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.

When Toni Morrison died in 2019, the world lost one of its most influential authors. But Morrison was not an early success. Her first novel was not published until she was 39, and her last appeared when she was 84. And Morrison was not (26) ______ in this regard. Numerous writers produce masterpieces well into their 70s and beyond. Such (27) ______ accomplishments highlight an important point. Our capacity to speak, write and learn new vocabulary does not seem to (28) ______ with age. Our eyesight may dim and our recall may weaken, but by comparison, our ability to produce and to (29) ______ language is well preserved into older adulthood.

Indeed, the latest research that has emerged on language and aging shows that language mastery is a (30) ______ that we begin as infants and continue on for the rest of our lives. Some aspects of our language abilities, such as our knowledge of word meanings, (31) ______ improve during middle and late adulthood. One study, for example, found that adults over sixty had an average vocabulary size of over 21,000 words. The researchers also studied a (32) ______ of college students and found that their average vocabulary contained (33) ______ 16,000 words. In another study, older adults, with an average age of 75, (34) ______ better than participants in their youth or middle years on tasks that required them to determine the meaning of words. Thus, language seems to be a skill that, contrary to what many might (35) ______, does not weaken with age.

Word Bank

A) actually

B) approximately

C) assume

D) component

E) comprehend

F) deteriorate

G) equivalent

H) journey

I) literary

J) performed

K) rarely

L) sample

M) undermined

N) unique

O) unit

Answers & Explanations

26. N (unique)。解析：位于 was not 之后，且在 in this regard（在这方面）之前，需要填入形容词。结合后文“许多作家在70多岁甚至更晚的时候还能创作出杰作”，说明莫里森并非“独一无二的/特例 (unique)”。

27. I (literary)。解析：位于 Such（这样的）和 accomplishments（成就）之间，需要填入形容词。前文一直在讨论作家的创作，因此这里指代“文学的 (literary)”成就。

28. F (deteriorate)。解析：位于动词不定式符号 to 之后，搭配介词 with，需要填入动词原形。本句意为“我们说话、写作和学习新词汇的能力似乎并没有随着年龄的增长而衰退 (deteriorate)”。与后文的 dim, weaken 呼应。

29. E (comprehend)。解析：位于动词不定式符号 to 之后，且与 produce（产生）并列，宾语是 language，需要填入动词原形。我们的能力不仅在于产生语言，还在于“理解/领悟 (comprehend)”语言。

30. H (journey)。解析：位于冠词 a 之后，且由 that 引导的定语从句修饰，需要填入单数名词。语言掌握是一段我们从婴儿期开始并持续余生的“旅程 (journey)”。

31. A (actually)。解析：位于主语 aspects 和谓语动词 improve 之间，需要填入副词。与前文普遍认为能力会下降的观点相反，这里指出某些语言能力“实际上/事实上 (actually)”会提高。

32. L (sample)。解析：位于冠词 a 之后，介词 of 之前，需要填入单数名词。研究人员还研究了一个大学生“样本 (sample)”。

33. B (approximately)。解析：位于动词 contained 和数字 16,000 之间，需要填入副词修饰数字。意为包含“大约/近似 (approximately)”16,000个单词。

34. J (performed)。解析：本句缺少谓语动词，主语是 older adults，且时态应为过去式（与 found, required 一致）。老年成年人在任务中“表现 (performed)”得更好。

35. C (assume)。解析：位于情态动词 might 之后，需要填入动词原形。语言似乎是一项技能，它与许多人可能“假设/认为 (assume)”的相反，并不会随年龄减弱。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• in this regard：在这方面（was not unique in this regard）
• by comparison：相比之下（by comparison, our ability to produce...）
• for the rest of：在余下的...里（for the rest of our lives）
• a sample of：...的一个样本（studied a sample of college students）
• contrary to：与...相反（contrary to what many might assume）
• well into：一直到...深处，直到很晚（produce masterpieces well into their 70s）

【亮点句型解析】

• Not... until... 结构：
  "Her first novel was not published until she was 39..."
  （她的第一部小说直到39岁才出版...）`not... until...` 意为“直到...才...”，用于强调某事发生得晚，是四六级阅读和写作中的基础且高频的核心句型。
• Contrary to + What 引导的宾语从句作插入语：
  "...language seems to be a skill that, contrary to what many might assume, does not weaken with age."
  （...语言似乎是一项技能，与许多人可能假设的相反，它并不会随着年龄的增长而减弱。）将 `contrary to what...` 作为插入语放在定语从句的主语 `that` 和谓语 `does not weaken` 之间，不仅使得句子结构紧凑，而且形成了强烈的预期反差，非常有学术表达的张力。