PETS三級(jí)閱讀試題訓(xùn)練(1)

"Family" is of course an elastic word. And in different countries it has different meanings. Butwhen British people say that their society is based on family life, they are thinking of "family"in itsnarrow, peculiarly European sense of mother, father and children living together in their own houseas an economic and social unit. Thus, every British marriage indicates the beginning of a new and in-dependent family--hence the tremendous importance of marriage in British life. For both man andwoman, marriage means leaving one’s parents and starting one’s own life. The man’s first duty willthen be to his wife, and the wife’s to her husband. He will be entirely responsible for her financialsupport, and she for the running of the new home. Their children will be their common responsibilityand their alone. Neither the wife’s parents nor the husband’s, nor their brothers or sisters, aunts oruncles, have any right to interfere with them-they are their own masters.

Readers of novels likeJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice will know that in former times, marriage among wealthy families were arranged by the girl’s parents, that is, it was the "parents' duty tofind a suitable husband for their daughter, preferably a rich one, and by skillful encouragement tolead him eventually to ask their permission to marry her. Until that time, the girl was protected andmaintained in the parents' home, and the financial relief of getting rid of her could be seen in theirgiving the newly married pair a sum of money called a dowry (嫁妝). It is very different today.Most girls of today get a job when they leave school and become financially independent before theirmarriage. This has had two results. A girl chooses her own husband, and she gets no dowry. Everycoin has two sides; independence for girls is no exception. But it may be a good thing for all of thegirls, as their social status are much higher and they are no longer the subordinate(部下，下級(jí)) oftheir parents and husbands.

46. What does the author mean by "Family is of course an elastic word"?

[A]Different families have different ways of life.

[B]Different definitions could be given to the word.

[C]Different nations have different families.

[D]Different times produce different families.

47. For an English family, the husband’s duty is________

[A]supporting the family while the wife is working out

[B]defending the family while the wife is running the home

[C]providing financial support while the wife is running the home

[D]independent while his wife is also independent

48. Everything is decided in a family________

[A]by the couple

[B]with the help of their parents

[C]by brothers and sisters

[D]with the help of aunts and uncles

49. What is TRUE conceming the book Pride and Prejudice?

[A]It is the best book on marriage.

[B]It is a handbook on marriage.

[C]It gives some idea of English social life in the past.

[D]It provides a lot of information of former-time wealthy families.

50. With regard to marriage in Britain, present-day girls differ from former-time girls in________

[A]the right family

[B]more parental support

[C]choosing husbands

[D]social position

參考答案：

“家庭”是一個(gè)釋義很靈活的詞語，在不同的它有著不同的含義。但是當(dāng)英國人說他們的社會(huì)是建立在家庭生活上時(shí)，他們指的是狹義上的家庭，特別是對(duì)于歐洲人來說，家庭指的就是爸爸、媽媽和孩子住在自己的房子里，家庭就是經(jīng)濟(jì)單位、社會(huì)單位。因此，對(duì)于每個(gè)英國人來說，結(jié)婚就意味著獨(dú)立而嶄新的家庭生活開始了，所以婚姻對(duì)于英國人來說有著非比尋常的重要意義。無論是對(duì)于男人還是女人，結(jié)婚都意味著離開自己的父母開始單獨(dú)生活。丈夫的首要責(zé)任是照顧妻子，而妻子的首要責(zé)任是照顧丈夫。丈夫要全權(quán)負(fù)責(zé)妻子經(jīng)濟(jì)上的開銷，妻子要操持整個(gè)新家。孩子是他們共同的責(zé)任，也只能是他們的責(zé)任。男女雙方的父母、兄弟、姐妹、姑姑和叔叔都不能干擾夫妻兩人的生活——他們是自己的主人。

讀過簡·奧斯汀的小說《傲慢與偏見》的人都知道，從前富裕人家的女孩的婚姻都是由她們的父母安排的。也就是說，為女兒找個(gè)合適的、最好是有錢的夫君是父母的責(zé)任。他們會(huì)游說那個(gè)年輕人主動(dòng)向他們女兒求婚。那個(gè)時(shí)代，女孩還被保護(hù)在父母的家中。把女兒嫁出去時(shí)，他們要給新婚夫婦經(jīng)濟(jì)補(bǔ)貼，即嫁妝。今時(shí)不同往日了?，F(xiàn)如今，大多數(shù)的女孩子畢業(yè)之后都有工作，且結(jié)婚之前經(jīng)濟(jì)獨(dú)立。這樣會(huì)導(dǎo)致兩種結(jié)果：女孩可以自己選擇丈夫，但是她也沒有了嫁妝。凡事都有兩面性，女孩兒獨(dú)立這件事也不例外。但這對(duì)于女孩子來說也許是件好事情，因?yàn)樗齻兊纳鐣?huì)地位提高了，她們不再是父母和丈夫的附屬品。

答案及解析

46.B【解析】句意理解題。elastic意為“有彈性的，可伸縮的”。由后句可知，此句是說家庭的釋義很靈活，在不同的它有不同的含義。

47.C【解析】細(xì)節(jié)題。答案見第一段“He will be en.Tirely responsible for her financial support，andshe for the running of the new home.”。

48.A【解析】細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)第一段最后一句，“男女雙方的父母、兄弟、姐妹、姑姑和叔叔都不能干擾夫妻兩人的生活——他們是自己的主人”可知家里一切事務(wù)都由夫妻二人自己決定。

49.C【解析】推論題。第二段提到小說《傲慢與偏見》中有對(duì)舊時(shí)代婚姻狀況的描寫，這是當(dāng)時(shí)英國社會(huì)生活的一個(gè)方面。

50.D【解析】細(xì)節(jié)題。由最后一段可知，和以前相比，現(xiàn)在的女孩經(jīng)濟(jì)獨(dú)立，社會(huì)地位提高了。