外刊逐句精读|考研特辑:2021年英语一 Text 3逐句精读及真题解析|...
课代表来啦!这篇是去年考研较为有代表性的文章~
时间轴(上面是词汇讲解 下面是长难句分析)已经加好汇总在文末,前面是文章+题目+解析(绿色字是后面有整理的词汇)

2021考研英语一Text 3
第一段
As a historian who’s always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate重新评估vt. the past, I’ve become preoccupied adj. (occupied adj.忙于... 从事于...,be~with doing sth.忙于做某事) with looking for photographs that show our Victorian(维多利亚时代的) ancestors smiling (what better way to shatter(vt.粉碎 击碎) the image of 19th-century prudery n.?).
长难句分析⬇️
I’ve found quite a few相当多、不少=a good few, and – since I started posting(v.张贴 公布) them on Twitter推特 – they have been causing quite a stir震动 搅拌n.(quite a sth.强调某物很突出).
People have been surprised to see evidence that Victorians had fun and could, and did, laugh.
They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter.
长难句分析⬆️
Of course, I need to concede that my collection of ‘Smiling Victorians’ makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance. How do we explain this trend?
长难句分析⬆️
During the 1840s and 1850s, in the early days of photography, exposure times were notoriously long:
the daguerreotype photographic method (producing an image on a silvered copper plate) could take several minutes to complete, resulting in blurred images as sitters shifted position or adjusted their limbs.
长难句分析⬆️
The thought of holding a fixed grin as the camera performed its magical duties was too much to contemplate, and so a non-committal blank stare became the norm.
第四段
But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s, and the introduction of the Box Brownie and other portable cameras meant that, though slow by today’s digital standards, the exposure was almost instantaneous.
Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile.
第五段
One explanation might be the loss of dignity displayed through a cheesy grin.
“Nature gave us lips to conceal our teeth,” ran one popular Victorian maxim, alluding to the fact that before the birth of proper dentistry, mouths were often in a shocking state of hygiene.
A flashing set of healthy and clean, regular ‘pearly whites’ was a rare sight in Victorian society, the preserve of the super-rich (and even then, dental hygiene was not guaranteed).
第六段
A toothy grin (especially when there were gaps or blackened teeth) lacked class:
drunks, tramps, and music hall performers might gurn and grin with a smile as wide as Lewis Carroll’s gum-exposing Cheshire Cat, but it was not a becoming look for properly bred persons.
Even Mark Twain, a man who enjoyed a hearty laugh, said that when it came to photographic portraits there could be “nothing more damning than a silly, foolish smile fixed forever”.
Quiz
1. According to Paragraph 1, the author’s posts on Twitter _________.
[A] changed people’s impression of the Victorians
[B] highlighted social media’s role in Victorian studies
[C] re-evaluated the Victorians’ notion of public image
[D] illustrated the development of Victorian photography
细节题。由于第一题题干中明确了According to Paragraph 1「根据第1段」,和关键词author's posts on Twitter「作者推特上的推文」,我们可以定位到第1段,并解答该题。
仔细读过四个选项之后,我们会发现只有选项A「改变了人们对于维多利亚时代的英国人的看法」是符合段落大意的,因此该题选择选项A。
2. What does author say about the Victorian portraits he has collected?
[A] They are in popular use among historians.
[B] They are rare among photographs of that age.
[C] They mirror 19th-century social conventions.
[D] They show effects of different exposure times.
细节题。可以根据题干中的the Victorian portraits he has collected「作者收集的维多利亚时代的照片」定位到文章第2段,再根据作者提到的tiny percentage of the vast catalogue一句,可以判断出B「这些照片在那个时代是很罕见的」是正确选项。
3. What might have kept the Victorians from smiling for pictures in the 1890s?
[A] Their inherent social sensitiveness.
[B] Their tension before the camera.
[C] Their distrust of new inventions.
[D] Their unhealthy dental condition.
细节题。重点留意题干中的keep from「让...不...」和1890s「19世纪90年代」,把握好这两点后,我们就可以定位到本文的第4段和第5段。
读懂这两段后,我们就不难锁定最后的答案了,应该是D「他们不健康的牙齿条件」。
4. Mark Twain is quoted to show that the disapproval of smiles in pictures was ________.
[A] a deep-rooted belief
[B] a misguided attitude
[C] a controversial view
[D] a thought-provoking idea
细节题。根据题干的Mark Twain可以锁定答案出现在最后一段,而在该段中,作者用even一词来强调了马克·吐温的对于拍照时微笑的态度,「即便是马克·吐温这种喜欢哈哈大笑的人,也认为拍照时微笑是愚蠢的」,可以看出拍照时笑不露齿是一种社会观念。在四个选项中,只有选项A满足。
5. Which of the following questions does the text answer?
[A] Why did most Victorians look stern in photographs?
[B] When did the Victorians start to view photographs differently?
[C] What made photography develop slowly in the Victorian period?
[D] How did smiling in photographs become a post-Victorian norm?
全文主旨题,我们可以根据全文一些表现文章整体结构的句子来分析。
比如文章第二段的文末就提出了文章主题:为什么维多利亚时代的英国人很少笑?在随后的文章中,作者都在寻找各类原因来回答第二段提出的这个问题,不难看出,只有围绕「为什么不微笑」这个关键词的选项才是本题的答案。因此,本题答案选择A「为什么大多数维多利亚时代的英国人在照片里看起来都很严肃?」。
第一段
▲ re-evaluate vt. 重新评估:用词根词缀法记忆即可,即evaluate「评估、评价」前加上表重复的前缀re-;
▲ preoccupied adj. :虽然考研大纲核心词汇里确实没有这个词,但我们知道它的同源词汇occupied「忙于...」,也知道它有be occupied with doing sth.「忙于做某事」这个固定搭配,因此我们阅读时即便不认识这个词,也完全可以分析出它的含义、词性,乃至是常用搭配,不会太影响我们的阅读;
▲ Victorian adj. 维多利亚时代的 n. 维多利亚时代的英国人:背景词汇,如果不认识这个单词,在考试时只能猜测,不过考虑到维多利亚时代名气不小,猜测的难度应该不会太大;
▲ shatter vt. 打碎、击碎;
▲ prudery n. :不影响文章大意的超纲词汇,考试时不必深究;
▲ quite a few 相当多、不少:和a good few是同义词,注意不要理解成「不太多」;
▲ post vt. (互联网上的)发帖;
▲ Twitter 推特;
▲ quite a sth. 强调某物很突出:因此文中的quite a stir就是强调「不小的轰动」;
▲ note vt. 指出、提出;
▲ fade away 逐渐消失、消逝
段落大意:
1. 作者介绍自己的身份;
2. 不少照片表明维多利亚时代的英国人确实会笑,这让他们的形象鲜活了起来。
第二段
▲ concede vt. 承认:admit的同义词,后面常接宾语从句;
▲ make up 组成、构成;
▲ percentage 百分比:商业主题文章常见表达,也是数字表达的常客,可以多多积累;
▲ catalogue n. 目录、目录簿:美式拼写是catalog;
▲ portraiture n. :虽然是超纲词汇,但我们也可以根据这个词其中的portrait「肖像画」来猜出大概含义,这样考试的时候就可以快速应付了;
▲ miserably adv. 悲惨地、可怜地;
▲ stiffly adv. 僵硬地
段落大意:
1.作者找出的照片只是特例,大多数维多利亚时代的英国人拍照并不会微笑;
2.如何解释这种现象呢?
第三段
▲ exposure n. (相机的)曝光:尽管exposure这个词并不生僻,但「曝光」这个含义对于不常接触摄影的小伙伴来说确实比较陌生,文中出现的exposure time「曝光时间」指的是「一次曝光所需的时间」;
▲ notoriously adv. 臭名昭著地:即形容词notorious的副词形态;
▲ daguerreotype n. :虽然我们在考试的时候大概率不知道这个词的准确含义,但判断出它的词性、分析出它的大概含义应该不难。判断词性可以从它的形近词stereotype「刻板印象」入手,由于stereotype是名词,我们应该也不难猜测出daguerreotype也是个名词。至于它的大概含义,我们可以从原文中daguerreotype photographic method后的括弧里的内容判断出来,其实就是描述了这个叫做daguerreotype的摄影方法的作用;
▲ silvered adj. 镀银的;
▲ copper n. 铜;
▲ result in 导致;
▲ blurred adj. 模糊的:即blur「模糊」的过去分词;
▲ limb n. 肢:注意末尾的b不用发音,读作/lɪm/;
▲ thought n. 想法、主意:常用搭配是thought of doing sth.「做某事的想法」;
▲ fixed adj. 固定的;
▲ grin n./v. 露齿笑、咧嘴笑;
▲ non-committal adj. :无伤大雅的超纲词汇,根据它的位置(放在blank stare之前)可以大概判断出是一个形容词或副词,从词尾可以大概判断出这是个形容词,具体含义并不影响句意,考试的时候不必深究;
▲ norm n. 常态、规范
段落大意:
在摄影出现之初(19世纪四五十年代),摄影需要的曝光时间太长,因此目光保持呆滞成了常规做法。
第四段
▲ Box Brownie n. :根据上下文可以判断出是一类portable camera「便携式相机」;
▲ by ... standards 按...的标准;
▲ instantaneous adj. 立即的、立刻的;
▲ spontaneous adj. 自发的、自然的:instantaneous和spontaneous两个词结尾的拼写相近,可以结合记忆;
▲ capture vt. 拍摄、录制
段落大意:
1. 随着摄影技术的进步,曝光速度也在大幅提高;
2. 到19世纪末,要想拍一张自然的微笑照片应该是轻而易举,因此维多利亚人不想笑的原因仍然有待找寻。
第五段
▲ dignity n. 尊贵、庄严;
▲ cheesy adj. :从它的位置(放在名词grin前)可以判断出它的形容词词性,具体含义在考试时不必纠结;
▲ conceal vt. 隐藏;
▲ maxim n. :虽然不清楚具体含义,但根据上下文可以判断出它和「话语、言论」等词相关,这已经足以让我们理解全句了;
▲ allude v. :单从全篇内容确实很难猜出它的含义,只能根据上下文尽量跳过这个词;
▲ flashing adj. 闪光的:这个含义可以根据flash「闪光」的意思类推出来;
▲ set n. 排、组;
▲ pearly adj. 珍珠般的:可以从pearl「珍珠」的含义推测出来;
▲ preserve n. :这个词在文章的语境下是名词,我们可以根据preserve的动词含义「保存、保护」大概猜出它的名词含义
段落大意:
段落主旨:维多利亚时代的英国人拍照不爱微笑的一大原因是微笑有损形象;
论据:维多利亚时代的口腔卫生堪忧,少有人能拥有一排洁白的好牙。
第六段
▲ toothy adj. 露齿的:可以根据tooth「牙齿」的意思猜测出含义;
▲ blackened adj. 变黑的:按照给形容词strength/hard添加动词后缀-en变成动词strengthen/harden的构词法,我们应该不难理解blacken和blackened的含义;
▲ drunk n. 醉汉、酒鬼;
▲ gum n. 牙龈;
▲ breed v. 以...的方式养大;
▲ Mark Twain 马克·吐温;
▲ 这一段的超纲生词较多,虽然我们很难猜出每一个意思的精准含义,但是结合上下文我们基本可以判断出各个单词的词性和大概含义,具体方法可以参见视频的讲解
段落大意:
继续论证前段观点:对于出身好的人来说,露齿笑是不雅的。
超纲词汇
be preoccupied with sth. 专注于某事(P1);
prudery n. (贬)谈性色变的态度(P1);
portraiture n. 肖像画(P2);
sitter n. (肖像照)模特(P2);
middle distance n. 中景:摄影、绘画术语,指照片、风景画中背景与前景之间的区域;
daguerreotype n. 达盖尔银版照片(照相法)(P3):命名自法国物理学家达盖尔(Daguerre);
non-committal adj. 含糊的(P3);
blank adj. 面无表情的(P3);
Box Brownie 布朗尼盒式相机(P4):根据文中的信息也能判断出,这是一款便携式相机;
cheesy adj. 刻意的、做作的(P5);
maxim n. 箴言、格言(P5);
allude to sth. 暗指、影射某事(P5);
preserve n. 专有领域(P5):在我们往期读过的文章中其实出现过,点击这里回顾;
class n. 高雅(P6);
tramp n. 流浪汉(P6);
gurn v. 扮鬼脸、做俏皮像(P6);
Lewis Carroll 路易斯·卡罗(P6):《爱丽丝梦游仙境》的作者,笔下的Cheshire Cat「柴郡猫」以咧着嘴的笑容著称,因此也衍生出了短语grin like a Cheshire Cat「咧着嘴大笑」;
becoming adj. 合适的、相配的(P6);
hearty adj. 亲切的、友好的(P6);
damning adj. 谴责的(P6)

