2014考研英语阅读理解试题及名师解析(10)_跨考网

　　When I decided toquit my full time employment it never occurred to me that I might become a partof a new international trend. A lateral move that hurt my pride and blocked myprofessional progress prompted me to abandon my relatively high profile careeralthough, in the manner of a disgraced government minister, I covered my exitby claiming“I wanted to spend more time with my family"。

　　Curiously, some two-and-a-half years and two novels later, my experimentin what the Americans term "downshifting" has turned my tired excuseinto an absolute reality. I have been transformed from a passionate advocate ofthe philosophy of “have it all", preached by Linda Kelsey for the past seven yearsin the pages of She magazine, into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit ofeverything。

　　I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicizedresignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress, thatabandoning the doctrine of "juggling your life", and making thealternative move into “downshifting” brings with it far greater rewards than financial success andsocial status. Nothing could persuade me to return to the kind of life Kelseyused to advocate and I once enjoyed: 12-hour working days, pressured deadlines,the fearful strain of office politics and the limitations of being a parent on “quality time”。

　　In America, the move away from juggling to a simpler, lessmaterialistic lifestyle is a well-established trend. Downshifting — also knownin America as “voluntary simplicity”— has, ironically, even bred a new area of what might be termedanti-consumerism. There are a number of best-selling downshifting self-helpbooks for people who want to simplify their lives; there are newsletters, suchas The Tightwad Gazette, that give hundreds of thousands of Americans usefultips on anything from recycling their cling-film to making their own soap;there are even support groups for those who want to achieve the mid-'90sequivalent of dropping out。

　　While in America the trend started as a reaction to the economicdecline―after the mass redundancies caused by downsizing in the late’ 80s―and is stilllinked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least among the middle-classdownshifters of my acquaintance, we have different reasons for seeking tosimplify our lives。

　　For the women of my generation who were urged to keep jugglingthrough the '80s, downshifting in the mid-'90s is not so much a search for themythical good life—growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one—as apersonal recognition of your limitations。

　　37. Which of the following is true according to paragraph 1?

　　[A]Full-time employment is a new international trend。

　　[B]The writer was compelled by circumstances to leave her job。

　　[C]“A lateral move” means stepping out of full-time employment。

　　[D]The writer was only too eager to spend more time with her family。

　　38. The writer's experiment shows that downshifting _________。

　　[A]enables her to realize her dream

　　[B]helps her mold a new philosophy of life

　　[C]prompts her to abandon her high social status

　　[D]leads her to accept the doctrine of She magazine

　　39. “Juggling one's life” probably means living a life characterized by _________。

　　[A]non-materialistic lifestyle

　　[B]a bit of everything

　　[C]extreme stress

　　[D]anti-consumerism

　　40. According to the passage, downshifting emerged in the U.S. as aresult of _________。

　　[A]the quick pace of modern life

　　[B]man's adventurous spirit

　　[C]man's search for mythical experiences

　　[D]the economic situation