Section A: Banked Cloze
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Embracing Middle Age
At 43, I’ve reached the stage where women are warned to watch out for the creeping sadness of middle age. We’re served up an endless stream of advice on “how to survive your 40s”, as if we’re in the endurance stage of a slow limp toward (26) ______. This is the age women start to become “invisible”—our value, attractiveness and power supposedly (27) ______ by the vanishing of youth. But I don’t feel like I’m fading into (28) ______. I feel more seen than I ever have, and for the first time in my life, I have a clear-eyed view of myself that is (29) ______, compassionate and accepting.
When I look in the mirror, I’m proud of who I am—even those “broken” parts that for so long seemed impossible to love. So when advertisers try to sell me ways to “turn back the clock”, I have to (30) ______ a laugh. I wouldn’t go back to the crippling self-consciousness of my youth if you paid me. This hard-won sense of self-acceptance is one of the joys of being an older woman. But it’s a narrative often (31) ______ out by the shame that marketers rely on to peddle us their diet pills, miracle face creams and breathable yoga pants—as if self-love is a (32) ______ commodity.
For some women I know, this sense of trust and self-belief later in life gave them the courage to leave dysfunctional relationships or (33) ______ on new career paths. Others talked about enjoying their own company, of growth through (34) ______, deepening bonds of friendships, the ability to be more compassionate, less judgmental and to listen more and appreciate the small pleasures. Life past 40 is far from smooth sailing, but it’s so much more than the reductive (35) ______ we see in women’s magazines and on the Hollywood big screen.
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Section A: Banked Cloze
26. H (fragility)。解析：空格在介词
toward 之后，需要填入名词。前文提到 creeping sadness (悄然而至的悲伤) 和 endurance stage of a slow limp (缓慢跛行的忍耐阶段)，说明语境在描述人们对衰老的消极刻板印象——走向“脆弱/衰弱”。因此填入 fragility。27. E (diminished)。解析：空格在副词
supposedly 之后，其后有 by，表明这里是省略了 are 的被动语态，需要过去分词。句意：随着青春的消逝，我们的价值、吸引力和力量据称被“削弱/减少”了。因此填入 diminished。28. J (obscurity)。解析：空格在介词
into 之后，需要名词。前文提到女性开始变得 invisible (隐形的/不被看见的)，fade into obscurity 是固定搭配，意为“逐渐默默无闻/淡出视野”。句意：但我不觉得自己正在逐渐变得默默无闻。因此填入 obscurity。29. B (authentic)。解析：空格在系动词
is 之后，与 compassionate 和 accepting 并列，需要填入褒义形容词。句意：我对自己有了一个清晰的认识，这种认识是“真实的”、充满同情心且接纳的。因此填入 authentic。30. O (suppress)。解析：空格在
have to 之后，需要动词原形。当广告商试图推销“让时光倒流”的方法时，由于作者已经接纳了自己并对现在感到自豪，她觉得这种行为很可笑。suppress a laugh 意为“强忍住笑”。因此填入 suppress。31. F (drowned)。解析：空格在副词
often 之后，与 out 连用，需要过去分词表示被动。drown out 意为“淹没（声音或叙事）”。句意：但这种（自我接纳的）叙事经常被营销人员利用的羞耻感所“淹没”。因此填入 drowned。32. M (purchasable)。解析：空格在不定冠词
a 之后，名词 commodity（商品）之前，需要形容词。前文提到营销人员兜售减肥药、面霜和瑜伽裤，句意：仿佛自爱是一种“可以购买的”商品。因此填入 purchasable。33. G (embark)。解析：空格在
or 之后，与 leave 并列，需要动词原形。embark on 是固定搭配，意为“开始，着手（新的旅程/职业等）”。因此填入 embark。34. A (adversity)。解析：空格在介词
through 之后，需要名词。句意：其他人谈到了享受独处，谈到了在“逆境/不幸”中的成长（growth through adversity）。因此填入 adversity。35. D (depictions)。解析：空格在定冠词
the 和形容词 reductive 之后，需要名词。句意：40岁以后的生活绝非一帆风顺，但它远比我们在女性杂志和好莱坞大银幕上看到的那些被简化的“描绘/刻画”要丰富得多。因此填入 depictions。【核心搭配与亮点句型】
watch out for：小心，提防（warned to watch out for the creeping sadness）
fade into obscurity：逐渐变得默默无闻，淡出视野（fading into obscurity）
turn back the clock：让时光倒流，回到过去（ways to "turn back the clock"）
drown out：淹没（声音等），压过（a narrative often drowned out by the shame）
embark on：开始，着手（embark on new career paths）
far from：远非，一点也不（far from smooth sailing）