Question

    I feel ashamed to admit this, but in much of my past life, I pretended I knew what was going on when I didn’t, for fear of being “caught out”. In the school cafeteria, when people talked about TV shows, which I didn’t have the channels for, or on MSN Messenger, when I read unfamiliar song lyrics my friends had shared, I felt upset and I’d pretend to be calm and recognize what they were talking about, like everyone else.

I did this, as I didn’t want to be seen not to understand some things that people, I respected were good at. I thought that if I didn’t know what was going on, it betrayed a moral failing and exposed me as a boy who was deeply uncool and actually, a bit stupid.

And so I nodded along silently. I prayed I wouldn’t be found out what I really was, or I would feel embarrassed. I would follow up each incident with some diligent homework on the subject, trying to disguise myself. Unsurprisingly, it all became far too much and recently I’ve found myself overwhelmed by the number of things I didn’t know about. From politics to pop culture—even Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. I just felt exhausted by it all.

And so I made a decision. I decided to stop nodding frequently at the pub while crazily searching the relative information under the table. Instead, now I’m embracing saying what is really true when I don’t know what the other person is talking about. Instead of hurrying to make up some funny opinion about a show I’ve never seen, I’ll say something like: “I’ve heard of that show but I haven’t watched it yet” Saying “I don’t know” is such a simple thing. I’m sorry that it took me so long to start saying that. I’ve changed my attitude towards something I don’t know in life. I’ll never get caught in an embarrassing lie again.

1.What does the author tell us in paragraph 1?

A.His fear of making mistakes. B.The ways to make friends in the past.

C.School activities he and his friends loved. D.His sense of shame about lying in the past.

2.How did the author feel when he didn’t know about the topic m conversation?

A.Confused. B.Anxious and awkward.

C.Unconcerned. D.Calm and relaxed

3.What does the underlined word “disguise” in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A.Hide. B.Beat.

C.Expose. D.Fool.

4.What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A.To show disadvantages of being ignored.

B.To show some embarrassing learning experiences.

C.To tell us what to do with the case of being “caught out”.

D.To tell us how saying “I don’t know” changed his life attitude.

Answer

1.D

2.B

3.A

4.D

【解析】

本文是记叙文，主要讲述了作者因担心被人认为像个傻瓜而假装什么都知道，最后由于身心俱疲，下定决心说出“不知道”，从而改变了他的生活态度的故事。

1.主旨大意题。根据第一段中I feel ashamed to admit this, but in much of my past life, I pretended I knew what was going on when I didn’t, for fear of being “caught out”.可知我很羞愧地承认这一点，但在我过去的生活中，我假装知道发生了什么，而实际上我并不知道，因为害怕被“逮住”。由此可知，作者在第一段告诉我们他对过去撒谎的羞耻感。故选D。

2.推理判断题。根据第一段最后一句In the school cafeteria, when people talked about TV shows, which I didn’t have the channels for, or on MSN Messenger, when I read unfamiliar song lyrics my friends had shared, I felt upset and I’d pretend to be calm and recognize what they were talking about, like everyone else.可知在学校的自助餐厅，当人们谈论我没有频道的电视节目时，或者在MSN上，当我读到我的朋友们分享的陌生的歌词时，我感到沮丧，我就会假装冷静，像其他人一样明白他们在说什么。第二段最后一句I thought that if I didn’t know what was going on, it betrayed a moral failing and exposed me as a boy who was deeply uncool and actually, a bit stupid.可知我想，如果我不知道发生了什么，这就暴露了我的道德缺陷，暴露了我这个非常不酷，甚至有点愚蠢的男孩。和第三段第二句I prayed I wouldn’t be found out what I really was, or I would feel embarrassed.可知我祈祷我不会被发现真正的我，否则我会感到尴尬。由此可推知，作者过去因不知道别人谈论的话题而感到焦虑、尴尬。故选B。

3.词义猜测题。根据上文I would follow up each incident with some diligent homework on the subject, trying to可知，作者对每一件事都认真做功课，是为了试图掩饰自己的无知。由此可推知，画线词“disguise”意为“掩饰”。A. Hide.掩饰，隐藏；B. Beat.打败；C. Expose.暴露；D. Fool.愚弄。故选A。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中Instead of hurrying to make up some funny opinion about a show I’ve never seen, I’ll say something like: “I’ve heard of that show but I haven’t watched it yet” Saying “I don’t know” is such a simple thing. I’m sorry that it took me so long to start saying that. I’ve changed my attitude towards something I don’t know in life. I’ll never get caught in an embarrassing lie again.可知与其急着就一个我没看过的节目编一些有趣的观点，不如这样说:“我听说过那个节目，但我还没看过。”说“我不知道”是一件很简单的事情。我很抱歉这么久才开始这么说。我改变了对生活中一些我不知道的事情的态度。我再也不会被逮个正着了。结合文章主要讲述了作者因担心被人认为像个傻瓜而假装什么都知道，最后由于身心俱疲，下定决心说出“不知道”，从而改变了他的生活态度的故事。由此可推知，作者写这篇文章的目的是告诉我们说“我不知道”如何改变了他的生活态度。故选D。