1999年考研英语阅读理解真题解析_新浪教育

1999年考研英语阅读理解真题解析

http://www.sina.com.cn 2003/06/17 18:46 新东方教育在线

　　Passage 5

　　It's a rough world out there. Step outside and you could break a leg slipping on your doormat. Light up the stove and you could burn down the house. Luckily, if the doormat or stove failed to warn of coming disaster, a successful lawsuit might compensate you for your troubles. Or so the thinking ha

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript1.1" SRC="http://sina.allyes.com/main/adfshow?user=AFP6_for_SINA|Edu|WebPIP&db=sina&local=yes&js=on"></SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT><A HREF="http://sina.allyes.com/main/adfclick?user=AFP6_for_SINA|Edu|WebPIP&db=sina"><IMG SRC="http://sina.allyes.com/main/adfshow?user=AFP6_for_SINA|Edu|WebPIP&db=sina" WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1 BORDER=0></a></NOSCRIPT>

s gone since the early 1980s, when juries began holding more companies liable for their customers' misfortunes.

　　Feeling threatened, companies responded by writing ever-longer warning labels, trying to anticipate every possible accident. Today, stepladders carry labels several inches long that warn, among other things, that you might-surprised!-fall off. The label on a child's Batman cape cautions that the toy "does not enable user to fly."

　　While warnings are often appropriate and necessary--the dangers of drug interactions, for example--and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isn't clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured. About 50 percent of the companies lose when injured customers take them to court.

　　Now the tide appears to be turning. As personal injury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in casesswheresa warning label probably wouldn't have changed anything. In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet."We're really sorry he has become paralyzed, but helmets aren't designed to prevent those kinds of injuries,"says Nimmons. The jury agreed that the nature of the game, not the helmet, was the reason for the athlete's injury. At the same time, the American Law Institute-asgroupsof judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight-issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones."Important information can get buried in a sea of trivialities," says a law professor at Cornell Law School who helped draft the new guidelines. If the moderate end of the legal community has its way, the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.

　　1. What were things like in 1980s when accidents happened?

　　［A］Customers might be relieved of their disasters through lawsuits.

　　［B］Injured customers could expect protection from the legal system.

　　［C］Companies would avoid being sued by providing new warnings.

　　［D］Juries tended to find fault with the compensations companies promised.

　　2. Manufacturers as mentioned in the passage tend to .

　　［A］satisfy customers by writing long warnings on products

　　［B］become honest in describing the inadequacies of their products

　　［C］make the best use of labels to avoid legal liability

　　［D］feel obliged to view customers' safety as their first concern

　　3. The case of Schutt helmet demonstrated that .

　　［A］some injury claims were no longer supported by law

　　［B］helmets were not designed to prevent injuries

　　［C］product labels would eventually be discarded

　　［D］some sports games might lose popularity with athletes

　　4. The author's attitude towards the issue seems to be .

　　［A］biased［B］indifferent

　　［C］puzzling［D］objective

　　第一部分文章背景

　　[内容分类]社会科学--法律

　　此类法律方面的文章在历年的考试中并不多见，因此考生最好借助阅读本文熟悉一下美国的法律架构。

　　第二部分语言点详解

　　1. slip滑倒

　　[大纲词汇] slip v.滑，滑倒；滑落，滑掉；溜走n.疏忽，小错，口误，笔误

　　[经典例句] The old lady slipped on a banana skin and broke her leg.

　　2. doormat门前擦鞋垫

　　3. light up点燃

　　[大纲词汇] light n.光，光亮，光线；灯，灯光，光源v.点(火)，点燃；(使)变亮，照亮

　　[经典例句] It is getting dark-time to light up the lamp.

　　4. burn down烧毁

　　[大纲词汇] burn v.燃烧，烧伤，烧毁n.烧伤，灼伤

　　[扩充词组] burn down烧毁，(使)烧成平地

　　[经典例句] He burned down his enemy's house.

　　5. warn of警告

　　[大纲词汇] warn v.(of, against)警告，告戒

　　[经典例句] The notice warned people of danger of walking on the frozen river.

　　6. lawsuit诉讼

　　[扩充词汇] lawsuit n.诉讼

　　[经典例句] The injured clients brought a lawsuit against the airline.

　　7. jury陪审团

　　[大纲词汇] jury n.陪审团；全体评审员

　　[经典例句] The jury found the prisoner not guilty.

　　8. hold liable for认为···应负有···的责任

　　[大纲词汇] liable a.(for)有责任的，有义务的

　　[经典例句] The judge held the defendant liable for his friend's death.

　　9. anticipate预料

　　[大纲词汇] anticipate v.预期，预料，预感，期望

　　[经典例句] The directors anticipated a fall in demand.

　　10. interaction相互作用

　　[大纲词汇] interact v.互相作用，互相影响

　　[衍生词汇] interaction n.相互作用，相互影响

　　[经典例句] Researchers observed the interaction between the heart and lungs.

　　11. federal联邦的

　　[大纲词汇] federal a.联邦的

　　[经典例句] Congress is the federal lawmaking body of the United States.

　　12. liability责任

　　[大纲词汇] liability n.责任，义务；[pl.]债务

　　[经典例句] He accepted the liability for the damage done to the car.

　　13. claim索赔

　　[大纲词汇] claim v.要求；声称，主张；索赔n.要求；主张，断言；索赔；权利，要求权，所有权

　　[经典例句] The patient put forward a malpractice claim to the hospital.

　　14. side with站在···的一边

　　[大纲词汇] side v.(with)同意，站在···的一边n.侧面，旁边；坡，岸，一边，一方

　　[经典例句] My mother sided with me in my dispute with my father.

　　15. defendant被告

　　[扩充词汇] defendant n.被告

　　[经典例句] The defendant is charged of murder.

　　16. paralyze使瘫痪

　　[大纲词汇] paralyze/paralyse v.使瘫痪(麻痹)；使丧失作用

　　[经典例句] The driver was paralyzed in an car accident.

　　17. carry weight有分量

　　[大纲词汇] weight n.重量，重力；负荷，重担；重要性，分量；砝码，秤砣

　　[扩充词组] carry weight有重要性，有影响，有价值，有分量

　　[经典例句] The mayor's opinion carries great weight in this town.

　　18. substantial重大的

　　[大纲词汇] substantial a.实质的，真实的；坚固的；结实的；富裕的

　　[经典例句] She has made substantial progress in her study.

　　19. tort law侵权行为法

　　[扩充词汇] tort n.侵权行为

　　20. bombard with连续提出··· [扩充词汇] bombard v.轰炸；痛斥，不断攻击，想···连续提出问题

　　[经典例句] The persecutor bombarded the defendant with questions.

　　21. triviality无足轻重的细节

　　[大纲词汇] trivial a.琐碎的；无足轻重的

　　[衍生词汇] triviality n.琐事，无足轻重的事

　　[经典例句] He was criticized for including too many trivialities in his report.

　　22. draft new guidelines起草新的方针

　　[大纲词汇] draft v.起草，草拟n.草稿，草案，草图

　　[扩充词汇] guideline n.方针，原则

　　23. moderate end稳健的一派

　　[大纲词汇] moderate a.中等的，适度的，温和的，稳健的

　　[经典例句] People believe he is a moderate leader.

　　24. has its way自主行事

　　[扩充词组] have one's way想怎样就怎样，自主行事

　　[经典例句] It would be disastrous if you let your son to have his way.

　　25. for the benefit of为了···受益

　　[大纲词汇] benefit n.利益，好处，恩惠v.(from, by)收益；有益于

　　[经典例句] He moved to a big city for the benefit of his children.

　　26. inadequacy不适当

　　[大纲词汇] inadequate a.(for, to)不充足的，不适当的

　　[衍生词汇] inadequacy n.不充足，不适当

　　[经典例句] This is a reflection of the inadequacy of the public hospital system.

　　27. make the best use of使···得到最好的利用

　　[大纲词汇] make use of利用

　　[经典例句] We must make the best use of the limited natural resources.

　　28. be obliged to被迫做··· [大纲词汇] oblige v.迫使；责成；(使)感激，施恩于

　　[经典例句] I felt obliged to invite him to the party.

　　第三部分难句解析

　　1. While warnings are often appropriate and necessary-the dangers of drug interactions, for example-and many are required by state or federal regulations, it isn't clear that they actually protect the manufacturers and sellers from liability if a customer is injured.

　　[结构剖析]在这个主从复合句中，前一个分句是由while引导的让步从句，这个从句由两个并列句组成，中间用and连接。破折号之间的部分是举例说明warnings的内容，and后面的many省略了warnings，state与federal共用regulations。主句部分本身也是一个主从复合句，主句用了一个形式主语it，真正的主语是that引导的从句，注意这个从句中有个动词短语protect…from…，后面是一个if引导的条件从句。

　　[阅读重点]首先要把握这个句子的主旨，那就是主句中所阐明的warnings对manufacturers and sellers的保护作用还很不明朗。注意破折号之间的部分对warnings的解释作用以及it作为形式主语的替代作用。

　　[参考译文]尽管警告常常是适当而且必须的--比如对于药物相互作用的危险提出警告--许多警告还是按州或联邦政府规定要求给出的，然而(我们)并不清楚，如果顾客受到伤害时，这些警告是不是确实可以使得生产者和销售者豁免责任。

　　2. As personal injury claims continue as before, some courts are beginning to side with defendants, especially in casesswheresa warning label probably wouldn't have changed anything.

　　[结构剖析]在这个主从复合句中，前一个分句是由as引导的伴随状语从句，注意这里的claims是个名词；主句的时态用的是正在进行时，表示的这种状况正在开始。这个主句有一个较长的状语短语，原因是cases后面跟了一个where引导的定语从句，修饰cases，这个定语从句的主干是：warning label not change anything，解释的时什么样的cases。

　　[阅读重点]主句依然是抓住句子大意的关键，该句所要表达的就是：some courts beginning to side with defendants，再者要注意cases后面定语从句指出了哪类cases尤为如此。

　　[参考译文]随着有关个人伤害的指控一如既往地继续着，有些法庭开始偏向被告一方，尤其是在审理那些警告标签可能起不到什么作用的案件的时候。

　　3. In May, Julie Nimmons, president of Schutt Sports in Illinois, successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player who was paralyzed in a game while wearing a Schutt helmet.

　　[结构剖析]这个句子的主干是：president successfully fought a lawsuit.句子的主语是Julie Nimmons，后面逗号之间的部分是她的职位，宾语部分，a lawsuit有一个较长的动词现在分词involving所引导的短语，involving的宾语是a football player，后面跟了一个who引导的定语从句，这个定语从句中有一个while引导的时间状语，还原成句子就是：while he was wearing a Schutt helmet。

　　[阅读重点]理解这个句子的大意在于找出其中叙述的人物、事件以及结果，因此可以找出其中的关键部分：presidents of Schutt successfully fought a lawsuit involving a football player paralyzed while wearing Schutt helmet.

　　[参考译文]五月份的时候，伊利诺斯州Schutt体育用品公司总裁朱力尼蒙斯就打赢了一场官司。这场官司涉及到一位美式橄榄球运动员，他戴着Schutt公司生产的头盔参加比赛，结果受伤瘫痪了。

　　4. At the same time, the American Law Institute-asgroupsof judges, lawyers, and academics whose recommendations carry substantial weight-issued new guidelines for tort law stating that companies need not warn customers of obvious dangers or bombard them with a lengthy list of possible ones.

　　[结构剖析]这个看起来很长的句子其实是一个单句，主干是：the Institute issued new guidelines for tort law。其中破折号之间的内容说明的是这个Institute的人员构成，并且用一个whose引导的定语从句说明了这些成员的权威。law后面的跟的现在分词stating有一个相当长的宾语从句，这个从句的主语是companies，而谓语有两个动词结构，一个是warn…of…，另一个是bombard…with…，叙述了guidelines的内容。

　　[阅读重点]这个句子的要点是在stating后面的that从句，对其中两个动词结构warn…of和bombard….with…的正确理解决定了对整个句子的理解。

　　[参考译文]与此同时，美国法律研究所--由一群法官、律师和理论专家组成，他们的建议份量极重--发布了新的民事伤害法令指导方针，宣称公司不必提醒顾客注意显而易见的危险，也不必连篇累牍地一再提请他们注意一些可能会出现的危险。

　　5. If the moderate end of the legal community has its way, the information on products might actually be provided for the benefit of customers and not as protection against legal liability.

　　[结构剖析]在这个复合句中，if引导的是一个条件从句，主句部分的谓语用了被动形式，谓语动词provide for有两个宾语，一个是the benefits of customers,另一个是protection against legal liability，not决定了两者的取舍关系，取前者，舍后者。

　　[阅读重点]从句给出了前提条件，注意has its way的意思(can be achieved)；理解主句部分的关键在于provide for的两个宾语的取舍关系。

　　[参考译文]如果这个法律团体适中的目的能够实现的话，产品信息的提供就可能的确是为了顾客的利益，而不是为了避免公司承担法律责任了。

　　第四部分

　　答案：1.B 2.C 3.A 4.D

【评论】【推荐】【大中小】【打印】【关闭】

　　两性学堂--掀起夏日阳光中的爱欲狂潮
　　新浪邮箱雄踞市场第一真诚回馈用户全面扩容
　　在家学新东方英语注会注册评估师考研英语
　　无数人梦寐以求的境界，亲密接触，激烈搏杀，包你爽上“天堂”

新闻查询
关键词一关键词二