2012年考研英語閱讀理解精讀高分版(7)

來源：中華考試網時間：2011-12-30 11:45:47

　TEXT SEVEN

　　When Catholic clergy or "pro-life" politicians argue that abortion laws should be tightened, they do so in the belief that this will reduce the number of terminations. Yet the largest global study of abortion ever undertaken casts doubt on that simple proposition. Restricting abortions, the study says, has little effect on the number of pregnancies terminated. Rather, it drives women to seek illegal, often unsafe backstreet abortions leading to an estimated 67,000 deaths a year. A further 5m women require hospital treatment as a result of botched procedures.

　　In Africa and Asia, where abortion is generally either illegal or restricted, the abortion rate in 2003 (the latest year for which figures are available) was 29 per 1,000 women aged 15-44. This is almost identical to the rate in Europe-28-where legal abortions are widely available. Latin America, which has some of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws, is the region with the highest abortion rate (31), while western Europe, which has some of the most liberal laws, has the lowest (12).

　　The study, carried out by the Guttmacher Institute in New York in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and published in a British medical journal, the Lancet, found that most abortions occur in developing countries-35m a year, compared with just 7m in rich countries. But this was largely a reflection of population size. A woman’s likelihood of having an abortion is similar whether she lives in a rich country (26 per 1,000) or a poor or middle-income one (29).

　　Lest it be thought that these sweeping continental numbers hide as much as they reveal, the same point can be made by looking at those countries which have changed their laws. Between 1995 and 2005, 17 nations liberalised abortion legislation, while three tightened restrictions. The number of induced abortions nevertheless declined from nearly 46m in 1995 to 42m in 2003, resulting in a fall in the worldwide abortion rate from 35 to 29. The most dramatic drop-from 90 to 44-was in former communist Eastern Europe, where abortion is generally legal, safe and cheap. This coincided with a big increase in contraceptive use in the region which still has the world’s highest abortion rate, with more terminations than live births.

　　The risk of dying in a botched abortion is only part of a broader problem of maternal health in poor countries. Of all the inequalities of development, this is arguably the worst. According to a report published this week by Population Action International, a Washington-based lobby group, women in poor countries are 250 times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than women in rich ones. （2）Of the 535,000 women who died in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications in 2005, 99% were in developing countries, according to another report by a group of UN agencies, including WHO, also out this week. Africa accounted for more than half such deaths.As the UN report noted, countries with the highest levels of maternal mortality have made the least progress towards reducing it. A woman in Africa has a one in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, compared with one in 3,800 for a woman in the rich world.

　1. The word "botched" (Line 5, Paragraph 1) most probably means_____.

　　[A] awkward

　　[B] wrong

　　[C] backward

　　[D] bungled

　　2.The fact that the abortion rate in Africa and Asia in 2003 is almost identical to that in Europe implies that_____.

　　[A] the abortion rate has nothing to do with a country’s national wealth.

　　[B] the abortion rate has nothing to do with a country’s restricting measures on abortion.

　　[C] the abortion rate cannot be lowered through the legal measures.

　　[D] the abortion rate cannot be lowered by the implement of tightened abortion laws.

　　3. The conclusion of the study can be proved by the following proofs offered in the passage except that _____.

　　[A] the abortion rate in countries with strict aboriton laws is higher than that of the counties with liberal laws.

　　[B] there are much more abortions occuring in developing countries than in developed countries.

　　[C] there was a dramatic drop in former communist Easter Europe between 1995 and 2005.

　　[D] there was a big increase in contraceptive use in the region which still has the world’s highest abortion rate between 1995 and 2005.

　　4. Women in poor countries are much more likely dying in childbirth or pregnancy than women in rich countires because of _____.

　　[A] botched procedures of abortion in poor countries

　　[B] inequalities of development between rich and poor countries

　　[C] ignorance of and little emphasis on the maternal health in poor countries

　　[D] strict abortion laws in poor countries

　　5. The passage is mainly about_____.

　　[A] a study on the aborition rate between developed and developing countries

　　[B] a study on the aborition laws in different countries

　　[C] a study on the general maternal health condition in different countries

　　[D] a study on the influence of the aboriton laws on the abortion rate.

　　這篇文章介紹了嚴格限制墮胎的法律對墮胎率的實際影響。文章第一段提出一項全球調查表明限制墮胎對降低墮胎率影響很小；第二段給出一些數據說明嚴格的墮胎法律不能降低墮胎率，反而起到相反作用；第三段指出大部分墮胎發生在發展中國家；第四段用另外一組數據說明了墮胎法與墮胎率的關系；第五段是一個引申，引申到貧窮國家婦女健康問題。
　　詞匯注釋:
　　botch v. 做的拙劣
　　contraceptive adj. 避孕的
　　lest conj.以免, 免得
　　sweeping adj. 范圍廣大的, 總括的; 籠統的

　　難句突破：
　　(1) The study, carried out by the Guttmacher Institute in New York in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and published in a British medical journal, the Lancet, found that most abortions occur in developing countries-35m a year, compared with just 7m in rich countries.

　　[主體句式] The study found that...

　　[結構分析]這是一個復合句，其主語的定語為兩個并列的分詞短語：carried out by... 和published in...，而賓語從句中破折號后面的成分可以看作是補語。

　　[句子譯文]這項研究由紐約的Guttmacher研究所和世界衛生組織合作進行，發表于英國醫療期刊Lancet上，該研究發現大多數墮胎都發生在發展中國家，一年大約有3500萬例，而在富裕國家中一年只有700萬例。

　　(2) Of the 535,000 women who died in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications in 2005, 99% were in developing countries, according to another report by a group of UN agencies, including WHO, also out this week.

　　[主體句式] 99% were in developing country.

　　[結構分析] 這是一個復合句，由of構成的介詞短語是句子主語的定語，該介詞短語中有一個who引導的定語從句修飾名詞women；according to構成的介詞短語是句子的狀語，在該狀語中also out this week是report的補語。

　　[句子譯文] 而根據本周聯合國機構（包括世界衛生組織）的一個組織的另外一個報道，2005年死于生產或懷孕相關并發癥的53萬5千名婦女中，99%是在發展中國家。

　　1. The word "botched" (Line 5, Paragraph 1) most probably means_____.1."botched"這個詞（第五段第五行）比較有可能指_____。
　　[A] awkward[A] 笨拙的　　[B] wrong[B] 錯誤的　　[C] backward[C] 落后的　　[D] inferior[D] 低劣的
　　[答案]D
　　[難度系數] ☆☆☆
　　[分析]猜詞題。根據上下文，限制流產會逼迫婦女去進行一些非法的、不安全的秘密墮胎，從而引發死亡，還有另外一些婦女因為某些程序需要進行住院治療。那么可以推斷，這種程序因為實在非法的不安全的地方進行的，比如一些小診所，那么應該是一些拙劣的手術程序，答案D符合。

　　2.The fact that the abortion rate in Africa and Asia in 2003 is almost identical to that in Europe implies that_____.2.2003年非洲亞洲的墮胎率幾乎和歐洲的相同，這個事實說明_____。
　　[A] the abortion rate has nothing to do with a country’s national wealth.[A] 墮胎率和一個國家的富裕程度無關。
　　[B] the abortion rate has nothing to do with a country’s restricting measures on abortion.[B]墮胎率和一個國家限制墮胎的措施無關。
　　[C] the abortion rate cannot be lowered through the legal measures.[C] 通過法律措施不能降低墮胎率。
　　[D] the abortion rate cannot be lowered by the implement of tightened abortion laws.[D] 實施從緊的墮胎法律不能降低墮胎率。
　　[答案]C
　　[難度系數] ☆☆☆☆
　　[分析]推理題。文章第二段指出，雖然亞洲非洲在墮胎方面限制嚴格，歐洲墮胎合法，但墮胎率卻相同。下文又提到雖然拉美國家又比較嚴厲的墮胎法，但墮胎率比較高，而歐洲法律比較寬松，墮胎率卻比較高。再結合第一段提到研究發現限制墮胎并不能降低墮胎數量。可以得出，題目中的這個事實也說明了嚴格的墮胎法并不能有效降低墮胎率。

　　3. The conclusion of the study can be proved by the following proofs offered in the passage except that _____.3.下屬選項除了_____都能證明研究得出的結論。
　　[A] the aboriton rate in countries with strict aboriton laws is higher than that of the counties with liberal laws.[A]有嚴格限制墮胎法律的國家的墮胎率比實施寬松墮胎法律國家的高。
　　[B] there are much more abortions occuring in developing countries than in developed countries.[B] 發展中國家墮胎例數比發達國家多。
　　[C] there was a dramatic drop in in former communist Easter Europe between 1995 and 2005.[C]1995到2005年期間，前共產主義東歐的墮胎率急劇降低。
　　[D] there was a big increase in contraceptive use in the region which still has the world’s highest abortion rate between 1995 and 2005.[D] 從1995年到2005年期間避孕措施大幅度增加的國家而今仍擁有世界比較高的墮胎率。
　　[答案]B
　　[難度系數] ☆☆
　　[分析] 推理題。題干要求找出哪個論據不能證明本文中提到的研究得出的結論，首先由文章第一段得知該研究的結論是限制墮胎對降低終止懷孕數量影響頗微，而文章中心也是在論證限制墮胎并不能有效降低墮胎率。那么，選項A是文章第二段的論據，可以說明這一點。B在第四段中提到，但提到這一點主要是由于人口數量的原因，因此不能證明研究結論。C在第五段提到，世界整體放松對墮胎的法律限制引起了墮胎率的下降，特別是前社會主義東歐，這一點也可以說明。D也在第五段提及，雖然墮胎措施加大，但效果卻相反，也可以證明。因此，只有B是不能證明該結論的。

　　4. Women in poor countries are much more likely dying in childbirth or pregnancy than women in rich countires because of _____.4. 相對富裕國家，貧窮國家的婦女死于生產或懷孕的可能性更大，這是因為_____。
　　[A] botched procedures of abortion between rich and poor countries[A] 貧窮國家低劣的墮胎手術程序
　　[B] inequalities of development in poor countries[B] 貧窮國家發展的不平衡。
　　[C] ignorance of and little emphasis on the maternal health in poor countries[C] 貧窮國家對婦女健康問題知之甚少且重視不足。
　　[D] strict abortion laws in poor countries[D] 貧窮國家實施嚴格的墮胎法律。
　　[答案]C
　　[難度系數] ☆☆
　　[分析] 細節題。題干提到的問題在比較后一段中提到，首先提到因低劣的墮胎而死的危險只是貧窮國家婦女健康的一方面問題而已，因此A選項錯誤。而該段進一步指出，聯合國的一個報道發現孕產婦死亡率比較高的國家為降低該死亡率進行努力的進展也比較慢，因此主要原因就是這些國家不注重這方面問題的解決。因此，答案B為正確答案。B選項顯然與原文物無關，而D選項與實際情況并不相符。

　　5. The passage is mainly about_____.5．這篇文章主要是關于_____。
　　[A] a study on the aborition rate between developed and developing countries[A] 對達國家和發展中不同墮胎率的研究。
　　[B] a study on the aborition laws in different countries[B] 對不同國家墮胎法律的研究。
　　[C] a study on the general maternal health condition in different countries[C] 對不同國家婦女健康總體情況的研究。
　　[D] a study on the influence of the aboriton laws on the abortion rate.[D] 關于墮胎法對墮胎率影響的研究。
　　[答案]D
　　[難度系數] ☆☆☆
　　[分析] 主旨題。這篇文章主要通過一個全球的研究說明實施嚴格的墮胎法對降低墮胎并沒有影響，反而有相反的效果。因此，文章主要是關于墮胎法對墮胎率影響的研究，D為正確答案。文章的各個段落中也涉及到了其他三個選項的內容，但都不是文章的主題，而是圍繞著主題分別展開論述的。