12月英语四级长篇阅读真题及答案

xx年12xx年12月英语四级长篇阅读真题及答案ThePerfectEssayA)Lookingbackontoomanyyearsofeducation,Icanidentifyonetrulyimpossibleteacher.Shecaredaboutme,andmyintellectuallife,evenwhenIdidn’t.Herexpectationswerehighimpossiblyso.ShewasanEnglishteacher.Shewasalsomymother.B)Whengoodstudentsturninanessay,theydreamoftheirinstructorreturningittotheminexactlythesamecondition,saveforasinglewordaddedinthemarginofthefinalpage:”Flawless.”dreamcametrueformeoneafternoonintheninthgrade.Ofcourse,Ihadheardthatgeniuscouldshowitselfatanearlyage,soIwasonlyslightlytakenabackthatIhadachievedperfectionatthetenderageof14.Obviously,Ididwhatanyprofessionalwriterwoulddo;Ihurriedofftospreadthegoodnews.Ididn’tgetveryfar.ThefirstpersonItoldwasmymother.C)Mymother,whoisjustshyoffivefeettall,isnormallyincrediblysoft-spoken,butontherareoasionwhenshegotangry,shewasterrifying.IamnotsureifshewasmoreupsetbymyorbythefactthatmyEnglishteacherhadletmyegogetsooutofhand.Inanyevent,mymotherandherredpenshowedmehowdeeplyflawedaflawlessessaycouldbe.Atthetime,Iamsureshethoughtshewasteachingmeaboutmechanics,渡),structure,styleandvoice.ButwhatIlearned,andwhatstuckwithmethroughmytimeteachingwritingatHarvard,wasadeeperlessonaboutthenatureofcreativecriticism.D)Fistoff,ithurts.Genuinecriticism,thetypethatleavesalastingmarkonyouasawriter,alsoleavesanexistentialimprint(印记)onyouasaperson.Ihaveheardpeoplesaythatawritershouldnevertakecriticismpersonally.Isaythatweshouldneverlistentothesepeople.E)Criticism,atitsbest,isdeeplypersonal,andgetstotheheartofwhywewritethewaywedo.Theintimatenatureofgenuinecriticismimpliessomethingaboutwhoisabletogiveit,namely,someonewhoknowsyouwellenoughtoshowyouhowyourmentallifeisgettinginthewayofgoodwriting.Conveniently,theyarealsothepeoplewhocareenoughtoseeyouthroughthispainfulrealization.Formeittooktheformofmyfirst,andIhopeonly,encounterwithwriter’swasnotabletoproduceanythingforthreeyears.F)FranzKafkaoncesaid:”Writingisuttersolitude(独处),thedescentintothecoldofoneself.“Mymother’scriticismhadshownmethatKafkaisrightaboutthecoldabyss,andwhenyoumaketheintrospectivedecentthatwritingrequiresyouareoutalwayspleasedbywhatyoufind.”But,intheyearsthatfollowed,hersustainedtutoringsuggestedthatKafkamightbewrongaboutthesolitude.Iwasluckyenoughtofindacriticandteacherwhowaswillingtomakethejourneyofwritingwithme.“Itisathingofnogreatdifficulty,”aordingtoPlutarch,“toraiseobjectionsagainstanotherman’sspeech,itisaveryeasymatter;buttoproduceabetterinitsplaceisaworkextremelytroublesome.”IamsureIwroteessaysinthelateryearsofhighschoolwithoutmymother’sguidance,butIcan’trecallthem.WhatIremember,however,ishowwetookupthe“extremelytroublesome”workofongoingcriticism.G)TherearetwowaystointerpretPlutarchwhenhesuggeststhatacriticshouldbeabletoproduce“abetterinitsplace.”Inastraightforwardsense,hecouldmeanthatacriticmustbemoretalentedthantheartistshecritiques(评论).Mymotherwaswellcoveredonthiscount.ButperhapsPlutarchissuggestingsomethingslightlydifferent,somethingabitclosertoMarcusCicero’sclaimthatoneshould“criticizebycreation,notbyfindingfault.”Genuinecriticismcreatesapreciousopeningforanauthortobeebetteronthisownprocessthatisoftenextremelypainful,butalsoalmostalwaysmeaningful.H)Mymothersaidshewouldhelpmewithmywriting,butfistIhadmyself.Foreachassignment,IwaswritethebestessayIcould.Realcriticismisnotmeanttofindobviousmistakes,soifshefoundtypeIcouldhavefoundonmyhadtostartfromscratch.Fromscratch.Oncetheessaywas“flawless,”shewouldtakeaneveningtowalkmethroughmyerrors.Thatwaswhentruecriticism,thetypethatchangedmeasaperson,began.I)ShecriticizedmewhenIincludedlittle-knownreferencesandprofessionalShehadnopatienceforbrilliantbutirrelevantfiguresofspeech.“Writerscan’ttheirwaythroughignorance.”Thatwasnewstowouldneedtofindanotherwaytostructuremydailyexistence.J)Shetrimmedbackmyflowerylanguage,drewlinesthroughmyexclamationmarksandarguedforthevalueofrestraintinexpression.“John,”shealmostwhispered.Ilearnedintohearher:”Ican’thearyouwhenyoushoutatme.”SoIstoppedshoutingandbluffing,andslowlymywritingimproved.K)SomewherealongthewayIsetasidemyhopesofwritingthatflawlessessay.ButperhapsImissedsomethingimportantinmymother’slessonsaboutcreativityandperfection.Perhapsthepointofwritingtheflawlessessaywasnottogiveup,buttoneverwillinglyfinish.Whitmanrepeatedlyreworded“SongofMyself”between1855and1891.Repeatedly.Wedoourabsolutebestwiryapieceofwriting,andeascloseaswecantotheideal.And,forthetimebeing,wesettle.Incritique,however,weareforcedtodepart,togiveuptheperfectionwethoughtwehadachievedforthechanceofbeingevenalittlebitbetter.ThisisthelessonItookfrommymother.Ifperfectionwerepossible,itwouldnotbemotivating.46.Theauthorwasadvisedagainsttheimproperuseoffiguresofspeech.47.Theauthor’smothertaughthimavaluablelessonbypointingoutlotsofflawsinhisseeminglyperfectessay.48.Awritershouldpolishhiswritingrepeatedlysoastogetclosertoperfection.49.Writersmayexperienceperiodsoftimeintheirlifewhentheyjustcan’tproduceanything.50.Theauthorwasnotmuchsurprisedwhenhisschoolteachermarkedhisessayas“flawless”.51.Criticizingsomeone’sspeechissaidtobeeasierthaningupwithabetterone.52.Theauthorlooksuponhismotherashismostdemandingandcaringinstructor.53.Thecriticismtheauthorreceivedfromhismotherchangedhimasaperson.54.Theauthorgraduallyimprovedhiswritingbyavoidingfactlanguage.55.Constructivecriticismgivesanauthoragoodstarttoimprovehiswriting.参考答案46.I，根据关键信息“figuresofspeech”定位到I段，原文中该词组前面的形容词是“irrelevant”，和句中的“improper”为同义替换关系。47.C，根据关键信息“flaws”可定位至C段，同义替换关系句“mymotherandherredpenshowedmehowdeeplyflawedaflawlessessaycouldbe.”48.K，该句意思为“为了到达完美，作家应该反复地修改他的文章”，对应K段中的`“Perhapsthepointofwritingtheflawlessessaywasnottogiveup,buttoneverwillinglyfinish.”49.E，该句大意为“某些时间段里，作家可能会感觉什么都写不出来了”，对应E段中的“Iwasnotabletoproduceanythingfor3years.”。50.该句意为“当老师认为作者的文章没有瑕疵时，他并不惊讶”，对应B段的“soIwasonlyslightlytakenabackthatIhadachievedperfectionatthetenderageof14.”该句中的“takenaback”意为“惊讶”。51.F，该句意为“对别人的演讲品头论足总比自己做一个更棒的演讲容易”，对应F段的“Itisathingofnogreatdifficulty,”aordingtoPlutarc