2019 考博英語 閱讀模擬練習題附詳細答案解析（五十）
考博英語閱讀理解題型想要獲得高分平日的練習必不可少，旭晨教育考博頻道為考博生們整理了100篇考博英語閱讀理解模擬練習題，希望考博生們做題時注意時間，認真對待，題后有詳細的答案解析。
Tracy Borman can
tell a good story. Admittedly, her subject is a gift.
But Henrietta Howard,
mistress to George II, lived in the midst of a large cast of characters, many
of them entangled in the complicated politics of 18th-century court life, and
Ms Borman handles them and their world with
aplomb
.
Though the 18th century is called the Age of Reason, it was anything but. Henrietta was born in 1689, a year after the balance of power in Britain shifted from monarch to Parliament. But this did nothing to shift the tyranny of men over women, and Henrietta's life was largely shaped by violent and unreasonable men.When she was eight, her father, the profligate and choleric squire of Blickling Hall in Norfolk, challenged a neighbour to a duel for impugning his valour . He was killed for his pains, leaving a wife, eight children and a pile of debts. Eight years later, perhaps hoping to help her now motherless siblings, Henrietta released her dowry money by marrying a cousin, Charles Howard, 14 years her senior.
It was a disaster. Charles turned out to be a compulsive gambler and wife-beater, and their lives descended into lodging-house flits and near-starvation. Then, aged 25, Henrietta made her own astonishing gamble. In 1714, when Queen Anne lay dying, she took herself and Charles off to Hanover, where George Louis, heir presumptive to the English throne, held court. There she joined throngs of other hopefuls, all jockeying for the notice either of George Louis, or his son, George Augustus, or his daughter-in-law, Caroline.
Henrietta's gamble paid off, though frying pans and fires come to mind. Her appointment as Woman of the Bedchamber to Princess Caroline meant long days of tedious and exacting ceremony, such as holding her mistress's wash basin on bended knee, a point that Caroline spitefull y insisted on when Henrietta became her husband's mistress. Not that that was much comfort either. The man was a boor , and dull with it. In any case, Henrietta never really s upplanted Caroline. Being a royal mistress was, in this case, more a post than a romance. But it suited Henrietta in that it protected her from her husband—something the law denied her.
Henrietta was known for her discreet and even temper, but she must also have had sharp elbows. As Ms Borman vividly shows, the court was a scandal- mongering , fickle place, riven by political factionalism and held at fever pitch by the royal family's own very public quarrels. This was the atmosphere Henrietta breathed. And yet she somehow managed to be liked. Even acid-tongued poet, Alexander Pope, described her as reasonable, good-humoured, witty and, above all, a friend.
Some of Ms Borman's most engaging writing describes Henrietta's circle of friends—poets, writers and wits such as Lord Chesterfield and Horace Walpole—and the pleasure they all took in the design of her Palladian villa, Marble Hill at Twickenham. When her husband's death made it safe for her to retire, this was where she came: to entertain, to re-marry, to have a home. After a life of winging it, such hard-wrung domesticity feels almost heroic.
1. Tracy Borman is probably_____
[A] a story teller.
[B] a historian.
[C] a novelist.
[D] an autobiographer.
2. According to the passage, 18the Century is characterized by _____
[A] the widespread notion of reason.
[B] extensive violence among men.
[C] irrationality underneath the overcoat of rationality.
[D] the tyranny of men over women
3. The word “supplanted” (Line 5, Paragraph 4) most probably means_____
[A] hated.
[B] displaced.
[C] threatened.
[D] pleased.
4. Henrietta chose to be a royal mistress because_____
[A] she wanted to have a romance with the royal family member.
[B] such a royal post helped her to climb up the social ladder.
[C] she wanted to dodge her husband.
[D] she could be exempt from Caroline’s tedious ceremony.
5. Henrietta must have had sharp elbows in order to _____
[A] maintain good temper when serving the royal family.
[B] survive the complicated disputes.
[C] have herself accepted by all the people she met.
[D] make friends with reasonable people.
文章剖析：
這篇文章介紹了Tracy Borman筆下的歷史人物Henrietta Howard。第一段講述Tracy Borman以非常沉靜的方式描寫了Henrietta的世界;第二段講述Henrietta的身世及她出嫁的情況;第三段講述悲慘的婚姻令Henrietta另尋出路;第四、五段講述她的宮廷生活;第六段講述Tracy寫得最好的片斷和Henrietta的最后結局。
詞匯注釋：
aplomb n. 冷靜，沉著 profligate n. 享樂者
choleric adj. 易怒的 impugne v. 責難，駁斥
valour n. 英勇，勇猛 dowry n. 嫁妝
heir presumptive n. 假定繼承人 jockey v. 用手段圖謀某個職位或利益：
exacting adj. 嚴格的 spitefully adv. 懷恨地，惡意地
boor n. 粗野的人 supplant v. 取代
monger v. 傳播 fickle adj. 薄情的
factionalism n. 派性，黨派之爭
難句突破：
(1) But Henrietta Howard, mistress to George II, lived in the midst of a large cast of characters, many of them entangled in the complicated politics of 18th-century court life, and Ms Borman handles them and their world with aplomb.
[主體句式 ] But Henrietta Howard lived …, and Ms Borman hands them and their world…
[結構分析] 這是一個并列句;前面分句中，mistress to…是主語的同位語，many of them…是charaters的同位語。
[句子譯文] 但是Henrietta Howard，這位喬治二世的情人生活在一大群人物中間，他們許多都和18世紀宮廷生活的繁復政治糾結在一起，但Borman女士卻能沉靜地描述著他們以及他們的世界。
(2) Her appointment as Woman of the Bedchamber to Princess Caroline meant long days of tedious and exacting ceremony, such as holding her mistress's wash basin on bended knee, a point that Caroline spitefully insisted on when Henrietta became her husband's mistress.
[主體句式] Her appointment meant … such as…
[結構分析] 這是一個復合句，such as…作前面ceremony的定語;a point…是前面on bended knee的同位語;在該同位語中，that引導的是定語從句修飾point，該定語從句中有when引導的時間狀語從句。
[句子譯文] 她成為Caroline公主的臥室女仆，這就意味著她每天都得應付那些單調、嚴格的禮節，比如必須屈膝端著洗臉盆到某一高度，這是Caroline在Henrietta成為他丈夫情婦后惡意堅持這樣的。
題目分析：
1. Tracy Borman is probably_____1. Tracy Borman可能是_____
[A] a story teller.[A] 講故事的人。
[B] a historian.[B] 歷史學家。
[C] a novelist.[C] 小說家。
[D] an autobiographer.[D] 自傳作家。
[答案]C
[難度系數] ☆☆
[分析]推理題。從文章第一句說Tracy Borman是個講故事的好手，可以推斷出她不是歷史學家，也不是記者;而后面提到她對人物的描寫，可以推斷出來她是寫小說的。此外這部書不是關于她自己的，因此她也不是一個自傳作家。因此正確答案為C。
2. According to the passage, 18th Century is characterized by _____2.根據這篇文章，18世紀的特點是_____
[A] the widespread notion of reason.[A] 廣為傳播的理念—理性。
[B] extensive violence among men.[B] 男人之間充滿了暴力。
[C] irrationality underneath the overcoat of rationality.[C] 在理性外衣下的非理性。
[D] the tyranny of men over women.[D] 男人對于女人的殘酷統治。
[答案]C
[難度系數] ☆☆☆
[分析]細節題。文章第二段一開頭就提到“Though the 18th century is called the Age of Reason, it was anything but”，即18世紀被稱為是理性時代，但事實恰恰相反。那么可以看出，18世紀在理性的表面下，其實質是非理性的。C選項為正確答案。
3. The word “supplanted” (Line 5, Paragraph4) most probably means_____3. “supplanted” (第四段第五行)最有可能的意思是_____
[A] hated.[A] 憎恨。
[B] displaced.[B] 代替。
[C] threatened.[C] 威脅。
[D] pleased.[D] 討好。
[答案]B
[難度系數] ☆
[分析]猜詞題。根據上下文，Caroline刁難她，因為知道她是自己丈夫的情人;而后面寫的是王室的情人只是個職位，而不是真正的浪漫;可以推斷，她和國王并沒有感情很深，選項中，B仿佛最為合適，她從來沒有真正的替代她。
4. Henrietta chose to be a royal mistress because_____4.Henrietta選擇去做王室的情人是因為_____
[A] she wanted to have a romance with the royal family member.[A] 她想要和王室成員有一段浪漫史。
[B] such a royal post helped her to climb up the social ladder.[B] 這樣的一個皇家職位能夠幫助她爬上社會高層。
[C] she wanted to dodge her husband.[C] 她想要躲避自己的丈夫。
[D] she could be exempt from Caroline’s tedious ceremony.[D] 她想要使自己免于Caroline那些枯燥的儀式。
[答案]C
[難度系數] ☆☆☆
[分析]細節題。第四段最后提到，王室情人這個職位很適合她，因為可以保護她免受丈夫傷害;而文章最后又提到在她丈夫死后，她就馬上離開了王宮。因此，可以看出，她選擇這個職位是為了躲避自己的丈夫，因此C選項為正確答案。A顯然是一個干擾選項，而B選項的錯誤在于文章并沒有提及她想爬到社會高層。D選項也是錯誤的，因為那不是她的主要目的，而且她也必須履行那些儀式。
5. Henrietta must have had sharp elbows in order to _____5. Henrietta必須有尖銳的肘部以便于_____
[A] maintain good temper while serving the royal family.[A] 保持好脾氣、以更好的服務王室。
[B] survive the complicated disputes.[B] 使復雜糾紛的斗爭中生存下來。
[C] have herself accepted by all the people she met.[C] 被所有她見到的人所接受。
[D] make friends with reasonable people.[D] 和理智的人交朋友。
[答案]B
[難度系數] ☆☆☆
[分析] 推理題。文章第五段提到，雖然她非常審慎、性格很好，但是肘部需要尖銳些，這應當是一個比喻。下文又說這是因為宮廷是一個是非之地，因此，可以推斷這個引申義是指運用這種手段來保護自己、使自己能夠復雜糾紛的皇室斗爭中生存下來，因此B選項為正確答案。其余三個選項都是文章中的一些細節內容，但是卻與本題題干的問題無關。
參考譯文：
Tracy Borman是個講故事的好手，必須得承認，她選取的題材是不同凡響的。Henrietta Howard，這位喬治二世的情人生活在一大群人物中間，他們許多都和18世紀宮廷生活的復雜政治糾結在一起，但Borman女士卻能沉靜地描述這些人以及他們的世界。
雖然18世紀被稱為是理性時代，但卻恰恰相反。Henrietta出生于1689年，而在1688年英國的權利由君主轉向了議會，但是卻沒有除去男性對女性的專制，Henrietta的大部分生活都是由一些暴力、非理性的男性控制著。八歲時，她的父親，一個貪于享樂、性格暴躁的諾福克Blickling Hall鄉紳，因為一位鄰居駁斥他不勇猛，就向鄰居提出了決斗。他最終因為傷痛死去，留下了妻子、八個孩子和一堆債務。八年后，也許是希望可以幫助那時已失去母親的兄弟姐妹們，Henrietta嫁給了比她大十四歲的表哥Charles Howard，條件是免于出嫁妝錢。
這場婚姻是個災難。Charles是個沒有自制力的賭徒，還經常毆打妻子，他們的生活顛簸流離，幾近餓死。就在這時，25歲的Henrietta給自己下了最令人震驚的賭注。1714年，安妮皇后去世，Henrietta和Charles一起到了漢諾威，在那里英國王位的假定繼承人George Louis繼位。Henrietta加入了那些希望通過一些手段引起George Louis、或是他兒子George Augustus和兒媳Caroline的注意的人群。
Henrietta的賭注贏了，盡管她得留意煎鍋和火苗。她成為Caroline公主的臥室女仆，這就意味著她每天都得應付那些單調、嚴格的禮節，比如屈膝端著洗臉盆到某一高度，這是Caroline在Henrietta成為他丈夫情婦后惡意堅持的。但除此外作為George Augustus的情婦也不是什么舒服的事情。這是個粗野的男人，而且也厭煩了。但無論如何，Henrietta從沒有真正取代過Caroline. 既然這樣，作為王室情人更多是一個職位，而不是什么浪漫的事情，但這個職位卻適合Henrietta，能夠使她免于受到丈夫的傷害，而這正是法律不能給與她的。
Henrietta 因為她的審慎和好性格而著稱，但是她的肘部得尖銳些。正像Borman女士寫的那樣，宮廷是個謠言肆虐、感情淡薄的地方，受政治的黨派之爭驅動，加上王室內部的爭吵，這一直是水深火熱之地。而這就是Henrietta生活的地方，但她卻讓人人都喜歡她。即使是尖酸刻薄的詩人Alexander Pope 也把形容她為理智、好脾氣、機敏，最重要的是Pope 把她當成了朋友。
Borman女士的迷人筆法描述賦予了Henrietta的朋友們——有詩人、作家還有像Lord Chesterfield 和 Horace Walpole那樣的才子——以及他們在為設計Henrietta設計位于Twickenham的Palladian別墅和大理石山時的快樂。在丈夫死后，Henrietta就可以安全地退休了，她開始享樂、然后再嫁人，擁有了一個家。經歷這一切之后，辛苦得來的家庭生活感覺就像是英雄史詩一般壯美。
注意：本文歸作者所有，未經作者允許，不得轉載
