單格填空第 1 題

In parts of the Arctic, the land grades into the landfast ice so ______ that you can walk off the coast and not know you are over the hidden sea.
在北極的部份區域，陸地逐漸變為緊連陸地的冰，這些冰如此 ______ 以至於你可能離開岸邊而不知道你已走在隱藏於冰下的海面上。

出處：OG, p.50, #3 and PP2, Test Preview, #6

題目單字：

• grade (v) 逐漸平坦
  (MW) to level off to a smooth horizontal or sloping surface

• landfast (a) 緊連陸地的
  (MW) fast on the shore

選項單字：

• imperceptible (a) 無法察覺的
  (MW) not perceptible by a sense or by the mind: extremely slight, gradual, or subtle
  選項為副詞 imperceptibly。

• precarious (a) 危險的
  (MW) characterized by a lack of security or stability that threatens with
  選項為副詞 precariously。

• relentless (a) 持續不斷的
  (MW) showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace: UNRELENTING
  選項為副詞 relentlessly。

麟渡兮解說：

本題關鍵字為 not know (不知道)，選項中僅有 imperceptible (無法察覺) 能呼應之，其餘選項皆不對。單格填空多為單字題，選項單字必須認得，否則不好做答。

另外請注意 gradual 這個簡單字，曾考過答案為 gradual/imperceptible 的句子等價題。

• gradual (a) 逐漸的
  (MW) moving, changing, or developing by fine or often imperceptible degrees

中文翻 "逐漸的" 但英文其實是 "在不知不覺中變化" 的意思。

官方解說：

The word that fills the blank has to characterize how the land grades into the ice in a way that explains how you can walk off the coast and over the sea without knowing it. The word that does that is "imperceptibly"; if the land grades imperceptibly into the ice, you might well not know that you had left the land. Describing the shift from land to ice as permanent, irregular, precarious, or relentless would not help to explain how you would fail to know. Thus the correct answer is imperceptibly (Choice B).

答案：(B)