George Williams, one of Scottsdale's
last remaining cowboys, has been raising horses and cattle on his 120 acres for
20 years. The cattle go to the slaughterhouse, the horses to rodeos. But Mr.
Williams is stomping mad. His problems began last year when dishonest neighbours
started to steal his cattle. Then other neighbours, most of them newcomers, took
offence at his horses roaming on their properties. Such grumbles
are common in Arizona. The most recent Department of Agriculture census shows
that 1 213 of Arizona's 8 507 farms closed down between 1997 and 2002. Many
cattlemen are moving out to remoter parts of the state. Doc Lane
is an executive at the Arizona Cattlemen's Association, a trade group. He says
Arizona's larger ranch owners are making decent profits from selling. It is the
smaller players who are the victims of rising land values, higher mortgages and
stiffer city council rules. What happens all too often is that people move in
next to a farm because they think the land pretty. But soon they start
complaining to the council. In Mr. Williams's case it was the horses that
annoyed them. Other newcomers don't like the noise, the pesticides and the smell
of manure. Locals worry about the precious, dwindling cowboy
culture. Arizona's tourism boards like to promote a steady interest in all
things about cowboy and western. Last year more British and German tourists came
than usual, and many of them were looking precisely for that. Arizona's Dude
Ranch Association fills its $ 350-a-night luxury ranches most of the year;
roughly a third of the guests are European. Many of the ranchers
themselves see all this tourism as a cheeky attempt to commercialise a real and
vanishing culture. In Prescott, estate agents promote "American Ranch-style"
homes with posters of horse riders. On the other side of the street is Whiskey
Row, a famous strip of historic cowboy bars. But in Matt's Saloon on Saturday
night, real cattlemen could not be found. Farm folk like Mr.
Knox and Mr. Williams are weighing up their options. Many will migrate to
remoter places where land is cheaper and not crowded with city people. Younger
ones take on side-jobs as contractors and are cattle-hands part-time. Older
cowboys aren't sure what to do.
单选题
From the first two paragraphs, we learn that ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第一段结尾和第二段：Then other neighbours…took offence at his horses roaming on their properties．Such grumbles are common in Arizona．…1 213 of Arizona's 8 507 farms closed down between 1997 and 2002．Many cattlemen are moving out to remoter parts of the state，
[深层剖析] 本题的考查思路与2006年第2篇文章第1题的思路完全一致，要求考生对文章几个段落综合把握再归纳出一个观点。本文开头描述了亚利桑那州的一个牛仔在生活中遇到的种种尴尬情况，而且这一现象现在越来越普遍，牛仔们的生活方式正在受到新居民的影响而改变，所以选[D]。
[主干扰项分析] [A]选项说乔治是个牛仔，此话没有错误，但仅仅是第一段的一个描述性语句，不具任何说明性，因此[A]不能选。文章第二段谈到1997年至2002年间，亚利桑那8 507家农场中有1 213家已经关闭，但不能说明其他农场在将来也倒闭，这是猜测。所以，[B]错误。
[次干扰项分析] 文章中并未对新老居民做出比较，但我们要注意两个比较级结构。“not as…as”结构(“not more than”)和“no more than”的区别。“A is not more than B”表示“A不如B”；“A is no more than B”表示“A和 B一样不…”。
单选题
The word "grumble" (Line 1 , Paragraph 2) most probably means ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第一段结尾和第二段开头：His problems…dishonest neighbours started to steal；his cattle．…newcomers，took offence at his horses…．Such grumbles are common in Arizona．
[深层剖析] 本题在考查考生词汇知识的同时，也考查大家对全文第一段和第二段逻辑关系的理解。全文第一段的结尾具体讲述了一个老牛仔的问题，第二段开头表明这种问题的普遍性。而Such grumbles就是指其他邻居对他的马took offence(生气)的事情，可以推断，这些邻居是有抱怨的，所以选[C]。
[主干扰项分析] [A]mutter“咕哝，低声地嘟哝或者不清楚地说话”，不少同学看到此选项很容易误选，认为 grumble与mutter是同义词，这两个词都有表示“嘟囔地说话”这种具体动作的意思，但在文章中，作者要表达的是一种意识行为“抱怨”，故[A]不对。[B]phenomenon“现象，事件”是个中性词，不如[C]贴切。
[次干扰项分析] [D]gamble“冒险”，从词形上形成干扰，但意思与文章不符。◆谨记：备选答案和题干存在的形近词往往是错误选项。
单选题
The pesticides and the smell of manure are mentioned to ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第三段第三句之后：It is the smaller players who are the victims of rising land values，higher mortgages and stiffer city council rules．．．．But soon they start complaining to the council．．．．Other newcomers don't like the noise，the pesticides and the smell of manure．
[深层剖析] 本题在考查逻辑关系的同时，也考查对强调句的掌握。第三段第三句是强调结构，表明这种问题的重要性。而下文谈到新来的居民投诉的问题恰恰说明新居民不愿与牧民做邻居，因而，小农场主成了社会发展的牺牲品。所以选[C]。◆注意：特殊句型(如虚拟句、强调句、倒装句、独立主格等)出现的地方往往有考点。
[主干扰项分析] [A]选项其实是对该题的表层意思的解释，本题要回答句意的弦外之音，即：小农场主是社会发展的牺牲品，因此，[A]不能选。[D]是[C]的具体表现，由于小农场主成了“牺牲品”，所以他们不得不朝该州一些偏远的地区迁徙。因此[D]也不能选。
[次干扰项分析] [B]与文章无关。
单选题
There could be no real cattlemen in Matt's Saloon on Saturday night, because ______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[直击题眼] 第四段结尾至第六段：roughly a third of the guests are European. Many of the ranchers themselves see all this tourism as a cheeky attempt to commercialise a real and vanishing culture．…But in Matt's Saloon on Saturday night，real cattlemen could not be found．．．．Younger ones take on side-jobs as contractors and are cattlehands part-time．Older cowboys aren't sure what to do．
[深层剖析] 本题干扰选项的迷惑性极强，所以难度很大。文章第五段结尾讲到在酒吧中很难见到牛仔，这是因为在本段开头提到很多农场主认为这种旅游业是厚颜无耻的。因此，[B]正确。本题的难度在于文章中的一个词cheeky，这个词虽然超纲，但其词根cheek“面颊”并不超纲，由此可以猜测到cheeky是“厚颜无耻的”意思。同时，impudent与cheeky又是同义词。
[主干扰项分析] 不少同学看到前文提到$350-a-night luxury这些词眼，认为酒吧消费很高，故联想到牛仔一定消费不起。这属于主观臆断，[C]选项错误。[D]选项认为牛仔在此生活很艰辛，这是文章最后一段的观点。在结尾作者提到一些老牛仔甚至都不知道他们能做什么，但所问非所答，因此[D]错误。◆谨记：正确的观点不一定是正确的答案，错误的观点也未必是错误的选项。
[次干扰项分析] [A]选项的难点在于其词组。cater to是“供应伙食、迎合”的意思。很多同学认为这些农场是为欧洲人开的，但文章说到只有三分之一的客人来自于欧洲。因此，[A]错误。
单选题
What is the author's attitude towards cattlemen?