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.
节俭还是消费？富裕时代的价值观之变
With the rapid progress in the economy, it is natural that people's ideology is bound for change. Being (26) ______ is no longer a virtue to some people, and they are not alone in holding this view. Each might have different viewpoints on how to lead one's lifestyle: some prefer simplicity, some love luxuries, some spend (27) ______, some accumulate as much as they can like a country mouse. As I was born poor and in the countryside, the simple rural life seldom loses its (28) ______ to me, but as my station changes, I have an opportunity to (29) ______ with the newly rich, an experience which has revolutionized my view of lifestyle.
It is evil or sinful to spend little and to save much, an idea only recently being revealed to me. Actually the whole world is in a (30) ______ to borrow and to spend, with the USA leading the trend. The USA is still the richest and most powerful country in the world, but the (31) ______ is that they borrow money from us. Though a (32) ______ of economics, at least I know that investing with borrowed money will turn the borrower into the (33) ______ rather than the decent and kind lender. An apparent case is real estate. Those who are (34) ______ and have got loans from the bank become relatively rich by selling their purchased home at a price several folds higher. Even education is not immune from this theory. Many of those poor parents who have the vision to send their children to college have benefited from this investment, even though they have to (35) ______ a living. It is reasonable to conclude that spending is praise worthy, supposing it is not beyond your means.
Answers & Explanations
26. O (thrifty)。解析：空格在 `Being` 后，需要形容词。根据后文语境——"对一些人来说不再是美德"，结合全文关于消费与储蓄的对比，`thrifty`（节俭的）最符合。节俭不再被视为美德。
27. B (extravagantly)。解析：空格修饰动词 `spend`，需要副词。`spend extravagantly` 意为"挥霍无度"，与后文 `accumulate`（囤积）形成对比。
28. A (appeal)。解析：空格在 `its` 后，需要名词。`loses its appeal` 意为"失去吸引力"，乡村生活对我仍有吸引力。
29. J (mingle)。解析：`have an opportunity to do`，需要动词原形。`mingle with` 意为"与...交往"，有机会与新富阶层交往。
30. L (rage)。解析：`in a rage to do` 意为"狂热地做某事"，全世界都在狂热地借贷和消费。
31. D (irony)。解析：空格在 `the` 后，需要名词。美国是最富有强大的国家，却向我们借钱——这是讽刺(irony)之处。
32. E (layman)。解析：`a layman of economics` 意为"经济学的门外汉"，虽然我是经济学外行。
33. K (predator)。解析：`turn the borrower into the predator` 意为"把借款人变成掠夺者"，对比后文"体面的借款人"。
34. N (shrewd)。解析：空格在 `are` 后，需要形容词。`shrewd` 意为"精明的"，精明的人从银行贷款买房后高价卖出变富。
35. M (scrape)。解析：`scrape a living` 意为"勉强维持生计"，尽管他们需要勉强维持生计送孩子上大学。
核心搭配与高分句型
【核心搭配与高频短语】
● be bound for：必然的，注定的（people's ideology is bound for change）
● lose its appeal：失去吸引力（seldom loses its appeal to me）
● mingle with：与...交往（mingle with the newly rich）
● in a rage to do：狂热地做某事（in a rage to borrow and to spend）
● scrape a living：勉强维持生计（have to scrape a living）
● be immune from：不受...影响（education is not immune from this theory）
【亮点句型解析】
With + 名词 + 介词短语 独立主格结构：
"With the rapid progress in the economy, it is natural that..."
（随着经济的快速发展，...是很自然的。）用 With 引导的独立主格结构作伴随状语，简洁有力，学术写作中的高频用法。
"With the rapid progress in the economy, it is natural that..."
（随着经济的快速发展，...是很自然的。）用 With 引导的独立主格结构作伴随状语，简洁有力，学术写作中的高频用法。
让步状语从句的倒装强化：
"Though a layman of economics, at least I know that..."
（虽然我是经济学门外汉，但至少我知道...）省略了 `I am` 的从句使句子更紧凑，书面语色彩浓郁。
"Though a layman of economics, at least I know that..."
（虽然我是经济学门外汉，但至少我知道...）省略了 `I am` 的从句使句子更紧凑，书面语色彩浓郁。
全文翻译
随着经济的快速发展，人们的思想观念自然也会发生变化。对一些人来说，节俭已不再是一种美德，而且持这种观点的人不在少数。每个人对于如何过好自己的生活可能有不同的看法：有人偏爱简朴，有人喜爱奢华，有人挥霍无度，有人则像乡下老鼠一样尽可能地囤积。我出身贫寒，生长在农村，简朴的乡村生活从未失去对我的吸引力，但随着自身处境的改变，我有机会与新富阶层交往，这段经历彻底改变了我对生活方式的看法。
少花钱多储蓄是邪恶或有罪的——这是一个我最近才领悟到的观念。事实上，全世界都在狂热地借贷和消费，而美国引领着这一潮流。美国仍然是世界上最富有、最强大的国家，但讽刺的是，他们向我们借钱。虽然我只是经济学的门外汉，但至少我知道，用借来的钱投资会让借款人变成掠夺者，而不是体面善良的出借人。一个明显的例子是房地产。那些精明的人从银行贷款，然后以高出数倍的价格卖掉所购房屋，变得相对富有。甚至教育也不能免于这一规律。许多有远见的贫困父母送孩子上大学，已经从中受益，尽管他们不得不勉强维持生计。可以合理地得出结论：消费是值得赞扬的，前提是不超出你的财力范围。