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专四阅读详解 2

星期2 Tuesday

Happiness is nearly always a rebound from hard work.辛勤工作的报酬几乎总是幸福。

Beauty is a curious phenomenon, one of permeable, shifting boundaries. We may think we understand it, since we sense it effortlessly. In fact, it is a bundle of mysteries researchers are still uncovering.

Consider the ancient proverb: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Until about 30 years ago it seemed too obvious for scientists to bother with. When they finally tested it, their results startled them.

On the one hand, the maxim is false. Facial beauty is the same throughout the world. In every tribe and culture, individuals will consider Marilyn Monroe, say, an attractive woman. It goes further. Males can identify good-looking men, and females charming women. Old and young, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, all agree on who is beautiful. So do people of every class and personality type.

We don’t learn this response. We’re born with it. In one recent study, babies just 20 hours old recognized attractive faces and preferred them. So beauty is in our DNA. The eye of the beholder doesn’t matter.

On the other hand, and this is where it gets interesting, the facial shell is just the foundation of beauty. We see the self in the face, every day, all the time, and we can’t distinguish the two.

This blurring means that we gift the attractive with a large number of virtues. They seem more competent, likeable, happier, blessed with better lives and personalities. In one experiment, people predicted happier marriages and better jobs for them, and rated them lower on only one aspect: their caliber as parents. Another study found people consider them more amiable, happy, flexible, pleasure-seeking, serious, candid, outspoken, perceptive, confident, assertive, curious and active. They exert more control over their destiny, subjects felt, while the homely endure the world’s sudden change.

It is calle d the “beautiful is good” stereotype, and it grants the attractive a parade of boons. Teachers consider them smarter and give them higher grades. Bosses promote them faster. In one tale in The Thousand and One Nights, a thief steals a coin-bag, and when the victim accuses him, people protest: “No, he’s such a handsome youth. He wouldn’t steal anything!” In fact, attractive people can shoplift with greater ease, since witnesses are less likely to report them. And when they do stand before the court, juries acquit them more readily and judges give them lighter penalties.

1. The proverb “beauty is in the eye of beholder” means

[A] that beauty can only be admitted when most people recognize it.

[B] whether somebody is beautiful depends on the person who is looking.

[C] that beauty can be measured according to the attractive eyes.

[D] that beauty can be judged only by grown-ups.

2. Which of the following can best substitute the word “caliber” in Para. 6?

[A] Desire. [B] Curiosity. [C] Habit. [D] Competence.

3. Which of the following is true about the beauty?

[A] The beauty is more likely to shoplift.

[B] The beauty inside is more important than facial beauty.

[C] The beauty may still commit the same crime as the commons.

[D] The beauty usually leads unpleasant life.

4. The author’s attitude towards “beautiful is good” is

[A] objective. [B] approving.

[C] questioning. [D] critical.

Text B

It’s Saturday afternoon and you would love to play a few rounds of golf, but fear that you might not get enough tee (高尔夫球座) time at the closest public links. Instead, you decide to go down to the athletic club a few blocks away. There, you enter a private room, press a button, and look at the large screen on the wall in front of you. The screen flickers, blinks, and presto(转眼间) — you are suddenly on one of the world’s great golf courses, perhaps St. Andrews in Scotland. You tee off on the plastic turf whacking your ball against the screen. A blurred copy of the ball slices or hooks down the fairway(平坦球道). Computers, infrared beams, and photo-optical detectors track the ball’s spin, speed, and direction. You are totally immersed in the three-dimensional computer generated world.

Virtual reality is created by using display and control technology to surround its users with an artificial environment that mimics real life. Through the use of visual and sound effects, things that don’t exist can be made to appear to exist. Virtual realty allows users to manipulate objects on the screen so they can become full participants in the three-dimensional setting that envelops them.

Already, virtual reality systems have many practical applications. Most notably, the technology is being used to make simulations of cars or buildings during the design phase, to provide instruction in technical subjects like engineering, and to introduce new surgical techniques. But this technology’s most advanced applications at the moment are in entertainment such as virtual reality golf and the virtual reality arcade game rooms sprouting up all over the world.

The idea of using computers to render artificial but useful environments began as early as the 1960s, but the computer power needed to generate 3-D graphics was so costly that only government agencies such as U.S. national Aeronautics and Space Administration, along with a few university labs, could afford it. The field began to grow in the mid 1980s when Jaron Lanier coined the term “virtual reality” and founded VPI Research Inc., the first high-tech company dedicated to the virtual reality field. Since then companies world wide have come to recognize the technology’s commercial potential and have entered the market. In the U.S. for example, the aerospace giant Boeing has organized a company-wide steering committee to explore virtual reality’s potential applications.

Current virtual reality research shows numerous potential applications of the interactive technology:

EDUCATION: Educators say virtual reality can offer alternatives to the way students learn.

Some educators, in fact, are already using virtual reality systems in the classroom. At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, architectural students move around in an animated image of the Parthenon, examining that noble structure’s roof and columns.

DESIGN: Architects are expected to be the biggest users of virtual reality design applications. One experimental system now allows an architect to move through the design of a virtual hospital in a virtual wheelchair to test access to doors, hallways, light switches, and other design elements.

MEDICINE: Virtual reality is giving scientists the ability to work surrounded by images of molecules and other objects that once required an electronic microscope study. Researchers predict that surgeons in training will be able to practice on electronic corpses while experienced surgeons will benefit from new techniques developed from virtual reality applications.

“Virtual reality offers another window, but one that a scientist can climb through to interact directly with scientific abstractions,” says Howard Rheingold, author of Virtual Reality. “Virtual reality has the potential to become a microscope of the mind.”

5. By citing the example of golf, the author intends to

[A] indicate that people love to play golf on Saturday afternoon.

[B] suggest that people go to athletic clubs to play golf.

[C] show how people play golf on the three-dimensional world.

[D] introduce the topic of virtual reality.

6. People can fully participate in the three-dimensional world because virtual reality makes

[A] things which don’t exist app ear to exist.

[B] users fall into an illusion.

[C] it possible to manipulate objects on the screen.

[D] users surrounded by an artificial environment.

7. Now the most advanced applications of virtual reality are in

[A] design. [B] entertainment.

[C] education. [D] surgery.

8. Why did the field of virtual reality begin to develop only in the mid 1980s?

[A] The computer equipment needed in this field was so expensive.

[B] Computer technology just started to grow at that time.

[C] The idea didn’t occur to people’s mind at an earlier time.

[D] J aron Lanier coined the term “virtual reality” then.

9. According to passage, which of the following is NOT true?

[A] Jaron Lanier contributed much to the development of virtual reality.

[B] Students can learn in a new way through the application of virtual reality in education.

[C] Virtual reality is supposed to be applied most widely in car designing.

[D] Scientists are able to work in an artificial environment through virtual reality applications.

Text C

Thomas Hardy’s impulses as a writer, all of which he indulged in his novels, were numerous and divergent, and they did not always work together in harmony. Hardy was to some degree interested in exploring his characters’psychologies, though impelled less by curiosity than by sympathy. Occasionally he felt the impulse to comedy (in all its detached coldness) as well as the impulse to farce, but he was more often inclined to see tragedy and record it. He was also inclined to literary realism in several senses of that phrase. He wanted to describe ordinary human beings: he wanted to speculate on their dilemmas rationally (and, unfortunately, even schematically); and

he wanted to record precisely the material universe. Finally, he wanted to be more than a realist. He wanted to transcend what he considered to be triviality of solely recording things exactly and to express as well his awareness of the mysterious and the strange.

In his novels these various impulses were sacrificed to each other often inevitably. As Hardy did not care in the way that novelists such as Flaubert or James cared, therefore he took paths of least resistance. Thus one impulse often surrendered to a fresher one and, unfortunately, instead of exacting a compromise, simply disappeared. A desire to throw over reality a light might give way abruptly to the desire on the part of what we might consider a novelist-scientist to record exactly and concretely the structure and texture of a flower. In this instance, the new impulse was at least an energetic one, and thus its indulgence did not result in a relaxed style. But on other occasions Hardy abandoned a perilous, risky and highly energizing impulse in favor of what was for him the fatally relaxing impulse to classify and schematize abstractly. When a relaxing impulse was indulged, the style —that sure index of an author’s literary worth —was certain to become verbose. Hardy’s weakness derived from his apparent inability to control the comings and goings of these divergent impulses and from his unwillingness to cultivate and sustain the energetic and risky ones. He submitted to the first one and then another, and the spirit blew where it listed; hence the unevenness of any of his novels. His most controlled novel, Under the Greenwood Tree, prominently exhibits two different but reconcilable impulses — a desire to be a realist-historian and a desire to be a psychologist of love — but the slight interlocking of plot are not enough to bind the two completely together. Thus even this book splits into two distinct parts.

10. Thomas Hardy wanted to do all the following EXCEPT

[A] explore his characters’ psycholog y.

[B] describe ordinary human beings.

[C] take pains to effect a compromise among various impulses.

[D] express his awareness of the mysterious and the strange.

11. According to the passage, a writer’s style is

[A] a reliable means to measure his/her literary merit.

[B] most apparent in those parts of his/her works that are not realistic.

[C] problematic when he/she attempts to follow perilous or risky impulses.

[D] shaped primarily by his/her desire to classify and schematize.

12. Which of the following methods is NOT used by the author in analyzing Hardy’s novels?

[A] Comparing Hardy with other famous novelists.

[B] Analyzing the development of Hardy’s impulses.

[C] Affirming Hardy’s success while pointing out imbalance in his novels.

[D] Trying to prove Hardy is a total failure as a writer.

13. What’s the author’s view on Hardy’s novel Under the Greenwood Tree?

[A] It shows Hardy’s novelistic im pulses more successfully than his other novels.

[B] It is Hardy’s most thorough investigation of the psychology of love.

[C] It does not exhibit any harsh or risky impulse.

[D] It reveals Hardy’s interest in the ordinary human beings.

14. Which of the following is the most appropriate title?

[A] Under the Greenwood Tree: Hardy’s Ambiguous Triumph.

[B] The Real and the Strange: The Novelist’s Shifting Realms.

[C] Energy versus Repose: The Role of Ordinary People in Hardy’s Fiction.

[D] Hardy’s Novelistic Impulses: The Problem of Control.

Text D

Tony Ronzone likes to boast that he knows a word or two in several foreign languages. He might be better off if he didn’t try to use them all at once. A few weeks ago, Ronzone, director of international scouting for the NBA champion Detroit Pistons, appeared at a basketball clinic in Mexico, where he attempted to teach a young Spanish-speaking prospect how best to position himself around the rim. “Demand the qiu!” Ronzone shouted. “Get your cerveza under the basket!” Qiu is Chinese for ball. Cerveza means beer in Spanish. Ronzone may have confused cerveza with cabeza, Spanish for head, though he admits, “I’m not sure I knew that.”

The irony that the world’s best international basketball scout is also the world’s worst student of foreign languages is not lost on Ronzone’s peers. “He can’t speak any language at all,” laughs John Hammond, the Pistons’vice president of basketball operations. “Yet he travels to those obscure places and builds lasting relationships with all kinds of people. It’s amazing.” Adds Donn Nelson, the president of basketball operations for the Dallas Mavericks and one of Ronzone’s old friends: “Tony’s success is a tribute to his personality. He’s just —I guess the word is unembarrassable.”

Most people think of scouting as the ability to recognize talent. This —it turns out —is relatively easy. Good basketball players are usually quite tall, quite fast and quite skillful at shooting a basketball. The difficult part in a world of 6 billion people is actually finding those who are tall, fast and coordinated, and the extremely difficult part is finding them before the competition does. Ronzone has conquered this problem despite his afflicted tongue by building a global network of coaches, journalists and friends who tip him off to the location of the world’s most gifted young players.

In order to stay in touch with more than 400 people on five continents in a meaningful way, one has to have a certain natural enthusiasm. “An uptight guy would not succeed at this job,” says Pistons president Joe Dumars. “Tony will try every single food and drink. He’ll smile. He’ll laugh. He’s easy to like.” It’s true. When Ronzone arrives in a country — friendless and unannounced —his strategy for expanding his network frequently consists of walking up to people, saying hello and starting to talk about basketball in his train-wreck sentences. More often than not, they talk back.

As a rule, Ronzone looks for the same things most scouts look for: hand skills, shooting and footwork. Unlike most scouts, though, he never takes notes while evaluating players and usually refrains from asking a coach questions until a third or fourth meeting. “The big reason is respect,” he says, “Some guys go to practices and they focus on one pla yer and scribble a bunch of notes; it comes off arrogant.”

With so many people helping him find talent and keep secrets, Ronzone now spends as much time maintaining contacts as scouting players. Some of the favors he does are fairly minor. When an Israeli journalist he knows asks for an interview with a Pistons player, Ronzone sets it up instantly. “It’s easy for me to do,” he says, “and there are a couple of players over there I really like. This guy could help me find out their contact info, or at least g et me some good falafel.”

15. The example of cerveza is to show that Ronzone

[A] can speak Chinese well, but he knows little Spanish.

[B] is not sure he knew that.

[C] can’t speak foreign languages well.

[D] feels ashamed of his poor Spanish.

16. According to Donn Nelson, Ronzone

[A] never feels self-conscious.

[B] is over-talkative.

[C] is a boastful person.

[D] likes traveling and meeting people.

17. The hardest thing for a basketball scout is that

[A] he must build a global network of coaches, journalists and friends.

[B] he has to have the ability to recognize talent.

[C] he must travel all over the world to look for the promising young players.

[D] he has to find the gifted young players before they are found by other scouts .

18. Ronzone is different from most basketball scouts in that

[A] he is not a good foreign language learner.

[B] he keeps in touch with many coaches all over the world.

[C] he likes talking with people about basketball.

[D] he makes a point of respecting players.

19. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

[A] An unsociable person is not suitable for Ronzone’s job.

[B] When Ronzone talks with strangers about basketball, they often talk back.

[C] Ronzone is so busy that he hardly has time to help his friends.

[D] With the help of Ronzone, the Israeli journalist interviewed the Pistons player.

20. What’s the author’s attitude towards Ronzone?

[A] Critical. [B] Praiseful.

语境词汇

Text A

1. maxim n.格言,座右铭

2. gift sb with sth. 赋予某人某物,向某人赠送某物

3. caliber n.才干;口径

4. candid a.坦白的,率直的

5. homely a.相貌平平的,平常的;使人感到舒适的

6. a parade of boons 一系列的恩泽

Text B

1. tee time 开球的时间

2. flicker v.闪动,闪烁

3. presto int.转眼间

4. tee off 开球

5. turf n.草皮vt.用草皮覆盖;扔掉;赶走

6. slice v.打削球,打斜切球;可切成薄片

7. virtual reality 虚拟现实

8. mimic v.模仿;戏弄,嘲弄a.模仿的,假装的

9. simulation n.模拟,仿真

10. arcade game 电子游戏

11. sprout v.迅速出现;发芽n.新芽

12. interactive technology 交互技术

Text C

1. indulge v.纵容;沉迷于

2. divergent a.分开的,叉开的;有分歧的,不同的

3. to some degree 在一定程度上

4. farce n.笑剧,闹剧

5. transcend v.超出,超越(经验、信念、描写能力等)的范围;胜过,优于

6. triviality n.琐事

7. compromise n.妥协,折中方法

8. perilous a.危险的

9. verbose a.冗长的,啰唆的

10. reconcilable a.可调和的

Text D

1. better off 情况更好

2. scout n.物色人才者;童子军;侦察员

3. rim n.篮圈;(圆形物的)边缘v.给…装边框

4. tribute n.颂词,称赞;贡品

5. tip off 给…警告或暗示

6. more often than not 多半,通常

7. refrain from 忍住,节制

8. come off 表现;结果;发生,举行

9. contact info 联系信息,联系方式

10. falafel n.沙拉三明治

难句突破

Text A

1. On the other hand, and this is where it gets interesting, the facial shell is just the foundation of beauty.

【分析】并列复合句。and连接并列句,表示顺承关系。需要注意的是该句的第二个分句放在了第一个分句的前面,this指代后面的分句内容。and连接的分句里嵌套了一个where引导的表语从句。

【译文】另一方面,这也正是它有趣的一面,脸部外形正是美的基础。

2. They exert more control over their destiny, subjects felt, while the homely endure the world’s sudden change.

【分析】并列句。while连接并列句,表示对比。在两个分句之间是插入语成分。

【译文】实验对象们认为他们能更多地掌握命运,而长相平凡的人则要忍受人世的变化无常。Text B

1. Most notably, the technology is being used to make simulations of cars or buildings during the design phase, to provide instruction in technical subjects like engineering, and to introduce new surgical techniques.

【分析】简单句。句子的主干是technology is being used。句中的三个不定式短语并列作目的状语。

【译文】最突出的是该技术已经应用于设计阶段的汽车和建筑物模拟,应用于为诸如工程学

等技术学科提供指导,还应用于引进新的外科技术。

2. The idea of using computers to render artificial but useful environments began as early as the 1960s, but the computer power needed to generate 3-D graphics was so costly that only government agencies such as U.S. national Aeronautics and Space Administration, along with a few university labs, could afford it.

【分析】并列复合句。but连接两个并列句,表示转折的关系。第一个分句的主语很长,谓语与主语的中心词被主语的修饰语分开。在第二个分句中,过去分词短语needed to…作后置定语修饰computer power。该分句中包含了一个so…that引导的结果状语从句,需要注意的是这个从句里的such as…与along with…都是插入语成分,将真正的主语government agencies与谓语could afford分隔开。

【译文】早在20世纪60年代,人们就开始想到使用计算机创造有用的虚拟环境。但是制作三维图像所需的计算机价格非常昂贵,只有像美国航天太空总署这样的政府机构和少数几个大学的实验室才买得起。

Text C

1. A desire to throw over reality a light might give way abruptly to the desire on the part of what we might consider a novelist-scientist to record exactly and concretely the structure and texture of a flower.

【分析】复合句。主句的主干是a desire might give way to the desire,主语和谓语之间被一个长不定式后置定语分隔。介词短语on the part of作后置定语修饰宾语desire,该短语中还包含了一个what引导的从句作of的宾语。

【译文】想表现现实的欲望可能突然向后面的那种欲望屈服,后者我们可以理解为是一个兼任小说家和科学家的人想要去准确而具体地记录一朵花的结构和纹理的那种意义上的欲望。

2. Hardy’s weakness derived from his apparent inability to control the comings and goings of these divergent impulses and from his unwillingness to cultivate and sustain the energetic and risky ones.

【分析】简单句。and连接两个平行的谓语,第二个谓语省略derived。句子的两个宾语inability 和unwillingness分别被两个不定式后置定语修饰。

【译文】哈代的弱点来源于他明显的不能够控制这些不同冲动的来去,同时也来源于他不愿意去培养和维持那些有活力和风险的冲动。

Text D

1. The irony that the world’s best international basketball scout is also the world’s worst student of foreign languages is not lost on Ronzone’s peers.

【分析】复合句。that引导同位语从句,作irony的同位语。be lost on sb.意为“对某人不起作用或影响”。

【译文】世界上最好的国际篮球球探也是世界上最差劲的外语学习者,这真是个极大的讽刺。这在龙佐的同行们当中产生了一定的反响。

2. When Ronzone arrives in a country —friendless and unannounced —his strategy for expanding his network frequently consists of walking up to people, saying hello and starting to talk about basketball in his train-wreck sentences.

【分析】复合句。主句结构为his strategy consists of walking up…saying hello and starting…。when引导时间状语从句。破折号之间的部分作插入语。consists of sth.意为“由某事物组成或构成”。

【译文】当龙佐到达一个没有朋友、也没人认识他的国家时,他扩大联络网的方法通常就是:走上前和人打招呼,然后用他那支离破碎的语言和他们聊篮球。

英语专业四级阅读理解练习四附答案解析

PART Ⅱ READING COMPREHENSION [25 MIN.] In this section there are four passages followed by fifteen questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer.Mark your choice on your ANSWER SHEET. TEXT A As many as one thousand years ago in the Southwest, the Hopi and Zuni Indians of North America were building with adobe-sun baked brick plastered with mud. Their homes looked remarkably like modern apartment houses. Some were four stories high and contained quarters for perhaps a thousand people, along with storerooms for grain and other goods. These buildings were usually put up against cliffs, both to make construction easier and for defense against enemies. They were really villages in themselves, as later Spanish explorers must have realized since they called them “pueblos”, which is Spanish for town.The people of the pueblos raised what are called “the three sisters”—corn, beans, and squash. They made excellent pottery and wove marvelous baskets, some so fine that they could hold water. The Southwest has always been a dry country, where water is scarce. The Hopi and Zuni brought water from streams to their fields and gardens through irrigation ditches. Water was so important that it played a major role in their religion. They developed elaborate ceremonies and religious rituals to bring rain. The way of life of less settled groups was simpler and more strongly influenced by nature. Small tribes such as the Shoshone and Ute wandered the dry and mountainous lands between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. They gathered seeds and hunted small animals such as small rabbits and snakes. In the Far North the ancestors of today’s Inuit hunted seals, walruses, and the great whales. They lived right on the frozen seas in shelters called igloos built of blocks of packed snow. When summer came, they fished for salmon and hunted the lordly caribou. The Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Sioux tribes, known as the Plains Indians, lived on the grasslands between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. They hunted bison, commonly called the buffalo. Its meat was the chief food of these tribes, and its hide was used to make their clothing and covering of their tents and tipis. 16. What does the passage mainly discuss? A. The architecture of early American Indian buildings. B. The movement of American Indians across North America. C. Ceremonies and rituals of American Indians. D. The way of life of American Indian tribes in early North America. 17. It can be inferred from the passage that the dwellings of the Hopi and Zuni were ___ A. very small B. highly advanced C. difficult to defend D. quickly constructed TEXT B Most earthquakes occur within the upper 15 miles of the earth’s surface. But earthquakes can and do occur at all depths to about 460 miles. Their number decreases as the depth increases. At about 460 miles one earthquake occurs only every few years. Near the surface earthquakes may run as high as 100 in a month, but the yearly average does not vary much. In comparison with the total number of earthquakes each year, the number of disastrous earthquakes is very small.[JP] The extent of the disaster in an earthquake depends on many factors. If you carefully build a toy house with an erect set, it will still stand no matter how much you shake the table. But if you build a toy house with a pack of cards, a slight shake of the table will make it fall. An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, was not strong enough to be recorded on distant instruments, but it completely destroyed the city. Many stronger earthquakes have done

英语专业四级考试阅读理解考前最后冲刺技巧上

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星期2 Tuesday Happiness is nearly always a rebound from hard work.辛勤工作的报酬几乎总是幸福。 Beauty is a curious phenomenon, one of permeable, shifting boundaries. We may think we understand it, since we sense it effortlessly. In fact, it is a bundle of mysteries researchers are still uncovering. Consider the ancient proverb: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Until about 30 years ago it seemed too obvious for scientists to bother with. When they finally tested it, their results startled them. On the one hand, the maxim is false. Facial beauty is the same throughout the world. In every tribe and culture, individuals will consider Marilyn Monroe, say, an attractive woman. It goes further. Males can identify good-looking men, and females charming women. Old and young, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, all agree on who is beautiful. So do people of every class and personality type. We don’t learn this response. We’re born with it. In one recent study, babies just 20 hours old recognized attractive faces and preferred them. So beauty is in our DNA. The eye of the beholder doesn’t matter. On the other hand, and this is where it gets interesting, the facial shell is just the foundation of beauty. We see the self in the face, every day, all the time, and we can’t distinguish the two. This blurring means that we gift the attractive with a large number of virtues. They seem more competent, likeable, happier, blessed with better lives and personalities. In one experiment, people predicted happier marriages and better jobs for them, and rated them lower on only one aspect: their caliber as parents. Another study found people consider them more amiable, happy, flexible, pleasure-seeking, serious, candid, outspoken, perceptive, confident, assertive, curious and active. They exert more control over their destiny, subjects felt, while the homely endure the world’s sudden change. It is calle d the “beautiful is good” stereotype, and it grants the attractive a parade of boons. Teachers consider them smarter and give them higher grades. Bosses promote them faster. In one tale in The Thousand and One Nights, a thief steals a coin-bag, and when the victim accuses him, people protest: “No, he’s such a handsome youth. He wouldn’t steal anything!” In fact, attractive people can shoplift with greater ease, since witnesses are less likely to report them. And when they do stand before the court, juries acquit them more readily and judges give them lighter penalties. 1. The proverb “beauty is in the eye of beholder” means [A] that beauty can only be admitted when most people recognize it. [B] whether somebody is beautiful depends on the person who is looking.

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4) For a long time, researchers have tried to nail down just what shapes us--or what, at least, shapes us most. And over the years, they've had a lot of exclamation moments. First it was our parents, particularly our mothers. Then it was our genes. Next it was our peers, who show up last but hold great sway. And all those ideas were good ones--but only as far as they went. Somewhere, there was a sort of temperamental dark matter exerting an invisible gravitational pull of its own. More and more, scientists are concluding that this unexplained force is our siblings. From the time we are born, our brothers and sisters are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and cautionary tales. They are our scolds, protectors, goads, tormentors, playmates, counselors, sources of envy, objects of pride. They teach us how to resolve conflicts and how not to; how to conduct friendships and when to walk away from them. Sisters teach brothers about the mysteries of girls; brothers teach sisters about the puzzle of boys. Our spouses arrive comparatively late in our lives; our parents eventually leave us. Our siblings may be the only people we'll ever know who truly qualify as partners for life. "Siblings," says family sociologist Katherine Conger, "are with us for the whole journey." Within the scientific community, siblings have not been wholly ignored, but research has been limited mostly to discussions of birth order.Older sibs were said to be strivers;younger ones rebels;middle kids the lost souls.The stereotypes were broad,if not entirely untrue,and there the discussion mostly ended. But all that’s changin9.At research centers in the U.S.,Canada,Europe and elsewhere,investigators are launching a wealth of new studies into the sibling dynamic,looking at ways brothers and sisters steer one another int0—or away from--risky behavior how they form a protective buffer(减震器)against family upheaval;how they educate one another about the opposite sex;how all siblings compete for family recognition and come to terms--or blows--over such impossibly charged issues as parental favoritism. From that research,scientists are gaining intriguing insights into the people we become as adults.Does the manager who runs a harmonious office call on the peacemaking skills learned in the family playroom? Does the student struggling with a professor who plays favorites summon up the coping skills acquired from dealing with a sister who was Daddy’s girl? Do husbands and wives benefit from the inter—gender negotiations they waged when their most important partners were their sisters and brothers? All that is under investigation.“Siblings have just been o ff the radar screen until now,”says Conger.But today serious work is revealing exactly how our brothers and sisters influence us.1.The beginning of the passage indicates that A.researchers have found out what shapes us.B.our peer is the last factor influencing us. C.what researchers found contributes in a limited way. D.what researchers found is good and trustworthy.2.In the third paragraph, the author tries to demonstrate that our siblings A.offer us much useful information. B.have great influences on us. C.are the ones who love us completely. D.accompany us throughout our life. 3.In scientific community, previous research on siblings A.mostly focused on the sibling order. B.studied the characteristics of the kids. C.studied the matter in a broad sense. D.wasn’t believable and the discussion ended. 4.Which of the following is NOT sibling dynamic? A.A brother cautions his sister against getting into trouble. B.Sisters have quarrels with each other. C.Siblings compete for parental favoritism. D.Older kids in a family try hard to achieve. 5.From the last paragraph,we can conclude that A.managers learned management skills from the family playroom. B.spouses learned negotiation skills from their siblings. C.studies on siblings are under the way。 D.studies on siblings need thorough investigation. 5) What comes to mind when you hear the word--diversity? Issues of race or gender may spring to mind.Equal rights? Or minority issues? I encourage people to look at a much wider definition of the word.1 would tend to say diversity is “differentness” in any form.A good example of this kind of diversity has been experienced by every person who ever left behind the comforts of home and moved into uncharted territory.Issues of diversity are informed not only by your cultural background and context,but also by your religion,age,field of work,family situation,personality,and countless other factors that make us unique.Diversity affects everyone.

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