Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet”. When a man has done someth

题文

Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet”. When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet”. Some people may have more than one skeleton.
As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.
Before 1932, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.
But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.
We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor would keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.
After a time, people began to suspect(怀疑) every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase “a skeleton in the closet” took on a broader, more general meaning to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.
One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man’s guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.
Baizac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.
The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.   
小题1:Which of the following situations is suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet” ?A．You have stolen something precious and don’t want it discovered. B．You are a doctor and have to keep a skeleton for research.C．If you have cut open a dead human body for scientific examination you should keep the skeleton secret. D．You have done a crime or done something foolish, but you want to keep other from discovering it.小题2:From the text we know that there are _______ theories about how the phrase “skeleton in the closet” came into being. A．one B．two C．threeD．four小题3:In Chinese the world “skeleton” means _______. A．尸体B．标本C．收藏D．骷髅小题4:Which of the following is right according to the text?A．In the 20th century, doctors realized the importance of anatomy(解剖) in the development of medicine. B．The doctors of the ancient times liked to collect as many skeleton as possible. C．The thieves stole skeletons from tombs in order to help the doctors.D．It was legal that corpses of anybody were cut open for scientific examination in history.小题5:From the story Balzac told we know that the wife’s lover must have become _______. A．a corpseB．a phraseC．a skeletonD．a secret 题型：未知 难度：其他题型

答案

小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:A
小题5:C

解析

本文列举两个故事诠释 “skeleton in the closet” 之义。
小题1:推断题。根据 When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet” 可知 “skeleton in the closet” 的意思是一个人想隐藏自己感到羞愧的事，由此可推知犯了罪或做了傻事而又不想让别人知道的符合 “skeleton in the closet”，故选 D。
小题2:细节题。阅读全文得知本文用了两个故事来解释这个短语，一是英国医生用死尸来进行医学研究；二是法国作家 Balzac 讲述的是丈夫将妻子的情人封死在墙里，由此可知B为正确答案。
小题3:词义猜测题。从该词的源处得知它与死尸有关，再从倒数第三段 It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton可推测其义为 D。
小题4:细节题。根据全文可知B、C、D是错误的，再从 It became very important in his work可知 A 为正确答案。
小题5:推断题。根据最后一段The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never… 得知她的情人将死在墙里，自然成为骷髅了。故选C。

考点

据考高分专家说，试题“Lucky is the man who.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。

政治经济类阅读

政治经济类文章的概念：

要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。

如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：

【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。