2000年57题：The author argues that our bodies have stopped evolving because.
[A]life has been improved by technological advance[B]the number of female babies has been declining[C]our species has reached the highest stage of evolution[D]the difference between wealth and poverty is disappearing
[正确答案]A
“作者认为我们的身体停止了进化是因为我们的生活已经被技术进步改进。”圈点原文：But in the past 100,000 years—even the past 100 years—our lives have been transformed but our bodies have not. We did not evolve, because machines and society did it for us.“但是在过去的10万年间——甚至是在过去的100年间——我们的生活改变了,但我们的身体没有改变,我们没有进化,是因为机器和社会在替我们进化。”
2000年65题：Which of the following is true according to the author?
[A]Japanese education is praised for helping the young climb the social ladder.
[B]Japanese education is characterized by mechanical learning as well as creativity.
[C]More stress should be placed on the cultivation of creativity.
[D]Dropping out leads to frustration against test taking.
[正确答案]C
圈点原文：While often praised by foreigners for its emphasis on the basics, Japanese education tends to stress test taking and mechanical learning over creativity and self_expression.“Those things that do not show up in the test scores—personality, ability, courage or humanity—are completely ignored,”says Toshiki Kaifu, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's education committee.“Frustration against this kind of thing leads kids to drop out and run wild.”此题问的是作者的观点，A项讲日本教育受赞扬的是它可以帮助年轻人在社会上往上爬，与文中内容不符，文中是说日本教育因其对基础的重视而受到表扬。而B选项中的“as well as creativity”与文中所说的“over creativity...”不符，也不能选。D项的逻辑恰好与原文相反，作者在评论日本教育时批评其“完全忽略了考试成绩中无法表现的个性、能力、勇气和人性”，作者用否定的方式表达出自己的意见。C选项所说的是应“更多地强调培养创造性”，所以答案为C选项。
2000年70题：From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained.
[A]secretly and vigorously
[B]openly and enthusiastically
[C]easily and momentarily
[D]verbally and spiritually
[正确答案]B
从最后一段可得出结论：野心应当保持公开的、积极的状态。
圈点原文：The attacks on ambition are many and come fromvarious angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive,swheresthey are not extremely unattractive. As a result,the support for ambition as a healthy impulse,a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that no longer openly honored, and it is less openly professed. Consequences follow from this,of course,some of which are that ambition is driven underground,or made sly.Such,then,is the way things stand: on the left angry critics,on the right stupid supporters,and in the middle,as usual,the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.
“这并不意味着野心已经不存在了，或人们感觉不到它的涌动和激励了，只是因为人们不再公开赞美它了，它因此也就得不到公开的表述了。”支持公开承认做人要有雄心壮志，因为在上文中作者已经指出，野心应当“作为一种促进因素，作为一种应该受到称赞，应该铭记在年轻人心中的品质”，正是由于野心不再公开受到尊敬和赞美，也就越来越得不到公开的承认，而B选项恰好从肯定的角度表述了作者的态度，是正确答案。
第三种常用的命题方式“正话反说”，是指文中用肯定方式表述，而选项用否定方式表述，两者意义相吻合。这一命题方式在近年的试卷中也可找到例证。
1999年第68题：The author asserts that scientists.
[A]shouldn't replace“scientific method”with imaginative thought
[B]shouldn't neglect to speculate on unpredictable things
[C]should write more concise reports for technical journals
[D]should be confident about their research findings
[正确答案]B
“作者认为科学家不应忽略对不可预见的事物进行观察。”
圈点原文：How many men would have considered the possibility of an apple falling upsintosthe tree? Newton did because he was not trying to predict anything. He was just wondering. His mind was ready for the unpredictable. Unpredictability is part of the essential nature of research. If you don't have unpredictable things, you don't have research. Scientists tend to forget this when writing their cut and dried reports for the technical journals, but history is filled with examples of it.“不可预见性是研究本质的一部分，如果没有不可预见的事物就没有研究可言，科学家们在为专业杂志写那些干巴巴的报告时趋向于忘记这一点，但历史上到处都是这种例子。”原文采用肯定的表达方式，说科学家常常忽略那些不可预见的东西，上文中提到不可预见性是研究本质的一部分，很自然就可以推出结论：科学家应重视不可预见的东西。
1999年第70题：The author implies that the results of scientific research.
[A]may not be as profitable as they are expected
[B]can be measured in dollars and cents
[C]rely on conformity to a standard pattern
[D]are mostly underestimated by management
[正确答案]A
“作者以为科学研究的成果可能不会像他们预计的那样有利可图。”
圈点原文：What this amounts to, of course, is that the scientist has become the victim of his own writings. He has put forward unquestioned claims so consistently that he not only believes them himself, but has convinced industrial and business management that they are true. If experiments are planned and carried out according to plan as faithfully as the reports in the science journals indicate, then it is perfectly logical for management to expect research to produce results measurable in dollars and cents. It is entirely reasonable for auditors to believe that scientists who know exactlyswheresthey are going and how they will get there should not be distracted by the necessity of keeping one eye on the cash register while the other eye is on the microscope. Nor, if regularity and conformity to a standard pattern are as desirable to the scientist as the writing of his papers would appear to reflect, is management to be blamed for discriminating against the“odd balls”among researchers in favor of more conventional thinkers who“work well with the team.”
“如果实验能像科学杂志上发表的论文所显示的那样按计划设定并完成，那么管理者期望研究产生出能以美元和美分衡量的结果就是很符合逻辑的了。”原文中的“If”一词表明作者陈述的只是一个假设，这一假设可能不会实现，因此原文是在暗示科学研究的结果并不像所预见的那样有效益，而选项A所表达的意思正好与之吻合。
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