It looks/sounds like/as if:看/听上去好像,实际并不是。如大纲样题(1997年真题第5篇)的首句“Much of the language used to describe monetary policy, such as ”steering the economy to a soft landing“ or ”a touch on the brakes“, makes it sound like a precise science.”下划线的字面意思直译“使之听上去好像一门精确的科学”,作者实际表达的意思货币政策并不是一门精确的科学。
虚拟语气:虚拟以所谓的反事实假设,即作者是既表达的意思和字面意思相反。如1996年第五篇的末句“And so it does - and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate.”本句话字面意思直译是“如果理性成为创世论和进化论这场争议的惟一评判标准,那么一切都会变得好了”,作者实际表达的意思就是理性既不是惟一评判标准,而今天情况也并不好。
让步论述:让步论述就是先假设作者观点负面成立,从而引发出一系列荒谬的、不合理的结局,倒过来再次论证作者自身观点的正确性。因为有假设能成立的过程,事实上并不能成立,因此字面意思和实际意思依然是相反的。如大纲样题(1997年第5篇)首段“Hence the analogy that likens the conduct of monetary policy to driving a car with a blackened windscreen, a cracked rearview mirror and a faulty steering wheel.”如果把货币政策比成开汽车的话(前文论证过货币政策不能比喻成开汽车,这里就是假设其观点的负面成立),那么你就是开着一辆前挡风玻璃是黑的,后视镜是碎的,方向盘是坏的车(荒谬的不合理的结局)。倒过来论证货币政策不能比成开汽车。
引号:引号可以起一个反语的作用。如1996年第5篇中“”Scientific“ creationism, which is being pushed by some for ”equal time“ in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science.”引号表征是所谓的科学,作者表达的意思就是创世论并不科学。
反问句:反问也是一种正话反说。如2005年第2篇首段“That the evidence was inconclusive, the science uncertain?”字面意思“证据不确定,那么科学也不确定了吗?”很明显作者表达的意思是科学是certain的,而不是字面的 uncertain.
文化背景:在某些特定的文化背景当中,作者实际表达意思和字面意思相反。如2001年第5篇第一段“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“。”作者在这里只是借自身来反讽某些政府部长,即作者并不是政府部长,也不是想和家人共度美好时光。
Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.
It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K. Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bush‘s predecessors (including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chrétien and Koizumi)。 The world’s three top central bankers (Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world's five richest men (Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht)。
Can this merely be coincidence? One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early. At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So short-sighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.
The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them.
47、What can we infer from the first three paragraphs?
[A] In both East and West, names are essential to success.
[B] The alphabet is to blame for the failure of Zoe Zysman.
[C] Customers often pay a lot of attention to companies' names.
[D] Some form of discrimination is too subtle to recognize.(文章主题为正确答案)
48、The 4th paragraph suggests that
[A] questions are often put to the more intelligent students.
[B] alphabetically disadvantaged students often escape form class.
[C] teachers should pay attention to all of their students.(should为正话反说,改选项实际表达的意义就是老师没有关注所有的孩子)
[D] students should be seated according to their eyesight.
50、Which of the following is true according to the text?
[A] People with surnames beginning with N to Z are often ill-treated.
[B] VIPs in the Western world gain a great deal from alphabetism.
[C] The campaign to eliminate alphabetism still has a long way to go.
[D] Putting things alphabetically may lead to unintentional bias.(文章主题为正确答案)