Text 3

　　When Rupert Murdoch sees beams of light in the American advertising market, it is not necessarily time to reach for the sunglasses. Last October, when the impact of September 11th was o ...

　　非常感謝這位讀者的提問，從你的分析中可以看出你在認真解讀文章內(nèi)容，相信按照這樣的方式集中訓(xùn)練一段時間后，英語閱讀水平一定大有提高。因為閱讀歸根結(jié)底就是考查考生對作者表達含義的理解。

　　針對你的提問，編輯部的解答如下：

　　(1)首先，聯(lián)系全文，文章主旨是介紹美國廣告業(yè)復(fù)蘇，因此第一段只是一個引子，引出“廣告業(yè)復(fù)蘇”這個話題。

　　但是一般成熟的英文作家都不會簡單地直入主題，而是做一定的鋪墊。本文就是如此，作者借用傳媒領(lǐng)域重量級人物默多克的言論最終是為了提出文章的觀點：現(xiàn)在美國廣告業(yè)已經(jīng)在復(fù)蘇。

　　(2)其次，第一段的內(nèi)容一波三折，再加上比喻論證手法的使用，大大干擾了讀者對文章的理解。你對該段前面部分的理解是完全正確的：默多克先是自信地認為(had already identified)廣告業(yè)已經(jīng)完全恢復(fù);接著在廣告銷售依然不景氣的現(xiàn)實(with ad sales still languishing)面前，默多克對之前的說法予以否認，委婉地表達出“只是有一些恢復(fù)的跡象而已(some hints of modest upswing)”的觀點。第一段最后兩句話是作者的評論。倒數(shù)第二句是對前面內(nèi)容的總結(jié)，也就是“承上”：(因為他自己都否認，所以)他先前的觀點看來是過于樂觀了。這句話的潛臺詞是：(默多克弄錯了，)美國的廣告業(yè)還沒有開始復(fù)蘇。但是末句 however 一轉(zhuǎn)折，作者提出：但是，(默多克沒有錯，)現(xiàn)在業(yè)內(nèi)人士開始認同他的觀點了。這句話的潛臺詞是：但是，現(xiàn)在廣告業(yè)確實開始復(fù)蘇了。末句起到“啟下”的作用。

　　下文第二段開始論述為什么美國經(jīng)濟不景氣的情況下，廣告業(yè)會率先復(fù)蘇。

　　(3)文章花費筆墨并不是為了區(qū)別“完全復(fù)蘇”和“稍微復(fù)蘇”程度的不同，而是停留在“是否復(fù)蘇”這樣一個是與非的問題上。第一段采用了常見的欲擒故縱、欲揚先抑的寫作手法。

　　(4)如果觀察家認同的是默多克的第二個觀點，那么末句中 however 一詞完全沒有必要。

　　(5)第二、三段在第一段指出美國廣告業(yè)已經(jīng)復(fù)蘇的基礎(chǔ)上，進一步介紹這種復(fù)蘇的規(guī)律及模式。

　　Text 4

　　Talk to any parent of a student who took an adventurous gap year (a year between school and university when some students earn money, travel, etc.) and a misty look will come into their eyes. There are some disasters and even the most motivated, organised gap student does require family back-up, financial, emotional and physical. The parental mistiness is not just about the brilliant experience that has matured their offspring; it is vicarious living. We all wish pre university gap years had been the fashion in our day. We can see how much tougher our kids become; how much more prepared to benefit from university or to decide positively that they are going to do something other than a degree.

　　Gap years are fashionable, as is reflected in the huge growth in the number of charities and private companies offering them. Pictures of Prince William toiling in Chile have helped, but the trend has been gathering steam for a decade. The range of gap packages starts with backpacking, includes working with charities, building hospitals and schools and, very commonly, working as a language assistant, teaching English. With this trend, however, comes a danger. Once parents feel that a well-structured year is essential to their would be undergraduate s progress to a better university, a good degree, an impressive CV and well paid employment, as the gap companies blurbs suggest it might be, then parents will start organising—and paying for—the gaps.

　　Where there are disasters, according to Richard Oliver, director of the gap companies' umbrella organisation, the Year Out Group, it is usually because of poor planning. That can be the fault of the company or of the student, he says, but the

　　best insurance is thoughtful preparation. “When people get it wrong, it is usually medical or, especially among girls, it is that they have not been away from home before or because expectation does not match reality.”

　　The point of a gap year is that it should be the time when the school leaver gets to do the thing that he or she fancies. Kids

　　don't mature if mum and dad decide how they are going to mature. If the 18-year-old's way of maturing is to slob out on Hampstead Heath soaking up sunshine or spending a year working with fishermen in Cornwall, then that s what will be

　　productive for that person. The consensus, however, is that some structure is an advantage and that the prime mover needs to be the student.

　　The 18-year-old who was dispatched by his parents at two weeks'notice to Canada to learn to be a snowboarding instructor at a cost of ￡5,800, probably came back with little more than a hangover. The 18-year-old on the same package who

　　worked for his fare and spent the rest of his year instructing in resorts from New Zealand to Switzerland, and came back to apply for university, is the positive counterbalance. [502 words]