2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 87

Unit 87

The countdown goes something like this: 3）IRS auditor, 2）ex-husband’s new 20-year-old girlfriend, 1）dentist. The top three people we most hate to see.

“Let’s face it,” says Dr. Lorin Berland, a dentist in Dallas. “Dentistry can suck.” A third of Americans, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, haven’t even set foot in the dentist’s office in the past year. Berland, along with an increasing number of dentists all over the country, is trying to change that. ① He wants dental appointments to be less about pain and drilling and more about relaxation, foot massageand soothing aromatherapy.

Spa dentistry, as it’s called, means you can enjoy a hot paraffin-wax hand treatment while getting your teeth cleaned. Or you can slip on some virtual-reality glasses and watch your favorite movie. Or you might just lie back and let the scent of lavender and the sound of falling water quiet your anxiety, while a licensed massage therapist eases the crick in your neck. Most vacations aren’t this good. In response to spa dentistry’s growing popularity, the Chicago Dental Society will teach its first course on the practice at its annual midwinter meeting in February, expected to attract 35,000 industry professionals.

“Some people are born to cater to people, and others have to be taught,” says Dr. Grace Sun, a dentist in Los Angeles who, without benefit of a lecture, offers massage, fruit smoothies and movies. In addition, she provides luxury hotel-style concierge services: while you’re in the（vibrating, of course） chair, her staff makes dinner reservations, takes your cell-phone calls, baby-sits, dog-sits, orders in food or does just about anything else you ask.

Dr. Debra Gray King of the Atlanta Center for Cosmetic Dentistry calls her practice “the Ritz-Carlton of dentistry” and in fact sends her “dental concierges” to the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center for training in client relations. They’re taught to squire each patient as he or she navigates the various rooms of the center’s luxe 8,400-sq. -ft. Twelve Oaks-esque mansion. Once in the dentist’s chair, King’s patients can use the attached flat-panel monitor to watch TV, play a DVD or surf the Web. Can’t see the screen? No worries, there’s one wired to the ceiling too. ② Noise-reduction headphones block the screech of the drill and play a CD of your choice, and the specially constructed dental chair channels the sound waves from the music into a full-body massage. “The more relaxed the patient is,” says King, “the easier our job.”

Patients are responding. Martha Dickey, a magazine publisher in Atlanta, says a hot paraffin-wax treatment can “change your whole feeling about going to the dentist. You feel like you’re there to get nurtured and pampered. It’s fabulous. Every one of your senses is taken care of.” If only the offices of the IRS were as pleasant.

注（1）：本文選自Time；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 1。

1. How do Dr. Berland and some other American dentists try to change the image of dentistry?

A) They try to change it by facing it bravely.

B) They try to change it by teaching patients how to take good care of their teeth.

C) They try to change it by providing new services to help patients feel relaxed and at home.

D) They try to change it by relieving patients’ pain with new pills.

2. Which of the following is NOT a service provided by spa dentistry?

A) A vacation.

B) Spa.

C) Massage.

D) Dental treatment.

3. The expression “cater to” （Line 1, Paragraph 4） most probably means ______.

A) to meet the requirements of somebody

B) to be somebody’s liking

C) to take somebody seriously

D) to serve somebody well

4. Why does Dr. Debra Gray King call her practice “the Ritz-Carlton of dentistry”?

A) Because her “dental concierges” are trained at the Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center.

B) Because her cosmetic dentistry center provides the kind of concierge services luxury hotels like Ritz-Carlton provide.

C) Because her dentistry center is located in a mansion as large as Ritz-Carlton.

D) Because her patients are also guests at Ritz-Carlton.

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A) Dr. Grace Sun learned her new practice from the course offered by the Chicago Dental Society.

B) The author hopes that dentists’ offices can be as comfortable as the offices of the IRS.

C) The patients like the new services provided by the dentists mentioned in the text very much.

D) Dental appointments are often associated with relaxation.

篇章剖析

本篇文章從怕牙醫(yī)入手，介紹牙醫(yī)診所改變牙醫(yī)可怕形象的一些做法以及患者的反饋意見。第一段作者羅列人們最不愿見的三種人，牙醫(yī)排在第一位；第二段引出博蘭德等醫(yī)生努力改變牙醫(yī)形象；第三段介紹了溫泉保健牙科，并指出這種牙科日漸流行的趨勢；第四段介紹了格蕾斯·桑大夫自己摸索出來的一些改善牙科診所服務(wù)的辦法；第五段介紹了亞特蘭大美容牙科中心的金博士為患者提供的服務(wù)項(xiàng)目；第六段指出患者對牙醫(yī)們的新舉措的看法。

詞匯注釋

IRS 美國國稅局（Internal Revenue Service）

auditor /???d?t?/ n. 審計(jì)員

Dallas 達(dá)拉斯（美國得克薩斯州東北部城市）

suck /s?k/ v. 〈美俚〉 使人極度不快

the National Center for Health Statistics （美國）國家衛(wèi)生統(tǒng)計(jì)中心

drilling /?dr?l??/ n. 鉆（牙）

foot massage 足底按摩

soothing /?su?e??/ adj. 撫慰的

aromatherapy /??r??m??θer?pi/ n. 用香料按摩

spa /spɑ?/ n. 溫泉療養(yǎng)

dentistry /?dent?stri/ n. 牙科，牙醫(yī)學(xué)

paraffin-wax n. 石蠟

virtual-reality n. 虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)

lavender /?l?v?nd?/ n. 熏衣草

therapist /?θer?p?st/ n. 臨床醫(yī)師

crick /kr?k/ n. 肌肉痙攣

cater to 提供服務(wù)

fruit smoothie 水果冰沙

concierge /?k??ns??e??/ n. 門房

dog-sit v . 照看小狗（在本篇中指“照看寵物”）

cosmetic dentistry 美容牙科

squire /?skwa??/ v. 護(hù)衛(wèi)，隨侍

luxe /l?ks, l?ks/ adj. 豪華的 n. 豪華，奢華

-esque 〈法〉…式樣的

screech /skri?t?/ n. 尖銳的聲音

pamper /?p?mp?/ v. 縱容

難句突破

① He wants dental appointments to be less about pain and drilling and more about relaxation, foot massage and soothing aromatherapy.

主體句式：He wants dental appointments.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句的難點(diǎn)有兩處。第一處是句型“l(fā)ess about... more about...”。這個(gè)句型表示“少一些……多一些……”。第二處難點(diǎn)是“foot massage and soothing aromatherapy”中的專業(yè)詞匯。foot massage表示“足底按摩”，aromatherapy表示“香料按摩（香精油按摩）”。

句子譯文：他希望牙科預(yù)約讓人們少想到疼痛、鉆牙，多想到放松、足底按摩、鎮(zhèn)痛香料按摩等。

② Noise-reduction headphones block the screech of the drill and play a CD of your choice, and the specially constructed dental chair channels the sound waves from the music into a full-body massage.

主體句式：Headphones block the screech and play a CD, and the chair channels the sound waves.

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：該句的難點(diǎn)是主謂關(guān)系難辨清，因?yàn)橐恍┎怀４钆湓谝黄鸬脑~在其中表示主謂關(guān)系。例如，第一個(gè)分句中play與主語noise-reduction headphones之間的關(guān)系，并列連詞and后主語chair和謂語channels之間的關(guān)系有悖常識。因此理解這個(gè)句子時(shí)，我們不能局限于常識。

句子譯文：隔音耳機(jī)使你聽不到牙鉆刺耳的噪音，為你播放你自己挑選的CD。特別定制的治療椅將音樂的聲波轉(zhuǎn)換成全身按摩。

題目分析

1. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。從第二段最后一句“He wants dental appointments to be less about pain and drilling and more about relaxation, foot massage and soothing aromatherapy.”以及后面幾段中介紹的spa dentistry和cosmetic dentistry等做法可以看出，博蘭德和其他牙醫(yī)都希望通過提供緩解患者緊張情緒的服務(wù)來改善牙醫(yī)形象。在這個(gè)句子中有一個(gè)句型“be less about... more about...”，表示“少一些…，多一些…”。

2. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第三段有關(guān)溫泉保健牙科的介紹，溫泉保健牙科為患者提供熱石蠟手工治療、洗牙等牙科治療、電影、按摩等，而不包括度假，因此答案是A。

3. D 語義題。根據(jù)上段最后一句有關(guān)溫泉保健牙科培訓(xùn)課程的內(nèi)容，以及下文中格蕾斯·桑所在診所為患者提供的服務(wù)項(xiàng)目可以判斷出第四段第一行中的“cater to”表示為某人提供良好的服務(wù)。

4. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。第四段中提及l(fā)uxury hotel-style concierge services“豪華飯店式門房服務(wù)”。在第五段中，作者詳細(xì)介紹了麗嘉酒店式牙科的具體服務(wù)內(nèi)容，從中可見金博士稱她的牙科為麗嘉酒店式牙科是因?yàn)樗难揽圃\所提供麗嘉酒店那樣的周到的門房服務(wù)。

5. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。從最后一段第一句“Patients are responding.”以及接下來的“You feel like you’re there to get nurtured and pampered. It’s fabulous.”等句子可以推斷出患者喜歡牙醫(yī)們提供的新服務(wù)。

參考譯文

人們最不愿見的三個(gè)人倒著數(shù)過來是：3）國稅局審計(jì)員，2）前夫20歲的新女友，1）牙醫(yī)。

“我們要正視這個(gè)問題，”來自達(dá)拉斯的牙醫(yī)羅林·博蘭德說，“牙科有時(shí)確實(shí)令人反感?！泵绹l(wèi)生統(tǒng)計(jì)中心的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，過去一年里三分之一的美國人沒看過牙醫(yī)。博蘭德以及越來越多的美國牙醫(yī)正努力改善牙醫(yī)可怕的形象。他希望牙科預(yù)約讓人們少想到疼痛、鉆牙，多想到放松、足底按摩、鎮(zhèn)痛香料按摩等。

溫泉保健牙科，顧名思義，指在你洗牙的同時(shí)，可以享受熱石蠟手工治療，或戴上虛擬眼鏡觀看你最喜歡的電影，或平躺在治療椅上，聞著熏衣草的香氣，傾聽潺潺的流水聲，放松你焦慮的心情，同時(shí)還能享受專業(yè)按摩治療師為你做頸部按摩。這可比大多數(shù)度假還要放松。隨著溫泉保健牙科的不斷流行，芝加哥牙醫(yī)協(xié)會決定在二月份冬季年會上推出第一期溫泉保健牙科培訓(xùn)。他們預(yù)計(jì)課程班將吸引3.5萬名專業(yè)人士。

“有的人生來就會照顧別人，有的人需要學(xué)習(xí)，”來自洛杉磯的牙醫(yī)格蕾斯·桑博士這樣認(rèn)為。她沒聽過講座，卻推出了按摩、水果冰沙、電影等服務(wù)項(xiàng)目。此外，他們還提供豪華飯店式門房服務(wù)：當(dāng)你躺在治療椅上接受治療的時(shí)候（當(dāng)然治療椅不斷振蕩），服務(wù)人員為你提供一系列服務(wù)，包括預(yù)定晚餐、接手提電話、照看小孩、照看寵物、定外賣以及任何其他你提出的要求。

亞特蘭大美容牙科中心的黛布拉·格蕾·金大夫稱她的做法為“里茲·卡爾頓牙科”。事實(shí)上，她的確派診所的“牙科服務(wù)員”到里茲·卡爾頓領(lǐng)導(dǎo)階層培訓(xùn)中心學(xué)習(xí)如何處理好與顧客的關(guān)系。在面積達(dá)8400平方英尺，風(fēng)格類似十二橡樹莊園那樣的豪華中心里，經(jīng)過專業(yè)培訓(xùn)的“牙科服務(wù)員”陪送每位顧客到不同的房間接受治療。躺在治療椅上，金的顧客可以使用固定在上面的平面控制器看電視、播放DVD，甚至上網(wǎng)。看不到電視屏幕？不用擔(dān)心，天花板上也安裝了電視屏幕。隔音耳機(jī)使你聽不到牙鉆刺耳的噪音，為你播放你自己挑選的CD。特別定制的治療椅將音樂的聲波轉(zhuǎn)換成全身按摩?！盎颊咴椒潘桑苯鹫f，“我們的工作就越容易?！?

患者反響很好。亞特蘭大雜志發(fā)行人馬撒·迪珂說，熱石蠟治療能“徹底改變你對看牙醫(yī)的看法。你會覺得受到百般呵護(hù)。那感覺真美妙。你的每個(gè)感官都得到呵護(hù)?！比绻麌惥洲k公室的氛圍也能變這樣就好了。