四级真题2024年6月第三套 Passage One
① It may sound surprising, but you don’t have to be interested in fashion, or even in history, to enjoy Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History. I happen to be interested in both, and ended up enjoying the book for completely different reasons.
② Richard Thompson Ford is a law professor, and you probably won’t forget that for even one page. His carefully reasoned arguments, packed with examples, sound almost like reading a court opinion, only maybe wordier. You will probably never think of fashion as a trifle again.
③ Ford’s thesis is that the best way to understand what particular fashions meant in any given era is to look at the restrictions placed on them. Through this lens, he shows us that the first laws passed in the 1200s to ensure that only the nobility were allowed to wear certain fabrics, colors and ornaments reflected the rise of the middle class, who were now able to imitate some of these fashions. The status of the upper classes was threatened; fashion was a tool to preserve it.
④ Ford takes the reader through the evolution of fashion while examining the underlying motivations of status, sex, power, and personality, which, he assumes, influenced all innovations in fashion in the past and which continue to influence us today. His writing is more than a little dense — dense with research, clauses, and precise adjectives and nouns. But there’s also humor and enough interesting episodes to make the writing appealing. No one is spared his sharp analysis: not the easy targets of 19th century women’s crippling (伤害身体的） fashions nor the modern uniforms of Silicon Valley T-shirts.
1.1. What does the author think of the book Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History?
A It is read by people for entirely different reasons.
B It is meant for those interested in fashion history.
C It makes enjoyable as well as informative reading.
D It converts fashion into something for deliberation.
解析：选C。C 推理判断题。根据题干关键词the book可以将答案定位到第一段第一句、第二段第二句。第一段第一句指出，这听起来可能令人惊讶，但你并不需要对时尚甚至历史感兴趣，就可以享受阅读《着装规范:时尚法则如何创造历史》这本书。接下来第二段第二句指出，该书作者的论点经过缜密且充分的论证，而且书中充满了例子，看完后你可能再也不会认为时尚是件小事了。由此可知，在作者看来，这本书令人享受，且能让人增长见识，选项C与原文意思一致，故本题选C。选项A错在，原文是说作者出于不同的原因喜欢上了这本书，并不是人们出于完全不同的原因阅读它，故排除。选项B以偏概全，选项D属于过度推断，均排除。
2.2. How can people best understand a particular fashion in an era, according to Ford?
A By examining the restraints imposed on it.
B By looking at what the nobility were wearing.
C By glancing at its fabrics, colors and ornaments.
D By doing a survey of the upper and middle classes.
解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据题干关键词best understand a particular fashion in an era可以将答案定位到第三段第一句。第三段第一句指出，福特的论点是，要理解任何一个时代的特定时尚意味着什么，最好的方法是看一看当时对时尚施加的限制。由此可知，本题选A。选项中的restraints imposed on it与原文中的restrictions placed on them是同义替换，restraint和restriction都是“限制”的意思。其他三项虽然包含部分原文词汇，但都不是福特所说的理解一个时代特定时尚的最佳方式，故排除。
3.3. What was the aim of the first laws passed regarding fashion in the 1200s?
A To facilitate the rise of the middle class.
B To loosen restrictions on dress codes.
C To help initiate some novel fashions.
D To preserve the status of the nobles.
解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据题干关键词the first laws passed regarding fashion in the 1200s可以将答案定位到第三段第二、三句。第三段第二句指出，福特向我们展示了13世纪首批通过的确保只有贵族才能穿着某些面料、颜色和佩戴某些装饰品的法律，这反映了中产阶级的崛起，他们现在能够模仿其中一些时尚风格。但是仅从这句话，我们无法推断通过该法律的目的。我们继续读下一句:上层阶级的地位受到了威胁:时尚是维护其地位的工具。由此可知，首批通过的时尚行业的法律规定贵族才能穿某些面料、颜色和装饰品，其目的也就是维护贵族的地位，故本题选D，选项中的preserve是原词重现。虽然原文提到了中产阶级的崛起，但这是这部法律的颁布反映出的一个现象，而不是其目的，故排除A。选项B和C原文没有提及，均排除。
4.4. What does the author think of Ford’s writing?
A It uses comparison and contrast in describing fashions of different eras.
B It makes heavy reading but is not lacking in humor or appeal.
C It is filled with interesting episodes to spare readers intolerable boredom.
D It is characteristic of academics in presenting arguments.
解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据题干关键词Ford’s writing可以将答案定位到倒数第二段第二、三句。倒数第二段第二句和第三句指出，他的作品比较晦涩难懂——充满了研究细节、从句和精确的形容词和名词。但这部作品中也不乏幽默和足够有趣的章节，使文字充满吸引力。对比四个选项，只有选项B概括最为全面且符合文章内容，故本题选B，选项中的heavy reading与原文中的dense属于同义替换。本题还可以用排除法来做。选项A原文未提及，故排除。选项C错在，原文说作品“不乏”足够有趣的章节，并没有说“充满”了有趣的章节，而且该选项对福特作品的概括也不全面，故排除。作者只是提到福特的作品中论点论证缜密，例子丰富，听起来就像阅读法庭意见书一样，这表明作者认为福特的书有法律文献的味道，而并非D项所说的具有学术特点，故D项可排除。
5.5. What does the author say is the greatest strength of Ford’s book?
A Plentiful information.
B Meaningful choices.
C Evolved thinking.
D Intellectual depth.
解析：选D。D 推理判断题。根据题干关键词the greatest strength of Ford’s book可以将答案定位到最后一段第一句。最后一句段第一句指出，这本书(关于时尚!)最大的优势在于其思想的深刻程度，故本题选D。选项Intellectual depth与原文中的intellectual profoundness是同义替换。其他三项均不符合题意，故排除。