单选题

Generally speaking, a British is widely regarded as a quiet, shy and conservative person who is{{U}} (1) {{/U}}only among those with whom he is acquainted. When a stranger is at present, he often seems nervous, even{{U}} (2) {{/U}}. You have to take a commuter train any morning or evening to (3) the truth of this.
Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or dozing in a comer; hardly anybody talks, since to do so would be considered quite{{U}} (4) {{/U}}.
{{U}} (5) {{/U}}, there is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, once broken, makes the offender immediately the object of{{U}} (6) {{/U}}.
It has been known as a fact that a British has a{{U}} (7) {{/U}}for the discussion of their weather and that, if given a chance, he will talk about it{{U}} (8) {{/U}}.
Some people argue that it is because the British weather seldom{{U}} (9) {{/U}}forecast add hence becomes a source of interest and{{U}} (10) {{/U}}to everyone.
This may be so.{{U}} (11) {{/U}}a British cannot have much{{U}} (12) {{/U}}in the weathermen, who, after promising fine, sunny weather for the following day, are often proved wrong{{U}} (13) {{/U}}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{{U}} (14) {{/U}}.
Foreigners may be surprised at the number of references{{U}} (15) {{/U}}weather that the British{{U}} (16) {{/U}}to each other in the course of a single day. Very often conversational greetings are{{U}} (17) {{/U}}by comments on the weather. "Nice day, isn't it?" "Beautiful!" may well be heard, instead of "Good morning, how are you?" Although the foreigner may consider this exaggerated and comic, it is{{U}} (18) {{/U}}pointing out that it could be used to his advantage. If he wants to start a conversation with a British but is at a loss to know{{U}} (19) {{/U}}to begin, he could do well to mention the state of the weather. It is a safe subject which will{{U}} (20) {{/U}}an answer from even the most reserved of the British.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】考查上下文语义衔接。前面说英国人安静、羞涩、保守，后面定语从句说只有和认识的人在一起时他们才能感到怎么样。从意思上首先排除[B] frustrated“灰心的”和[D] exhausted“劳累的”。amused是“高兴的”，可以反过来推理一下，和认识的人在一起才高兴，那么和不认识的人在一起就不高兴，不符合常理；所以只有[A] relaxed“放松的”正确。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】考查上下文语义衔接。首先要明白这句话中的so是指talk，公共场合说话不可能被认为是[C] deliberate“深思熟虑的”，或者是defensive“防御的”，只可能是impolite“不礼貌的”，或者offensive“令人不快的，讨厌的”。另外，impolite从语气上来说程度不够，而且下一段中的offender也提示应选offensive。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】考查上下文逻辑衔接。本句是对上一段所讲英国人安静现象的总结，前后没有因果关系，所以排除选[D] Consequently“因此”。因为有了上面的现象，就很容易得出下面的结论，因此选择[B] Apparently“显而易见的”。[A] Deliberately“故意的”，[C] Frequently“频繁地，经常地”，逻辑不符。

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】考查上下文语义衔接和短语辨析。这里说一有机会，英国人就会怎么样谈论天气。at length“详细地”，符合文意，也和前面的fancy呼应。to a great extent是“很大程度上”，一般用于说明事情的真实程度；from his heart是“发自心底”，并非每个人在谈论天气都是发自心底，因此排除；by all means“尽一切办法”，意思上和given a chance重复。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】考查上下文语义衔接和近义词辨析。既然天气预报人员不遵循预测，那么这种预测就成了大家兴趣和猜测的源泉，另外还要注意所填词和前面的interest搭配，[D] speculation是“推测”，强调在不知道事实的情况下的推测，符合文意。dedication是“贡献”，语义不符；suspicion“怀疑，猜疑”常用于表示不信任；contemplation“沉思”，注意本句旨在揭示上一句英国人喜欢谈论天气的原因，故不选“沉思”。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】考查上下文逻辑衔接。这里需要一个表示程度的副词，后面句子中的often是个很重要的提示，既然预报员经常出错，那么人们当然就不会太信任他，所以选[C] Certainly。Usually“通常”，Generally是“通常，一般”，这两个词的程度都不够；Fundamentally“基础地，根本地”，其程度过深。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】考查上下文逻辑衔接。注意前后的逻辑衔接，前面有介词after，意思是就在承诺了第二天的好天气之后，发生了与之承诺相反的事，这里的所填词应该翻译成“这时”，[C] when正好符合了选项的要求。其他的选项[A] since做连词是“既然，自…以来”；once是“一旦”，因为这句话中前面已经有了 often，所以意思上就不搭配；[D] while“当…时候”，强调时间的延续性，因此也不对。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】考查上下文语义衔接。这一段讲述的都是预报员的不准确，本句话也不例外，不过是通过比较而言，意思是大街上的人和预报员一样准确或者不准确，那么准确或者不准确只能是对天气的预测，即 [B] predictions“预测”。排除[A] proposition“建议，陈述”，[C] Proposal“提议，建议”，[D] prophecy“预言”。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】考查上下文语义衔接。注意所填词的逻辑宾语是conversational greetings，排除conduct“引导，管理”和propose“提议”，这两个词用得太大。如果单是conversation，用start会更好些，但此处只是conversational greetings，即“问候”，而且后面一句中又有instead of做提示，因此推断[B] replace“替换”合适，意思是对天气的评论代替了谈话的问候语。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】考查上下文语义衔接。后面已经说even the most reserved British，可以判断得到答案很不容易。 provoke“刺激”，指激起某人突然的感情，符合这里天气话题能得到最保守英国人回答的描述；stimulate也是“刺激”，但一般指刺激某人对某事感兴趣；排除constitute“构成”和furnish“提供”。