4．Watching TV is a very popular pastime （消遣） in the UK but what kind of programmes do British people like to watch？Well，the most-watched TV programmes every week are very popular dramas that are usually on at least four times every week．They are dramas based in one neighbourhood that try to describe ordinary life in the UK---we call these dramas‘soap operas'or‘soaps'．
In the early days of TV，there were often dramas on during the day．Back in those days，it was traditional for the husband to go out to work and for the wife to stay at home and look after the house and the children．Most of these daytime dramas were aimed at entertaining the housewives who would traditionally be at home，probably doing the washing．Companies selling washing powder would advertise their products at times when these dramas were on，and sometimes those companies would even sponsor （贊助） the drama．Therefore the word‘soap'was used．
So what about the word opera？Well，that's because these dramas are often an exaggeration （夸大） of real life．They are supposed to represent ordinary life but to make them entertaining，lots of dramatic events like murders，divorces，affairs （風流韻事） etc．all happen probably much more regularly than they would in a normal neighbourhood．
Most soap operas these days are shown in the evening．Each show will have several different storylines happening at once that continue over several shows．The same cast members will appear in every show too．
There are lots of different soaps on in the UK on different channels but there are three main popular ones．‘Coronation Street'has been on since 1960．It is set in a suburb of Manchester and it's supposed to represent working class life in the north of England．Then there's‘Eastenders'which started in 1985，set in the East End of London and‘Emmerdale'，which is set on a farm in Yorkshire，in the north of England．
32．The text is mainly aboutC．
A．some popular soap operas
B．how people spend their spare time in the UK
C．why soap opera is so called
D．how companies sell soaps
33．Which opera should you watch if you want to learn about people's life in London？B
A．Coronation Street．
B．Eastenders．
C．Emmerdale．
D．None of the above．
34．The underlined part"cast members"in paragraph 4probably meansA．
A．actors and actresses
B．people who sell washing powder
C．characters in Coronation Street
D．opera producers
35．We may infer from the second paragraph thatA．
A．today more women go to work
B．soap operas were produced only for women
C．men didn't like watching TV
D．companies often sold washing powder from door to door．
分析 文章大意：本文介紹了肥皂劇一詞的來源．在英國電視出現(xiàn)的早期，家庭主婦看戲劇，這些是他們日常的消遣活動，在節(jié)目開始前會有洗衣粉廣告，這些廣告商會贊助戲劇，慢慢地，肥皂一詞出現(xiàn)了．這是因為肥皂劇夸大了真實的生活，它涉及生活中的暴力、離婚等問題．大多數(shù)的肥皂劇在晚上播放，雖然在英國有很多類型，但流行的主要有三類：《加冕街》《倫敦東區(qū)》《愛默戴爾》．
解答 32．C 主旨大意題．根據(jù)整篇文章內容可知本文介紹了肥皂劇一詞的來源，因此答案選C．
33．B 細節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)文章最后一段Then there's‘Eastenders'which started in 1985，set in the East End of London…可知電視劇《倫敦東區(qū)》可以幫你了解倫敦人們的生活，因此答案選B．
34．A 詞義猜測題．根據(jù)文章第四段最后一句The same cast members will appear in every show too．可知相同的演員會出現(xiàn)在每一部電視劇中，根據(jù)語境可以判斷答案選A"男女演員"．
35．A 推理判斷題．根據(jù)文章第二段前兩句In the early days of TV，there were often dramas on during the day．Back in those days，it was traditional for the husband to go out to work and for the wife to stay at home and look after the house and the children可知在過去英國的婦女待在家里而丈夫到外面工作，這是他們的傳統(tǒng)，由此可推斷現(xiàn)在她們更多回去工作，因此答案選A．
點評 本題考查社會文化類閱讀理解．這類題材的閱讀理解是高考�？嫉膬热荩y度適中，考生可以通讀全文，了解大意，在此基礎上再根據(jù)問題結合選項及語境做出正確的選擇．
