考研英语阅读理解精读：UNIT 13 TXET 2

　　备考考研的学生应该都有发现，考研阅读的题目基本都围绕在文章的各层次主干上，所以，原文几百字的文章，真正需要理解的主干其实只有几十个字而已，当我们划去冗余，就会发现几十字的文章骨架基本覆盖所有的问题。为了帮助大家更深入的了解，今天，好轻松考研小编给大家带来了考研英语阅读理解精读：UNIT 13 TXET 2，希望能帮助到大家。

　　TEXT 2

　　Tracy Borman can tell a good story. Admittedly, her subject is a gift. But Henrietta Howard, mistress to George II, lived in the midst of a large cast of characters, many of them entangled in the complicated politics of 18th-century court life, and Ms Borman handles them and their world with aplomb.

　　Though the 18th century is called the Age of Reason, it was anything but. Henrietta was born in 1689, a year after the balance of power in Britain shifted from monarch to Parliament. But this did nothing to shift the tyranny of men over women, and Henrietta's life was largely shaped by violent and unreasonable men.When she was eight, her father, the profligate and choleric squire of Blickling Hall in Norfolk, challenged a neighbour to a duel for impugning his valour. He was killed for his pains, leaving a wife, eight children and a pile of debts. Eight years later, perhaps hoping to help her now motherless siblings, Henrietta released her dowry money by marrying a cousin, Charles Howard, 14 years her senior.

　　It was a disaster. Charles turned out to be a compulsive gambler and wife-beater, and their lives descended into lodging-house flits and near-starvation. Then, aged 25, Henrietta made her own astonishing gamble. In 1714, when Queen Anne lay dying, she took herself and Charles off to Hanover, where George Louis, heir presumptive to the English throne, held court. There she joined throngs of other hopefuls, all jockeying for the notice either of George Louis, or his son, George Augustus, or his daughter-in-law, Caroline.

　　Henrietta's gamble paid off, though frying pans and fires come to mind. Her appointment as Woman of the Bedchamber to Princess Caroline meant long days of tedious and exacting ceremony, such as holding her mistress's wash basin on bended knee, a point that Caroline spitefully insisted on when Henrietta became her husband's mistress. Not that that was much comfort either. The man was a boor, and dull with it. In any case, Henrietta never really supplanted Caroline. Being a royal mistress was, in this case, more a post than a romance. But it suited Henrietta in that it protected her from her husband—something the law denied her.

　　Henrietta was known for her discreet and even temper, but she must also have had sharp elbows. As Ms Borman vividly shows, the court was a scandal-mongering, fickle place, riven by political factionalism and held at fever pitch by the royal family's own very public quarrels. This was the atmosphere Henrietta breathed. And yet she somehow managed to be liked. Even acid-tongued poet, Alexander Pope, described her as reasonable, good-humoured, witty and, above all, a friend.

　　Some of Ms Borman's most engaging writing describes Henrietta's circle of friends—poets, writers and wits such as Lord Chesterfield and Horace Walpole—and the pleasure they all took in the design of her Palladian villa, Marble Hill at Twickenham. When her husband's death made it safe for her to retire, this was where she came: to entertain, to re-marry, to have a home. After a life of winging it, such hard-wrung domesticity feels almost heroic.

　　1. Tracy Borman is probably_____

　　[A] a story teller.

　　[B] a historian.

　　[C] a novelist.

　　[D] an autobiographer.

　　2. According to the passage, 18the Century is characterized by _____

　　[A] the widespread notion of reason.

　　[B] extensive violence among men.

　　[C] irrationality underneath the overcoat of rationality.

　　[D] the tyranny of men over women

　　3. The word “supplanted” (Line 5, Paragraph 4) most probably means_____

　　[A] hated.

　　[B] displaced.

　　[C] threatened.

　　[D] pleased.

　　4. Henrietta chose to be a royal mistress because_____

　　[A] she wanted to have a romance with the royal family member.

　　[B] such a royal post helped her to climb up the social ladder.

　　[C] she wanted to dodge her husband.

　　[D] she could be exempt from Caroline’s tedious ceremony.

　　5. Henrietta must have had sharp elbows in order to _____

　　[A] maintain good temper when serving the royal family.

　　[B] survive the complicated disputes.

　　[C] have herself accepted by all the people she met.

　　[D] make friends with reasonable people.

　　文章剖析：

　　这篇文章介绍了Tracy Borman笔下的历史人物Henrietta Howard。段讲述Tracy Borman以非常沉静的方式描写了Henrietta的世界；第二段讲述Henrietta的身世及她出嫁的情况；第三段讲述悲惨的婚姻令Henrietta另寻出路；第四、五段讲述她的宫廷生活；第六段讲述Tracy写得的片断和Henrietta的最后结局。

　　词汇注释：

　　aplomb n. 冷静，沉着                              profligate n. 享乐者

　　choleric adj. 易怒的                                  impugne v. 责难，驳斥

　　valour n. 英勇，勇猛                                dowry n. 嫁妆

　　heir presumptive n. 假定继承人jockey v. 用手段图谋某个职位或利益：

　　exacting adj. 严格的spitefully adv. 怀恨地，恶意地

　　boor n. 粗野的人supplant v. 取代

　　monger v. 传播fickle adj. 薄情的

　　factionalism n. 派性，党派之争

　　难句突破：

　　(1)But Henrietta Howard, mistress to George II, lived in the midst of a large cast of characters, many of them entangled in the complicated politics of 18th-century court life, and Ms Borman handles them and their world with aplomb.

　　[主体句式 ] But Henrietta Howard lived …, and Ms Borman hands them and their world…

　　[结构分析] 这是一个并列句；前面分句中，mistress to…是主语的同位语，many of them…是charaters的同位语。

　　[句子译文] 但是Henrietta Howard，这位乔治二世的情人生活在一大群人物中间，他们许多都和18世纪宫廷生活的繁复政治纠结在一起，但Borman女士却能沉静地描述着他们以及他们的世界。

　　(2)Her appointment as Woman of the Bedchamber to Princess Caroline meant long days of tedious and exacting ceremony, such as holding her mistress's wash basin on bended knee, a point that Caroline spitefully insisted on when Henrietta became her husband's mistress.

　　[主体句式] Her appointment meant … such as…

　　[结构分析] 这是一个复合句，such as…作前面ceremony的定语；a point…是前面on bended knee的同位语；在该同位语中，that引导的是定语从句修饰point，该定语从句中有when引导的时间状语从句。

　　[句子译文] 她成为Caroline公主的卧室女仆，这就意味着她每天都得应付那些单调、严格的礼节，比如必须屈膝端着洗脸盆到某一高度，这是Caroline在Henrietta成为他丈夫情妇后恶意坚持这样的。

　　题目分析：

　　[答案]C

　　[难度系数] ☆☆

　　[分析]推理题。从文章句说Tracy Borman是个讲故事的好手，可以推断出她不是历史学家，也不是记者；而后面提到她对人物的描写，可以推断出来她是写小说的。此外这部书不是关于她自己的，因此她也不是一个自传作家。因此正确答案为C。

　　[答案]C

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析]细节题。文章第二段一开头就提到“Though the 18th century is called the Age of Reason, it was anything but”，即18世纪被称为是理性时代，但事实恰恰相反。那么可以看出，18世纪在理性的表面下，其实质是非理性的。C选项为正确答案。

　　[答案]B

　　[难度系数] ☆

　　[分析]猜词题。根据上下文，Caroline刁难她，因为知道她是自己丈夫的情人；而后面写的是王室的情人只是个职位，而不是真正的浪漫；可以推断，她和国王并没有感情很深，选项中，B仿佛最为合适，她从来没有真正的替代她。

　　[答案]C

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析]细节题。第四段最后提到，王室情人这个职位很适合她，因为可以保护她免受丈夫伤害；而文章最后又提到在她丈夫死后，她就马上离开了王宫。因此，可以看出，她选择这个职位是为了躲避自己的丈夫，因此C选项为正确答案。A显然是一个干扰选项，而B选项的错误在于文章并没有提及她想爬到社会高层。D选项也是错误的，因为那不是她的主要目的，而且她也必须履行那些仪式。

　　[答案]B

　　[难度系数] ☆☆☆

　　[分析] 推理题。文章第五段提到，虽然她非常审慎、性格很好，但是肘部需要尖锐些，这应当是一个比喻。下文又说这是因为宫廷是一个是非之地，因此，可以推断这个引申义是指运用这种手段来保护自己、使自己能够复杂纠纷的皇室斗争中生存下来，因此B选项为正确答案。其余三个选项都是文章中的一些细节内容，但是却与本题题干的问题无关。

　　参考译文：

　　Tracy Borman是个讲故事的好手，必须得承认，她选取的题材是不同凡响的。Henrietta Howard，这位乔治二世的情人生活在一大群人物中间，他们许多都和18世纪宫廷生活的复杂政治纠结在一起，但Borman女士却能沉静地描述这些人以及他们的世界。

　　虽然18世纪被称为是理性时代，但却恰恰相反。Henrietta出生于1689年，而在1688年英国的权利由君主转向了议会，但是却没有除去男性对女性的专制，Henrietta的大部分生活都是由一些暴力、非理性的男性控制着。八岁时，她的父亲，一个贪于享乐、性格暴躁的诺福克Blickling Hall乡绅，因为一位邻居驳斥他不勇猛，就向邻居提出了决斗。他最终因为伤痛死去，留下了妻子、八个孩子和一堆债务。八年后，也许是希望可以帮助那时已失去母亲的兄弟姐妹们，Henrietta嫁给了比她大十四岁的表哥Charles Howard，条件是免于出嫁妆钱。

　　这场婚姻是个灾难。Charles是个没有自制力的赌徒，还经常殴打妻子，他们的生活颠簸流离，几近饿死。就在这时，25岁的Henrietta给自己下了最令人震惊的赌注。1714年，安妮皇后去世，Henrietta和Charles一起到了汉诺威，在那里英国王位的假定继承人George Louis继位。Henrietta加入了那些希望通过一些手段引起George Louis、或是他儿子George Augustus和儿媳Caroline的注意的人群。

　　Henrietta的赌注赢了，尽管她得留意煎锅和火苗。她成为Caroline公主的卧室女仆，这就意味着她每天都得应付那些单调、严格的礼节，比如屈膝端着洗脸盆到某一高度，这是Caroline在Henrietta成为他丈夫情妇后恶意坚持的。但除此外作为George Augustus的情妇也不是什么舒服的事情。这是个粗野的男人，而且也厌烦了。但无论如何，Henrietta从没有真正取代过Caroline. 既然这样，作为王室情人更多是一个职位，而不是什么浪漫的事情，但这个职位却适合Henrietta，能够使她免于受到丈夫的伤害，而这正是法律不能给与她的。

　　Henrietta 因为她的审慎和好性格而著称，但是她的肘部得尖锐些。正像Borman女士写的那样，宫廷是个谣言肆虐、感情淡薄的地方，受政治的党派之争驱动，加上王室内部的争吵，这一直是水深火热之地。而这就是Henrietta生活的地方，但她却让人人都喜欢她。即使是尖酸刻薄的诗人Alexander Pope 也把形容她为理智、好脾气、机敏，最重要的是Pope 把她当成了朋友。

　　Borman女士的迷人笔法描述赋予了Henrietta的朋友们——有诗人、作家还有像Lord Chesterfield 和 Horace Walpole那样的才子——以及他们在为设计Henrietta设计位于Twickenham的Palladian别墅和大理石山时的快乐。在丈夫死后，Henrietta就可以安全地退休了，她开始享乐、然后再嫁人，拥有了一个家。经历这一切之后，辛苦得来的家庭生活感觉就像是英雄史诗一般壮美。

　　考试马上就要来临，为了拿稳考研阅读的分值，大家一定要努力刷题，正确刷题哦。以上就是好轻松考研小编对于考研英语阅读理解精读：UNIT 13 TXET 2内容的整理，希望对大家有帮助哦。