单选题 Manners nowadays in metropolitan cities like London are practically non-existent. It is nothing for a big, strong schoolboy to elbow an elderly woman aside in the dash for the last remaining seat on the tube or bus, much less stand up and offer his seat to her, as he ought to. In fact, it is saddening to note that if a man does offer his seat to an older woman, it is nearly always a Continental man or one from the older generation.
This question of giving up seats in public transport is much argued about by young men, who say that, since women have claimed equality, they no longer deserve to be treated with courtesy, and that those who go out to work should take their turn in the rat race like anyone else. Women have never claimed to be physically as strong as men. Even if it is not agreed, however, that young men should stand up for younger women, the fact remains that courtesy should be shown to the old, the sick and the burdened.
Conditions in travel are really very hard on everyone, we know, but hardship is surely no excuse. Sometimes one wonders what would have been the behavior of these stout young men in a packed refugee train or a train on its way to a prisoner-camp during the war. Would they have considered it only right and their proper due to keep the best places for themselves then?
Older people, tired and irritable from a day's work, are not angels, either — far from it. Many a brisk argument or an insulting quarrel breaks out as the weary queues push and shove each other to get on buses and tubes. One cannot commend this, of course, but one does feel there is just a little more excuse.
If cities are to remain pleasant places to live in at all, however, it seems urgent, not only that communications in transport should be improved, but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite. All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and rushed to be polite. Shop assistants won't bother to assist, taxi drivers shout at each other as they dash dangerously round corners, bus conductors pull the bell before their desperate passengers have had time to get on or off the bus, and so on and so on. It seems to us that it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration.
单选题 According to the author, seeing a Continental man offer his seat to a grandmotherly woman is ______.
  • A. comforting
  • B. praiseworthy
  • C. grieving
  • D. shocking
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[考点] 作者态度题 [解析] 根据题干信号词seeing a Continental man offer his seat to a grandmotherly woman可回文精确定位到首段尾句...it is saddening to note that if a man does offer his seat to an older woman, it is nearly always a Continental man or one from the older generation(如果的确有人将座位让给一位老妇人，那么这个人很可能会是欧洲大陆人或老一辈的人，而看到这样的一幕是让人伤感难受的)，此处为“题眼”。鉴于作者态度题应关注回文定位信息的主观感受词或态度提示词，考生应锁定本句中的形容词saddening(令人伤感的)作为作者态度。
单选题 According to the text, all of the followings are tree EXCEPT ______.
  • A. senior citizens, though exhausted and irritable, behave rather politely
  • B. hard conditions in travel is no excuse for young men to refuse giving up seats
  • C. in the eyes of young men, courtesy shouldn't be shown to women in transport
  • D. to improve the quality of city life, communications in transport and between people must be improved as soon as possible
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[考点] 排除性判断题 [解析] 判断题的题干往往缺乏高校信息词，故需把各选项一一回文定位，做比对判断。
单选题 Shop assistants, taxi drivers and bus conductors are mentioned in the last paragraph so as to ______.
  • A. reveal the chaos of cities
  • B. show the importance of improving communications in transport
  • C. illustrate their tiredness and busy state
  • D. manifest the necessity of improving communications between human beings
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[考点] 例证题 [解析] 根据题干信号词shop assistant，taxi drivers and bus conductors可回文定位到尾段第三句Shop assistants won't bother to assist, taxi drivers shout at each other as they dash dangerously round comers, bus conductors pull the bell before their desperate passengers have had time to get on or off the bus, and so on and so on. (商店店员懒得理你，出租车驾驶员在危险地快速转弯时互相叫嚷，公交车售票员在绝望的乘客还没有来得及上下车时就拉响铃声)。但鉴于例证题的思路是在例子的上下文(尤其上文)找寻证明对象，即答案线索，故考生应锁定本段的第一二句，尤其第一句后半部分信息(but后是语义重点)：If cities are to remain pleasant places to live in at all...it seems urgent not only that...but also that communication between human beings should be kept smooth and polite(如果城市要继续成为宜居之地，那么我们似乎急需要做的就不仅仅是提高公共交通工具上人与人之间的沟通，而且还要保持人际间沟通的顺畅与礼貌)，此处为本题目的“题眼”。
单选题 Judging from the context, the word "deterioration" in the last paragraph most probably means ______.
  • A. worsening of bad manners
  • B. aggravating of the environment
  • C. declining of the young's moral sense
  • D. lowering of citizens' living standards
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[考点] 词汇推断题 [解析] 根据信号词deterioration以及出处提示last paragraph可回文精确定位到尾段尾句It seems to us that it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration(对我们来讲，似乎只有让青壮年发挥自己的微薄之力才能阻止这些……)。鉴于词汇推断题的思路是借助于问题词的上文或下文线索做分析推断，考生可根据such的指代逻辑在上文寻找线索，考虑到上一句是例子信息，故需要继续往上文寻找，随即可锁定尾段第二句All over cities, it seems that people are too tired and too rushed to be polite(在所有的城市，似乎人们都很疲惫，都很忙碌，以至于无法以礼相待)，此处为本题目“题眼”，强调指出“人们间的不礼貌”。
单选题 Judging from the content, this passage is probably written for ______.
  • A. older people
  • B. stout young men
  • C. transport system
  • D. Continental men
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[考点] 推断题 [解析] 类似推断题目考生可重点关注首、尾段的主观感受性表达，尤其是与题序对应的尾段。 根据尾段尾句...it is up to the young and strong to do their small part to stop such deterioration(似乎只有让青壮年发挥自己的微薄之力才能阻止这些情形的恶化)可知，文章的主要呼吁对象是“年轻人”。考生注意：up to意思是“由……负责”，to do one's part意思是“发挥自己作用”，这两处都是作者主观倾向性的体现。由此可知B项(青壮年)是正确答案。