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.
The Mathematics of Weight Loss and Wealth
I’m always baffled when I walk into a pharmacy and see shelves bursting with various vitamins, extracts and other supplements, all promising to accelerate or promote weight loss. Aisles of marketing genius belie (掩饰) the fact that, (26) ______, weight loss is dictated by the laws of arithmetic. Economist Jessica Irvine wrote a book about how she used math to help her lose more than 18 kilograms. If calories taken in are less than calories (27) ______, weight shall be lost, and so it is with money.
Despite the (28) ______ of financial products, services and solutions geared towards accumulating wealth, it all begins with the same (29) ______: getting ahead financially requires a reduction of spending, so that income is greater than expenses. I was reminded of this again recently listening to an interview with Nicole Haddow, the author of Smashed Avocado, explaining how she cracked the property market at 31. It was quite a (30) ______, given where she had been two years earlier.
Nicole didn’t celebrate her 30th birthday as she had (31) ______. She was sobbing at the dinner table with her parents, with whom she had just moved back in. She had no stable income, $12,000 in credit-card debt and no plan, but to her (32) ______, her father, an accountant, told her that her financial (33) ______ wasn’t as bad as she thought. He said, on her income, with some changes, she would be able to buy an investment unit within two years, which she did.
Nicole admitted she was fortunate, as she was able to live with her parents and (34) ______ her spending—and life—to get herself on track financially. Creating a gap between her income and spending required a paradigm shift and (35) ______ sacrifice and commitment, but by going into financial lockdown, Nicole gained financial independence.
Answers & Explanations (答案与解析)
Section A: Banked Cloze
26. O (ultimately)。解析：空格在两个逗号之间，修饰后面的主句 `weight loss is dictated by the laws of arithmetic`，需要填入副词。句意：营销天才的货架掩饰了这样一个事实，即“归根结底/最终”（ultimately），减肥是由算术定律决定的。因此填入 ultimately。
27. F (expended)。解析：空格在名词 `calories` 之后，与前面的 `taken in`（摄入的）形成对比结构，需要过去分词作后置定语。句意：如果摄入的卡路里少于“消耗的”（expended）卡路里，体重就会减轻。因此填入 expended。
28. A (abundance)。解析：空格在定冠词 `the` 和介词 `of` 之间，需要名词。句意：尽管有“大量的/丰富的”（abundance）旨在积累财富的金融产品……。`an abundance of` 或 `the abundance of` 意为“大量/丰富”。因此填入 abundance。
29. E (equation)。解析：空格在形容词 `same` 之后，需要名词。前文把减肥比作算术，后文冒号后解释了“收入大于支出”的法则，这正是一个“等式/方程式”（equation）。句意：这一切都始于同一个等式。因此填入 equation。
30. G (feat)。解析：空格在不定冠词 `a` 之后，需要单数名词。前文说到妮可31岁就成功打入房地产市场，考虑到她两年前的境况，这是相当了不起的“壮举/成就”（feat）。因此填入 feat。
31. D (envisaged)。解析：空格在助动词 `had` 之后，需要过去分词构成过去完成时。句意：妮可并没有像她所“设想/预期”（envisaged）的那样庆祝她的30岁生日。因此填入 envisaged。
32. B (astonishment)。解析：空格在介词短语 `to her...` 中，需要名词。`to one's astonishment` 是固定搭配，意为“令某人惊讶的是”。句意：但令她惊讶的是，她身为会计的父亲告诉她……因此填入 astonishment。
33. L (plight)。解析：空格在形容词 `financial` 之后，谓语动词 `wasn't` 之前，需要作主语的名词。句意：她父亲告诉她，她的财务“困境”（plight）并没有她想象的那么糟。因此填入 plight。
34. J (overhaul)。解析：空格在不定式符号 `to` 引导的平行结构中：`was able to live... and ______ her spending`，需要动词原形。句意：她能够和父母住在一起，并“彻底改革/全面检修”（overhaul）她的开销和生活。因此填入 overhaul。
35. C (entailed)。解析：空格在连词 `and` 之后，与前面的动词 `required`（过去式）并列，作句子的谓语，需要动词过去式。句意：在收入和支出之间创造差距需要思维模式的转变，并“伴随着/需要”（entailed）牺牲和承诺。因此填入 entailed。
【核心搭配与亮点句型】
dictated by：由...决定/支配（weight loss is dictated by the laws of arithmetic）
geared towards：调整以适合，旨在（solutions geared towards accumulating wealth）
get ahead：取得进展，获得成功（getting ahead financially requires...）
to one's astonishment：令某人惊讶的是（but to her astonishment...）
on track：走上正轨（get herself on track financially）
paradigm shift：范式转变，根本性的思维改变（required a paradigm shift）