单选题
Of all things in the world, I most dislike filling up forms; in fact, I have a
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horror of it. Applying for a driving license,
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for an evening course, booking a holiday abroad—everything nowadays seems to
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giving information about one"s personal life and habits that has little or nothing to do with the matter
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hand. When I apply for a job, it may be of some
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interest to a
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employer to learn that I collect stamps or had measles as a child, but why
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he conceivably wants to know that my father was a tobacconist who died in 1988?
The authorities who
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one to fill up forms, frequently demand answers to questions that one would
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to put to one"s intimate friends. The worst of it is that, when
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with such questions, I find my mind goes blank. Have I ever suffered from a serious illness? My mother always
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me I was "delicate". Do I suffer from any personal defects? Well, I wear
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lenses and my upper teeth are not my own, but perhaps the word "defects"
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to my character. Am I supposed to
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that I like gambling, and find it difficult to get up in the morning?
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of them are true.
Of all, I think job applications are the
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. "Education"—previous experience—post held— give
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...Terrified by the awful warning about giving false
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which appears at the bottom of the form, I
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to remember what exams I passed and how long I worked for what firms. However hard I try, there always seems to be a year or two for which I cannot satisfactorily account and which I am certain, if left
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, will give the impression that I was in prison or engaged in some occupation too dubious to mention.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配。选项A. positive意为“明确的，积极的”，例如：a positive refusal，又如：a positive suggestion；在口语中还可表示“十足的，完全的”的意思，例如：It"s a positive delight to listen to this song.(听这首歌确实是一种享受。)选项B. negative意为“否定的，消极的”。选项C. mild意为“温和的，轻微的”，例如：She has a mild nature.(她性情温和。)又如a mild winter(=not a cold winter)。选项D. slight意为“轻微的”，例如a slight improvement。根据文章主题，正确答案是A。
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配题。上文提到的是：现如今做任何事情都要涉及交代与之毫不关联的个人信息，选项A. contain表示“包含，含有”，例如：Watermelon contains vitamins and also potassium.选项B. include表示“包含，包括”，例如：The bid includes tax and service.选项D. excludes表示“除外”不符合文意。选义C. involve表示“涉及，牵涉”，例如：The use of these materials does involve some inherent questions.所以选项C. involve正确。
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于词语搭配题，考查的是由介词与hand构成的短语搭配。选项A. by hand意为“手工制作”。例如：Her sweater is knitted by hand.(她的羊毛衫是手工编织的。)选项B. in hand意为“在手里，在处理中”，例如：Give them a call to let them know we have the matter in hand.(打个电话告诉他们我们正在处理这件事。)选项C. at hand意为“在手边，即将到来的”，例如：My birthday is at hand.选项D. to hand意为“在手边”，例如：He is the artist who use whatever material come to hand.根据句子的意思，B. in hand是正确答案。
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配题。根据文中意思：如果申请工作，那我小时候是否集邮或者得过麻疹对一个可能成为我老板的人来说可能会有点意思。选项D. obscure表示“模糊的，晦涩的”，例如：The contracts are written in obscure language.在文中表示关系不明显，但是还是有点关系。选项A. obvious表示“明显的，显著的”，例如：They need to rectify what is an obvious injustice.选项B. distinct表示“明显的，显著的”，均不符合题意。选项C. ambiguous表示“模糊不清的”，例如：His answer was ambiguous.意思不准确，故可知选项D. obscure为正确答案。
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语法题，考查情态动词的用法。此处作者对为什么要详细填表格提出质疑。四个选项中C. should最符合上下文，意为“应该，有责任”，例如：You should tell him what has happened.(你有责任告诉他已发生的事。)选项A. need意为“需要”，例如：I need take an examination.选项B. may意为“可以”，例如：May I go now?选项D. did是do的过去式。这三个选项都与原文不符。
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于近义同辨析题。选项D. require意为“要求”，含有“要求履行”和“需要”之意，例如：All passengers are required to show their tickets.选项D. 符合上下文的意思，与下文中的demand(要求)相呼应，故选D。选项A. bid可表示“致意”的意思，例如：bid sb. goodbye；也可表示“命令，吩咐”的意思，例如：She bid me come.选项B. invite意为“邀请”；选项C. request意为“请求”，语气较为客气(demand politely)，例如：request help/silence。
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配题。根据文中意思：回答一些即便是对亲密朋友也不愿意说的问题。选项A. hesitate表示“犹豫，踌躇”，例如：I hesitate to even mention this because I believe in the power of one, but you can find an ally to help. 选项B. delight表示“高兴”；选项C. swear意为“咒骂，发誓”；选项D. confess意为“坦白”，故只有选项A. hesitate符合。
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于近义词辨析题。选项A. ensured意为“保证某事会发生”(make certain that sth. will happen)，指某人会获得某种好事或避免某件坏事，后面常跟双宾语，例如：This medicine will ensure you a good night"s sleep。(吃这药保证你晚上睡得香。)选项B. insured意为“保证，确保”时，属于美式英语，与ensure用法一样，例如：Their help will insure you success.(他们的帮助会保证你成功。)也可用于意为“保险”的意思，例如：I insured my house against fire.(我为我的新房子投保火险。)选项C. assured意为“保证”，意指使某人确信，通常用在assure sb. +that-clause或assure sb. of sth.结构中，例如：She assured me that she would come.(她向我保证她一定来。)选项D. reassured意为“使某人安心”，意指除去某人的不安和疑虑，例如：The doctor reassured me that there would be no pain.(医生向我保证不会痛的。)原句意为：妈妈总是想让我相信她的说法，故选C。
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配题，考查动词与介词to的搭配。选项D. applies：apply to意为“适用，适合”，例如：You can"t apply this rule to every case.(这条规则并不适用于所有的情况。)从上下文判断D是正确答案。另外，apply...to...意为“把……运用于……”，例如：apply the theory to practice。选项A. agrees：agree to sth.意为“同意”，例如：agree to one"s idea/plan；选项B. connects：connect A to B，意为“把A与B连接起来”；选项C. relates：relate to sth.意为“与……有关”，例如：His rudeness relates to his unhappy childhood.(他的粗鲁与他的不幸的童年有关。)
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配题。选项A. decline意为“拒绝，婉言谢绝”，例如：decline one"s invitation；选项B. deny意为“否认，拒绝”，例如：He denies the child nothing.(他对孩子有求必应。)选项C. admit意为“承认”，例如：He admitted (to) stealing the money.选项D. reject意为“断然拒绝”。本题应从上下文的含义来考虑。C最符合文义，故选C。
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语法题。因上文提到了两件事(赌博和早上起不了床)，故首先排除选项C. None(指三者或三者以上)。选项A. Neither或选项D. Either作主语，其后的谓语动词应是单数形式，例如Neither of them is tall.又如Either dress is beautiful.这两项均与本句的谓语动词形式不符，故只有选项B. Both是正确答案。
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配题。选项A. declarations除表示“宣告”的意思外，还可表示“申报，提供信息”(a statement in which you officially give information, esp. about yourself)的意思，例如：Please make a declaration of all the goods you bought abroad.(请申报你从国外买来的所有物品。)因为文中指的是填表格时要提供信息，选项A正符合本题意思，因此是正确答案。选项B. witnesses(证人)，选项C. publications(出版)和选项D. announcements(公告)都不合题意。
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于语义搭配题。选项A. attempt表示“尝试，企图”；B. reluctant表示“勉强，不情愿”；C. manage表示“能够”；D. struggle表示“挣扎着，努力”，例如：They had to struggle against all kinds of adversity.文中意思，我总是很费劲地回忆我通过了哪些考试，为哪些单位工作了多长时间。故选项D. struggle正确。
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 此题属于近义词辨析题。选项A. vacant意为“某物未被占用或无人使用”，可用于事物、时间、职位等，例如：The top post in the delegation is still vacant.(这个代表团的最高职位仍旧空着。)选项B. empty指某一空间中无人或无物，引申义为“无意义，空虚”，例如：She didn"t want to lead an empty life.(她不想过着空虚的生活。)选项C. blank指纸上没写过字的，引申义为“面无表情的”，例如：He gave me a blank look.(他毫无表情地看了我一眼。)选项D. void指凭人们感官所能感知的一切空白东西，例如：This is a subject void of interest.(这是一个没有趣味的题目。)因此本题答案应选C，表示表格中的空白。