单选题 I came across an old country guide the other day. It listed all the tradesmen in each village in my part of the country, and it was impressive to see the great variety of services which were available on one’s own doorstep in the late Victorian countryside.
Nowadays a superficial traveler in rural England might conclude that the only village tradesmen still flourishing were either selling frozen food to the inhabitants or selling antiques to visitors. Nevertheless, this would really be a false impression. Admittedly there has been a contraction of village commerce, but its vigor is still remarkable.
Our local grocer’s shop, for example, is actually expanding in spite of the competition from supermarkets in the nearest town. Women sensibly prefer to go there and exchange the local news while doing their shopping, instead of queueing up anonymously at a supermarket. And the proprietor knows well that personal service has a substantial cash value.
His prices may be a bit higher than those in the town, but he will deliver anything at any time. His assistants think nothing of bicycling down the village street in their lunch, hour to take a piece of cheese to an old-age pensioner who sent her order by word of mouth with a friend who happened to be passing. The more affluent customers telephone their shopping lists and the goods are on their doorsteps within an hour. They have only to hint at a fancy for some commodity outside the usual stock and the grocer a red-faced figure, instantly obtains it for them.
The village gains from this sort of enterprise, of course. But I also find it satisfactory because a village shop offers one of the few ways in which a modest individualist can still get along in the world without attaching himself to the big battalions of industry or commerce.
Most of the village shopkeepers I know, at any rate, are decidedly individualist in their ways. For exampie, our shoemaker is a formidable figure: a thick-set, irritable man whom children treat with marked respect, knowing that an ill-judged word can provoke an angry eruption at any time. He stares with contempt at the pairs of cheap, mass-produced shoes taken to him for repair: has it come to this, he seems to be saying, that he, a craftsman, should have to waste his skills upon such trash? But we all know he will in fact do excellent work upon them. And he makes beautiful shoes for those who can afford such luxury.

单选题 The services available in villages nowadays are
[A] fewer but still very active.
[B] less successful than earlier but managing to survive.
[C] active in providing food and antiques.
[D] surprisingly energetic considering the little demand for them.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[设题点] 段尾观点总结处
[解析] 事实细节题。文章首段末尾提到，it was impressive to see the great variety of services...available...。可见，作者对于可以得到的服务种类的繁多感到印象深刻。第二段尾句总结虽然乡村贸易有所缩减，但活力无限，选项[D]里的energetic与原文中的vigor相对应，little demand与原文中的contration相对应，所以[D]同义转述了原文，为答案。原文提到乡村贸易缩减，但并没说services也减少了(fewer)，故排除[A]。[B]项说“不如以前成功但勉强能够生存”，很明显也不对。[C]描述的是原文中提到的superficial traveler的肤浅印象，也是错误表述。

单选题 The local grocer’s shop is expanding even though
[A] town shops are better at promotion.
[B] town shops are larger and more convenient.
[C] town shops enjoy price advantages.
[D] people get extra service in town shops.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[设题点] 段首处
[解析] 事实细节题。第三段段首提到，本地小店的生意虽然面临附近镇子里超市的竞争，但是还是在扩展。第四段首句又提到，尽管他们的价格比镇子里的超市要高点…。由此可见，镇子里的超市与他们相比，具有价格优势。[C]是对原文的同义转述。[A]项说的“善于促销”在原文中未提及。[B]项里的convenient与原文中提到的“女人们不愿在超市排队”相悖。 [D]是讲述本地小店具有的优势，与题干构不成转折关系。本题答案为[C]。

单选题 Another aspect of personal service available in the village shop is that
[A] there is a wide range of goods available.
[B] goods not in stock can be especially obtained for the old.
[C] special attention is given to the needs of wealthier customers.
[D] goods are always restocked before they run out.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[设题点] 段尾处
[解析] 事实细节题。小商店所具有的优势就是其个性化的服务。题干问另外可以得到的个性化服务。在文章第四段的尾句提到，他们想要的商品如果是不常见的，店主也会为他们立刻送到。这里的They指代上句提到的The more affluent customers。所以，[C]项所述内容符合原文意思，为答案。[A]项提到的“小店里商品名目繁多”，很明显不符合文意。[B]项“可以为老人提供商店里没有的物品”是对原文的误解。原文提到，如果不方便的老人托人带口信来订货，店主的助手也会给送货上门，而不是专门为老人提供店里没有的物品。[D]项所述内容，原文中并未提到。

单选题 The author cited the example of the shoemaker to show that
[A] the village provides a chance for an individual to get along by his own efforts.
[B] most of the village shopkeepers are bad-tempered.
[C] village shopkeepers look down upon the poor.
[D] village shopkeepers are all good craftsmen.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[设题点] 段尾，长难句
[解析] 推理判断题。第五段提到，“一个没有依附于工商业巨头们的乡村小店，为微不足道的个体成功立足于世提供了一条难得的途径”，而第六段接着又举了鞋匠的故事。显然，作者举例的目的就是为了证实自己所表述的观点，即：“村庄为个人生存提供了通过自己努力而立足于世的机会”。所以[A]正确。后三项均是片面理解。

单选题 In what way is the village shoemaker a “formidable figure”?
[A] He seems to pay little attention to public opinion.
[B] He refuses to mend cheap, mass-produced shoes.
[C] He is bad-tempered as well as an excellent craftsman.
[D] He has very high standards of workmanship.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[设题点] 特殊符号处
[解析] 事实细节题。根据题干中的信息词formidable figure将答案定位到最后一段。formidable意为“令人生畏的；令人敬畏的”。作者在举例描述shoemaker的时候，在冒号后面对 formidable figure做了解释，即“矮胖的、易怒的人”。而后面又提到，他虽然表面上看不起那些廉价的鞋子，却会对鞋子做excellent work。也就是说，他是一个excellent craftsman，所以[C]正确。 [A]不是原文内容。而[B]是对原文的错误转述，他虽然表面上不屑于修理那些廉价鞋子，但实际上还是认真地修理了。[D]表述片面，他确实手艺高超，但也是一个irritable man。