This 20 drove him to commit suicide in 1954, at the age of 41.
答案:(C) humiliation
humiliation(屈辱)呼應前文 Turing 被判「嚴重猥褻罪」的羞辱,表示正是這樣的屈辱最終促使他在1954年自殺身亡;compromise/procession/supplement 均不符合此處語意。
四個選項都是名詞,若只讀空格所在的這一句 This ______ drove him to commit suicide in 1954,句子本身根本沒告訴你這個東西是什麼,只能憑感覺挑,compromise(妥協)因為聽起來帶著「不得已」的味道而顯得可選。
關鍵在句首那個 This,這是最典型的指標勾環。this 加上一個名詞是回指:用一個比較概括的名詞,把前面剛講過的內容整個收攏起來再指一次(Halliday 與 Hasan「Cohesion in English」談的指稱銜接)。所以這一格的線索完全在前一句,句內找不到——前一句說圖靈非但沒有被當成擊敗納粹的關鍵人物看待,反而被以嚴重猥褻罪定罪。回頭問一句:那件事對他而言是什麼?是公開的羞辱。humiliation(屈辱、羞辱)正是能把前一句整件事收攏起來的那個概括名詞。這一招值得記起來:看到 This 或 These 帶著一個名詞,先停下來問「這個 this 指的是前面哪一段」,再看四個選項哪一個接得住。這一格的鑑別度高達 58,分開的就是有沒有真的回頭做這個動作。
compromise(妥協、折衷)指雙方各退一步達成的結果,前一句沒有任何協商。procession(隊伍、行列)是遊行或列隊行進,與前文無關,只是與 process(過程)長得像才顯得眼熟。supplement(補充品、增補)指額外補上的東西,也接不住前一句。三個選項的問題其實是同一個:只要真的回頭把 This 指向的那一句讀進來,沒有一個接得住。
humiliation(屈辱、羞辱)、drive somebody to V(迫使某人做某事)、this 加概括名詞(回指前面剛說過的內容)、compromise(妥協、折衷)、supplement(補充品、增補)、at the age of(在……歲時)
Alan Turing was one of the leading scientific geniuses of the 20th century. Many scholars consider him the father of modern computer science. He was also the man who cracked the 16 uncrackable Enigma code used by Nazi Germany. His code-breaking turned the tide of World War II and helped save two million lives. Nevertheless, 17 people have even heard his name. Turing displayed signs of high intelligence in math and science at a young age. By the time he was 23, he had already come up with the idea of what 18 the modern computer—the Turing machine. Today, Turing machines are still used in theoretical computation. He also proposed the now famous Turing test, used to determine whether a computer exhibits intelligent behavior equivalent to that of a human.
The postwar era, however, was a disaster for Turing. He was gay, which was then a crime in Britain. 19 being hailed as one of the crucial figures in defeating the Nazis, Turing was convicted of "gross indecency." This 20 drove him to commit suicide in 1954, at the age of 41.
Nearly 60 years after his death, Queen Elizabeth II granted Turing a formal pardon for his conviction, upon an online petition signed by prominent scientists and technology leaders around the world.