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二、阅读理解中的谚语知识
谚语包含了朴素的哲理和深刻的寓意，用在阅读理解题中常用来推断、总结、做结论。 考试需要透过文字的表层信息进行推理、分析、理解文章的真正内涵，找准文章意义与谚语寓意的切入点。请看下面两篇阅读理解：
A
You hear the same complaint all the time: “My memory is terrible.” Is it all in the mind, or do real changes take place in the brain with the passing of time? The answer is that the brain’s cells decline and die with age. However, according to Professor Arthur Shimamura of the University of California, people vary greatly in how they change mentally with age, as well as how much their mental ability declines.
There are three main ways in which mental function changes. The first concerns speed, such as how quickly you can react to fast-moving incidents on the road. Drivers in their late teens react quickly but often drive too fast, while the over -60’s are more careful but react more slowly. This type of mental slowing results from a reduction in the efficiency with which the brains’s neurons (神经细胞) work.
The fact that adults find it harder to learn musical instrument than children points to a second type of mental decline, the loss of learning ability with age. The part of the brain which is known to control new learning is particularly sensitive to the effects of ageing. This means we have to depend more on diaries and other mental aids as we get older, take longer to learn a new language and are slower to master new things at work.
“Working memory” is the third brain function that is sensitive to the effects of ageing. Absentmindedness occurs at all ages because of imperfections in the working memory system. For example, you may continually lose your glasses, or find yourself walking into a room of your house only to find that you cannot remember what you came for. Such absent-mindedness also occurs more often as we get older.
However, evidence also shows that the principle “use it or lose it” applies to the ageing brain. Professor Shimamura studied a group of university professors who were still mentally active, and compared their performance on neuro–psychological tests with that of others of their age group, as well as with younger people. He found that on several tests of memory, the mentally active professors in their 60’s and early 70’s performed better than those of the same age, and as well as the younger group.
1. Memory gets worse as people grow older because ____.
A. the brain starts to produce too many neurons
B. cells in the brain stop the neurons from working
C. the brain’s neurons don’t work as well as before
D. when people get old, they complain too much
2. Which of the following well-known sayings best expresses the idea of the third paragraph?
A. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
B. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
C. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
D. It’s never too old to learn.
3. We can conclude from Shimamura’s test on the professors that ____.
A. active minds might keep their memory better
B. memory can improve with the time passing on
C. all of the old people will suffer memory loss
D. the principle “use it or lose it” is obviously wrong
4. This passage is mainly about ____.
A. youth and ageing B. problems of getting old
C. secrets of a good memory D. ageing and mental ability
答案：1. C 2. B 3. A 4. D
第2题解析：
A.双鸟在林不如一鸟在手。
B.老狗学不到新把戏。(朽木不可雕。)
C.有志者事竟成。
D.活到老，学到老。
B
Life is raw material. We are artisans (n.工匠). We can sculpt our existence into beautiful or debase (vt.降低，贬低) it into ugliness. It’s in our hands. ---- Cathy Better.
It’s in Our Hands
Isn’t it amazing how few of us ask ourselves the important question?
Several years ago, I was invited to hear an important speaker address the students body of a small college in South Carolina. The auditorium was filled with students excited about the opportunity to hear a speaker of her status (n.地位，身份) speak. After the governor gave the introduction, the speaker moved to the microphone, looked at the audience from left to right, and began:
“I was born to a mother who was deaf and couldn’t speak. I don’t know who my father is or was. The first job I ever had was in a cotton field.”
The audience was spellbound. “Nothing has to remain the way it is if that’s not the way a person want it to be. She continued “it isn’t luck, and it isn’t circumstances, and it isn’t being born a certain way that causes a person’s failure to become what it becomes.” And she softly reported, “Nothing has to remain the way it is if that’s not the way a person wants it to be.”
“All a person has to do,” she added in a firm voice, “to change a situation that brings unhappiness or dissatisfaction answers the question: ‘How do I want this situation to become?’ then the person must commit totally to personal actions that carry them there.”
Then a beautiful smile shone forth as she said,, “My name is Azie Taylor Morton. I stand before you today as treasurer (n.财务主管) of the United States of America.”
5. The underlined part “the important question” most probably refers to “____”.
A. Whether life is raw material B. whether we are masters of our life
C. whether we often attend a good lecture D. whether we are artisans
6. The students were filled with excitement because ____.
A. they were certain it would be a good speech
B. the governor was present
C. They didn’t have much chance to hear an important person speak
D. they would be free to ask questions
7. The speaker described her own experience in her speech to ____.
A. gain sympathy from the audience
B. tell the audience what a great person she was
C. teach the audience something valuable
D. make the audience know more about her
8. Which of the following can best tell the main idea of the passage?
A. Where there is a will, there is a way.
B. Experience is the best teacher.
C. A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.
D. Still waters run deep.
答案：5. B 6. C 7. C 8. A
第8题解析：
A.有志者，事竟成。
B.经验是最好的老师。(有经历必受益)
C.吃一堑，长一智。
D.静水流深。(沉默者深谋。)
在做这类题目的时候，考生首先要正确理解谚语的意思，再结合文意选出正确答案。这就要求考生平时多积累总结，比如专门准备一个谚语手册，平时学习阅读中遇到谚语或好的句子就把它写下来，日积月累，语言运用能力自然就上去了。
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