1. The peasants were the least ____ of all people, bound by tradition and ____ by superstitions.

A. free - fettered

B. enfranchised - rejected

C. enthralled - tied

D. pinioned - limited

E. conventional - encumbered

2. Many people at that time believed that spices help preserve food; however, Hall found that many marketed spices were ____ bacteria, moulds and yeasts.

A. devoid of

B. teeming with

C. improved by

D. destroyed by

E. active against

3. If there is nothing to absorb the energy of sound waves, they travel on ____ , but their intensity ____ as they travel further from their source.

A. erratically - mitigates

B. eternally - alleviates

C. forever - increases

D. steadily - stabilizesE. indefinitely - diminishes

4. The two artists differed markedly in their temperaments; Palmer was reserved and courteous, Frazer ____ and boastful.

A. phlegmatic

B. choleric

C. constrained

D. tractable

E. stoic

5. The intellectual flexibility inherent in a multicultural nation has been ____ in classrooms where emphasis on British-American literature has not reflected the cultural ____ of our country.

A. eradicated - unanimity

B. encouraged - aspirations

C. stifled - diversity

D. thwarted - uniformity

E. inculcated - divide

答案：

1.Correct Answer: A

解析:

Clue: the part after the comma expands on what has been stated. Also note the word ‘least’, which here means ‘not’. Therefore, the peasants were least free, because they were fettered (restricted or bound) by superstition. (enfranchised = given voting rights; enthralled = fascinated; pinioned = tied down; encumbered = burdened)

2. Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Clue: ‘However’ indicates that the first part of the sentence is contradicted by the second. Therefore, if people once believed that spices preserved food, then the person mentioned found that spices did not preserve food, and in fact the spices were teeming (full of) bacteria etc. that could destroy the food.

3.Correct Answer: E

解析:

Clue: ‘but’ indicates something contradictory. So, if the waves are not absorbed they travel on indefinitely (apparently for ever), but the intensity gets less (diminishes) as they travel away. Remember, the sentence has to make the best sense, so saying that sound intensity increases as the waves travel is counter to common sense. (erratically = not constantly; alleviates = makes less severe)

4.Correct Answer: B

解析:

Clue: Since both ‘differ’ we need opposites. So, since ‘reserved’ and courteous’ are both good words, we need a ‘bad’ word for the blank. Choleric means easily angered and so would be a good opposite to restrained. (phlegmatic = calm, imperturbable; constrained = restrained; tractable = easily lead, docile; stoic = having fortitude)

5.Correct Answer: C

解析:

Clue: Try to understand the overall meaning here. The emphasis on one type of literature (British-American) has not reflected the differences (diversity) in our country, which is multicultural. And so the flexibility in our culture has been reduced or suppressed (stifled).(eradicated = wiped out; unanimity = consensus, agreement; aspirations = hopes; thwarted = prevented, inculcate = instill)