单选题
Richard Holbrooke, who died at the age of 69 after suffering a ruptured aorta, was not the most universally beloved, but was certainly one of the ablest, the most admired and the most effective of American diplomats. He is one of the few of that profession in the past 40 years who can be compared with the giants of the "founding generation" of American hegemony, such as Dean Acheson and George Kennan.
Holbrooke was tough as well as exceptionally bright. He was a loyal, liberal Democrat, but also a patriot who was prepared to be ruthless in what he saw as his nation"s interest. To his friends, he was kind and charming, but he could be abrasive: no doubt that characteristic helped prevent him becoming Secretary of State on two occasions, under Bill Clinton and again when Barack Obama became president.
He held almost every other important job in the international service of the US. He was ambassador to the United Nations, where he dealt with the vexed problem of America"s debts to the organization, and to Germany. He was the only person in history to be assistant Secretary of State—the key level in routine diplomacy—in two regions of the world, Europe and Asia. He distinguished himself as an investment banker, a magazine editor, a charity executive and an author, but he will be remembered most of all for his success in negotiating an end to the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina at an Ohio airbase, and for his part in the American intervention in Kosovo. At the time of his death, he was Obama"s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Holbrooke joined the Foreign Service, and in 1963 was sent as a civilian official to Vietnam, where he was one of a talented cohort of young men who were to become leaders in American diplomacy. Once back in Washington in 1966, Holbrooke worked for two years in the White House under Johnson, and then at the State Department, where he was a junior member of the delegation to the fruitless initial peace talks with North Vietnam in Paris.
By 1972, Holbrooke was ready for a change. He became the first editor of the magazine
Foreign Policy
, created as a less stuffy competitor to the august Foreign
Affairs
. He also worked for
Newsweek
magazine. In 1976, he went to work for Governor Jimmy Carter of Georgia, who was beginning his campaign for president and badly needed some foreign policy expertise. When Carter became president, in 1977, Holbrooke became his assistant Secretary of State for Asian affairs.
单选题
What is common between Richard Holbrooke and Dean Acheson?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的人名关键词Richard Holbrooke和Dean Acheson可定位到第一段。有关这两个人物的比较出现在该段的第二句。
细节理解题。第二句把霍尔布鲁克和迪安·艾奇逊作了比较，说他是过去40年中少数可以与打下美国霸权江山的巨人——比如迪安·艾奇逊和乔治·凯南——相提并论的外交官之一。结合选项可知，选项A为正确答案，其中effective此处意为“实干的”。
原文中并未提及迪安·艾奇逊是否受世人爱戴，且有对霍尔布鲁克的描述“not the most universally beloved(不是最受世人爱戴的)”，所以排除选项B；选项C是仅针对迪安·艾奇逊的描述，称其为“打下美国霸权江山的巨人”，然而这不是霍尔布鲁克和艾奇逊的共同点，所以此选项错误；选项D的错误在于该选项中的时间跨度为“in the past 40 years(在过去40年中)”，本段第二句虽提及霍尔布鲁克是过去40年在外交界中少数可以与艾奇逊相提并论的人，但不能够反映出艾奇逊与霍尔布鲁克是同时代的人，故该项可排除。
单选题
Why didn"t Holbrooke become Secretary of State?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的关键词Secretary of State可定位到第二段末句。需要注意题干中的否定词didn"t。
推理判断题。文章第二段描述了霍尔布鲁克的性格特征，末句提到“that characteristic helped prevent him becoming Secretary of State on two occasions(这种性情使他两度与国务卿一职擦肩而过)”。对比各选项，选项D符合此意，故为正确答案。
选项A是利用本段第二句设置的干扰项，选项本身并无错误，霍尔布鲁克确实是“忠诚的民主党人”，但这并不是他没有当选国务卿的理由，所以排除选项A；选项B在文中没有任何对应信息；选项C具有较强的干扰性，该项是利用第二段末句“To his friends, he was kind and charming, but he could be abrasive(在朋友眼中，他亲切和蔼，但有时也生硬粗暴)”设置的干扰，选项C只足表述了其中的一个方面，且对待朋友和成为国务卿并不属于同一范畴，构不成因果关系，所以此选项错误。
单选题
We can learn from Paragraph 3 that ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 题干已经明确指示本题是对第三段的考查。
细节理解题。第三段第三句指出他是美国历史上唯一负责过世界上两个地区(欧洲和亚洲)事务的助理国务卿，结合各选项可知，选项C为正确答案。
选项A具有较强的干扰性，该项是利用第三段第二句“He was ambassador to the United Nations, where he dealt with the vexed problem of America"s debts to the organization, and to Germany(他当过美国驻联合国大使，处理了让人头疼的美国拖欠联合国会费的问题，还当过驻德国大使)”设置的干扰。句中的and to Germany很容易被认为是与to the organization并串列的。
实际上，根据第一句“He held almost every other important job in the international service of the US(除国务卿外，美国重要的外交职务他几乎当了个遍)”判断，句中的and to Germany是to the United Nations并列的结构。另外，如果Germany和organization为并列结构，完全可以用to the organization and Germany来表述，因此可排除选项A；选项B和文中的“He distinguished himself as an investment banker(他是享有盛名的投资银行家)”意思相悖。此处distinguish oneself的含义为“使出众，使受人青睐”；选项D是利用第三段第四句中“he will be remembered most of all for his success in negotiating an end to the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina(最为世人铭记的将是他成功斡旋波黑战争的结束)”设置的干扰，选项内容“他结束了波黑战争”与原文表述有出入，所以该选项也可排除。
单选题
According to the text, which of the following is true of Holbrooke?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。由第五段第五句中的“in 1977, Holbrooke became his assistant Secretary of State for Asian affairs(1977年霍尔布鲁克成为负责亚洲事务的助理国务卿)”可知，选项D为正确答案。
选项A是利用第四段第二句末尾的“he was a junior member of the delegation to the fruitless initial peace talks with North Vietnam in Paris(他作为代表团的低级别成员在巴黎参与了与北越进行的无果而终的首次和谈)”设置的干扰项，该选项中的preside over表示“主持”，与原文不符，因此可以排除；选项B是利用第五段第二句设置的干扰项，该句主句部分的意思是：霍尔布鲁克成为《外交政策》的第一位编辑，该句的从句部分指出该杂志是作为《外交》的竞争对手而创办的，选项B却说他是《外交》的第一位编辑，与原文不符；选项C是利用第五段第一句设置的干扰项，该句的意思是：1972年，霍尔布鲁克决定改行。但是并不能由此句推断出“他喜欢改行”，所以该选项属于过度推断，应排除。
单选题
Regarding Holbrooke"s role in American Foreign Service, the author feels ______.