are particularly susceptible to developing depression and anxiety disorders in response to stress compared to men,”according to Dr. Yehuda, chief psychiatrist at New York’s Veteran’s Administration Hospital.
Studies of both animals and humans have shown that sex hormones somehow affects the stress response, causing females under stress to produce more of the trigger chemicals than do males under the same conditions. In several of the studies, when stressedout female rats had their ovaries (the female reproductive organs) removed, their chemical responses became equal to those of the males.
Adding to a woman’s increased dose of stress chemicals, are her increased “opportunities” for stress. “It’s not necessarily that women don’t cope as well. It’s just that they have so much more to cope with,” says Dr. Yehuda. “Their capacity for tolerating stress may even be greater than men’s,” she observes, “It’s just that they’re dealing with so many more things that they become worn out from it more visibly and sooner.”
Dr. Yehuda notes another difference between the sexes. “I think that the kinds of things that women are exposed to tend to be in more of a chronic or repeated nature. Men go to war and are exposed to combat stress. Men are exposed to more acts of random physical violence. The kinds of interpersonal violence that women are exposed to tend to be in domestic situations, by, unfortunately, parents or other family numbers, and they tend not to be oneshot deals. The wearandtear that comes from these longer relationships can be quite devastating.”
Adeline Alvarez married at 18 and gave birth to a son, but wad determined to finish college. “I struggled a lot to get the college degree. I was living in so much frustration that that was my escape to go to school, and get ahead and do better.” Later her marriage ended and she became a single mother. “It’s the hardest thing to take care of a teenager, have a job, pay the rent, pay the car payment, and pay the debt. I lived from paycheck to paycheck.”
Not everyone experiences the kinds of severe chronic stresses, Alvarez describes. But most women today are coping with a lot of obligations, with few breaks, and feeling the strain. Alvarez’s experience demonstrates the importance of finding ways to diffuse stress before it threatens your health and your ability to function.
21. Which of the following is true according to the first two paragraphs?
［A］Women are biologically more vulnerable to stress.
［B］Women are still suffering much stress caused by men.
［C］Women are more experienced than men in coping with stress.
［D］Men and women show different inclinations when faced with stress.
22. Dr. Yehuda’s research suggests that women
［A］need extra doses of chemicals to handle stress.
［B］have limited capacity for tolerating stress.
［C］are more capable of avoiding stress.
［D］are exposed to more stress.
23. According to Paragraph 4, the stress women confront tends to be
［A］domestic and temporary. ［B］irregular and violent.
［C］durable and frequent. ［D］trivial and random.
24. The sentence “I lived from paycheck to paycheck.”(Line 6, Para. 5) probably means that
［A］Alvarez cared about nothing but making money.
［B］Alvarez’s salary barely covered her household expenses.
［C］Alvarez got paychecks from different jobs.
［D］Alvarez paid practically everything by check.
25. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
［A］Strain of Stress: No Way Out?
［B］Responses to Stress: Gender Difference
［C］Stress Analysis: What Chemicals Say
［D］Gender Inequality: Women Under Stress
TEXT 2
It used to be so straightforward. A team of researchers working together in the laboratory would submit the results of their research to a journal. A journal editor would then remove the authors' names and affiliations from the paper and send it to their peers for review. Depending on the comments received, the editor would accept the paper for publication or decline it. Copyright rested with the journal publisher, and researchers seeking knowledge of the results would have to subscribe to the journal.
No longer. The Internet and pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why commercial publishers are making money from governmentfunded research by restricting access to it-is making access to scientific results a reality. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was just issued a report describing the farreaching consequences of this. The report, by John Houghton of Victoria University in Australia and Graham Vickery of the OECD, makes heavy reading for publishers who have, so far, made handsome profits. But it goes further than that. It signals a change in what has, until now, been a key element of scientific endeavor.
The value of knowledge and the return on the public investment in research depends, in part, upon wide distribution and ready access. It is big business. In America, the core scientific publishing market is estimated at between $7 billion and $11 billion. The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers says that there are more than 2,000 publishers worldwide specializing in these subjects. They publish more than 1.2 million articles each year in some 16,000 journals.
This is now changing. According to the OECD report, some 75% of scholarly journals are now online. Entirely new business models are emerging; three main ones were identified by the report's authors. This is the socalled big deal, where institutional subscribers pay for access to a collection of online journal titles through sitelicensing agreements. There is openaccess publishing, typically supported by asking the author (or his employer) to pay for the paper to be published. Finally, there are openaccess archives, where organizations such as universities or international laboratories support institutional repositories. Other models exist that are hybrids of these three, such as delayed openaccess, where journals allow only subscribers to read a paper for the first six months, before making it freely available to everyone who wishes to see it. All this could change the traditional form of the peerreview process, at least for the publication of papers.
26. In the first paragraph, the author discusses
［A］ the background information of journal editing.
［B］ the publication routine of laboratory reports.
［C］ the relations of authors with journal publishers.
［D］ the traditional process of journal publication.
27. Which of the following is true of the OECD report?
［A］ It criticizes governmentfunded research.
［B］ It introduces an effective means of publication.
［C］ It upsets profitmaking journal publishers.
［D］ It benefits scientific research considerably.
28. According to the text, online publication is significant in that
［A］ it provides an easier access to scientific results.
［B］ it brings huge profits to scientific researchers.
［C］ it emphasizes the crucial role of scientific knowledge.
［D］ it facilitates public investment in scientific research.
29. With the openaccess publishing model, the author of a paper is required to
［A］ cover the cost of its publication.
［B］ subscribe to the journal publishing it.
［C］ allow other online journals to use it freely.
［D］ complete the peerreview before submission.
30. Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
［A］ The Internet is posing a threat to publishers.
［B］ A new mode of publication is emerging.
［C］ Authors welcome the new channel for publication.
［D］ Publication is rendered easier by online service.
TEXT 3
In the early 1960s Wilt Chamberlain was one of only three players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) listed at over seven feet. If he had played last season, however, he would have been one of 42. The bodies playing major professional sports have changed dramatically over the years, and managers have been more than willing to adjust team uniforms to fit the growing numbers of bigger, longer frames.
The trend in sports, though, may be obscuring an unrecognized reality: Americans have generally stopped growing. Though typically about two inches taller now than 140 years ago, today's people-especially those born to families who have lived in the U.S. for many generations-apparently reached their limit in the early 1960s. And they aren't likely to get any taller. "In the general population today, at this genetic, environmental level, we've pretty much gone as far as we can go," says anthropologist William Cameron Chumlea of Wright State University. In the case of NBA players, their increase in height appears to result from the increasingly common practice of recruiting players from all over the world.
Growth, which rarely continues beyond the age of 20, demands calories and nutrients-notably, protein-to feed expanding tissues. At the start of the 20th century, undernutrition and childhood infections got in the way. But as diet and health improved, children and adolescents have, on average, increased in height by about an inch and a half every 20 years, a pattern known as the secular trend in height. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average height-5′9″ for men, 5′4″for women-hasn't really changed since 1960.
Genetically speaking, there are advantages to avoiding substantial height. During childbirth, larger babies have more difficulty passing through the birth canal. Moreover, even though humans have been upright for millions of years, our feet and back continue to struggle with bipedal posture and cannot easily withstand repeated strain imposed by oversize limbs. "There are some real constraints that are set by the genetic architecture of the individual organism," says anthropologist William Leonard of Northwestern University.
Genetic maximums can change, but don't expect this to happen soon. Claire C. Gordon, senior anthropologist at the Army Research Center in Natick, Mass., ensures that 90 percent of the uniforms and workstations fit recruits without alteration. She says that, unlike those for basketball, the length of military uniforms has not changed for some time. And if you need to predict human height in the near future to design a piece of equipment, Gordon says that by and large, "you could use today's data and feel fairly confident."
31. Wilt Chamberlain is cited as an example to
［A］ illustrate the change of height of NBA players.
［B］ show the popularity of NBA players in the U.S..
［C］ compare different generations of NBA players.
［D］ assess the achievements of famous NBA players.
32. Which of the following plays a key role in body growth according to the text?
33. On which of the following statements would the author most probably agree?
［A］ NonAmericans add to the average height of the nation.
［B］ Human height is conditioned by the upright posture.
［C］ Americans are the tallest on average in the world.
［D］ Larger babies tend to become taller in adulthood.
34. We learn from the last paragraph that in the near future
［A］ the garment industry will reconsider the uniform size.
［B］ the design of military uniforms will remain unchanged.
［C］ genetic testing will be employed in selecting sportsmen.
［D］ the existing data of human height will still be applicable.
35. The text intends to tell us that
［A］ the change of human height follows a cyclic pattern.
［B］ human height is becoming even more predictable.
［C］ Americans have reached their genetic growth limit.
［D］ the genetic pattern of Americans has altered.
TEXT 4
In 1784, five years before he became president of the United States, George Washington, 52, was nearly toothless. So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jaw-having extracted them from the mouths of his slaves.
That's far different image from the cherrytreechopping George most people remember from their history books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in the lives of the founding generation. They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in 1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slave Sally Hemings. And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up. Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nation's early leaders and the fragile nature of the country's infancy. More significantly, they argue that many of the Founding Fathers knew slavery was wrong and yet most did little to fight it.
More than anything, the historians say, the founders were hampered by the culture of their time. While Washington and Jefferson privately expressed distaste for slavery, they also understood that it was part of the political and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.
For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves. Owning slaves was "like having a large bank account," says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America. The southern states would not have signed the Constitution without protections for the "peculiar institution," including a clause that counted a slave as threefifths of a man for purposes of congressional representation.
And the statesmen's political lives depended on slavery. The threefifths formula handed Jefferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of 1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College. Once in office, Jefferson extended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the new land was carved into 13 states, including three slave states.
Still, Jefferson freed Hemings's children-though not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 other slaves. Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing the bravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of his relatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will. Only a decade earlier, such an act would have required legislative approval in Virginia.
36. George Washington's dental surgery is mentioned to
［A］ show the primitive medical practice in the past.
［B］ demonstrate the cruelty of slavery in his days.
［C］ stress the role of slaves in the U.S. history.
［D］ reveal some unknown aspect of his life.
37. We may infer from the second paragraph that
［A］ DNA technology has been widely applied to history research.
［B］ in its early days the U.S. was confronted with delicate situations.
［C］ historians deliberately made up some stories of Jefferson's life.
［D］ political compromises are easily found throughout the U.S. history.
38. What do we learn about Thomas Jefferson?
［A］ His political view changed his attitude towards slavery.
［B］ His status as a father made him free the child slaves.
［C］ His attitude towards slavery was complex.
［D］ His affair with a slave stained his prestige.
39. Which of the following is true according to the text?
［A］ Some founding Fathers benefit politically from slavery.
［B］ Slaves in the old days did not have the right to vote.
［C］ Slave owners usually had large savings accounts.
［D］ Slavery was regarded as a peculiar institution.
40. Washington's decision to free slaves originated from his
［A］ moral considerations. ［B］ military experience.
If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006’s World Cup tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months.If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.
What might account for this strange phenomenon?Here are a few guesses: a) certain astrological signs confer superior soccer skills; b) winterborn babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which increases soccer stamina; c) soccermad parents are more likely to conceive children in springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania; d)none of the above.
Anders Ericsson, a 58yearold psychology professor at Florida State University, says he believes strongly in “none of the above.”Ericsson grew up in Sweden, and studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology.His first experiment, nearly 30 years ago, involved memory: training a person to hear and then repeat a random series of numbers.“With the first subject, after about 20 hours of training, his digit span had risen from 7 to 20,”Ericsson recalls.“He kept improving, and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to over 80 numbers.”
This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.In other words, whatever inborn differences two people may exhibit in their abilities to memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person “encodes” the information.And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson determined, was a process known as deliberate practice.Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task.Rather, it involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on technique as on outcome.
Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of pursuits, including soccer.They gather all the data they can, not just performance statistics and biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers.Their work makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated.Or, put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made, not born.
21. The birthday phenomenon found among soccer players is mentioned to
［A］stress the importance of professional training.
［B］spotlight the soccer superstars in the World Cup.
［C］introduce the topic of what makes expert performance.
［D］explain why some soccer teams play better than others.
22. The word “mania” (Line 4, Paragraph 2) most probably means
［A］fun.［B］craze.［C］hysteria.［D］excitement.
23. According to Ericsson, good memory
［A］depends on meaningful processing of information.
［B］results from intuitive rather than cognitive exercises.
［C］is determined by genetic rather than psychological factors.
［D］requires immediate feedback and a high degree of concentration.
24. Ericsson and his colleagues believe that
［A］talent is a dominating factor for professional success.
［B］biographical data provide the key to excellent performance.
［C］the role of talent tends to be overlooked.
［D］high achievers owe their success mostly to nurture.
25. Which of the following proverbs is closest to the message the text tries to convey?
［A］ “Faith will move mountains.” ［B］ “One reaps what one sows.”
［C］ “Practice makes perfect.” ［D］ “Like father, like son.”
注：1.本书单词右上角标注的数字是该单词在历年真题（1994年—2008年）中出现的次数。
2.单词词义前标注的“①、②”等数字表示该单词同一词性的不同词义。
3.在《考研英语词汇真题词频语境记忆》精读版中本书单词均配有真题例句。
ability15［E5biliti］n.①能力，智能；②才能，才干
account 22［E5kaunt］n.①账（目，户）；②叙述，说明；③价值，地位；v.（for）①说明，解释；②占；③（take into ）考虑；顾及
难句1If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in 2006’s World Cup tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite soccer players are more likely to have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months.
难句2If you then examined the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would find this strange phenomenon to be even more pronounced.
［语法分析］本句结构为：条件从句+主句，主句的主干为：you would find + 宾语+宾语补足语；
难句3This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise than an intuitive one.
难句4Their work makes a rather startling assertion: the trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated.Or, put another way, expert performers—whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming—are nearly always made, not born.
［语法分析］第一句为简单句，冒号后面的部分是assertion的同位语，同位语从句主干为：the trait...is...，其中包含一个定语从句修饰the trait；第二句的主干为expert performers...are...made，not born，or和put another way 是插入语；
［D］“有其父必有其子”作者: tonymessi 时间: 2008-7-9 22:42 标题: 2009考研英语历年真题阅读理解精读笔记（四） TEXT 2
For the past several years, the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called “Ask Marilyn.”People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant, who at age 10 had tested at a mental level of someone about 23 years old; that gave her an IQ of 228—the highest score ever recorded.IQ tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies, to envision paper after it has been folded and cut, and to deduce numerical sequences, among other similar tasks.So it is a bit confusing when vos Savant fields such queries from the average Joe (whose IQ is 100) as.What’s the difference between love and fondness?Or what is the nature of luck and coincidence? It’s not obvious how the capacity to visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions that have eluded some of the best poets and philosophers.
Clearly, intelligence encompasses more than a score on a test.Just what does it mean to be smart?How much of intelligence can be specified, and how much can we learn about it from neurology, genetics, computer science and other fields?
The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score, even though IQ tests are not given as often as they used to be.The test comes primarily in two forms: the StanfordBinet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales（both come in adult and children’s version）.Generally costing several hundred dollars, they are usually given only by psychologists, although variations of them populate bookstores and World Wide Web.Superhigh scores like vos Savant’s are no longer possible, because scoring is now based on a statistical population distribution among age peers, rather than simply dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100.Other standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), capture the main aspects of IQ tests.
Such standardized tests may not assess all the important elements necessary to succeed in school and in life, argues Robert J. Sternberg.In his article “How Intelligent Is Intelligence Testing?”, Sternberg notes that traditional tests best assess analytical and verbal skills but fail to measure creativity and practical knowledge, components also critical to problem solving and life success.Moreover, IQ tests do not necessarily predict so well once populations or situations change.Research has found that IQ predicted leadership skills when the tests were given under lowstress conditions, but under highstress conditions，IQ was negatively correlated with leadership—that is, it predicted the opposite.Anyone who has toiled through SAT will testify that testtaking skill also matters, whether it’s knowing when to guess or what questions to skip.
26. Which of the following may be required in an intelligence test?
［A］Answering philosophical questions.
［B］Folding or cutting paper into different shapes.
［C］Telling the differences between certain concepts.
［D］Choosing words or graphs similar to the given ones.
27. What can be inferred about intelligence testing from paragraph 3?
［A］People no longer use IQ scores as an indicator of intelligence.
［B］More versions of IQ tests are now available on the Internet.
［C］The test contents and formats for adults and children may be different.
［D］Scientists have defined the important elements of human intelligence.
28. People nowadays can no longer achieve IQ scores as high as vos Savant’s because
［A］the scores are obtained through different computational procedures.
［B］creativity rather than analytical skills is emphasized now.
［C］vos Savant’s case is an extreme one that will not repeat.
［D］ the defining characteristic of IQ tests has changed.
29. We can conclude from the last paragraph that
［A］test scores may not be reliable indicators of one’s ability.
［B］IQ scores and SAT results are highly correlated.
［C］testing involves a lot of guesswork.
［D］traditional tests are out of date.
30. What is the author’s attitude towards IQ tests?
难句1It’s not obvious how the capacity to visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions that have eluded some of the best poets and philosophers.
句中：It为主语(形式主语)，is not 为谓语，obvious为宾语（或称为表语）。本句可译为：“人们非常不清楚的是（How...）”。在主语从句中，how为引导词，这个主语从句中的“主+谓+宾”分别是the capacity(主)+suits(谓) +one to answer questions(双宾语)。
［解析］注意，问作者态度，应该找But一词。原文末段有两个“But”。第一个But fail to measure creativity and practical knowledge.(此类考试不能测出人们的创造能力和实用知识)，第二个But under highstress conditions,...（但在压力大时，他预测的结果适得其反）由此可知，作者怀疑或不赞成此类智力考试。