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. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

If you've ever looked at the ingredients list while grocery shopping, chances are you've seen the term “natural flavors”. But have you taken a (26) ______ to consider what these natural flavors actually are?

Most of us might think that “natural flavors” are, well, naturally good for us. A recent study in the journal Appetite found that when the word “natural” appears on packaging, people (27) ______ that the food within is indeed healthier. In truth, natural flavors do not (28) ______ much, at least chemically speaking, from their flavor-boosting (29) ______ : artificial flavors. Both can be made in a lab by trained flavorists, but artificial flavors use chemicals to give a product a (30) ______ smell or taste.

Natural flavors come from plant or animal (31) ______, like fruit, vegetable, meat, fish or milk that is then processed or refined in some way. In short, natural flavors are (32) ______ from plants and animals to create specific flavors for processed foods. But that does not (33) ______ make it easier to tell what is really in your food. Because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not (34) ______ the term, companies can use it to refer to pretty much anything derived from a plant or animal. And natural flavors can also include a variety of chemical additives, such as preservatives. The FDA doesn't require companies to reveal what additional chemicals a specific item (35) ______.

So if you want to know for certain what you're getting with your groceries, you might want to stick to the farmer's market.

Word Bank

A) acknowledge

B) chance

C) contains

D) counterparts

E) defined

F) differ

G) especially

H) extracted

I) implies

J) necessarily

K) particular

L) perceive

M) second

N) sources

O) strange

Answers & Explanations

26. M (second)。解析：位于不定冠词 a 之后，需填名词单数。固定搭配 take a second 意为“花一点时间（想一想）”。

27. L (perceive)。解析：主语是 people，后接 that 从句，缺谓语动词。意为当包装上出现“天然”一词时，人们会“认为 (perceive)”里面的食物更健康。

28. F (differ)。解析：位于助动词 do not 之后，需填动词原形。固定搭配 differ from 意为与...“不同 (differ)”。

29. D (counterparts)。解析：位于形容词 flavor-boosting 之后，需填名词。指的是人工香精是天然香精的提味“对应物/同行 (counterparts)”。

30. K (particular)。解析：位于冠词 a 和名词 smell or taste 之间，需填形容词。意为人工香精赋予产品一种“特定的/特殊的 (particular)”气味或味道。

31. N (sources)。解析：位于形容词 plant or animal 之后，需填名词。意为天然香精来源于动植物“来源 (sources)”。

32. H (extracted)。解析：位于 are 之后，并结合后文的 from plants and animals，需填过去分词构成被动语态。意为天然香精是从动植物中“提取 (extracted)”出来的。

33. J (necessarily)。解析：位于 does not 和 make 之间，需填副词。固定搭配 not necessarily 意为“未必，不一定 (necessarily)”。

34. E (defined)。解析：位于 has not 之后，需填过去分词构成现在完成时。因为FDA没有“定义 (defined)”这个术语，公司才能滥用它。

35. C (contains)。解析：这是一个宾语从句 what additional chemicals a specific item...，缺谓语动词。主语 a specific item 是单数，选单三形式，意为特定物品“包含 (contains)”什么额外的化学物质。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• chances are (that)：很有可能...（chances are you've seen the term）
• take a second：花点时间，等一下（take a second to consider）
• differ from：与...不同（do not differ much... from their flavor-boosting counterparts）
• chemically speaking：从化学角度来说
• in some way：以某种方式（processed or refined in some way）
• in short：简而言之（In short, natural flavors are extracted...）
• not necessarily：未必，不一定（does not necessarily make it easier）
• refer to：指代，提到（use it to refer to pretty much anything）
• a variety of：各种各样的（a variety of chemical additives）
• know for certain：确切地知道（know for certain what you're getting）
• stick to：坚持，紧跟（stick to the farmer's market）

【亮点句型解析】

• Chances are + (that) 从句 (预测/推测)：
  "If you've ever looked at the ingredients list while grocery shopping, chances are you've seen the term 'natural flavors'."
  （如果你在买杂货时曾经看过成分表，很有可能你见过“天然香精”这个词。）`Chances are` 是一种非常地道且口语化的表达，相当于 `It is highly likely that`，用于引出一种很有可能发生的情况或普遍现象。
• ...not necessarily make it easier to tell what... (it 作形式宾语)：
  "But that does not necessarily make it easier to tell what is really in your food."
  （但这并不一定能让你更容易分辨食物里到底有什么。）句中 `it` 是形式宾语，真正的宾语是后面的动词不定式短语 `to tell what is really in your food`。这是四级翻译和写作中常用的高级句型，能有效避免头重脚轻。