A
(2020·重庆第一次调研)Would a faster reading speed mean that we could learn more? Some people claim that it’s possible. In July last year, the sixtime speed reading champion Anne Jones sat down to read Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman. Just 25 minutes and 31 seconds later, she finished it—which equals a reading rate of around 3，700 words per minute. Jones runs training courses teaching speed reading, recall and concentration techniques and there are numerous speed reading apps that have appeared on the market over the past few years. But do they actually work?
First, we need to understand how we read. The human eye movement system is central to our reading ability. Read over that sentence again, and think about how your eyes scan across the words. They don’t move smoothly over them. Instead, they make a series of short, sharp jumps, skipping over a few characters before briefly landing on a word. The movements are known as saccades(扫视) and the pauses are called fixations.
Reading isn’t just about seeing the words—you need to comprehend them to build up a picture about what the text means. People are able to get through a block of text faster, but at the cost of accuracy and understanding. In other words, if you use a speed reading app, then you’ll probably get the gist(主旨) of a piece of text, but you’ll struggle to recall details about what you’ve just read.
So, does speed reading work? Well, yes and no. It really depends on what you’re reading and why you need to read it. As yet, there isn’t a trick that enables you to read a piece of text both quickly and accurately—there’s always going to be a tradeoff．
【解题导语】 本文是一篇说明文，主要介绍了快速阅读有一定作用。快速阅读虽然能把握文章的主旨，但是回忆细节还需要时间。
1．What’s the main idea of the passage?
A．Speed reading is bad at times.
B．Speed reading is a waste of time.
C．Speed reading can work sometimes.
D．Speed reading is always enjoyable.
C 解析：主旨大意题。根据第一段尾句“But do they actually work？”可知，文章第一段对快速阅读是否有用提出疑问；接着第二段介绍了阅读能力与眼睛运动系统有关，结合第三段尾句可知，使用速读应用程序你很可能把握主旨大意，但是文章细节不一定能掌握。据此可推知，快速阅读有时是有用的，故C项正确。
2．What can we know from the passage?
A．Reading apps ensure we read much faster.
B．Fast reading makes us learn more knowledge.
C．Reading is no more than seeing the text words.
D．Reading ability is related to the eye movement system.
D 解析：细节理解题。根据第二段第二句“The human eye movement system is central to our reading ability.”可知，人的眼睛运动系统对我们的阅读能力很重要，故D项正确。
3．What does the underlined word “tradeoff” most probably mean in the last paragraph?
A．Balance. B．Change.
C．Business. D．Bargain.
A 解析：词义猜测题。根据最后一段尾句“As yet, there isn’t a trick that enables you to read a piece of text both quickly and accurately—there’s always going to be a tradeoff．”可知，到目前为止，还没有一种技巧可以让你既快速又准确地阅读一篇文章——这总要一种平衡。据此可推知，画线词意为“平衡”，故A项正确。
4．What might the writer continue to talk about?
A．The advantages of faster or slower reading.
B．The reasons why we do faster or slower reading.
C．The cases where to do faster and slower reading.
D．The methods for making use of faster or slower reading.
C 解析：推理判断题。根据最后一段尾句“As yet, there isn’t a trick that enables you to read a piece of text both quickly and accurately—there’s always going to be a tradeoff.”可知，到目前为止，还没有一种技巧可以让你既快速又准确地阅读一篇文章——这总要一种平衡。据此可推知，文章接下来可能阐述在什么情况下进行速读以及在什么情况下进行慢读，故C项正确。
【难句分析】 Jones runs training courses teaching speed reading, recall and concentration techniques and there are numerous speed reading apps that have appeared on the market over the past few years.
分析：该句由and连接的两个分句构成，其中第二个分句为主从复合句，句中“that have appeared on the market over the past few years”为that引导的定语从句，修饰先行词“speed reading apps”， that在从句中作主语。
译文：琼斯开设了速读、记忆力和集中注意力技巧的培训课程，且在过去几年中市场上出现了大量的速读应用程序。
