英、西的独立之禁果 - FT速读测试

速读测试：英、西的独立之禁果

FT专栏作家吉迪恩·拉赫曼(Gideon Rachman)

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：
Smolensk	斯摩棱斯克，俄罗斯西部城市
covet	垂涎
thwart	阻碍、挫败
Catch-22	指的是互相抵触的规定造成无法脱身的困窘。《第二十二条军规》，美国作家约瑟夫·海勒的荒诞派小说。书中第二十二条军规的内容是：只有疯子才能获准免于飞行，但必须由本人提出申请。
appalled	惊骇的；丧胆的
stoking	加煤点火
Garden of Eden	伊甸园
misbegotten	私生的、非法的
Darien scheme	达伦计划。17世纪末，苏格兰人投资了相当于国家收入一半的金钱用于中美地峡移民计划。计划惨败后，苏格兰议会力排众议同意了英格兰国会的援助方案：两国合并，组成大不列颠联合王国。
chauvinistic	沙文主义的、盲目爱国的、极端民族主义的

常见问题

阅读FT对你有什么好处？

对于全球的商业精英来说，阅读英国《金融时报》是每天必须进行的修炼。《金融时报》的文章以分析见长，逻辑严密，特别适合准备GRE和GMAT的考生。培生集团推出的PTE考试的阅读题，就是利用了FT的文章来做阅读理解。

阅读速度多快才够用？

在信息爆炸的今天，能够迅速地阅读和理解大量资料，已成为所有人必不可少的技能。对于准备参加各种英语测试的考生来讲，阅读速度可能是决定成绩的关键。要想在GRE和GMAT的考试中拿到高分，你的阅读速度至少要达到每分钟200字。

如何迫使自己提高阅读速度?

我们有一个自动滚屏的工具来帮助你提高速度。点击该按钮后，屏幕就开始滚动，迫使你改掉向回看的习惯，加快速度。默认为每分钟140字（朗读速度）。随着你的技能提升，你可以挑战更高的速度，直到达到1000。

小字速度：+ -

阅读以下文章

<b>Spain, Britain and the forbidden fruits of independence</b>
Arriving in Scotland a few years ago, I was greeted by a poster boasting that Glasgow has “the latitude of Smolensk and the attitude of Barcelona”. It was a vivid example of the mixture of comradeship and admiration with which Scots look towards Catalonia. Barcelona, the Catalan capital, has many things that Glaswegians covet: better weather, better food, better football. In a striking homage to Catalonia, the Scots even chose an architect from its capital, Enric Miralles, to design their new parliament building.
Now, however, Catalans have a reason to look enviously towards Scotland. On Monday it was confirmed that in 2014 Scotland will hold a referendum on independence. The Catalan government would dearly love to hold its own vote on independence, but is being determinedly blocked by the Spanish government in Madrid.
Spain is attempting to thwart the movement for Catalan independence through the use of a legalistic Catch-22. The central government says Catalan nationalists must respect Spain’s constitution. And that constitution makes it illegal to hold a referendum on independence.
The British are taking an approach that is simultaneously more pragmatic and bolder. Prime Minister David Cameron could easily have insisted that only the British government had the legal right to organise a referendum. Instead he has agreed to allow Scots to organise a vote on their nation’s future – on condition that independence should be the only question on the ballot.
On the grounds of both justice and prudence, the British government’s approach seems wiser. Mr Cameron, like Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, is a conservative and a patriot. Both men would be appalled to preside over the break-up of their nations. But the British government has recognised that, by winning power in Edinburgh, the Scottish Nationalists have earned the democratic right to hold a referendum on their longstanding goal of independence. There is no point in trying to find legalistic ways of thwarting them.
The British government’s approach, while risky, is also psychologically astute. Telling people that there is something that they are absolutely forbidden from doing is a sure way of stoking their desire to do that very thing. This principle – first established in the Garden of Eden – applies just as surely in modern Catalonia. By contrast, it may be slightly deflating for Scottish Nationalists that a recent opinion poll showed stronger support for Scottish independence in England than in Scotland itself.
The parallels between the Scottish and Catalan causes are intriguing. In both places, nationalists date the loss of independence to the early 18th century. The Scots signed the Act of Union with England – which created Britain in 1707 – after a misbegotten colonial venture, called the Darien scheme, had almost bankrupted Scotland. Catalan nationalists date their loss of independence to the fall of Barcelona in 1714. In a recent match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, Catalan nationalists marked the anniversary with an earsplitting roar – 17 minutes and 14 seconds into the football game.
Both the Scottish and Catalan nationalists have used the EU to bolster the case for independence. An independent Scotland or Catalonia, it is argued, need not fear isolation, since the new nations would be members of the larger European club – and so could combine independence with the security of membership of the EU.
Some Scottish intellectuals also argue that hostility towards the EU is a specifically English vice – and that Scots are much less chauvinistic. This idea goes down well in Brussels, where the notion that the English might be punished for their euroscepticism by Scottish secession tickles some people. In truth, opinion polls suggest that Scots are only slightly less hostile to the EU than the English. One recent poll suggested that 60 per cent of English voters want to quit the EU; a view shared by 50 per cent of Scots.
The economic crisis within the eurozone has led the Scottish Nationalists to play down the European angle to their campaign. They now say that an independent Scotland would not immediately seek to join the euro, and would instead retain the pound as its currency – in Scottish notes, as it is now.
Spain, by contrast, is right at the centre of the euro crisis, so the rest of the EU still looks good by comparison. Most Catalan nationalists insist their new nation would remain part of the euro.
There is, however, one big difference between the Scottish and the Catalan cases that helps to account for the difference in attitudes in Madrid and London. Scotland accounts for just 5.2m of a total British population of about 62m – and is widely regarded in England as being heavily subsidised by the rest of the country. (The Scottish Nationalists dispute that.) By contrast, Catalonia accounts for 7.3m of a Spanish population of 47m – and is one of the wealthiest regions in the country. Its loss would be a terrible blow to Spain.
Still, even the English might find their stiff upper lips quivering slightly if Scotland really does vote for independence in 2014. Personally, I hope both Britain and Spain manage to stay together. But, if that happens, it has to be on the basis of consent. The Spanish government should stop hiding behind the law, and allow a Catalan referendum. No marriage can survive simply by declaring divorce illegal.

选择正确答案

According to the passage, Scots covet many things that Catalans have. Which of the following is not one of them?

Good!
第一段中作者给我们展示了苏格兰人有多么羡慕加泰罗尼亚。但是，有一点是他们肯定不会羡慕的：西班牙政府一直态度坚决，要挫败独立呼声，而英国政府则非常“大度”，甚至与苏格兰签署了协议允许他们公投。

Catalonia's weather.
Its football.
Its central government.
Its food.

选择正确答案

Why does "Catch-22" mean, in this article?

Good!
第二十二条军规在这里指的是西班牙政府自相矛盾，给自己造成了窘境。 A项是不正确的。苏格兰和加泰的独立派人士都打出“欧盟牌”，苏格兰比英国更亲欧盟，甚至愿意使用欧元。而加泰的民族主义者也坚称即使独立也留在欧元区。 B项也不正确。C是正确的。

Spanish government supports European Union, while Catalonia is hostile to it.
Spanish government in fact can accept Catalonia secession, but it claims that it would not allow it.
Spanish government says Catalans must respect Spain' constitution, but to hold a referrendum is legal according to the constitution.

选择正确答案

Of the following statements, what are the similarities of Scotland and Catalonia?

Good!
A正确，按照《合并条约》，苏格兰1707年与英格兰合并，而加泰罗尼亚1714年被法-西波旁王朝征服，从而并入西班牙，B是不正确的。 C也是不正确的，苏格兰的人口和经济规模相对较小，而加泰罗尼亚则是欧洲最发达的地区之一。另外，英格兰人认为英格兰给了苏格兰过多的补贴，而加泰人不满意自己有过多的税收让中央政府拿走。

They both lossed their independence in the early 18th century.
They losed their independence both as a result of military conquest.
Given their economic power, their central governments would each suffer a huge blow if secession happens.
All of above.

选择正确答案

What might the writer's advice to Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy?

Good!
这三项都是正确的。学习更多：FT中文网商学院微博：达伦计划

Telling Catalans that "independence is absolutely forbidden" actually stirs up their sentiment.
No marriage can survive simply by declaring divorce illegal.
Perhaps Spain can learn something from Britain.
All of above.

放松与总结

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您的正确率太低，在目前这个阶段，对你来说最重要的是提高英文水平和金融专业水平，而不是速度。请您点击后退仔细查看您答错的题目，并和原文对照。对原文中所有不懂的句子和知识点，也请一一查明。建议您：
1. 在进行下一次训练的时候，将滚屏速度保持在100以下。
2. 您可以找一些有声读物，如《经济学人》的audio edition，帮助你提高英文水平。

看得出你是非常认真来进行这次训练的，如果你坚持的话，你会获得非常大的提高。目前你的阅读速度偏低，可能是因为英文不是你的母语。不过，请不要放慢阅读速度。研究表明，阅读速度越快的人，其理解的正确率反而越高。因此，您可以同时提高您的阅读速度和理解能力。给你一点建议：
1. 一定要改掉默念的习惯
2. 不要一个词一个词的看，要学会把一个语义群当作一个整体来看。比如“an emergency $180bn injection of dollar”这个语义群，你要学会把他当作一个整体来看。
3. 看DVD的时候，切换到英文字幕。

用正常语速来朗读一篇文章，平均速度是每分钟140词。这说明你的阅读速度比朗读还要慢。建议您：1. 每一段的第一句话往往是最重要的。
2. “速读”最忌讳的就是“读”，不要一边看一边默念。
3. 在下一个训练中将滚屏速度设为140，迫使自己不能回头去看已经读过的部分。

您的阅读速度已经超过了正常语速，说明你已经开始有些速读的感觉了。美国大学生的最低阅读速度为每分钟250词，加把劲你就可以赶上了。建议您：
1. 养成习惯，读过的部分不要回头去看，这样会影响速读。
2. 加强“扫描”的训练，让自己的眼睛能“一目一行”。

您的阅读速度已经达到了美国大学生的水平，可喜可贺。不过作为金融从业人员，每天需要阅读数不清的中英文研究报告、公司年报、报刊杂志等，您还需要向每分钟350字进军。建议您：
1. 加强“扫描”的训练，让自己的眼睛能“一目两行”。
2. 对中英文的数字，尤其是大数字(million, billion)的转换进行总结和练习。

厉害，您的阅读速度已经超过了美国大学生的水平。不过，要成为巴菲特那样的金融专家，您需要锻炼出“一目十行”的火眼金睛。建议您在每次的训练中注意三个要点：
1. 您已经学会了将文章分成语义群，而非词来阅读，现在，你需要扩大每一个语义群中的词数。
2. 加快阅读每个语义群的速度。
3. 看过的内容尽量不要回看。

这就是传说中的“一目十行”吗？难以置信！

世界纪录才每分钟416,250字，居然被你破了！无语...

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