Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. “Hooray! At last!” wrote Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic.
One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert’s appointment in the Times, calls him “an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him.” As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise.
For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes.
Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. These recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today’s live performances; moreover, they can be “consumed” at a time and place of the listener’s choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert.
One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilbert’s own interest in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into “a markedly different, more vibrant organization.” But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra’s repertoire will not be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America’s oldest orchestra and the new audience it hopes to attract.
1、21. We learn from Paragraph 1 that Gilbert’s appointment has ________.
A incurred criticism
B raised suspicion
C received acclaim
D aroused curiosity
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干定位至原文第一段。该段第二句指出，针对吉尔伯特的任命，大多数人的反应是favorable（赞成的），而第三句中引述的critic（评论家）的评论“Hooray! At last!”（万岁，终于是他了！）同样表明对其任命的态度是正面的，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项与原文文意相悖，故错误。B、D选项在原文均未提及，故错误。
2、22. Tommasini regards Gilbert as an artist who is________.
A influential
B modest
C respectable
D talented
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Tommasini和Gilbert as an artist可定位至原文第二段。该段第二句指出，托马西尼认为吉尔伯特“是一位谦逊的音乐家，他身上没有伟大指挥家令人畏惧的气势”。可知托马西尼认为吉尔伯特是谦虚的，故B选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项与原文中little known（不出名）相悖，故错误。C、D选项在原文中均无依据，故排除。
3、23. The author believes that the devoted concertgoers________.
A ignore the expenses of live performances
B reject most kinds of recorded performances
C exaggerate the variety of live performances
D overestimate the value of live performances
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的devoted concertgoers可定位至原文第四段，该段指出，认为现场演出无可替代的忠实听众忽视了关键点。随后作者指出了现场音乐会的缺点和录制品的优点，录制品价格低廉，higher in artistic quality than today’s live performances（艺术品质比现场演出更高），可见现场演出的价值并不像忠实音乐会听众认为的那样高，也就是被高估了，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文虽然出现money，但指的是艺术爱好者的钱，并非演出费用，也没有提到ignore，故A选项错误。原文只是说忠实的音乐会爱好者认为现场演出无可替代，不能反推他们不接受录制品，B选项属于过度推断，故错误。C选项中variety在原文中没有依据，故错误。
4、24. According to the text, which of the following is true of recordings?
A They are often inferior to live concerts in quality.
B They are easily accessible to the general public.
C They help improve the quality of music.
D They have only covered masterpieces.
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的recordings可定位至原文第四段倒数后两句。倒数第二句指出recordings are cheap, available everywhere（录制品价格低廉，随处可得），倒数第一句也指出录制品具有widespread availability（广泛可得性），B选项中的easily accessible是对这些内容的同义转述，故为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项与原文中recordings… higher in artistic quality than today’s live performances（录制品艺术品质比现场演出更高）的表述相悖，故错误。C选项中“有助于提高音乐品质”在原文中没有依据，故错误。原文提到录制的演出包含20世纪最伟大的古典音乐家的作品，但并不一定只收录杰作，故D选项错误。
5、25. Regarding Gilbert’s role in revitalizing the Philharmonic, the author feels ________.
A doubtful
B enthusiastic
C confident
D puzzled
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Gilbert’s role in revitalizing the Philharmonic可定位至原文最后一段第二句。该句后半句指出，一位评论家认为吉尔伯特有能力使纽约爱乐乐团变成更有活力的组织。But表转折，可见作者观点与评论家的不同，而其后的反问句以及下一句的merely和not be enough均表明作者对于吉尔伯特重振纽约爱乐乐团的怀疑，故A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：作者对吉尔伯特重振纽约爱乐乐团是怀疑的态度，并不是正面的，B、C选项均与原文文意相反，故错误。作者最后指出如果吉尔伯特和纽约爱乐乐团想取得成功，需要改变乐团和观众间的关系，可见作者有明确看法，并不是迷惑的，故D选项错误。
长难句分析：If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America’s oldest orchestra and the new audience it hopes to attract.
本句主干为they must first change the relationship，为主谓宾结构。between…and…是relationship的后置定语，修饰主句的宾语relationship。it hopes to attract是省略引导词的定语从句，修饰audience。If引导的条件状语从句使用了主系表结构。
句意为：如果吉尔伯特和爱乐乐团想要成功，他们首先得改变这个美国最古老的管弦乐团和它想吸引的新观众之间的关系。
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up. Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuses, he came right out and said he was leaving “to pursue my goal of running a company.” Broadcasting his ambition was “very much my decision,” McGee says. Within two weeks, he was talking for the first time with the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, which named him CEO and chairman on September 29.
McGee says leaving without a position lined up gave him time to reflect on what kind of company he wanted to run. It also sent a clear message to the outside world about his aspirations. And McGee isn’t alone. In recent weeks the No.2 executives at Avon and American Express quit with the explanation that they were looking for a CEO post. As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who don’t get the nod also may wish to move on. A turbulent business environment also has senior managers cautious of letting vague pronouncements cloud their reputations.
As the first signs of recovery begin to take hold, deputy chiefs may be more willing to make the jump without a net. In the third quarter, CEO turnover was down 23% from a year ago as nervous boards stuck with the leaders they had, according to Liberum Research. As the economy picks up, opportunities will abound for aspiring leaders.
The decision to quit a senior position to look for a better one is unconventional. For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached. Says Korn/Ferry senior partner Dennis Carey: “I can’t think of a single search I’ve done where a board has not instructed me to look at sitting CEOs first.”
Those who jumped without a job haven’t always landed in top positions quickly. Ellen Marram quit as chief of Tropicana a decade age, saying she wanted to be a CEO. It was a year before she became head of a tiny Internet-based commodities exchange. Robert Willumstad left Citigroup in 2005 with ambitions to be a CEO. He finally took that post at a major financial institution three years later.
Many recruiters say the old disgrace is fading for top performers. The financial crisis has made it more acceptable to be between jobs or to leave a bad one. “The traditional rule was it’s safer to stay where you are, but that’s been fundamentally inverted,” says one headhunter. “The people who’ve been hurt the worst are those who’ve stayed too long.”
6、26. When McGee announced his departure, his manner can best be described as being ________.
A arrogant
B frank
C self-centered
D impulsive
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的McGee announced his departure可定位至原文第一段首句，该句指出，麦基宣布离职时，他的解释出乎意料的straight up（直率），后面一句加以详细解释，他没有找usual vague excuses（惯用的含糊其辞的借口），而是come right out（很坦率），承认离开是为了追寻自己运营公司的目标。可见他宣布离职时的态度是很直率的，故B选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A、D选项在原文没有依据，故排除。原文只是提到麦基离职是为了追寻自己运营一家公司的目标，并未对此举是否自私做出评价，C选项是对此的过度推理。
7、27. According to Paragraph 2, senior executives’ quitting may be spurred by ________.
A their expectation of better financial status
B their need to reflect on their private life
C their strained relations with the boards
D their pursuit of new career goals
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Paragraph 2和senior executives可定位至原文第二段第四、五句。这两句指出高管离职是looking for a CEO post（希望成为首席执行官），以及executives who don’t get the nod also may wish to move on（未获得认可的高管可能也会想离开），可见促使高管离职的原因是他们想追求新的职业目标，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项的financial status和B选项的private life在原文中均未提及，故错误。原文只是提到董事会面临股东压力而严格审查继任计划，并不能推出高管和董事会关系紧张，C选项属于过度推断，故错误。
8、28. The word “poached” (Line 3, Paragraph 4) most probably means ________.
A approved of
B attended to
C hunted for
D guarded against
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干定位至原文第四段第二句。前面指出离职以look for a better one（追求更好职位）是unconventional（不符合惯例的），也就是说惯例应该是不主动去追求职位。第二句指出，高管和猎头for years（多年来）坚持的原则是最受欢迎的CEO候选人必须是poached，也就是说poached指的是一种遵循惯例的做法，是和主动寻求职位是相反的含义，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项属于根据常识设置的干扰项，在原文并无体现，故错误。B、D选项带入原文不能使上下文语义连贯，没有逻辑关系，故错误。
长难句分析：For years executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO candidates are the ones who must be poached.
本句属于复合句，句子主干是executives and headhunters have adhered to the rule，为主谓宾结构。For years为时间状语。that引导的从句为同位语从句，解释rule的详细内容，其中嵌套了who引导的定语从句，修饰同位语从句的表语the ones。
句意为：多年来，高管和猎头们始终坚持一个原则：最具吸引力的首席执行官人选是那些需要去挖来的人。
9、29. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
A top performers used to cling to their posts
B loyalty of top performers is getting out-dated
C top performers care more about reputations
D it’s safer to stick to the traditional rules
答案解析：
答案精析：根据最后一段中猎头的引言，传统的规则是留在原处更加安全，也就是高管们以往的做法是留在原岗位上，A项中的cling to their posts对应原文的stay where you are，故A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文中old disgrace is fading指的是高管主动离职的不光彩正在褪去，旨在说明高管不主动离职的情况已经有所改变，并不是指高管对公司的忠诚不重要，故B选项错误。C选项属于原文第二段末句的信息，在最后一段没有体现，故错误。D选项是对原文The traditional rule was it’s safer to stay where you are的曲解，这句话是在说传统做法是留在原职位更安全，并不是坚持传统更安全，且后文指出受害最深的是在原职位待太久的人，可见坚持传统规则并不安全，故D选项错误。
10、30. Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A CEOs: Where to Go?
B CEOs: All the Way Up?
C Top Managers Jump without a Net
D The Only Way Out for Top Performers
答案解析：
答案精析：文章首先以麦基的事例引出leaving without a position（裸辞）这一现象，接着分析高管裸辞原因：追求更好的职业目标，爱护声誉，经济复苏，机会增多都使得高管愿意make the jump without a net（裸辞），之后点出高管裸辞现象的非传统性以及风险：Those who jumped without a job（裸辞）的人不见得都能快速找到高层职位，可见整个文章是围绕高管裸辞展开的，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A、B选项中CEO只是高管离职的目标，并非本文的论述主体，本文论述主体是senior executives，故错误。D选项中only过于绝对，且“出路”只是文章论述的一部分，不能涵盖文章所有内容，故错误。
长难句分析：“The traditional rule was it’s safer to stay where you are, but that’s been fundamentally inverted,” says one headhunter.
本句是直接引语的形式，引号内是由but连接的并列句，主干是the traditional rule was… but that’s been fundamentally inverted。but前面的句子是主系表结构，it’s safer to… are是其表语，使用了it作形式主语，不定式做真正主语的特殊用法，where you are是嵌套其中的状语从句。but后面的句子是主谓结构，谓语动词使用了被动语态。
句意为：一位猎头说：“传统的规则是待在原来的位置比较保险，但这一规则已经被彻底颠覆了。”
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
The rough guide to marketing success used to be that you got what you paid for. No longer. While traditional “paid” media—such as television commercials and print advertisements—still play a major role, companies today can exploit many alternative forms of media. Consumers passionate about a product may create “earned” media by willingly promoting it to friends, and a company may leverage “owned” media by sending e-mail alerts about products and sales to customers registered with its Web site. The way consumers now approach the process of making purchase decisions means that marketing’s impact stems from a broad range of factors beyond conventional paid media.
Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers promoting their own products. For earned media, such marketers act as the initiator for users’ responses. But in some cases, one marketer’s owned media become another marketer’s paid media—for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site. We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment. This trend, which we believe is still in its infancy, effectively began with retailers and travel providers such as airlines and hotels and will no doubt go further. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has created BabyCenter, a stand-alone media property that promotes complementary and even competitive products. Besides generating income, the presence of other marketers makes the site seem objective, gives companies opportunities to learn valuable information about the appeal of other companies’ marketing, and may help expand user traffic for all companies concerned.
The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more (and more diverse) communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways. Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: an asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product. Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them.
If that happens, passionate consumers would try to persuade others to boycott products, putting the reputation of the target company at risk. In such a case, the company’s response may not be sufficiently quick or thoughtful, and the learning curve has been steep. Toyota Motor, for example, alleviated some of the damage from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg.
11、31. Consumers may create “earned” media when they are ________.
A obsessed with online shopping at certain Web sites
B inspired by product-promoting e-mails sent to them
C eager to help their friends promote quality products
D enthusiastic about recommending their favorite products
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的consumers和create “earned” media可定位至原文第一段第四句，该句前半句指出，热爱某种产品的消费者willingly promoting it to friends（乐意向朋友推荐该产品）而产生“口碑”媒体，D选项是对这一表述的转述，故为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项在原文并未提及，属于无中生有，故错误。原文提到公司可以利用“owned” media给网站注册用户发送产品和促销提示，这些邮件与“earned” media无关，故B选项错误。由原文可知，消费者将自己热爱的产品推荐给朋友而产生了“口碑”媒体，并非是为朋友推销产品，故D选项错误。
12、32. According to Paragraph 2, sold media feature ________.
A a safe business environment
B random competition
C strong user traffic
D flexibility in organization
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Paragraph 2和sold media可定位至原文第二段第四句，该句指出，售出媒体指的是whose traffic is so strong（那些流量巨大的）自有媒体，可见售出媒体的特点是巨大的流量，故C选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项是根据原文第二段第四句的within that environment设置的干扰项，原文指的是流量巨大这一商业环境，但并未提及售出媒体的商业环境是否安全，故A选项错误。B选项是对原文中第六句中的competitive设置的干扰项，原文指的是产品具有竞争性，并非售出媒体的特点，故B选项错误。D选项是根据第四句中other organizations设置的干扰项，但这并非sold media的特点，flexible在原文并无体现，故D选项错误。
13、33. The author indicates in Paragraph 3 that earned media ________.
A invite constant conflicts with passionate consumers
B can be used to produce negative effects in marketing
C may be responsible for fiercer competition
D deserve all the negative comments about them
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Paragraph 3和earned media可定位至原文第三段第二句，该句指出，hijacked media（被劫持媒体）是口碑媒体的对立面，冒号后对被劫持媒体进行解释说明：某一优点或宣传活动成为对品牌或产品做出不满指控的消费者、利益相关者或积极分子的“人质”。也就是说，口碑媒体可能被用来表达不满，造成负面影响，故B选项为正确答案。
错项排除：由原文可知，激动的消费者会劫持媒介给企业施压，因而冲突是发生在消费者和企业之间，并非在口碑媒体与消费者之间，故A选项错误。C选项在原文并未提及，故错误。原文中消费者make negative allegations（所作的不满指控）是针对品牌和产品，并非口碑媒体，且deserve在原文并无依据，故D选项错误。
14、34. Toyota Motor’s experience is cited as an example of ________.
A responding effectively to hijacked media
B persuading customers into boycotting products
C cooperating with supportive consumers
D taking advantage of hijacked media
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Toyota Motor可定位至原文最后一段最后一句话。该句指出，丰田汽车通过relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign（相对快速、步调协调的社交媒体回应活动）减轻了汽车召回危机的损害。可见丰田公司有效应对了被劫持媒体，故A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：由原文可知，劝说他人抵制产品的是passionate consumers（热心顾客），不是丰田公司，B选项属于张冠李戴，故错误。C选项的supportive在原文并无依据，故错误。丰田公司是作为应对被劫持媒体的事例，而不是利用被劫持媒体，故D选项错误。
长难句分析：Toyota Motor, for example, alleviated some of the damage from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg.
本句主干是Toyota Motor,…, alleviated some of the damage，为主谓宾结构，for example是插入语，from its recall crisis为地点状语，earlier this year 是时间状语，with…campaign是方式状语。which引导的非限制性定语从句修饰campaign，对其进行解释说明，其中不定式to engage with consumers为后置定语修饰efforts，表明努力的举措；on sites是地点状语，表明举措的地点；such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg为后置定语修饰sites，对地点进行举例。
句意为：例如，今年早些时候发生的召回危机中，丰田公司以相对快速、步调一致的社交媒体回应活动，减轻了汽车召回危机的损害，这些回应活动包括在推特和社会新闻网站掘客等网站上直接与客户进行交流。
15、35. Which of the following is the text mainly about?
A Alternatives to conventional paid media.
B Conflict between hijacked and earned media.
C Dominance of hijacked media.
D Popularity of owned media.
答案解析：
答案精析：本文在首段即指出了文章中心内容：尽管传统付费媒体仍起作用，公司可以采用很多alternative forms of media（其他替代的媒体形式），并在接下来的内容中介绍了自有媒体、付费媒体、售出媒体以及被劫持媒体，可见文章主要是在介绍传统付费媒体的替代媒体，故A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：B选项只是原文内容的一部分，不足以涵盖文章全部内容，故错误。C、D选项中的被劫持媒体和自有媒体均为原文一部分，不足以概括全文，且dominance与popularity缺乏原文依据，故错误。
Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
It’s no surprise that Jennifer Senior’s insightful, provocative magazine cover story, “I Love My Children, I Hate My Life,” is arousing much chatter—nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that “the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight.”
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive—and newly single—mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual “Jennifer Aniston is pregnant” news. Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing? It doesn’t seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the childless. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn’t have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their “own” (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake.
It’s hard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it’s interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren’t in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting “the Rachel” might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston.
16、36. Jennifer Senior suggests in her article that raising a child can bring ________.
A temporary delight
B enjoyment in progress
C happiness in retrospect
D lasting reward
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Jennifer Senior suggest和her article可定位至原文第一段。该段指出，珍妮弗·西尼尔认为，尽管养育孩子的日常很艰辛，令人心力交瘁，但“此时此刻令我们沮丧的事日后将成为幸福和喜悦的来源”。可见珍妮弗·西尼尔认为养育孩子会让父母在回想过去时感到快乐，C选项中in retrospect与原文中later照应，为正确答案。
错项排除：原文中珍妮弗·西尼尔r并未就养育孩子带来的回报的持续时间给出评价，故A、D选项错误。由原文可知，珍妮弗·西尼尔认为day-to-day experience是很艰辛的，并不会带来愉悦，故B选项错误。
长难句分析：Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that “the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight.”
本句主干是Senior writes that…，是主谓宾结构，that引导的句子“the very…delight.”是writes的宾语从句，其中嵌套了that引导的定语从句that in the moment dampen our moods，修饰things。Even though引导的让步状语从句为主系表结构。
句意为：尽管一天天养孩子的困难经历令人心力交瘁，但西尼尔写到：“此时此刻令我们沮丧的事日后将成为幸福和喜悦的来源”。
17、37. We learn from Paragraph 2 that ________.
A celebrity moms are a permanent source for gossip
B single mothers with babies deserve greater attention
C news about pregnant celebrities is entertaining
D having children is highly valued by the public
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干定位到原文第二段。该段主要介绍了母亲怀抱孩子的新闻和明星收养孩子或怀孕的新闻也经常见诸报端，基本上每周至少有一次类似的新闻。这一现象说明大众对于养育孩子的高度重视，第三段段首的society that so persistently celebrates procreation（高度赞扬生育的社会）也印证了这一点，故D选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项中permanent过于绝对，且本文主题是生育，与gossip（八卦）无关，故A选项错误。原文提及newly single mom是作为例子表明公众关注明星养育孩子，并不是将单身妈妈作为关注的主体，故B选项错误。C选项中entertaining只是表面现象，并非本质，也不是文章主要强调的内容，故C选项错误。
18、38. It is suggested in Paragraph 3 that childless folks ________.
A are constantly exposed to criticism
B are largely ignored by the media
C fail to fulfill their social responsibilities
D are less likely to be satisfied with their life
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Paragraph 3和childless folks可定位至原文第三段。该段第一句提到，承认你后悔生孩子就等于承认你支持杀死小猫，可见不生孩子这种想法是不被认可的。第三段最后一句指出，不幸福的没有孩子的人经常bothered with the message（受到别人言语的烦扰），他们的不幸被认为是人生中没有子女的直接后果，可见没有孩子的人会不断受到指责，故A选项为正确答案。
错项排除：原文并未提及媒体对于没有孩子的人是否关注，故B选项错误。原文没有提及social responsibilities，只是在论述养育小孩是否幸福，故C选项错误。原文只是对比了unhappy parents和unhappy childless folks的不同境遇，无法等同于没有小孩的人生活都不幸福，故D选项错误。
19、39. According to Paragraph 4, the message conveyed by celebrity magazines is ________.
A soothing
B ambiguous
C compensatory
D misleading
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干中的Paragraph 4和celebrity magazines可定位至原文第四段第一句。该句指出，明星杂志呈现出的关于为人父母的形象是hugely unrealistic（非常不切实际的），D选项misleading与这一表述表达含义相同，故为正确答案。
错项排除：A、B、C选项均无法体现“不切实际”的含义，故错误。
20、40. Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A Having children contributes little to the glamour of celebrity moms.
B Celebrity moms have influenced our attitude towards child rearing.
C Having children intensifies our dissatisfaction with life.
D We sometimes neglect the happiness from child rearing.
答案解析：
答案精析：根据题干定位至原文最后一段。该段指出大多数成年人都知道生孩子不像剪头发那么简单，但是我们每周看到的无忧无虑、幸福迷人的父母形象会以small, subconscious way（微小、潜意识的方式）加剧我们对真实育儿体验的不满，可见明星妈妈确实影响我们的育儿态度，故B选项为正确答案。
错项排除：A选项是根据原文中glamorous设置的干扰项，原文只是提到明星妈妈使生儿育女看起来很有魅力，并未提到生儿育女对明星妈妈的魅力有何作用，故A选项错误。由原文可知，加剧我们不满的是杂志上明星们无忧无虑的父母形象，并非生儿育女，C选项属于张冠李戴，故错误。D选项在原文并未提及，故错误。
长难句分析：But it’s interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren’t in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting “the Rachel” might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston.
本句主干是But it’s interesting to wonder if…，是主系表结构，使用了it作形式主语，不定式to wonder if…为真正主语。if引导的从句是wonder的宾语从句，其主干是the images aren’t contributing to our own dissatisfactions，其中we see everyday是省略引导词的定语从句，修饰images；of… parenthood是介词短语作后置定语修饰images；in some small conscious way是方式状语修饰contributing to。in the same way是方式状语，也是其后that引导的定语从句的先行词；getting… Aniston是宾语从句作hope的宾语。
句意为：想想这点确实有趣：我们每周看到的毫无压力、幸福迷人的父母形象是否在以某种不明显的、潜意识的方式加剧我们对实际育儿体验的不满呢？就像我们中的少数人希望模仿瑞秋就可以使自己看起来有一点儿像詹妮弗·安妮丝顿。
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