4．July 28th，2003 London-It hasn't been like this since the death of Diana．Britain has been suffering from a national nervous breakdown ever since David Beckham，handsome idol of the Manchester United Soccer Team，announced that he was leaving to play for Real Madrid．The Sun set up a Beckham"grief（悲傷）help line"and had a lot of calls from his fans．One caller even said he was considering killing himself．A man who has"Beckham"tattooed on his arm said he wanted to cut it off．"I cried myself to sleep after hearing the terrible news，"said grandmother Mary Richards，aged 85．A London taxi driver asked，"Has the world gone mad？He's only a footballer！"But he was mistaken．A footballer is the least of what David Beckham is．
In the period of soccer that will come to be known as B．B．-Before Beckham-the sport was a team game．What mattered was the club，the team and the player in that order．Then in the mid1990s，David Beckham-or"Becks"who is known in that familiar shortened form the British like to call their working class hero came along，and changed the face of soccer．It wasn't his right foot that changed the game，but his photogenic face．And the fact is that he used it to become one of the most recognizable and richest athletes in the world，receiving a salary of 8 million per year and earning at least 17 million more in advertisements．You can never imagine that his move from Manchester United to Real Madrid is 40 million．
Beckham interests not only those who have no interest in the club for which he plays，but those who have no interest in soccer．He is the most recognized sportsman in Asia and he's even managed to interest American-s．The 27-year-old，tongue-tied，surprisingly shy working-class boy from London's East End，has turned himself into a soccer virus，one that has made the whole world mad．
12．What does the underlined word"breakdown"most probably mean in the text？B
A． A feeling of being nervous．
B． A sudden feeling of weakening the mind．
C． A feeling of being regretful．
D． A sudden failure in operation．
13．According to the text，after hearing the news that Beckham was leaving to play for Real Madrid，B
A． many people called Beckham
B． many people called the Sun
C． a man killed himself
D． a man cut off one of his arms
14．According to the author，BeckhamC．
A． changed the size and shape of soccer
B． changed the rules of soccer
C． used his face to become famous
D． gets a salary of 65 million a year
15．We can infer from the text thatA．
A． maybe East End used to be one poor area in London
B． the Sun is a telephone company in England
C． Beckham has got a certain kind of disease
D． Beckham's move to Real Madrid reminded people of the death of Diana．
分析 文章主要講述了貝克漢姆的轉(zhuǎn)會離去都使英國人的精神崩潰，以及貝克漢姆對足球的改變在于使足球被許多人著迷．
解答 12．B 詞意猜測題．無論是黛安娜的死，還是貝克漢姆的轉(zhuǎn)會離去都使英國人的精神崩潰．名詞"breakdown"來源于動詞短語"break down（毀掉，崩潰）"．故選B．
13．B 細節(jié)理解題．短文首段說《太陽報》專設一條"悲痛救助熱線"，不少貝克漢姆的球迷打來電話．C、D項中的事件并未發(fā)生，只是打電話者聲稱的想法．故選B．
14．C 細節(jié)理解題．第二段說"his photogenic face changed the game"，即貝克漢姆是因為長得酷才使人著迷．D項計算有誤，年薪8 million，廣告收入17 million，還有40 million是轉(zhuǎn)會所得，并非年薪．A和B項都錯在對文中"changed the face of soccer"和"changed the game"的理解，其實貝克漢姆對足球的改變在于使足球被許多人著迷．故選C．
15．A 推理判斷題．作者提到貝克漢姆是工人階級的英雄，來自倫敦東區(qū)，言下之意在說貝克漢姆今非昔比，所以判斷A為正確答案．B項中的"the Sun"是英國的報紙《太陽報》．C項是對短文中"soccer virus"的誤解，作者把貝克漢姆比作"足球病毒"，意在形容他對足球的影響之大．故選A．
點評 本文是一個新聞報道類閱讀理解，題目涉及多道細節(jié)理解題，做題時結(jié)合原文和題目有針對性的找出相關(guān)語句進行仔細分析，結(jié)合選項選出正確答案．推理判斷題也是要在抓住關(guān)鍵句子的基礎上合理的分析才能得出正確答案，切忌胡亂猜測，一定要做到有理有據(jù)
