Just over a year ago, I foolishly locked up my bicycle outside my office, but forgot to remove the pannier. When I returned, the pannier had been stolen. Inside it were about ten of the little red notebooks I take everywhere for jotting down ideas for articles, short stories, TV shows and the like.
When I lost my notebooks, I was devastated; all the ideas I'd had over the past two years were contained within their pages. I could remember only a few of them, but had the impression that those I couldn't recall were truly brilliant. Those little books were crammed with the plots of award-winning novels and scripts for radio comedy shows that were only two-thirds as bad as the ones on at the moment. That's not all, though. In my reminiscence, my lost notebooks contained sketches for many innovative and incredible machines. In one book there was a design for a device that could turn sea water into apple cider; in another, plan for an automatic dog; in a third, sketches for a pair of waterproof shoes with television screens built into the toes. Now all of these plans are lost to humanity.
I found my notebooks again. It turns out they weren't in the bike pannier at all, but in a bag in my spare room, where I found six months after supposedly losing them. And when I flipped through their pages, ready to run to the patent office in the morning, I discovered they were completely full of rubbish.
Discovering the notebooks really shook me up. I had firmly come to believe they were brimming with brilliant, inventive stuff — and yet clearly they weren't. I had deluded myself.
After surveying my nonsense, I found that this halo effect always attaches itself to things that seem irretrievably lost. Don't we all have a sneaking feeling that the weather was sunnier, TV shows funnier and cake-shop buns bunnier in the not-very-distant past?
All this would not matter much except that it is a powerful element in reactionary thought, this belief in a better yesterday. After all, racism often stems from a delusion that things have deteriorated since"they" came. What a boon to society it would be if people could visit the past and see that it wasn't the paradise they imagine but simply the present with different hats. Sadly, time travel is impossible. Until now, that is. Because I've suddenly remembered I left a leather jacket in an Indonesian restaurant a couples of years ago, and I'm absolutely certain that in the inside pocket there was a sketch I'd made...
1.By "only two-thirds as bad as the ones on at the moment" the author means_______.
A.better than B.as bad as C.worse than D.as good as
2.As soon as the author read the lost notebooks, he_______.
A.reported the fact B.found it valueless
C.registered the inventions D.was very excited
3.Which of the following would the author most probably agree with?
A.Yesterday is better. B.Yesterday is no better than today.
C.Self-delusion sometimes is necessary. D.Things today have deteriorated.
4.What's the author's initial reaction when he found his notebooks lost?
A.He was indifferent. B.He was worried.
C.He was pleased. D.He was excited.
5."Halo effect" (Line 1, Para. 5) here refers to_______.
A.illusion B.delusion C.disillusion D.allusion
長難例句分析
［長難例句］Inside it were about ten of the little red notebook I take everywhere for jotting down ideas for articles，short stories，TV shows and the like.
［結構分析］本句是一個完全倒裝句。句子的主語是about...the like，系動詞是were，表語是inside it。在主語中還有一個定語從句I take everywhere for...the like，是notebook的后置定語。
［參考譯文］大約十幾本我隨身攜帶的紅色小筆記本在掛籃中，是用來記錄我對文章、短故事、電視秀等產生的想法的。
［長難例句］Those little books were crammed with the plots of award-winning novels and scripts for radio comedy shows that were only two-thirds as bad as the ones on at the moment.
［結構分析］本句中，that...moment是修飾radio comedy的定語從句。
［參考譯文］這些小本子里寫滿了許多得獎小說的情節(jié)和比當時正在上演的那些要稍好一點的廣播喜劇劇本。
［長難例句］What a boon to society it would be if people could visit the past and see that it wasn't the paradise they imagine but simply the present with different hats.
［結構分析］本句是一個感嘆句。主干是What a boon to society it would be...。if引導是條件狀語從句，這個條件狀語中用的是虛擬語氣，表示和現(xiàn)實情況相反。
［參考譯文］如果人們可以拜訪過去，看看過去并不是他們想象中的天堂，而僅僅是戴著不同帽子的現(xiàn)實，那對社會來說是一個多大的恩惠啊。
全文參考譯文
就在一年多以前，我做了件蠢事，把自行車鎖在辦公室外面，而忘了拿下掛籃。當我回來時掛籃已經被偷了。大約十幾本我隨身攜帶的紅色小筆記本在掛籃中，是用來記錄我對文章、短故事、電視秀等的想法的。
當丟失筆記本時我一下子蒙了。我兩年以來所擁有的想法都包含在筆記本中。我只能記起很少的一點，但是我卻認為那些不能回憶起來的東西才是真正的閃光點。這些小本子里寫滿了許多得獎小說的情節(jié)和比當時正在上演的那些要稍好一點的廣播喜劇劇本。這還不算完，在我的回憶中，我丟失的筆記本中包括了許多創(chuàng)新的、令人難以置信的機器草圖。在一個本子中，有一個可以將海水變成蘋果酒的機器設計，在另一個本子里是自動狗的計劃，第三個里有一張腳趾頭上嵌入電視機屏幕的防水鞋的草圖?，F(xiàn)在，所有的這些計劃都丟失在茫茫人海之中了。
我再一次找到了我的筆記本。好像是它們根本沒有在自行車籃里，而是在我休息室的小背包里，在我認為丟了6個月后我從那里找到了它。并且當我翻看筆記本準備一大早就上專利局去時，我發(fā)現(xiàn)他們完全是一堆垃圾。
發(fā)現(xiàn)筆記本讓我清醒了。我曾堅信它們是充滿智慧的、創(chuàng)造性的素材，但是很顯然不是。我感到迷惑。
看完我的廢話之后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)這種光圈效應總是伴隨著一些看起來不能挽回的丟失的東西而出現(xiàn)。我們內心是不是都有一種感覺——沒多久以前，天氣更好，電視秀更有趣，蛋糕店的圓面包更圓？
相信過去更好除了在復古思想中是一種強大因素外，在其他方面都不要緊。畢竟，種族主義經常孳生于一種錯覺，即自從“他們”來了以后，所有的事情都變糟了。如果人們可以拜訪過去，看看過去并不是他們想象中的天堂，而僅僅是戴著不同帽子的現(xiàn)實，那對社會來說是一個多大的恩惠啊。不幸的是，時間旅行是不可能的。至少到現(xiàn)在為止是不可能的。因為我猛然記起來幾年前我曾經把一件皮夾克丟在了印度尼西亞的飯店里，而且我完全肯定在里面的口袋里有一幅我畫的草圖……
題目答案與解析
1.作者用“only two-thirds as bad as the ones on at the moment”這句話的意思是________。
A.更好 B.一樣糟糕 C.更糟糕 D.一樣好
【答案】A
【解析】本題可參照文章的第二段。從中可知，作者在丟失了筆記本之后感到非?？上?，而且認為自己丟失的都是精華，所以題干前面提到的筆記本里記載的廣播劇劇本應該是比現(xiàn)在上演的要好，而且題干直譯的話就是：只是正在上演的那些劇目的糟糕程度的2/3，也就是說過去記載的要稍好一點。因此A項為正確答案。
2.作者一閱讀失而復得的筆記本就________。
A.公布了事實 B.發(fā)現(xiàn)它沒有價值
C.注冊了發(fā)明 D.非常興奮
【答案】B
【解析】本題的依據是第四段的最后一句話when I flipped through their pages, ready to run to the patent office in the morning, I discovered they were completely full of rubbish。從中可知B項為正確答案。
3.作者最有可能贊同下面的哪種說法？
A.昨天更好?！ .昨天不比今天好。
C.自己產生的錯覺有時是必要的?！.現(xiàn)在的情況已經惡化了。
【答案】B
【解析】本題可參照文章的最后四段。作者對于自己在丟失筆記本后和重新找到后，出現(xiàn)的思想變化進行了分析，從作者的分析中我們可以看出，他已經意識到人類對過去的，丟失的東西特別珍愛，而且與現(xiàn)有的東西比，人們總認為過去的和失去的更好，那么從文章的倒數(shù)第三段的第一句話：相信過去更好，除了在復古思想中是一種強大因素外，在其他方面都不要緊。從中可知作者并不贊同這一觀點，因此B項為正確答案。
4.當作者發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的筆記本不翼而飛了，他的第一反應會是什么？
A.漠不關心。 B.很擔憂。 C.很高興?！.非常興奮。
【答案】B
【解析】本題可參照文章的第二段。從中可知，作者在丟失了筆記本之后心情很糟糕。因此B項是正確的。A、C、D三項顯然不對。
5.這里的“光圈效應”（第五段第一行）是指______。
A.幻覺 B.錯覺 C.醒悟 D.暗示
【答案】B
【解析】本文講述了人們對自己認識方面的誤區(qū)。很多時候人們執(zhí)著于過去，過段時間后隨著人們的進步與發(fā)展，會逐漸否定過去。這里的光圈效應就是指人們對自己的整體上的錯覺。
