单选题 At some time in your life you may have a strong desire to do something strange or terrible. However, chances are that you don't act on your impulse, but let it pass instead. You know that to commit the action is wrong in some way and that other people will not accept your behavior.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about the phenomenon of the behavior is how it can change over the years within the same society, how certain behavior and attitudes once considered taboo can become perfectly acceptable and natural at another point in time. Topics such as death, for example, were once considered so upsetting and unpleasant that it was a taboo to even talk about them. Now with the publication of important books such as On Death and Dying and Learning to Say Goodbye, people have become more aware of the importance of expressing feelings about death and, as a result, are more willing to talk about this taboo subject.
One of the newest taboos in American society is the topic of fat. Unlike many other taboos, fat is a topic that Americans talk about constantly. It's not taboo to talk about fat; it's taboo to be fat. The "in" look is thin, not fat.
In the work world, most companies prefer youthful-looking, trim executives to sell their image as well as their products to the public. The thin look is associated with youth, vigor and success. The fat person, on the other hand, is thought of as lazy and lacking in energy, self-respect. After all, people think, how can people who care about themselves, and therefore the way they look, permit themselves to become fat? In an image-conscious society like the U.S., thin is "in", fat is "out".

单选题 According to the passage, we can infer that taboo is ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。文章第一段讲到，有时人们可能会产生一些奇怪甚至是可怕的念头，然而人们会把这种强烈的冲动压制下去，因为人们知道那样做是错误的，而且其他人会对那样的行为持反对意见；再结合下文，可以看出，这里所说的其他人持反对意见的那种行为就是作者所指的禁忌。因此，说禁忌是一种公众无法接受的行为最为恰当，故选C。

单选题 Based on the ideas presented in the passage we can conclude that, in American society, "being fat" ______.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 推断题。作者在第二段指出，禁忌的内容会随着时间的变化而变化，并且还举例进行了说明。据此推理，肥胖现在是禁忌，有朝一日很可能不再是禁忌，选项C最为适合。作者说肥胖是美国最新的禁忌之一，因此不会是一个由来已久的禁忌，可以排除A；另外B、D项根据文章大意，可知都不正确。

单选题 Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。根据原文说的Unlike many other taboos，我们知道肥胖和其他禁忌话题不同，人们对此谈论得很多，所以选c。在文章第二段，作者用了“死亡”的例子来说明禁忌是会变化的：死亡是以前人们连提都不能提的禁忌，而现在的情况不同了，人们出版这方面的书籍，也乐于谈论这个话题，所以A不对。文中第三段说“It's not taboo to talk about fat; it's taboo to be fat"，故可将B排除。作者还提到“fat is a topic that Americans talk about constantly”，故D不对。

单选题 In the U.S., the expression that thin is "in" and fat is "out" probably means ______.

单选题 In the last sentence of the passage, the phrase "image-conscious society" can be replaced by ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 词义理解题。文章第四段具体解释了胖与瘦的外表在人们心中的形象，可以就此判断image在此处就是指的这种形象。结合上下文，我们可以知道image conscious society就是“形象意识强的社会”——人们都很注重自己的外表形象。A、B、C都不合题意。注意词组attached importance to的意思是“重视”。