单选题 Broadly speaking, the Englishman is a quiet, shy, reserved person who is fully (21) only among people he knows well.
In the presence of strangers or foreigners he often seems inhibited, (22) embarrassed. You have only to (23) a commuter train any morning or evening to see the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or dozing in a corner; no one speaks. In fact, to do so would seem most unusual. (24) ,there is here an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, (25) broken, makes the person immediately the object of (26)
It is a well-known fact that the English have a (27) for the discussion of their weather and that, given half a chance, they will talk about it (28) Some people argue that it is because English weather (29) forecast and hence is a source of interest and (30) to everyone. This may be so. (31) Englishmen cannot have much (32) in the weathermen, who, after promising fine, sunny weather for the following day, are often proved wrong (33) a cloud over the Atlantic brings rainy weather to all districts! The man in the street seems to be as accurate — or as inaccurate—as the weathermen in his (34) The overseas visitors may be excused for showing surprise at the number of references (35) weather that the English make to each other in the course of a single day. Very often conversational greetings are (36) by comments on the weather. "Nice day, isn't it? Beautiful!" may well be heard instead of "Good morning, how are you?" (37) the foreigner may consider this exaggerated and comic, it is worthwhile pointing out that it could be used to his advantage. (38) he wants to start a conversation with an Englishman but is (39) to know where to begin, he could do well to mention the state of the weather. It is a safe subject which will (40) an answer from even the most reserved of Englishmen.

单选题 [A] entertained [B] relaxed [C] amused [D] enlightened
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】考查形容词辨义与上下文理解。由空格后面的only与people he knows well可知填入的词应当与前面的quiet, shy, reserved三个词的意义在整体上对立．所以选relaxed(放松的)。其余三项都不能填入题中：entertained娱乐的；amused被逗乐了的；enlightened开明的。它们都属于动词过去分词转为形容词，都不合题意。
单选题 [A] yet [B] otherwise [C]even [D] though
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】考查副词与句子结构。由空格前后的inhibited(拘谨的)与embarrassed(尴尬的．局促不安的)两个词可以看出，它们在意义上是递进关系(后者表达的语气比前者强)．所以选用even(甚至)。其余三项都表转折，不合本题逻辑。
单选题 [A] experience [B] undergo [C] travel [D] witness
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】考查动词辨义与句意理解。由于空格后的宾语是a commuter train，所以应填入witness(目击，看见)。其余三项都不与train搭配：experience经历，体验；undergo遭受，经历；travel旅行(如果指坐火车旅行，travel与train之间要用介词by)。句意指看一看市郊往返列车就可以明白英国人的腼腆和拘谨。
单选题 [A] Obviously [B] Contrarily [C] Frequently [D] Practically
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】考查副词辨义和上下文理解。由上下文可以看出，空格所在句是对前一句进行的说明。前一句说，“这样做似乎很不正常”，而这一句说“这里有一条不成文但大家都理解得很清楚的行为规则”，因此，它们之间用obviously(显然)最合逻辑。contrarily反之，相反地；frequently经常．频繁地；practically实际上，事实上(因为前文中已有in fact，所以这里不能再用)。
单选题 [A] unless [B] if [C] while [D] as if
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】考查上下文理解。这道题需要考生仔细分析句子结构。which后的部分为code的定语从句，而空格所在的分句应当是定语从句的状语。如果不要这一状语，定语从句及整个句意就会出现逻辑混乱，所以该状语应当是表示一种假设的相反情况，而broken指的是打破这一行为准则，这样句意才合逻辑，故选if沣音if broken相当于if it(=code)is broken。
单选题 [A] suspicion [B] opposition [C] attack [D] study
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】考查名词辨义与上下文理解。suspicion怀疑，疑心；opposition反对；attack攻击；study研究， 学习。由前文所述得知，英国人拘谨、腼腆，在陌生人多的地方如市郊往返火车上一般不说话，这已成了一条行为准则。这里说，如果打破这一准则，打破的人(也就是说话的人)立即就会成为______的对象。所以选用[A]最合适；[B]、[C]两项太过，也与前文不符；[D]明显不对。
单选题 [A] passion [B] fancy [C] necessity [D] judgment
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】考查名词辨义与固定搭配。have a passion for为习惯搭配，指“酷爱，喜欢”，符合题意。fancy 爱好，迷恋，想像力；necessity必要性，需要，必需品；judgment审判，判断(力)。它们都不合本题。
单选题 [A] at length [B] to a great extent [C] from their heart [D] by all means
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】考查固定搭配辨义与上下文理解。at length详细地；to a great extent在很大程度上；from their heart从心底里，打心眼里．by all means尽一切办法地。由句意和常识可知，英国人喜欢谈论天气，如果有机会，他们就会谈起天气来。[B]、[C]两项明显不对；说他们“尽一切办法地”去谈论天气显然不合常理。所以应选[A]，指“详细地谈论天气”。
单选题 [A] follows [B] predicts [C] defies [D] violates
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】考查动词辨义与上下文理解。follow 跟随，理解，遵循；predict预知，预言，预报；defy违抗，藐视，不服从，不符合；violate违犯，违反，冒犯。由下文的描述可知，这里应当是指英国的天气难以预报，所以选defy，指“不好预报”。注意violate虽与defy近义，但其宾语一般是法律、规定、守则等。
单选题 [A] contribution [B] deduction [C] contemplation [D] speculation
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】考查名词辨义与上下文理解。contribution贡献，捐献；deduction减去，演绎；contemplation注视，沉思，打算；speculation猜测，推测。由空格前的and可知填入的词在内涵上应与前面的interest(兴趣)相同，所以只能选[D]，指天气是每个人感兴趣和乐于猜测的话题。
单选题 [A] Still [B] Also [C] Certainly [D] Fundamentally
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】考查副同辨义与上下文逻辑。由下文对天气预报员预报不准确的描述及空格前一句This may be so可知，这里应当选certainly(当然)，表示对英国人不信任天气预报表示肯定和理解。其余三项都不合逻辑。
单选题 [A] faith [B] reliance [C] honor [D] credit
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】考查名词辨义与固定搭配。faith信任，信心；reliance 依赖，依靠(其后跟on)；honor 荣誉，光荣．尊敬(其后一般跟of)；credit信任，信用，相信(其后跟to)。除[A]可用在本题构成固定搭配have faith in sb．(信任某人)外，其余三项都不能如此搭配。
单选题 [A] if [B] once [C] when [D] whereas
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】考查上下文逻辑关系。由句子结构分析，空格后的部分应当是一个状语从句，作全句的时间状语，所以选when。其余三项：if表假设；once表让步和条件；whereas表转折或原因。
单选题 [A] propositions [B] predictions [C] approval [D] defiance
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】考查名词辨义与句意理解。proposition主张，建议，陈述，命题；prediction预言，预报；approval 同意，赞成，批准；defiance违抗，蔑视。由句意可知，这里是将英国的普通人与天气预报人员进行对比。而前文一直谈论的是预报不准确，这里当然也是将两者预报的准确性进行对比了。[C]、[D]两项与文意无关。
单选题 [A] about [B] on [C]as to [D] to
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】考查介词固定搭配。reference后用介词to，指“谈及…，参考…”，引出谈论或参考的对象。
单选题 [A] replaced [B] conducted [C]executed [D] proposed
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】考查动词辨义与上下文理解。replace代替，取代；conduct引导，管理，传导；execute执行，实 行；propose提议，建议。由下一句的例子对这一句的解释和补充说明可知，这里是指交谈双方的问候性话语被对天气的评论性话语所取代，故选replaced。
单选题 [A] Since [B] Although [C] However [D] Before
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】考查上下文逻辑关系。空格所在句的前一分句说“外国人可能认为这很夸张、很有喜剧性”； 后一分句说“值得指出的是这可能对他(指外国人)会有好处”。很明显，两句之间应当是转折关系，故选 [B]注意however也表转折关系，但它用于第二个分句前。
单选题 [A] Even if [B] Because [C] lf [D] For
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】考查上下文逻辑关系。由句子结构分析可知，空格所在句中逗号前的部分应当是一个状语从句．后面才是主句。由主从句的句意可以看出，前面从句应当是提出一种假设，即如果外国人想与英国人搭讪但又不知如何开始，就可以用谈论天气情况作为开场白。所以答案为[C]。
单选题 [A] at a loss [B] at last [C] in fact [D] on the occasion
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】考查固定搭配辨义与句意理解。at a loss困惑；at last最后，终于；in fact 事实上；on the occasion在…的时候，在…之际。由上一题的分析可知，此处应填入一个含否定意义的短语(空格前的but 也提示了这一点)，所以选[A]。
单选题 [A] stimulate [B] constitute [C] furnish [D] provoke
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】考查动词辨义。stimulate刺激，激励；constitute制定，建立，组成；furnish装备，布置，提供； provoke激怒，挑拨，引起。由于宾语是answer(回答)，所以只能选[D]，指如果谈论天气，最保守的英国人也会对你的话做出回应。