学位英语

Look After Your Voice

Often speakers at a meeting experience dry mouths and ask for a glass of water. You can solve the problem by activating the saliva in you mouth. First gently bite the edges of your tongue with your teeth. Or press your entire tongue to the bottom of your mouth and hold it there until the saliva flow. Or you can imagine that you are slicing a big juicy lemon and sucking the juice.

Before you begin your talk, be kind to your voice. Avoid milk or creamy drinks which coat your throat. Keep your throat wet by drinking a little sweetened warm tea or diluted fruit juice. If you sense that you are losing your voice, stop talking completely. Save your voice for your speech. You may feel foolish using paper to write notes, but the best thing you can do is to rest your voice. If you need to see a doctor, perhaps you can get some advice from a professional singer. In the meantime, do not even talk in a low voice.

What about drinking alcohol to wet your throat? I advise you not to touch alcohol before speaking. The problem with alcohol is that one drink gives you a little confidence. The second drink gives you even more confidence. Finally you will feel all-powerful and you will feel you can do everything, but in fact your brain and your mouth do not work together properly. Save the alcohol until after you finish speaking.

Perhaps you want to accept the advice, but you may wonder if you can ever change the habits of a life-time. Of course you can. Coethe, who lived before indoor skating rinks or swimming pools, said, "We learn to skate in the summer and swim in the winter. " Take this message to heart and give yourself time to develop your new habits. If you are willing to change, you will soon be able to say that you will never forget these techniques because they became a part of your body.

All the following are mentioned in the passage about how to solve the problem of dry mouths EXCEPT

A. to bite the edges of your tongue

B. to ask for a glass of water

C. to imagine you are having a sour fruit

D. to take cool milk

参考答案:D 系统解析:【题 干】下列除了__________都作为解决口干的方案。

A.咬舌尖 B.要一杯水 C.望梅止渴 D.喝凉牛奶

【解 析】细节题。在文章第一段中，作者提到三种解决讲话时口干的方法，分别对应A、B、C选项。只有D选项未提及。本题是典型的并列处命题，第一段中的“first…or…or”正好对应选项。

42

What does the writer suggest when you feel you are losing your voice?

A. Rest your voice.

B. Drink some alcohol.

C. Ask a singer to teach you how to protect your voice.

D. Never go to see a doctor.

参考答案:A 系统解析:【题 干】当你觉得自己快要失声的时候，作者建议做什么?

A.休息嗓子 B.喝点酒

C.咨询歌手保护嗓子 D.不要去看医生

【解 析】细节题。由文章第三段第三句“…but the best thing you can do is to rest your voice.”，大意是“最佳方案是休息你的嗓子”。可知答案为A。要注意转折词后常常为作者真正想表达的意思。

43

What is the writer's advice about alcohol before you give a speech?

A. Drink a little of it to feel all-powerful.

B. Don't drink it.

C. Dilute it with water.

D. Drink it two hours before you make a speech.

参考答案:B 系统解析:【题 干】作者对讲话前喝酒的建议持什么看法?

A.少喝一点能觉得力量倍增。

B.不要喝。

C.用水稀释。

D.讲话前两个小时喝。

【解 析】细节题。由alcohol回到原文定位，由文章第三段可知，作者忠告演说者在演说之前千万不要碰酒。故选B。

44

What did Goethe say about skating and swimming?

A. He said people could learn to skate when it was hot and swim when it was cold.

B. He said people could learn to skate and swim when it was hot.

C. He said people could learn to skate and swim when it was cold.

D. He said people could learn to skate when it was cold and swim when it was hot.

参考答案:A 系统解析:【题 干】歌德关于滑冰和游泳的说法是什么?

A.他说人们可以在热的时候学习滑冰，在冷的时候学习游泳。

B.他说人们可以在热的时候学习游泳和滑冰。

C.他说人们可以在冷的时候学习游泳和滑冰。

D.他说人们可以在冷的时候学习滑冰，在热的时候学习游泳。

【解 析】细节题。由人名回到原文定位，文章最后一段中歌德的原话是“We learn to skate in the summer…”，A项与歌德的说法最接近。故本题选A。

45

Why does the writer cite Goethe' s advice?

A. To encourage one to go in for sports.

B. To tell that Goethe had a strong willpower.

C. To prove one can change one's habits.

D. To demonstrate Goethe was creative.

参考答案:C 系统解析:【题 干】为什么作者要引用歌德的建议?

A.鼓励人们参加运动。

B.证明歌德的意志力很强。

C.证明一个人能改变习惯。

D.证明歌德很有创造力。

【解 析】推理题。最后一段作者引用歌德的话想证明，一个人养成的习惯如果想改是可以改的，也可以形成新的习惯。故本题选C。

（责任编辑：pgl）