201812月六级仔细阅读真题与解析[卷二]

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Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

You

may

have

heard

that

Coca- Cola

once

contained

an

ingredient

capable

of

sparking

particular

devotion

in

consumers:

cocaine.

The“coca”

in

the

name referred to the extracts of coca leaf that the drinks originator,

chemist John Pemberton, mixed with his sugary syrup(

姜汁

). At the time,

coca

leaf

extract

mixed

with

wine

was

a

common

tonic(

滋

补

品

),

and

Pemberton’s sweet brew was

a way to get around local laws prohibiting

the sale of alcohol. But the other half of the name represents another

ingredient

，

less

infamous(

名声不好的

),

perhaps,

but

also

strangely

potent:

the kola nut.

In West Africa, people have long chewed kola nuts as stimulants,

because

they

contain

caffeine

that

also

occurs

naturally

in

tea,

coffee,

and chocolate. They also have heart stimulants.

Historian Paul Lovejoy relates that the cultivation of kola nuts in

West Africa is hundreds of years old. The leafy, spreading trees were

planted

on

graves

and

as

part

of

traditional

rituals.

Even

though

the

nuts,

which

need

to

stay

moist,

can

be

somewhat delicate

to

transport,

traders

carried them hundreds of miles throughout the forests and grasslands.

Europeans

did

not

know

of

them

until

the

1500s,

when

Portuguese

ships

arrived

on

the

coast

of

what

is

now

Sierra

Leone.

And

while

the

Portuguese

took

part

in

the

trade,

ferrying

nuts

down

the

coast

along

with

other

goods,

by

1620,

when

English

explorer

Richard

Jobson

made

his

way

up

the

Gambia,

the nuts were still peculiar to his eyes.

By the late 19th century, kola nuts were being shipped by the tonne

to Europe and the US. Many made their way into medicines, intended as a

kind of energy boost. One such popular medicinal drink was Vin Mariani,

a French product consisting of coca extract mixed with red wine. It was

created by a French chemist, Angelo Mariani, in 1863. So when Pemberton

created

his

drink,it

represented

an

ongoing

trend.

When

cocaine

eventually fell from grace as a beverage ingredient, kola-extract colas

became popular.

The first year it was available, Coca-Cola averaged nine servings a

day across all the Atlanta soda fountains where it was sold. As it grew

more popular, the company sold rights to bottle the soda, so it could

travel easily. Today about 1.9 billion Cokes are purchased daily. It

’s

become so iconic that

attempts to change

its taste in

1985

—

sweetening

it

in

a

move

projected

to

boost

sales

—

proved

disastrous,

with

widespread

anger

from

consumers.

“Coca

-Cola

Classic”，

returned

to

store

shelves

just three months after the “New Coke” was released.

These

days,

the

Coca- Cola

recipe

is

a

closely

guarded

secret.

But

it

’s

said

to

no

longer

contain

kola

nut

extract,

relying

instead

on

artificial

imitations to achieve the flavour.

完美

DOC

格式整理

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你可能听说可口可乐曾经含有一种能够使消费者“死忠”的成 分：可卡因。

名中的“coca”指的是古柯叶的提取物，

该饮 料的创始人化学家约翰·彭伯顿用

它与含糖的姜汁混合在一起。

当时，

古柯叶提取物与葡萄酒混合是常见的滋补品，

而当地法律 禁止出售含酒精饮料，

彭伯顿的甜饮则避开了该法律。

“

c

ola”代表

另一种成分——可乐果：尽管 名声不太好，但非常给力。

在西非，人们长期以来一直嚼着可 乐果作为兴奋剂，因为它们含有咖啡因。

咖啡因在茶、咖啡和巧克力中也天然存在。它们 也有心脏兴奋剂。

历史学家保罗·洛夫乔伊指出，西非的可乐 果种植已有数百年的历史。枝繁

叶茂的可乐果树被种植在坟墓上，

作为传统仪式的一部分。

尽管可乐果需要保持

湿润，

在运输上需要谨慎处理，

但是贸易商却带着它们穿越森林和草原，

运送了

数百英里。

直到十六世纪，

葡萄牙船只抵达现在的塞拉利昂海岸时，

欧洲人 才知道它们。

尽管葡萄牙人也加入了可乐果贸易，

将可乐果和其 他货物一起装船运输，

但

1620

年英 国探险家理查德·乔布森前往冈比亚看到可乐果时，仍觉得它奇怪。

< br>到十九世纪后期，可乐果才被大量运往欧洲和美国。很多可乐果入了药，把

它做能 量增强剂。

当时有一种受欢迎的药用饮料叫马里亚尼葡萄酒，

是 一种法国

产的古柯提取物与红葡萄酒的混合。该产品由法国化学家安杰洛·马里亚尼于< /p>

1863

年创建。所以当彭伯顿创造了他的饮料，代表着不断发展 的趋势。可卡因

作为饮料配料最终“失宠”时，可乐果提取物变得受欢迎起来。

第一年，可口可乐在所有亚特兰大的冷饮小卖部的销量只有平均九份每 天。

随着它越来越受欢迎，

该公司开始销售瓶装苏打水，

所以它更便于随身携带。

现

在每天的销量高达 约十九亿瓶。可口可乐俨然已成为一种标志，以至于

1985

年

改变其的口味的尝试被证明是灾难性的

：

原以为使其变得更甜可以促进销售

，

不料引起了消费者普遍愤慨。

“经典可口可乐”在“新可乐”发 布后的三个月后

重新回到货架上。

直 到现在，可口可乐的配方仍是一个严格保守的秘密。据说它不再含有古柯

提取物，而是依 靠人造的仿制品来达到相同的口味。

46. What do we learn about chemist John Pemberton?

A) He used a strangely potent ingredient in a food supplement.

B) He created a drink containing alcohol without breaking law.

C) He became notorious because of the coca drink he developed.

D) He risked breaking local law to make a drink with coca leaves.

【答案详解】

答案是

A

。

由第一自然段最后一句

“

B ut

the

other

half

of

the

name

represents

another

ingredient

，

less

infamous,

perhaps,

but

also

strangely

potent:

the

kola

nut

cola

”代表另一种成分—— 可乐果：尽

管名声不太好，

但非常给力。

很多同学首先就把

A

排除，

理由是可 口可乐不属于

食品（

food

）的范畴 。食品定义是“可供人类食用或饮用的物质”，饮料当然也

属于广义的食品。做阅读理解 ，几个选项一定要仔细比较、揣摩。

【干扰分析】

、

D

选项具有很大的迷 惑性。

C

选项很容易排除。由第一自然段第

三句

“

Pemberton

’

s

sweet

brew

was

a

way

to

get

around

local

laws

prohibiting

完美

DOC

格式整理

专业资料分享

the sale of alcohol

”我们可以得知：当地法律禁止出售含酒精饮料，彭伯 顿

的甜饮则避开了该法律。

换言之，

可 口可乐是不含酒精的，

他本人也没有冒违反

法律的风险。

故可排除

B

、

D

选项。

C

选项

“变 得声名狼藉

（

became

noto rious

）

”

很容易排除，因为文章 中提到声名狼藉的是可乐果，而不是彭伯顿。

47. What does the passage say about kola nuts?

A)

Their

commercial

value

was

first

discovered

by

Portuguese

settlers.

B)

They

contain

some

kind

of

energy

boost

not

found

in

any

other

food.

C)

Many

were

shipped

to

Europe

in

the

late

19th

century

for

medicinal

use.

D) They were strange to the Europeans when first imported from West

Africa.

【答案详解】

答案是

C

。

由第

5

< br>自然段的头两句

“

By

the

late

19th

century,

kola

nuts

were

being

shipped

by

the

tonne

to

Europe

and

the

US.

Many

made

their

way into medicines, intended as a kind of energy boost

”我们可以得知：

到十九世纪 后期，

可乐果才被大量运往欧洲和美国。

很多可乐果入了药，< /p>

把它做

能量增强剂。

【干扰分析】本题相关的阅读点散布在

2--5

自然段多个地方，信息量大。

B

选

项容易排除，

A

、

D

有较大的迷惑性，需仔细比较。文中第四自然段提到，葡萄

牙人用船只将可乐 果运往欧洲，

并从事可乐果贸易，

但并不能断定葡萄牙定居者< /p>

首先发现可乐果的商业价值，排除

A

。第 二自然段提到，可乐果含有咖啡因，它

在茶、咖啡和巧克力中也存在，排除

B

。第二、三自然段多次提到西非，但没有

明确提及 欧洲人首次从西非进口可乐果的相关信息。

第四自然段中提到十六世纪

< br>时葡萄牙船只抵达现在的塞拉利昂海岸，

塞拉利昂是西非国家，

< br>但并不能由此断

定首次进口可乐果是葡萄牙人所为，故排除

D

。

48.

How come kola-extract colas became popular?

A) Cocaine had become notorious.

B) Alcoholic drinks were prohibited.

C) Fountains were set up to sell them.

D) Rights were sold to bottle the soda.

【答案详解】

答案是

A

。

由第五自然段最后一句

“

When

cocaine

eventually

fell

from grace as a beverage ingredient, kola-extract colas became popular

”