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.

Super realistic masks are made from flexible materials such as silicone and are designed to imitate real human face — down to every last detail.

In a study by the Universities of York and Kyoto, researchers asked participants to look at pairs of photographs and decide which showed a (26) ______ face and which showed a person wearing a mask. Surprisingly, participants made the wrong call in one-in-five cases.

The 20% error rate (27) ______ in the study likely underestimates the extent to which people would struggle to tell an (28) ______ face from the real thing outside of the lab. The researchers collected data from participants from both the UK and Japan to (29) ______ any differences according to race. When trial participants were asked to choose between photographs of faces of a different race from theirs, response times were slower and selections were 5% less (30) ______.

There are now dozens of criminal cases in which offenders have (31) ______ themselves off as people of a different age, race or gender, sending police investigations down the wrong path. In one recent case, an international gang used an (32) ______ realistic mask to pose as a French minister, (33) ______ business executives out of millions of pounds.

Dr. Jet Sanders, who worked on the study while a PhD student at the University of York, said: “Failure to detect synthetic faces may have important implications for security and crime prevention as super realistic masks may (34) ______ the key characteristics of a person’s appearance to be (35) ______ identified.”

Word Bank

A) accurate

B) allow

C) artificial

D) cheating

E) deserted

F) establish

G) extremely

H) immediately

I) incorrectly

J) normal

K) observed

L) passed

M) reminding

N) reparable

O) resolve

Answers & Explanations

26. J (normal)。解析：位于不定冠词 a 和名词 face 之间，需要填入形容词作定语。且后半句是 a person wearing a mask（戴面具的人），形成对比的自然是“正常的 (normal)”人脸。

27. K (observed)。解析：位于主语 error rate 和谓语动词 underestimates 之间，需要填入过去分词作后置定语。指代在研究中被“观察到 (observed)”的20%错误率。

28. C (artificial)。解析：位于不定冠词 an 和名词 face 之间，需要填入辅音音素开头的形容词。固定搭配 tell A from B（把A和B区分开），这里B是 the real thing（真实事物），A自然是“人造的/虚假的 (artificial)”面孔。

29. F (establish)。解析：位于动词不定式符号 to 之后，需要填入动词原形。研究人员收集数据是为了“确立/查明 (establish)”由于种族引起的差异。

30. A (accurate)。解析：位于系动词 were 之后，且有 less 修饰，需要填入形容词。面对不同种族的面孔，反应变慢且选择的“准确性 (accurate)”降低了5%。

31. L (passed)。解析：位于助动词 have 之后，需要填入过去分词构成现在完成时。固定搭配 `pass off as` 意为伪装成、冒充。罪犯将自己“伪装 (passed)”成不同年龄或性别的人。

32. G (extremely)。解析：位于不定冠词 an 和形容词 realistic 之间，需要填入副词修饰形容词，且首字母发音应为元音。意为使用了“极其/非常 (extremely)”逼真的面具。

33. D (cheating)。解析：逗号后面，用现在分词作伴随状语。固定搭配 `cheat sb. out of sth.` 意为从某人那里骗取某物。意为“骗取 (cheating)”了企业高管数百万英镑。

34. B (allow)。解析：位于情态动词 may 之后，需要填入动词原形，且构成 `allow sth. to be done` 的结构。超逼真的面具可能会“允许/导致 (allow)”一个人的关键特征被错误识别。

35. I (incorrectly)。解析：位于被动语态 to be identified 之间，需要填入副词修饰动词 identified（识别）。前文提到合成面孔对安全有影响，说明面具会导致人们被“不正确地 (incorrectly)”识别。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• make the wrong call：做出错误的判断/决定（participants made the wrong call in one-in-five cases）
• the extent to which：...的程度（underestimates the extent to which people would struggle）
• tell A from B：把A和B区分开，辨别A和B（tell an artificial face from the real thing）
• pass sb. off as：把某人伪装成，冒充（have passed themselves off as people of a different age）
• pose as：冒充，装扮成（used an extremely realistic mask to pose as a French minister）
• cheat sb. out of sth.：骗取某人的某物（cheating business executives out of millions of pounds）
• down to every last detail：细致到每一个最小的细节

【亮点句型解析】

• In which 引导的定语从句：
  "There are now dozens of criminal cases in which offenders have passed themselves off as people of a different age..."
  （现在有几十起刑事案件，在这些案件中，罪犯将自己伪装成不同年龄、种族或性别的人...）`in which` 等同于 `where`，引导定语从句修饰 `criminal cases`。这种介词+which的结构在四六级和考研写作中是标准的学术高分句型。
• 现在分词短语作结果状语：
  "...sending police investigations down the wrong path."
  （...从而将警方的调查引向了错误的道路。）`sending` 是现在分词作结果状语，表示前面“伪装成别人”这一行为导致的自然结果。比使用 `so that` 从句更加紧凑和高级。