Questions are based on the following passage.
Flexibility is an essential component of good cooking. You should never feel locked into a recipe or a menu unless it involves a basic principle regarding procedure or technique such as those involved in bread-making and pastry. I don't ever want to write anything in this book that is so precise that the reader must invoke great powers of concentration on every last detail in order to ensure the success of a recipe or a dinner; ingredients are simply too variable. I want to suggest the expected taste; I want to suggest the appearance of the complete dish; I want to suggest the combination of ingredients; and I want to suggest the overall harmony and balance of the meal, lie n it will be up to you to determine the correct balance and composition. Perhaps the garlic is sharp and strong, and you will use it sparingly in a particular presentation, or you may find the garlic to be sweet arid fresh, and you will want to use twice as much!
Learn to trust your own instincts. A good cook needs only to have positive feelings about food in general, and about the pleasures of eating and cooking. I have known some cooks who did not seem to discover pleasure and gratification in things culinary. At the restaurant, I look for employees who are interested in working in the kitchen for reasons above and beyond those of simply needing a job, any job. This applies equally to the home cook: a cook who dislikes food is a bad cook. Even an ambivalent cook is a bad cook. Yet,a person who responds to the cooking processes and the mound of fresh ingredients with a genuine glow of delight is likely to be, or become, a very good cook indeed. Technical skills can be acquired and perfected along the way, but dislike or ambivalence toward food cannot always be overcome.
In the early stages of my culinary pursuits, I cooked as I had seen cooking done in France. I copied some of the more traditional cooks, and I stayed within the bounds they had laid out so carefully because I didn't trust my own instincts yet. Having imitated their styles, I found that with time and experience, their fundamental principles had become a part of my nature and I began to understand why they had done certain things in a particular way. Then，I could begin to develop a different and more personal style based on the ingredients available to me here in California.
The author intends to tell________.
写作意图。从原文三个段落的主题句就可以推断出来作者的写作意图。第一段和 第二段的主题句分别为 “ Flexibility is an essential component of good cooking” 和 “ Leam to trust your own instincts”，第三段最后一句 “ Then, I could begin to develop a different and more personal style based on the ingredients available to me here in California” 概括了 作者的核心观点，由此可以看出，三个段落由概述到具体，从一般情况到个人经验， 儀点落在了作者自己的做法与态度上，即approach的核心涵义。
[知识拓展]主 题 句 （top sentence)是用以概括段落的中心思想、内容核心、作者的写 作意图以及表达的思想感情等的句子。因此，敏锐地捕捉主题句对于精准理解原文主旨大有裨益。主题句的位置有四种情况：① 段 首 （如本文第1、2段）。主题句经常居 于段首，以便读者浏览主题句就可掌握文章的概要，适用于提供信息或解释观点的段 落。② 段末 （如本文最后一句）。用推理方法展开段落时，主题句起归纳推理的作用。③段中。有时为了使段落多样化，主题句也可以居于段中，但其出现频率较低。 ④隐含。在叙述性或描写性段落中，当所述细节围绕着一个显而易见的主题展开时往往没有主题句，大意需要由读者自己归纳。
The author holds that flexibility is________.
论点概括。文章第一段第一句 “ Flexibility is an essential component of good cooking” 直截了当地表明了作者的观点。本句与选项D 唯一的区别是限定词main与 essential，二者大意相当。
[知识拓展]原句提供答案线索的题目最为简单，关键是准确、快速定位原文句子，然后 对比原文与选项，选出最接近原文的选项即可。
The author does NOT suggest________.
细节识别。文章第一段 “I don't ever want to write anything ... so precise that ... concentration on every last detail ...of a recipe or a dinner ...” 明确表明 了作者的态度，紧 接着，作者阐述了自己所赞成的做法，即选项A 、B 、D 。
[知识拓展]阅读理解比较高的境界是，根据原文的表述，准备判断哪一个选项是正确 的。逐一排除是在把握程度不髙时的权宜之计。比如本题，从解析部分所列句子即可 做出正确判断。如果需要借助本句后面的三个分句验证选项的可靠性，也无不可。不 过这样做的效率有限。所以精确理解是提高阅读速度与质量的保障。
The example of the garlic can show ________.
逻辑推理。大蒜的例子是为了例证上一句“ Then it will be up to you to determine the correct balance and composition” ，即由个人决定配料的平衡与组合，然后以大蒜用 量的加减为例来帮助说明这个论点。本题的选项C干扰作用强大，因为第二段的确阐述了厨师的主体性，不过本题的逻辑基础是配料，所以例证与之匹配，故选B 。
[知识拓展]英语阅读材料重视写作逻辑，有些是显性的，有些是隐性的。熟悉并掌握这些规律，阅读时可以顺藤摸瓜，准确捕捉原文意旨。参考托福和SAT等的阅读发现， 命题思路多集中在阅读材料的写作思路和逻辑方面。
The author is trying to ________.
写作意图。文章第一段第三句说 “ I don't ever want to write anything ... so precise that …concentration on every last detail …of a recipe or a dinner ...” 第二段第一句接着说 “ Leam to trust your own instincts” ，然后第三段以个人经历为例证，清楚表明了自 的态度：读者可以在烹饪中自由发挥、创造。
[知识拓展]写作意图（以及大意概括）类的试题可以通过各种情态表达推断出来。如上面解析部分的句子就是例证。阅读时需要留意这类表达，必要时予以勾画，在阅读过 程中形成基本的判断。
The author talks about cooking from the perspective of________.
写作视点。作者表达写作视点的句子包括第二段“I look for employees who are interested in working in the kitchen ... This applies equally to the home cook”, 第三段 “ I cooked as I had seen cooking done in France” 及最后一句 “ I could begin to develop a different and more personal style based on the ingredients available to me here in California” 。显然，作者不是烹饪理论家，而是践行者（practitioner) ，而且很成功 (successful)。因此，选项B 符合要求。
[知识拓展]与写作意图一样，写作视点也体现作者的意图、情攀、态度、价值观等因素。这些因素在原文中都有蛛丝马迹可寻。需要提醒的是，这些线索往往不是集中出 现的，需要在阅读过程中搜寻（如本题解析所示）并予以综合分析。
In Paragraph 2, the author indicates that she seeks employees who share her________.
细节识别。根据本题题干，可快速找到第二段第四句“ I look for employees who are interested in working in the kitchen for reasons above and beyond those of simply needing a job，any job ” ，这里的reasons above回指本段第二句“...have positive feelings about food in general, and about the pleasures of eating and cooking ” 。综合而言，作者寻找的 是 “ 对品尝美食和烹饪都感兴趣” 的人，即选项C。
[知识拓展]判断类细节识别题，在命题过程中会有意制造干扰项来检验读者的理解是否准确。
To produce superior results, a cook must have________.
细节识别。第二段倒数第二句 “ Yet，a person who responds to the cooking processes and the mound of fresh ingredients with a genuine glow of delight is likely to be, or become, a very good cook indeed” 为本题明确提供了证据。而且，本段最后一句话帮助排除了 另外的选项。
[知识拓展]本题属于典型的扫描式阅读（scanning )，简称扫读，目的在于寻找某一 特定的信息或资料，通常用于查找某个单词、短语、数字或文章片断。读者的视线从 上到下很快地扫过页面，直到发现所需要的信息，再停下来仔细阅读这部分。这类阅 读通常在快速扫描内容的时候捕捉关键词，如本题题干的提示是To produce superior results ,在扫读时，扫描到become，a very good cook indeed就可以定位到准确信息。
According to the passage, the author is________.
作者态度。从 A 、B、C、D 四个选项的关键词可以看出，本题考查读者对阅读 材料体现出的作者的写作态度：抱怨、批评、分析、叙述。第一题的解析中提到了三 个主题句，基本表明了作者的态度，属于叙述体。更为具体的支撑线索有：第一段多 次重复I want to 第二段I look for 及第三段开始就提到的In the early stages of my culinary pursuits。所有这些线索都指向选项D 。
[知识拓展]作者态度一般分为八种：赞同、否定、怀疑、客观、主观、积极、消 极、中立。如赞同包括 positive，favorable，approval，enthusiastic等 ；否定包 括 negative，disapproval, critical, objection，opposition，disgust等 ；怀疑包括 suspicious, doubtful，skeptical，confusing等；客观包括 neutral, objective，impartial， unbiased，unprejudiced，detached等；主观包括 subjective，optimistic，pessimistic, reserved, radical，indifferent, moderate等；积极包括 positive，optimistic，interested， enthusiastic，impressive等；消极包括 pessimistic，negative，indifferent, hostile，biased等； 中立包括 neutral，impersonal, impartial，factual等。
To improve her cooking style, the author________.
细节识别。最后一段专门叙述作者的个人经历。本段第二句说“ I copied some of the more traditional cooks”，然后说到 “ with time and experience”，最后说到 “ I could begin to develop a different and more personal style” ，个人阅历脉络清楚，选项 B 明确 无误。