Question

An old lady was walking with her basket down the middle of a street in Petrograd to the great confusion of the traffic and with no small danger to herself. It was pointed out to her that the pavement was the place for pedestrians, but she replied: “I’m going to walk where I like. We’ve got liberty now.” It did not occur to the dear old lady that if liberty entitled（授权）the pedestrian to walk down the middle of the road, then the end of such liberty would be universal chaos. Everybody would be getting in everybody else’s way and nobody would get anywhere. Individual liberty would have become social chaos.

There is a danger of the world getting liberty-drunk in these days like the old lady, and it is just as well to remind ourselves of what the rule of the road means .It means that in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the liberties of everybody must be limited. When the policeman steps into the middle of the road and puts out his hand, he is the symbol not of tyranny（暴政）, but of liberty.

Liberty is not a personal affair only, but a social contract（契约）. In matters which do not touch anybody else’s liberty, of course, I may be as free as 1 like. If I go down the street dressed strangely, who shall say me no? We have a whole kingdom in which we rule alone and can do what we choose. But directly we step out of that kingdom, our personal liberty of action becomes qualified by other people’s liberty.

We all tend to forget this. A reasonable consideration for the rights or feelings of others is the base of social conduct.

1.What does the first paragraph serve as?

A. A background.    B. An introduction.    C. A comment.    D. An explanation.

2.Which is an example of getting liberty-drunk?

A. Park anywhere you like.    B. Walk along the pavement.

C. Wear whatever you like.    D. Make loud noises in the wild.

3.What might the author have stated his “rule of the road” (Paragraph 2) as?

A. Follow the orders of policemen.    B. Do what you like in private.

C. Never walk in the middle of the road.    D. Do not behave inconsiderately in public.

4.What does the underlined word “qualified” (Paragraph 3) mean?

A. Limited.    B. Ruined.    C. Improved.    D. Educated.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.A

【解析】本文从介绍一位不守道路规矩的老太太，阐述我们在保护自己自由的同时应该尊重别人的自由，社会行为的基础是合理的考虑别人的情感和权利。

1.推理判断题。通读全文可知，文章在第一段介绍一位不讲道路规则的老太太，下文阐述了我们在保护自己自由的同时应该尊重别人的自由，可知第一段是为了引出下文陈述的观点，是作为文章的引入部分，故选B。

2.推理判断题。根据文章描述可知，liberty-drunk的人，是那些像老太太一样不在乎别人自由的违反行为的人，故A（任意停车）正确，故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据文章第二段内容It means that in order that the liberties of all may be preserved, the liberties of everybody must be limited.可知，the rule of the road就意味着，为了每个人的自由得到保护，每个人的自由也都必须被限制。因此D（公众场所不能做出不考虑别人的行为）可以作为作者陈述the rule of the road。故选D。

4.词义猜测题。根据文章提到的：为了每个人的自由得到保护，每个人的自由也都必须被限制。以及最后一段内容We have a whole kingdom in which we rule alone and can do what we choose. But directly we step out of that kingdom, our personal liberty of action becomes qualified by other people’s liberty.我们有一整个可以独立管理的王国，在这个王国之内我们可以做我们选择的事。但是直接走出我们的王国，我们的个人自由行为会受到别人自由的限制。故选A。

【名师点睛】

词义猜测题解题技巧

词义猜测能力是一项重要的英语阅读技能，同时也是高考英语卷对考生阅读能力进行检测的一个重要方面。词义猜测的命题形式大体有以下三个层面：

1.猜测一个单词的语境意义，如本文第4小题：

What does the underlined word “qualified” (Paragraph 3) mean?

2.猜测一个词组的含义。

3.对具体语境下的特定句子的猜测。

解这类题时，我们首先认真阅读划线单词所在的句子，单独的阅读这一个句子一般来说是很难判断它的词义，因此在阅读的过程中，我们可以利用上下文形成的语境对生词词义进行合理的猜测。就本文第4小题而言，首先要根据上文判断文章作者想要传递的信息：为了每个人的自由得到保护，每个人的自由也都必须被限制。再跟划线单词所在的句子推测句子的含义。我们有一整个可以独立管理的王国，在这个王国之内我们可以做我们选择的事。但是直接走出我们的王国，我们的个人自由行为会受到别人自由的限制。所以这里划线单词词意为“限制”。