英語四級(jí)基礎(chǔ)閱讀訓(xùn)練 Text 4

Text 4

By the mid-nineteenth century, the term "ice-box" had entered the American language, but ice was still only beginning to affect the diet of ordinary citizens in the United States: The ice trade grew with the growth of cities. Ice was used in hotels, taverns, and hospitals, and by some forward-looking city dealers in fresh meat, fresh fish, and butter. After the Civil War (1861-1865), as ice was used to refrigerate freight cars, it also came into household use. Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use. This had become possible because a new household convenience, the icebox, a precursor of the modern refrigerator, had been invented.

Making an efficient icebox was not as easy as we might now suppose. In the early nineteenth century, the knowledge of heat, which was essential to a science of refrigeration, was rudimentary. The common sense that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of ice that performed the cooling. Nevertheless, early efforts to economize ice included wrapping the ice in blankets, which kept the ice from doing its job. Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient ice-box.

But as early as 1803, an ingenious Maryland farmer, Thomas Moore, had been on the right track. He owned a farm about twenty miles outside the city of Washington, for which the village of Georgetown was the market center. When he used an icebox of his own design to transport his butter to market, he found that customers would pass up the rapidly melting stuff in the tubs of his competitors to pay a premium price for his butter, still fresh and hard in neat, one-pound bricks. One advantage of his icebox, Moore explained, was that farmers would no longer have to travel to market at night in order to keep their produce cool.

1.What is the main idea of this passage?

A.The influence of ice on the diet.　　　B.The transportation of goods to market.

C.The development of refrigeration.　　D.Sources of the term "ice-box".

2.According to the passage, when did the word "icebox" become part of the American language?

A.In 1803.　　B.Around 1850.　　C.During the Civil War.　　D.Before 1880.

3.The word "rudimentary" in Para. 2 is closest in meaning to______.

A.basic　　B.sufficient　　C.necessary　　D.undeveloped

4.The sentence "Thomas Moore, had been on the right track." (Para. 3) indicates that______.

A.Moore's farm was not far away from Washington

B.Moore's farm was on the right road

C.Moore's design was completely successful

D.Moore was suitable for the job

5.Which following conclusion is right according to this article?

A.Icebox is the origin of modern refrigerator.

B.Icebox can keep ice from melting.

C.Difference between icebox and refrigerator is that the latter is electric.

D.Both icebox and refrigerator can keep meat, fish and butter fresh.

長難例句分析

［長難例句］Even before 1880, half the ice sold in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and one-third of that sold in Boston and Chicago, went to families for their own use.

［結(jié)構(gòu)分析］本句子是一個(gè)簡單句。主干是“...half the ice...and one-third of that...went to families...”。Even before 1880作時(shí)間狀語，過去分詞結(jié)構(gòu)“sold in New York...”作后置定語，for their own use作目的狀語。

［參考譯文］甚至在1880年前，在紐約、費(fèi)城、巴爾的摩冰總銷量的一半，在波士頓和芝加哥冰總銷量的三分之一進(jìn)入了家庭以做家用。

［長難例句］The commonsense that the best icebox was one that prevented the ice from melting was of course mistaken, for it was the melting of ice that performed the cooling.

［結(jié)構(gòu)分析］本句中，主干是“The commonsense notion...was of course mistaken...”。that引導(dǎo)的從句是主語sense的同位語，“for...cooling”作原因狀語。原因狀語中使用了強(qiáng)調(diào)句型，被強(qiáng)調(diào)的部分是這個(gè)從句的主語the melting of ice。

［參考譯文］那種認(rèn)為最好的冰盒就是阻止冰融化的常識(shí)當(dāng)然是錯(cuò)誤的，因?yàn)檎潜娜诨瘜?dǎo)致冷卻。

［長難例句］Not until near the end of the nineteenth century did inventors achieve the delicate balance of insulation and circulation needed for an efficient icebox.

［結(jié)構(gòu)分析］本句是倒裝結(jié)構(gòu)。主句是“did inventors achieve...icebox”，時(shí)間狀語是“not until...century”。否定副詞置于句首，主句的主謂就要不完全倒裝，即把助動(dòng)詞提前。

［參考譯文］直到接近19世紀(jì)末期，發(fā)明家們才完成了有效冰盒所必需的隔熱與循環(huán)的精確平衡。

全文參考譯文

冰盒這個(gè)詞到19世紀(jì)中期就已經(jīng)進(jìn)入了美國語言中了，不過那時(shí)冰還只是開始對(duì)美國普通城市人的食品產(chǎn)生影響。伴隨著城市的發(fā)展，冰的交易也增多。在賓館、酒館、醫(yī)院，冰被一些有遠(yuǎn)見的城市商人用在鮮肉、鮮魚和黃油的保鮮上。美國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)后，當(dāng)冰被用在冷藏車上時(shí)，它也進(jìn)入了家庭。甚至在1880年前，紐約、費(fèi)城、巴爾的摩冰總銷量的一半，波士頓和芝加哥冰總銷量的三分之一進(jìn)入了家庭以做家用。這些之所以成為可能，都是因?yàn)橐环N新的家庭用具——冰盒，現(xiàn)代冰箱的前身——被發(fā)明出來。

制作一個(gè)有效的冰盒并不像我們現(xiàn)在想象的那么容易。作為制冷科學(xué)關(guān)鍵因素的熱學(xué)在19世紀(jì)早期還沒有得到發(fā)展。那種認(rèn)為最好的冰盒就是阻止冰融化的常識(shí)當(dāng)然是錯(cuò)誤。因?yàn)閷?dǎo)致冷卻的是冰的融化。然而，早期節(jié)約冰的努力也包括將冰包裹起來阻止冰的融化。直到接近19世紀(jì)末期，發(fā)明家們才完成了有效冰盒所必需的隔熱與循環(huán)的精確平衡。

但早在1803年時(shí)，一個(gè)天才的馬里蘭農(nóng)夫，Thomas Moore，就曾經(jīng)走對(duì)了路。他擁有一個(gè)距華盛頓城20多英里的農(nóng)場(chǎng)，喬治鎮(zhèn)是這個(gè)地區(qū)的中心市場(chǎng)。當(dāng)他用自己設(shè)計(jì)的冰盒往市場(chǎng)運(yùn)送黃油時(shí)，他發(fā)現(xiàn)顧客們會(huì)拒絕購買他的競爭對(duì)手們滿盆快速溶化的黃油，而會(huì)出高價(jià)購買他的仍然新鮮干爽的、一磅重的黃油塊。Moore解釋說，冰盒的優(yōu)點(diǎn)之一就是農(nóng)夫們有了它以后，從此無須為了保持黃油的干爽而晚上再到市場(chǎng)來。

題目答案與解析

1.本文的主旨是什么？

A.冰對(duì)人們飲食的影響。　　B.貨品向市場(chǎng)的運(yùn)輸。

C.冷藏技術(shù)的發(fā)展。　　　　D.“冰盒”一詞的來源。

【答案】C

【解析】從文中內(nèi)容可知，作者一開始談到冰盒的在美國出現(xiàn)，逐漸進(jìn)入美國家庭，后面又提到人們一直都在嘗試著更有效的利用冰來保鮮。從中可知C項(xiàng)為正確答案。

2.根據(jù)本文，在美國語言中“冰盒”一詞是什么時(shí)候出現(xiàn)的？

A.1803年。　　B.1850年左右?！　.在美國內(nèi)戰(zhàn)期間。　　D.1880年前。

【答案】B

【解析】本題的依據(jù)是文章的第一句“By the mid-nineteenth century, the term 'ice-box’had entered the American language”，從中可知B項(xiàng)為正確答案。

3.和第二段中rudimentary這個(gè)詞的意思最接近的是______。

A.基本的　　B.足夠的　　C.必要的　　D.發(fā)展不充分的

【答案】D

【解析】本題可參照第二段的第二句。這句話的意思是“在19世紀(jì)早期，作為制冷科學(xué)關(guān)鍵因素的熱學(xué)只是還沒有……”，而后面緊接著的一句是“那種認(rèn)為最好的冰盒就是阻止冰融化的常識(shí)當(dāng)然是錯(cuò)誤的”，從這句話可以判斷當(dāng)時(shí)人們對(duì)熱學(xué)并不了解，引申這個(gè)意思的話就可以知道rudimentary的意思肯定是負(fù)面的，因此D項(xiàng)是正確答案。

4.“Thomas Moore，就曾經(jīng)走對(duì)了路”這句話（第三段）說明了______。

A.Moore的農(nóng)場(chǎng)離華盛頓不遠(yuǎn)　　B.Moore的農(nóng)場(chǎng)就在路邊

C.Moore的設(shè)計(jì)很成功　　　　　D.Moore適合這項(xiàng)工作

【答案】C

【解析】本題可參照第三段。從中可知，Moore是一個(gè)天才的農(nóng)夫，他自己設(shè)計(jì)了一個(gè)冰盒并應(yīng)用于自己黃油的保鮮上，因而讓自己的產(chǎn)品賣得好價(jià)錢，因此C項(xiàng)為正確答案。

5.按照本文的意思，下面的結(jié)論中哪個(gè)是正確的？

A.冰箱是現(xiàn)代電冰箱的起源。

B.冰箱可以保持冰不溶化。

C.冰箱和電冰箱的區(qū)別在于后者是用電推動(dòng)的。

D.冰箱和電冰箱都能保持肉、魚和奶油新鮮。

【答案】D

【解析】本題考查對(duì)文章的理解。第一個(gè)選項(xiàng)中，origin和precursor不是等同的概念，所以不合適。第二個(gè)選項(xiàng)與文中的意思正相反。第三個(gè)選項(xiàng)是主管臆測(cè)，文中沒有明確闡述。只有第四個(gè)選項(xiàng)合適。