考研英语阅读理解试题及名师解析(10)

考研英语阅读理解试题及名师解析

(10)

When I decided toquit my full time employment it never occurred to

me that I might become a partof a new international trend. A lateral move

that hurt my pride and blocked myprofessional progress prompted me to

abandon

my

relatively

high

profile

careeralthough,

in

the

manner

of

a

disgraced government minister, I covered my exitby claiming“I wanted to

spend more time with my family”

。

Curiously,

some

two-and-a-half

years

and

two

novels

later,

my

experimentin

what

the

Americans

t

erm

“downshifting”

has

turned

my

tired

excuseinto

an

absolute

reality.

I

have

been

transformed

from

a

passionate advocate ofthe philosophy of “have it all”, preached by Linda

Kelsey

for

the

past

seven

yearsin

the

pages

of

She

magazine,

into

a

woman who is happy to settle for a bit ofeverything

。

I

have

discovered,

as

perhaps

Kelsey

will

after

her

much-publicizedresignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of

stress,

thatabandoning

the

doctrine

of

“juggling

your

life”,

and

making

thealternative

move into “downshifting” brings with it far greater rewards

than

financial

success

andsocial

status.

Nothing

could

persuade

me

to

return

to

the

kind

of

life

Kelseyused

to

advocate

and

I

once

enjoyed:

12-hour

working

days,

pressured

deadlines,the

fearful

strain

of

office

politics and the limitations of being a parent on “quality time”

。

In

America,

the

move

away

from

juggling

to

a

simpler,

lessmaterialistic

lifestyle

is

a

well-established

trend.

Downshifting

—

also

knownin

America

as

“voluntary

simplicity”—

has,

ironically,

even

bred a new area of what might be termedanti-consumerism. There are a

number of best-selling downshifting self-helpbooks for people who want

to simplify their lives; there are newsletters, suchas The Tightwad Gazette,

that give hundreds of thousands of Americans usefultips on anything from

recycling their cling- film to making their own soap;there are even support

groups for those who want to achieve the mid-

’

90sequivalent of dropping

out

。

While

in

America

the

trend

started

as

a

reaction

to

the

economicdecline―after the mass redundancies caused by downsizing in

the late

’

80s―and is stilllinked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least

among

the

middle-classdownshifters

of

my

acquaintance,

we

have

different reasons for seeking tosimplify our lives

。

For

the

women

of

my

generation

who

were

urged

to

keep

jugglingthrough the ‘80s, downshifting in the mid

-

’90s is not so much a

search for themythical good life

—

growing your own organic vegetables,

and

risking

turning

into

one

—

as

apersonal

recognition

of

your

limitations

。

37. Which of the following is true according to paragraph 1?

[A]Full-time employment is a new international trend

。

[B]The writer was compelled by circumstances to leave her job

。

[C]“A lateral move” means stepping out of full

-time employment

。

[D]The

writer

was

only

too

eager

to

spend

more

time

with

her

family

。

38. The writer’s experiment shows that downshifting ______

___

。

[A]enables her to realize her dream

[B]helps her mold a new philosophy of life

[C]prompts her to abandon her high social status

[D]leads her to accept the doctrine of She magazine

39. “Juggling one’s life” probably means living a l

ife characterized by

_________

。

[A]non-materialistic lifestyle

[B]a bit of everything

[C]extreme stress

[D]anti-consumerism

40.

According

to

the

passage,

downshifting

emerged

in

the

U.S.

as

aresult of _________

。

[A]the quick pace of modern life

[B]man’s adventurous spirit

[C]man’s search for mythical experiences

[D]the economic situation

名师解析