考研英语（二）历年真题阅读要点之2011-Text 3（一）

 　英语(二)阅读命题思路与英语(一)存在一定的差异。为了帮助大家更好地复习，小编为各位同学梳理一下历年考研英语(二)真题阅读文章中涉及的要点，包括词汇、短语、长难句以及简单的阅读方法。接下来看一下2011年考研英语(二)真题阅读Text 3，这篇文章主要探讨了二战后美国兴起的以“少即是多”为核心概念的简约建筑风。

　　We tend to think of ... as a time of prosperity and growth, with soldiers returning home by the millions, going off to college on the G. I. Bill and lining up at the marriage bureaus.

　　tend to do“倾向于做某事”;think of...as...“视为，看作”;prosperity“繁荣”;go off to“动身前往”，go off to college“上大学”;line up“排起队”;marriage bureau“婚姻介绍所”。

　　But when it came to their houses, it was a time of common sense and a belief that less could truly be more... Americans had learned to live with less, and that restraint, in combination with the postwar confidence in the future, made small, efficient housing positively stylish.

　　when it comes to“当提到”;common sense“常识”;belief“信仰”;restriant“克制，约束”;in combination with“与...结合”;postwar“战后的”，postmodern“后现代的”;efficient“高效的”;positively“肯定地，断然地”;stylish“时髦的”。

　　Economic condition was only a stimulus for the trend toward efficient living. The phrase “less is more” was actually first popularized by a German, the architect ... who like other people associated with the Bauhaus ... emigrated to ... took up posts at American architecture schools. These designers came to exert enormous influence on the course of American architecture ...

　　stimulus“刺激物”;trend“趋势”;less is more“少即是多”;popularize“普及”;architect“建筑师”，architecture“建筑学”;be associated with“与...有关”;emigrate“移居”;take up post“就职”;school“学院”;exert enormous influence on“对...造成巨大影响”，这个短语写作往往会用到;course“进程”;

　　Mies’s signature phrase means that less decoration, properly organized, has more impact than a lot. Elegance ... did not derive from abundance... he employed ... that we take for granted today but that in the 1940s symbolized the future. Mies’s sophisticated presentation masked the fact that the spaces he designed were small and efficient, rather than big and often empty.

　　signature phrase“口头禅”;decoration“装饰”;properly“恰当地”;impact“影响”;elegance“典雅”;derive from“来自”;abundance“充裕，丰富”;employ“使用”;material“材料”;take sth. for granted“认为...理所应当”;symbolize“象征”;sophisticated“富有经验的，精致的”;presentation“呈现”;mask“掩饰”;rather than“而不是”。