英語(二)閱讀命題思路與英語(一)存在一定的差異。為了幫助大家更好地復習，小編為各位同學梳理一下歷年考研英語(二)真題閱讀文章中涉及的要點，包括詞匯、短語、長難句以及簡單的閱讀方法。接下來看一下2011年考研英語(二)真題閱讀Text 3，這篇文章主要探討了二戰(zhàn)后美國興起的以“少即是多”為核心概念的簡約建筑風。

　　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“傾向于做某事”;think of...as...“視為，看作”;prosperity“繁榮”;go off to“動身前往”，go off to college“上大學”;line up“排起隊”;marriage bureau“婚姻介紹所”。

　　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“當提到”;common sense“常識”;belief“信仰”;restriant“克制，約束”;in combination with“與...結合”;postwar“戰(zhàn)后的”，postmodern“后現代的”;efficient“高效的”;positively“肯定地，斷然地”;stylish“時髦的”。

　　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“趨勢”;less is more“少即是多”;popularize“普及”;architect“建筑師”，architecture“建筑學”;be associated with“與...有關”;emigrate“移居”;take up post“就職”;school“學院”;exert enormous influence on“對...造成巨大影響”，這個短語寫作往往會用到;course“進程”;

　　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“口頭禪”;decoration“裝飾”;properly“恰當地”;impact“影響”;elegance“典雅”;derive from“來自”;abundance“充裕，豐富”;employ“使用”;material“材料”;take sth. for granted“認為...理所應當”;symbolize“象征”;sophisticated“富有經驗的，精致的”;presentation“呈現”;mask“掩飾”;rather than“而不是”。