GRE君带你读GRE填空真题题源

【题源1】【¹A natural concern is that a deeper understanding of the brainwill equate to exculpation.If free will isn’t what we imagined it to be, but instead depends on yourgenetics, environment and neural circuits, shouldn’t everyone be ²let off the hook?】But theseconcernsare misplaced. We will continue to take violators of social norms ³offthe streets; we will still assign values right and wrong to behaviors. Instead,the change will be in the refinement of our sentencing.

【翻译】我们有一个本能的担忧，担心对大脑更深入的理解会等于对罪名的开脱。如果自由意志不是我们所想的那样，而是依赖于你的基因、环境和神经回路，那我们不就可以免受指责、避免麻烦了吗？但是，这种担心并不必要。因为我们依旧会惩罚违法分子，我们依旧明辨是非。相反，变化的是我们对于判决制度的改进。

【重要词汇】

• natural：adj.本能的，天生的 used todescribe behaviorthat is part of the character that a person or an animal was born with

[例] It’s only natural to worry about your children. 为孩子操心是很自然的。

• exculpate：vt. 宣布无罪，使开脱to clear from alleged fault orguilt

[例] The court exculpatedhim after a thorough investigation. 法院经过深入的调查后宣判他无罪。

• refinement：改进，改善a small change to sth that improves it

[例]This particular model has a further refinement. 这一款是又有了进一步的改进。

• sentence：判决，宣判to say officially in court that sb is toreceive a particular punishment

[例]to be sentenced to life imprisonment 被判终身监禁

【句子难点】

1.      a natural concern: 刚读这个题源文段，出来三个简单不过的词，但是加起来是什么意思呢？一个自然的关注？明显不是这么翻译。

我们耐心读到第三句，出现转折词but并且提到了concern，那证明but前后concern的感情色彩变了。But之前：concern的是开脱罪名，不负责任; but之后：concern其实不对，我们还是继续惩罚坏人。所以，concern指的是对不负责任的担忧。

2.      let sb off the hook: 使摆脱困境，使逃离惩罚to freeyourself or sb else froma difficult situation or a punishment

[例]There is no way he should be let off the hook so easily. 绝不能让他这么容易就推卸责任。

第*句中的exculpation和第二句话中的let off thehook相等。

3.      take sth/sb off the streets：大家在读外刊的时候，会发现这种表达出现频率非常高。特别是在美国，take guns off the streets更是充斥着大小报刊。

文段中这个短语的字面翻译叫做“使违法分子远离街头”，枪支这个可译为“让枪支远离街头”。不过，大家在阅读的时候，没有必要理解得这么复杂，直接就理解为“惩罚”或者“禁止”即可，于是上述两个表达就可以理解为“惩罚坏人”和“禁枪”。

【题源2】What is distinctive about Li's work in general is the contrast between its emotional intensity and its calm, measured tone.

【翻译】总的来说，李的作品*独特的地方，就是其强烈的情感与平缓的语气所形成的反差。

【重要词汇】

• work：n. 作品，著作a book, piece of music, painting, etc.

[例]She’s an artist whose work I really admire. 她这位艺术家的作品令我赞赏不已。

• measured：adj. 谨慎小心的slow andcareful, controlled

[例]He walked down the corridor with measured steps. 他迈着缓慢而匀称的脚步沿着走廊走去。

【句子难点】

这个句子比较短，我们一起来划线。

emotional intensity与calm, measured之间划线，上面打负号，负号指向contrast。

【题源3】【So perhaps the lesson is that, rather than wantingtheir monarchy to emulate its modernized Scandinaviancounterparts, the British public cherishes it most when it is most anachronistic.】The QueenMother herself practiced a brand of majesty in which glimpses of personalitynever went further than that—yet she remained more popular than herostentatiously human descendants.

【网址】www.economist.com/node/1077686

【翻译】所以这个教训或许是，British的民众并不希望他们的君主制模仿Scandinavian的现代化制度，在君主制*过时的时候，他们最爱护的就是这个体制。Queen Mother（伊丽莎白一世），实行了一系列威严的政策，这使得对她印象的初步认识也从来没有超过这一点。然而跟后来几位过分平凡的君主相比，她却更受人民所爱戴。

【重要单词】

• emulate：vt.模仿to try to do sth as well as sb elsebecause you admire them

[例]She hopes to emulate her sister’s sporting achievements. 他希望在运动*上面赶上她姐姐。

• counterpart：n. 相当的人，对应的事a person orthing that has the same position orfunction as sb/sth else in a different place or situation

[例]The Foreign Minister held talks with his Chinese counterpart. 外交部长于中国外交部长举行了会议。

• anachronistic：n. 过时的 a person, acustom or an idea that seems old-fashionedand does not belong to the present

[例]The monarchy is seen by many people as an anachronism in the modernworld. 许多人认为君主制在现代世界不合时宜。

• personality：n. 特点the qualities of a placeor thing that make itinteresting and different

[例]The problem with many modern buildings is that they lac personality. 许多现代建筑物的问题是缺乏特色。

【句子难点】

第1句话中，英国的民众做了两个事情：

一是喜欢一个过时的制度，二是不希望这个制度现代化。

其中，rather than是我们的方程等号。我们可以在modernized和anachronistic之间画一条线，上面打负号，负号指向的就是rather than。所以另外一组词或词组就不需要取反，这组词是cherish和emulate.