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At 43, I’ve reached the stage where women are warned to watch out for the creeping sadness of middle age. We’re served up an endless stream of advice on "how to survive your 40s", as if we’re in the endurance stage of a slow limp toward 【C1】 ________ This is the age women start to become "invisible"—our value, attractiveness and power supposedly 【C2】 ________ by the vanishing of youth. But I don’t feel like I’m fading into 【C3】 ________ I feel more seen than I ever have, and for the first time in my life, I have a clear-eyed view of myself that is 【C4】 ________ , compassionate and accepting. When I look in the mirror, I’m proud of who I am—even those "broken" parts that for so long seemed impossible to love. So when advertisers try to sell me ways to "turn back the clock", I have to【C5】________ a laugh. I wouldn’t go back to the crippling self-consciousness of my youth if you paid me. This hard-won sense of self-acceptance is one of the joys of being an older woman. But it’s a narrative often【C6】 ________ out by the shame that marketers rely on to peddle us their diet pills, miracle face creams and breathable yoga pants—as if self-love is a 【C7】 ________ commodity. For some women I know, this sense of trust and self-belief later in life gave them the courage to leave dysfunctional relationships or 【C8】 ________ on new career paths. Others talked about enjoying their own company, of growth through 【C9】 ________ , deepening bonds of friendships, the ability to be more compassionate, less judgmental and to listen more and appreciate the small pleasures. Life past 40 is far from smooth sailing, but it’s so much more than the reductive 【C10】 ________ we see in women’s magazines and on the Hollywood big screen. A) adversity F) drowned K) outlines B) authentic G) embark L) prevalent C) convey H) fragility M) purchasable D) depictions I) neglected N) submit E) diminished J) obscurity O) suppress
【答案解析】动词辨析题。空格前面是名词短语our value, attractiveness and power以及副词supposedly,空格后面是by the vanishing of youth,因此空格处需要填入动词的过去分词形式,作后置定语修饰our value, attractiveness and power。破折号前面的主句表明40多岁是女性开始变得“隐形”的年龄,而破折号后面的部分是对“变得隐形”进行解释说明,由此可知,青春的消逝会减弱我们的价值、吸引力和能力,所以空格处填入的动词应与“减弱”有关,故答案为E)diminished。
【答案解析】动词辨析题。空格处所在句已是完整的主系表结构,空格前面的名词短语a narrative是句子的表语,空格后面是副词out和介词短语by the shame,因此空格处需要填入动词的过去分词形式,与out by the shame一起作后置定语,修饰a narrative。上一句提到“这种来之不易的自我接纳感是身为年长女性的一种乐趣”,而空格处所在句句首的but表明,这种情况常常被我们的羞耻心所掩盖,因此空格处填入的名词应与“掩盖”有关,故答案为F)drowned。
【答案解析】动词辨析题。空格前面是不定式短语to leave dysfunctional relationships和并列连词or,后面为on new career paths,因此空格处应填入动词原形,和on new career paths构成动词短语,并与to leave dysfunctional relationships并列。由gave them the courage to leave dysfunctional relationships可知,空格处填入的动词应和“离开不正常的人际关系”一样表示积极正面的改变,而embark on表示“开始从事”,可与new career paths搭配,故答案为G)embark。