Use of English (2012)

Millions of Americans and foreigners see G. I. Joe as a mindless war toy, the symbol of American military adventurism, but that’s not how it used to be. To the men and women who [1] in World War II and the people they liberated, the G. I. was the [2] man grown into hero, the poor farm kid torn away from his home, the guy who [3] all the burdens of battles, who slept in cold foxholes, who went without the [4] of food and shelter, who stuck it out and drove back the Nazi reign of murder. This was not a volunteer soldier, not someone well paid, [5] an average guy, up [6] the best trained, best equipped, fiercest, most brutal enemies seen in centuries.

His name isn’t much. G.I. is just a military abbreviation [7] Government Issue, and it was on all of the articles [8] to soldiers. And Joe? A common name for a guy who never [9] it to the top. Joe Blow, Joe Palooka, Joe Magrac… a working class name. The United States has [10] had a president or vice president or secretary of state Joe.

G.I. Joe had a [11] career fighting German, Japanese, and Korean troops. He appears as a character, or a [12] of American personalities, in the 1945 movie The Story of G. I. Joe, based on the last days of war correspondent Ernie Pyle. Some of the soldiers Pyle [13] portrayed themselves in the film. Pyle was famous for covering the [14] side of the war, writing about the dirt-snow-and-mud soldiers, not how many miles were [15] or what towns were captured or liberated. His reports [16] the “Willie” cartoons of famed Stars and Stripes artist Bill Maulden. Both men [17] the dirt and exhaustion of war, the [18] of civilization that the soldiers shared with each other and the civilians: coffee, tobacco, whiskey, shelter, sleep. [19] Egypt, France, and a dozen more countries, G. I. Joe was any American soldier, [20] the most important person in their lives.

[A]served

[B]performed

[C]rebelled

[D]betrayed

[A]actual

[B]common

[C]special

[D]normal

[A]loaded

[B]eased

[C]removed

[D]bore

[A]necessities

[B]facilities

[C]commodities

[D]properties

[A]and

[B]nor

[C]but

[D]hence

[A]for

[B]into

[C]from

[D]against

[A]implying

[B]meaning

[C]symbolizing

[D]claiming

[A]handed out

[B]turned over

[C]brought back

[D]passed down

[A]pushed

[B]got

[C]made

[D]managed

10.

[A]ever

[B]never

[C]either

[D]neither

11.

[A]disguised

[B]disturbed

[C]disputed

[D]distinguished

12.

[A]company

[B]community

[C]collection

[D]colony

13.

[A]employed

[B]appointed

[C]interviewed

[D]questioned

14.

[A]human

[B]military

[C]political

[D]ethical

15.

[A]ruined

[B]commuted

[C]patrolled

[D]gained

16.

[A]paralleled

[B]counteracted

[C]duplicated

[D]contradicted

17.

[A]neglected

[B]emphasized

[C]avoided

[D]admired

18.

[A]stages

[B]illusions

[C]fragments

[D]advances

19.

[A]With

[B]To

[C]Among

[D]Beyond

20.

[A]on the contrary

[B]by this means

[C]from the outset

[D]at that point

答案解析 (Detailed Analysis)

1. [A] served. 考查动词搭配。在二战中“服役（served in World War II）”的男女军人。
2. [B] common. 考查形容词语义。与后文“poor farm kid (穷苦农家孩子)”、“average guy (普通人)”相呼应，大兵乔是成长为英雄的“普通的（common）”人。
3. [D] bore. 考查动词搭配。bear the burdens 为固定搭配，意为“承担重担”。bore 是 bear 的过去式。
4. [A] necessities. 考查名词辨析。食物和住所（food and shelter）属于生活“必需品（necessities）”。
5. [C] but. 考查逻辑连词。前面连用两个 not (not a volunteer soldier, not someone well paid)，这里用 but 构成“不是...而是（not... but...）”的结构。
6. [D] against. 考查介词短语。up against 是固定短语，意为“面临，对抗”。他们对抗的是训练最好、装备最精良的敌人。
7. [B] meaning. 考查分词作定语。G.I. 只是一个军事缩写，其“意思是/代表（meaning）”政府配发（Government Issue）。
8. [A] handed out. 考查动词短语。这个缩写印在所有“分发（handed out）”给士兵的物品上。
9. [C] made. 考查习惯用语。make it to the top 意为“获得成功/爬到顶峰”。乔是一个永远无法飞黄腾达的普通人的名字。
10. [B] never. 考查副词语境。通过举例（总统、副总统、国务卿），强调美国“从未（never）”有过叫乔的这种高官（突出其蓝领工人阶级色彩）。
11. [D] distinguished. 考查形容词辨析。大兵乔在对抗德日韩军队时有着“卓越的/杰出的（distinguished）”职业生涯。
12. [C] collection. 考查名词语义。他在电影中作为一个角色出现，或者说是美国人性格的“集合/缩影（collection）”。
13. [C] interviewed. 考查动词语义。派尔是一名战地记者（war correspondent），因此电影中出现的是他曾经“采访（interviewed）”过的士兵。
14. [A] human. 考查形容词辨析。与后半句“不是报道推进了多少英里或占领了什么城镇（宏大的军事/政治面）”形成对比，他报道的是士兵满身泥污的生活，即战争中“普通人的/人性的（human）”一面。
15. [D] gained. 考查动词搭配。在战争语境中，mile 配合 gain，意为“推进了/夺取了多少英里（的阵地）”。
16. [A] paralleled. 考查动词语义。派尔的文字报道与莫尔登的漫画有着相似的主题，两者“相平行/相呼应（paralleled）”。
17. [B] emphasized. 考查动词辨析。这两个人都“强调（emphasized）”了战争的肮脏与疲惫。
18. [C] fragments. 考查名词语境。在战壕中，咖啡、烟草、睡眠等被看作是文明世界的“碎片/点滴（fragments）”。
19. [B] To. 考查介词。To Egypt, France... 意为“对于（To）埃及、法国和十几个国家的人民来说”。与第一段的 To the men and women 呼应。
20. [D] at that point. 考查短语辨析。在战争解放他们的时候，大兵乔就是任何一个美国士兵，也是“在那一刻/在那个时候（at that point）”他们生命中最重要的人。

核心长难句精解 (High-Light)

1. 史诗级的同位语与排比定语从句：
"To the men and women who served in World War II and the people they liberated, the G. I. was the common man grown into hero, the poor farm kid torn away from his home, the guy who bore all the burdens of battles, who slept in cold foxholes, who went without the necessities of food and shelter, who stuck it out and drove back the Nazi reign of murder."
 【解析】主句是 the G. I. was the common man。后面的 the poor farm kid... 和 the guy... 都是 common man 的同位语。在 the guy 后面，作者连续使用了四个由 who 引导的定语从句构成排比，极其生动且震撼地刻画了美国大兵在二战中承受苦难、击退纳粹的英雄群像。 
2. 并列否定与伴随结构：
"This was not a volunteer soldier, not someone well paid, but an average guy, up against the best trained, best equipped, fiercest, most brutal enemies seen in centuries."
 【解析】not... not... but... 构成了强烈的转折与递进关系。逗号后的 up against... 相当于一个形容词短语作后置定语（修饰 average guy）。在 enemies 前，连续使用了四个最高级修饰语，突出了敌人的残暴与大兵乔的凡人英雄主义色彩。 