如此这般，美国的总统和副总统的姓氏分别是以B和C字母起头。乔治·布什的前任有二十六位（包括其父）的姓氏均在字母表的前半部，而姓氏在字母表后半部的却仅有十六位。
③Shortlists 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.
该句子的主干是and连接的两个分句：all tend to be drawn up，and their recipients lose interest.冒号前的三个名词短语是第一个分句主语all的同位语。As引导的时间状语从句，修饰第二个分句。
求职面试、选举投票、会议发言或参加会议等诸多名单，也是按字母表顺序排序，当人们费劲地向下查看时，兴趣随之索然
译文：
在过去的一个世纪里各种各样的不公和歧视遭到了谴责或定为非法。但是有一种隐蔽的形式还在蔓延：按字母表顺序排名。对于尚未意识到其危害的人来说，它指的是对那些姓氏起始字母位于字母表后半部的人的歧视。
人们早已知道在客户翻阅电话簿时，名叫AAAA的出租汽车公司要比Zodiac出租汽车公司有很大的优越性。至于在生活方面Adam Abbott较之Zo? Zysman的优越性就不那么为人所知了。英语的姓名虽然在字母表的前后两半部分的分布相当平均，但顶级人物的姓名的首字母在A与K之间的却多得可疑。
如此这般，美国的总统和副总统的姓氏分别是以B和C字母起头。乔治·布什的前任有二十六位（包括其父）的姓氏均在字母表的前半部，而姓氏在字母表后半部的却仅有十六位。更加令人瞩目的是七大富裕强国政府的首脑中有六位在其姓氏按字母表顺序排名时靠前（Berlusconi，Blair，Bush，Chirac，Chrétien，Koizumi）。世界三大中央银行行长（Greenspan，Duisenberg，Hayami）全都接近字母表的上端，三人之中有一人即使用日文也是如此。世界上最富有的前五位情况也是如此（Gates，Buffett，Allen，Ellison，Albrecht）。
这仅仅是巧合吗？按字母表顺序排名靠后的人在享受闲暇时光时凭空想出一种理论，认为这种倒霉事老早就开始了。在幼儿学校第一年之始，老师为了较为容易记住学生的名字，就按字母表顺序由前往后给学生排座位。因此近视的小Zysman就被插在了后排，这样一来，粗心的教师提出的有助于提高的问题就很少会问到他。这时，按字母表顺序排名靠后的学生还认为他们能逃避老师的问题很幸运。然而，结果可能就是成绩欠佳，因为这种学生得到的个人关注较少，同时当众讲话时的信心也不足。
这种委屈继续着。在大学的毕业典礼上，姓名首字母是ABC的学生骄傲的首先领到奖品；等轮到Zysmans们领奖品的时候，大多数人简直都在鼾声大作了。求职面试、选举投票、会议发言或参加会议等诸多名单，也是按字母表顺序排序，当人们费劲地向下查看时，兴趣随之索然。
答案：
46. [A] 一种未引起人们注意的不平等。
47. [D] 某些歧视非常微妙，让人难以确认。
48. [C] 教师应当关注全体学生。
49. [B] 他们在鼾声大作。
50. [D] 按字母表顺序排名可能无意中导致偏见。
2004 Text 3
When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. "I'm a good economic indicator," she says, "I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars." So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. "I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too," she says.
Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant need to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting.
51. By "Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet" (line 1, paragraph 1), the author means ________.
[A] Spero can hardly maintain her business
[B] Spero is too much engaged in her work
[C] Spero has grown out of her bad habit
[D] Spero is not in a desperate situation
52. How do the public feel about the current economic situation?
[A] Optimistic.
[B] Confused.
[C] Carefree.
[D] Panicked.
53. When mentioning "the $4 million to $10 million range" (lines 2~3, paragraph 3) the author is talking about ________.
[A] gold market
[B] real estate
[C] stock exchange
[D] venture investment
54. Why can many people see "silver linings" to the economic showdown?
[A] They would benefit in certain ways.
[B] The stock market shows signs of recovery.
[C] Such a slowdown usually precedes a boom.
[D] The purchasing power would be enhanced.
55. To which of the following is the author likely to agree?
[A] A new boom, on the horizon.
[B] Tighten the belt, the single remedy.
[C] Caution all right, panic not.
[D] The more ventures, the more chances.
重点词汇：
manicurist [------------]指甲修饰师；
file [ ]vt.把...归档, 提出(申请等), 锉, 琢磨
downscale 缩减…规模；
middle-blow （贬义）雅俗共赏的；
frenzied [ ]狂热的；
overbid [ ?]出高价现象；
real-estate broker 房地产经纪人；
silver lining （不幸中的）希望，慰藉；
bubble [ ?]n.泡沫； vi.起泡 [记]blow soap bubbles吹肥皂泡
swing [ ]摇摆；
ingredient [------------?]成分，因素[例]Salt is a crucial ingredient in cooking.盐是调味的一种重要材料
sustained [ ?]持续不变的，相同的；
boom [ ] n.繁荣, 隆隆声v.发隆隆声, 兴隆, 大事宣传繁荣。
难句分析：
①Consumers seem only concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
该句是一个并列句，and后面的分句比较复杂，主干为many say…，后接的宾语从句中主干为they remain optimistic about…，even as引导让步状语从句
消费者看起来略显忧虑，并没有惊慌失措。许多人虽然稍微勒紧腰带，但他们说对于经济的长期前景还是乐观的。
②Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom.
该句的主干是Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings，之后which引导一个定语从句，修饰stock-market swings。
许多消费者似乎一直受股票市场波动的影响，投资者把这种波动视为持续繁荣的必要因素。
译文：
经济发展速度开始减慢时，艾琳·斯派罗还不至于咬手指。但是，这位四十七岁的指甲修饰师修剪、锉磨、上油的指甲数量却难遂其愿了。她的大多数顾客每周花费十二至五十美元，可上周两位长期客户突然不来了。斯派罗抱怨起疲软的经济。她说：“我是个准确的经济晴雨表。我提供的服务在当人们想攒钱时就变成可有可无。”因此斯派罗相应地节约起开支，买东西就在克利夫兰郊区的她家附近的中档迪拉德百货公司，而不再去内曼·玛科斯。她说“我不知道其他顾客会不会也不再光顾我。”
即使在格林斯潘还未承认美国过热的经济正在冷却的时候，许许多多的劳动者已经看出经济渐缓的迹象。由于购物者节约他们的支出，从汽车代理商到Gap名牌零售折扣店，数月以来销售一直滞缓。去年在感恩节和圣诞节之间零售商的销售收入是全年的百分之二十四。对于他们来讲，在关键时期该谨慎行事了。专家言之有据，较之去年假日销售速度已经减缓了百分之七。不过，目前还不必敲什么警钟。消费者看起来略显忧虑，并没有惊慌失措。许多人虽然稍微勒紧腰带，但他们说对于经济的长期前景还是乐观的。
新闻标题虽然够吓人的，消费者依旧对自己的财产状况感觉相当良好，因此他们说他们并不悲观绝望。在大多数地区房屋价格保持稳定。经纪人巴巴拉·考克兰说，在曼哈顿“出现了四百万至一千万美元之间的淘金热，资金来源以华尔街股票红利为主。”在旧金山，高价抢购现象虽然销声匿迹了，可价格依旧看涨。海湾地区房地产经纪人约翰·梯尔迪说：“已经卖出20到30套，剩下的可能只有两三套了。”而大多数人对能够找到并保有一件工作依旧觉得很随心。
许多人对于经济减速抱有乐观的希望。潜在的房产购买者会对利率下调欢天喜地。雇主们对就业市场少了些泡沫也并不在意。许多消费者似乎一直受股票市场波动的影响，投资者把这种波动视为持续繁荣的必要因素。就餐者可能也看到了有利的方面。在曼哈顿新开的火爆的阿兰·杜卡斯饭店吃上一桌曾经是不可能的，现在不了。这真值得格林斯潘和他的同事们庆祝。
答案：
51. [D] 斯派罗尚未绝望。
52. [A] 乐观的。
53. [B] 房地产。
54. [A] 他们会从某些方面受益。
55. [C] 谨慎即可，不必恐慌。
2004 Text 4
Americans today don't place a very high value on intellect. Our heroes are athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, not scholars. Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education — not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive anti-intellectualism in our schools aren't difficult to find.
"Schools have always been in a society where practical is more important than intellectual," says education writer Diane Ravitch. "Schools could be a counterbalance." Razitch's latest book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.
But they could and should be. Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control. Without the ability to think critically, to defend their ideas and understand the ideas of others, they cannot fully participate in our democracy. Continuing along this path, says writer Earl Shorris, "We will become a second-rate country. We will have a less civil society."
"Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege," writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American life, a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in US politics, religion, and education. From the beginning of our history, says Hofstadter, our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism. Practicality, common sense, and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book.
Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalist philosophers thought schooling and rigorous book learning put unnatural restraints on children: "We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing." Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn exemplified American anti-intellectualism. Its hero avoids being civilized — going to school and learning to read — so he can preserve his innate goodness.
Intellect, according to Hofstadter, is different from native intelligence, a quality we reluctantly admire. Intellect is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of the mind. Intelligence seeks to grasp, manipulate, re-order, and adjust, while intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes and imagines.
School remains a place where intellect is mistrusted. Hofstadter says our country's educational system is in the grips of people who "joyfully and militantly proclaim their hostility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children who show the least intellectual promise."
56. What do American parents expect their children to acquire in school?
[A] The habit of thinking independently.
[B] Profound knowledge of the world.
[C] Practical abilities for future career.
[D] The confidence in intellectual pursuits.
57. We can learn from the text that Americans have a history of ________.
[A] undervaluing intellect
[B] favoring intellectualism
[C] supporting school reform
[D] suppressing native intelligence
58. The views of Ravish and Emerson on schooling are ________.
[A] identical
[B] similar
[C] complementary
[D] opposite
59. Emerson, according to the text, is probably ________.
[A] a pioneer of education reform
[B] an opponent of intellectualism
[C] a scholar in favor of intellect
[D] an advocate of regular schooling
60. What does the author think of intellect?
[A] It is second to intelligence.
[B] It evolves from common sense.
[C] It is to be pursued.
[D] It underlies power.
重点词汇：
intellect [ ?]才学；
athlete [ ?] n.运动员 [记]athletics 体育；田径运动
entertainer [------------] n.专业演员 [记] entertain vt.娱乐vi.款待
entrepreneur [------------]企业家；
symptom [ ]征兆，表现；[例]The doctor made his diagnosis after studying the patient's symptoms.医生研究病人的症状后, 作出诊断
pervasive [ ] 到处弥漫的，普遍的；
distaste [ ]厌恶；[例]He turned away in distaste.他厌恶地走开了。
vulnerable [------------]易受攻击的，脆弱的；
populist [ ]平民主义者
elitism [------------ ]精英统治论；
rigorous [ ]严格的，严厉的；[例]We should follow rigorous discipline.我们必须遵守严格的纪律。[同义词]rigid,severe，strict
restraint [ ]n.抑制，克制；restrain vt.抑制, 制止
bellyful [ ] 满肚子；
exemplify [------------?] v.例证；
contemplative [------------?]沉思的；
manipulate [------------?] v .（熟练地）操作，（巧妙地）处理；[记]manipulation n 巧妙的操作
ponder [ ] ?沉思，考虑；[例]ponder upon the problem仔细考虑问题
theorize [ ]建立理论，理论化；
militantly [------------?]好战的；
hostility [ ] 敌意，敌对。[例]feelings of hostility敌意
难句分析：
①Razitch's latest book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits.
句子的主干是Razitch's latest book…traces the roots…。Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms是书的同位语，concluding引导的是状语。
翻译：莱维西最新著作《落后：一个世纪的失败学校改革》探索学校里反智主义倾向的根源，书中的结论是：美国学校绝没有抵制美国人对才学追求的厌恶。
②Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege," writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American life, a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in US politics, religion, and education.
句子主干为一个直接引语，Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege," writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter后面连接的in Anti-Intellectualism in American life作状语，斜体部分为书名，和Pulitzer Prize winning book为同位语。
翻译：历史学家兼教授理查德·霍夫斯塔特在《美国生活中的反智主义》中写道：“才学被看作一种权利或特权而遭厌恶。”该书探讨美国政治、宗教和教育中的反智主义的根源，曾获普利策奖。
译文：
今天的美国人不很看重才学。我们的英雄不是学者而是运动员、演艺圈名星和企业家。即使是我们的学校也只是我们送孩子去接受实用教育的地方，而不是让他们为了知识而去追求学问。学校里不难发现反智主义的普遍表现。
教育学作家戴安·莱维西说：“学校始终处于实用重于才学的社会之中。”“学校本来可能是一种抵消的力量。”莱维西最新著作《落后：一个世纪的失败学校改革》探索学校里反智主义倾向的根源，书中的结论是：美国学校绝没有抵制美国人对才学追求的厌恶。
但学校是能够并应该做到这一点的。鼓励孩子们排斥精神生活使得他们极易被利用和控制。如果不能批判地思考、不能捍卫自己的思想、不能理解他人的思想，他们就不能充分地参与我们的民主。作家厄尔·绍利斯说，沿着这条路线发展下去，“我们将变为二流国家。我们的社会将不再那么文明。”
历史学家兼教授理查德·霍夫斯塔特在《美国生活中的反智主义》中写道：“才学被看作一种权利或特权而遭厌恶。”该书探讨美国政治、宗教和教育中的反智主义的根源，曾获普利策奖。霍夫斯塔特说：自我们的历史之初，我们对民主化和大众化的渴望就驱使我们排斥任何带有精英优越论味道的东西。实用性、常识以及与生俱有的智力这些素质一直被视作比可以从书本里学得的任何东西都高贵。
拉尔夫·瓦尔多·爱默生和其他一些先验主义哲学家认为学校教育和严格的书本学习限制了孩子们的天性。“我们被关在中小学和大学的朗诵室里十年或十五年，最后出来满肚子墨水，却啥都不懂。”马克·吐温的小说《哈克贝利·芬》即是美国反智主义的例证。该书的主人公逃避教化——不上学和不学习读书写字——因此他才得以保住善良的天性。
按照霍夫斯塔特的观点，才学不同于天生的智力，它是一种我们不太情愿去赞赏的品质。才学是精神世界中的批评、创造和沉思的一面。智力寻求的是理解、运用、整合和调节，而才学是审视、思考、探究、形成理论、批判和想象。
学校仍然是才学备受怀疑的地方。霍夫斯塔特说，掌握我们国家教育体系的人“沾沾自喜地、霸气十足地公然宣称敌视才学，迫不及待地认同那些看来在才学方面最难造就的孩子。”
答案：
56. [C] 为未来职业服务的实用技能。
57. [A] 低估才学。
58. [D] 相反的。
59. [B] 重才学教育的反对者。
60. [C] 应当追求学问。
2003 Text 1
Wild Bill Donovan would have loved the Internet. The American spymaster who built the Office of Strategic Services in the World War Ⅱ and later laid the roots for the CIA was fascinated with information. Donovan believed in using whatever tools came to hand in the "great game" of espionage — spying as a "profession". These days the Net, which has already re-made such everyday pastimes as buying books and sending mail, is reshaping Donovan's vocation as well.
