考研英语阅读理解命题思路透析和真题揭秘(43)

　　2005年Text 3
　　Of all the components of a good night's sleep, dreams seem to be least within our control. In dreams, a window opens into a world where logic is suspended and dead people speak. A century ago, Freud formulated his revolutionary theory that dreams were the disguised shadows of our unconscious desires and rears, by the late 1970s. neurologists had switched to thinking of them as just "mental noise" the random byproducts of the neural-repair work that goes on during sleep. Now researchers suspect that dreams are part of the mind's emotional thermostat, regulating moods while the brain is "off-line". And one leading authority says that these intensely powerful mental events can be not only harnessed but actually brought under conscious control, to help us sleep and feel better, "It's your dream" says Rosalind Cartwright, chair of psychology at Chicago's Medical Center. "If you don't like it, change it."
　　Evidence from brain imaging supports this view. The brain is as active during REM (rapid eye movement) sleep-when most vivid dreams occur-as it is when fully awake, says Dr, Eric Nofzinger at the University of Pittsburgh. But not all parts of the brain are equally involved, the limbic system (the "emotional brain")is especially active, while the prefrontal cortex (the center of intellect and reasoning) is relatively quiet. "We wake up from dreams happy of depressed, and those feelings can stay with us all day" says Stanford sleep researcher Dr, William Dement.
　　The link between dreams and emotions show up among the patients in Cartwright's clinic. Most people seem to have more bad dreams early in the night, progressing toward happier ones before awakening, suggesting that they are working through negative feelings generated during the day. Because our conscious mind is occupied with daily life we don't always think about the emotional significance of the day's events-until, it appears, we begins to dream.
　　And this process need not be left to the unconscious. Cartwright believes one can exercise conscious control over recurring bad dreams As soon as you awaken, identify what is upsetting about the dream. Visualize how you would like it to end instead, the next time is occurs, try to wake up just enough to control its course. With much practice people can learn to, literally, do it in their sleep.
　　At the end of the day, there's probably little reason to pay attention to our dreams at all unless they keep us from sleeping of "we wake u in a panic, "Cartwright says Terrorism, economic uncertainties and general feelings of insecurity have increased people's anxiety. Those suffering from persistent nightmares should seek help from a therapist For the rest of us, the brain has its ways of working through bad feelings. Sleep-or rather dream-on it and you'll feel better in the morning.
　　32. By referring to the limbic system, the author intends to show
　　[A] its function in our dreams.
　　[B] the mechanism of REM sleep.
　　[C] the relation of dreams to emotions.
　　[D] its difference from the prefrontal cortex.
　　[答案] C
　　[解题思路]
　　本题对应信息在文章第二段第三句话，作者在limbic system前面的一句话中说"But not all parts of the brain are equally involved"(并非大脑的各个部分的参与情况都是这样)，之后的括号中对limbic system作了进一步的解释(emotional brain)，因此正确答案应该为C。A和B选项与该名词无关，而D选项中的prefrontal cortex虽然在同一句话中有所提及，但作者只是把它和limbic system并列起来讨论，并没有指出两者之间的区别。
　　[题目译文]
　　作者提到边缘系统是想说明
　　[A] 其在睡梦中的作用
　　[B] 快速眼动睡眠的机制
　　[C] 梦与情感的关系
　　[D] 它与前额皮层的关系
　　34. Cartwright seems to suggest that
　　[A] waking up in time is essential to the ridding of bad dreams.
　　[B] visualizing bad dreams helps bring them under con troll.
　　[C] dreams should be left to their natural progression.
　　[D] dreaming may not entirely belong to the unconscious.
　　[答案] D
　　[解题思路]
　　文章中第四段第二句话指出，"Cartwright believes one can exercise conscious control over recurring bad dreams"(Cartwright认为，人们可以通过练习有意识地控制反复出现的恶梦)，也就是说，做梦可以被控制、因此并不完全属于潜意识的活动，答案为A选项。C选项是错误的，因为文章认为应该控制梦境，而不是任其发展。B选项不符合文意的地方在于，不应该visualize bad dream，而是visualize how you would like it to end，即想象一下这个梦会如何结束。A错误的原因是文章并没有强调waking up in time的重要性。
　　[题目译文]
　　Cartwright似乎在暗示
　　[A] 及时醒来对于摆脱恶梦至关重要
　　[B] 对恶梦作出想象能够帮助控制恶梦
　　[C] 应该让梦自由发展
　　[D] 做梦不完全属于潜意识活动

2006年Text 1　　In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of consumption" launched by the 19th--century department stores that offered "vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite." these were stores "anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act." The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization.
　　Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today's immigration is neither at unprecedented level nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1900, 13.6 percent .In the 10 years prior to 1990, 3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10years prior to 1890, 9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation -language, home ownership and intermarriage.
　　The 1990 Census revealed that "a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ‘well' or ‘very well' after ten years of residence." The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. "By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families." Hence the description of America as a "graveyard" for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans.
　　Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics "have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S -born whites and blacks." By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians.
　　Rodriguez note that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrant living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation's assimilative power."
　　Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America? Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America's turbulent past, today's social induces suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment.
　　23. The text suggests that immigrants now in the U.S.
　　[A] are resistant to homogenization.
　　[B] exert a great influence on American culture.
　　[C] are hardly a threat to the common culture.
　　[D] constitute the majority of the population.
　　[答案] C
　　[解题思路]
　　首先，A和D选项的内容在文章中没有涉及，可以排除。而B和C选项的意思基本上是想相反的，因此只有一项是正确答案。文章的第三、四段主要谈论了关于移民的问题，其中指出了移民们经过了几代之后都已经失去了原来的语言、而且移民与美国本族人的通婚也越来越频繁，这些都说明了美国移民们很好地融入了美国文化、几乎都被美国的大众文化同化了。他们不仅没有对美国文章带来很大的影响，反而对美国文化丝毫不构成威胁。因此，可以判断C选项是正确答案。
　　[题目译文]
　　文章指出现在的美国移民们
　　[A] 反对单一化
　　[B] 对美国文化有很大的影响
　　[C] 对大众文化几乎没有什么威胁
　　[D] 构成人口中的大多数

　2006年Tex2　　Stratford-on-Avon, as we all know, has only one industry-William Shakespeare-but there are two distinctly separate and increasingly hostile branches. There is the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), which presents superb productions of the plays at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre on the Avon. And there are the townsfolk who largely live off the tourists who come, not to see the plays, but to look at Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shakespeare's birthplace and the other sights.
　　The worthy residents of Stratford doubt that the theatre adds a penny to their revenue. They frankly dislike the RSC's actors, them with their long hair and beards and sandals and noisiness. It's all deliciously ironic when you consider that Shakespeare, who earns their living, was himself an actor (with a beard) and did his share of noise - making.
　　The tourist streams are not entirely separate. The sightseers who come by bus- and often take in Warwick Castle and Blenheim Palace on the side - don't usually see the plays, and some of them are even surprised to find a theatre in Stratford. However, the playgoers do manage a little sight - seeing along with their playgoing. It is the playgoers, the RSC contends, who bring in much of the town's revenue because they spend the night (some of them four or five nights) pouring cash into the hotels and restaurants. The sightseers can take in everything and get out of town by nightfall.
　　The townsfolk don't see it this way and local council does not contribute directly to the subsidy of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stratford cries poor traditionally. Nevertheless every hotel in town seems to be adding a new wing or cocktail lounge. Hilton is building its own hotel there, which you may be sure will be decorated with Hamlet Hamburger Bars, the Lear Lounge, the Banquo Banqueting Room, and so forth, and will be very expensive.
　　Anyway, the townsfolk can't understand why the Royal Shakespeare Company needs a subsidy. (The theatre has broken attendance records for three years in a row. Last year its 1,431 seats were 94 per cent occupied all year long and this year they'll do better.) The reason, of course, is that costs have rocketed and ticket prices have stayed low.
　　It would be a shame to raise prices too much because it would drive away the young people who are Stratford's most attractive clientele. They come entirely for the plays, not the sights. They all seem to look alike (though they come from all over) -lean, pointed, dedicated faces, wearing jeans and sandals, eating their buns and bedding down for the night on the flagstones outside the theatre to buy the 20 seats and 80 standing-room tickets held for the sleepers and sold to them when the box office opens at 10:30 a.m.
　　26. From the first two paragraphs , we learn that
　　[A] the townsfolk deny the RSC ' s contribution to the town's revenue
　　[B] the actors of the RSC imitate Shakespeare on and off stage
　　[C] the two branches of the RSC are not on good terms
　　[D] the townsfolk earn little from tourism
　　[答案] A
　　[解题思路]
　　题目给定了解题的定位范围，即文章的前两段。为了帮助选出正确答案，我们可以将选项一一对应于文中的信息。A选型对应的细节是第二段的第一句话，即"The worthy residents of Stratford doubt that the theatre adds a penny to their revenue" (斯特拉特福德的本地乡绅们都质疑剧院有没有为当地的收入贡献一点力量)，也就是说，小镇的居民们否认了RSC对小镇收入的贡献，因此A选型正确。B选项对应于第二段的最后两句话，但作者仅描述了这些演员与莎士比亚的共同特征，并没有指出演员在台上台下都可以模仿莎士比亚。C选项犯了偷换概念的错误，第一段中提到的两个"branches"是指小镇的居民和RSC，而不是选项中提到的RSC两大分支。D选项显然也是错误的，因为第一段指出镇民们基本上是靠旅游业取得主要收入的，且第二段第一句描述他们是用了wealthy这个词，说明镇民们从旅游业中收入颇丰。
　　[题目译文]
　　从开头两段中，我们可以了解到
　　[A] 居民们否认RSC对小镇的收入有贡献
　　[B] RSC的演员们在台上台下都模仿莎士比亚
　　[C] RSC的两大分支之间关系不好
　　[D] 居民们从旅游业中赚不到很多的钱
　　27. It can be inferred from Para 3 that
　　[A] the sightseers cannot visit the Castle and the Palace separately
　　[B] the playgoers spend more money than the sightseers
　　[C] the sightseers do more shopping than the playgoers
　　[D] the playgoers go to no other places in town than the theater
　　[答案] B
　　[解题思路]
　　本题对应的信息在文章第三段。A选项显然是错误的，因为该段中明确说明观光者们经常去城堡和宫殿参观，并不把二者分开。关于B选项，文章认为观光者们通常不会留下来看戏，因此白天参观之后晚上就可以离开了。相比之下，来看莎剧的人们往往也会做一些旅游观光活动，而且通常留宿四、五个晚上，给当地的旅馆和酒店带来了大笔收入。因此可以推断看戏剧的人们比那些观光者们花更多的钱，B选项正确。C选项的错误在于该段中没有谈及购物，因而也无从比较。D选项的错误在于文章中谈到看莎剧的人们在看戏之外也会去观光旅游，不只是在剧院里。
　　[题目译文]
　　从第三段中可以推断
　　[A] 观光者不能分别参观城堡和宫殿
　　[B] 看演出的人比观光者花的钱更多
　　[C] 观光者比看演出的人更多购物
　　[D] 看演出的人除了剧院不去小镇的任何地方
　　30. From the text we can conclude that the author
　　[A] is supportive of both sides
　　[B] favors the townsfolk's view
　　[C]. takes a detached attitude
　　[D] is sympathetic to the RSC
　　[答案] D
　　[解题思路]
　　本题要求判断作者对于对立的双方--小镇居民和RSC--的态度。文章的二、三、四、五段在谈及小镇居民时往往用一些否定词，且批驳他们的观点，如实际上观看RSC演出的人给小镇带来了更多收入，小镇哭穷但实际上收入不菲等。在谈及剧院时总是表达支持的态度，如剧院坚持较低的票价、且专门给没有经济实力的年轻人留一部分票额等，这些都说明作者是支持RSC而反对居民态度的，因此正确答案为D。C选项"detached"意为"不偏不倚的，超然的"，要注意文科方面的文章中作者往往有自己的观点，而理科方面的文章中作者态度往往是客观的。
　　[题目译文]
　　从文中我们可以总结出，作者
　　[A] 支持双方
　　[B] 赞同小镇居民们的观点
　　[C] 持超然的态度
　　[D] 同情RSC

　2006年Text 3　　When prehistoric man arrived in new parts of the world, something strong happened to the large animals; they suddenly became extinct. Smaller species survived, the large, slow-growing animals were easy game, and were quickly hunted to extinction. Now something similar could be happening in the oceans.
　　That the seas are being over-fished has been known for years what researchers such as Ransom Myers and Boris Worm have shown is just how fast things are changing. They have looked at half a century of data from fisheries around the world. Their methods de not attempt to estimate the actual biomass (the amount of living biological matter) of fish species in particular parts of the ocean, but rather changes in that biomass over time. According to their latest paper published in Nature, the biomass of large predators (animals that kill and eat other animals) inanes fishery is reduced on average by 80% within 15 years of the start of exploitation. In some long-fished areas, it has halved again since then.
　　Dr. Worm acknowledges that these figures are conservative, one reason for this is that fishing technology has improved Today's vessels can find their prey using satellites and sonar, which were not available 50 years ago that means a higher proportion of what is in the sea is being caught, so the real difference between present and past is likely to be worse than the one recorded by changes in catch sizes. In the early days, too, longlines would have been more saturated with fish. Some individuals would therefore not have been caught, since to baited hooks would have been available to trap them, leading to an underestimate of fish stocks in the past. Furthermore, in the early days of longline fishing, a lot of fish were lost to sharks after they had been hooked. That is no longer a problem, because there are fewer sharks around noise.
　　Dr. Myers and Dr. worm argue that their work gives a correct baseline, which future management efforts must take into account. They believe the date support an idea current among marine biologists, that of the "shifting baseline". The notion is that people have failed to detect the massive changes which have happened in the ocean because they have been looking back only a relatively short time into the past. That matters because theory suggests that the maximum sustainable yield that can be cropped form a fishery comes when the biomass of a target species is about 50% of its original levels. Most fisheries are well below that, which is a bad way to de business.
　　31.The extinction of large prehistoric animals is noted to suggest that
　　[A] large animal were vulnerable to the changing environment
　　[B] small species survived as large animals disappeared
　　[C] large sea animals may face the same threat today.
　　[D] Slow-growing fish outlive fast-growing ones
　　[答案] C
　　[解题思路]
　　本题要求判断史前大型动物的灭绝这个例子所暗示的内容。乍一看似乎四个选项都各有道理，因此我们要定位原文信息。文章第一段主要介绍了这些大型动物灭绝的原因，同时该段最后一句话指出"Now something similar could be happening in the oceans"(现在同样的事情可能正在海洋中发生)，也就是说，现在海洋中的大型动物也正面临着史前大型动物曾经面临的威胁。因此文章开篇是通过类比手法来引出主题，C选项符合题意。A、B、D都不符合第一段中提供的信息。
　　[题目译文]
　　文中通过史前大型动物的灭绝是想说明
　　[A] 大型动物在环境发生变化的时候更容易受到伤害
　　[B] 随着大型动物的灭绝，小型动物却生存了下来
　　[C] 大型海洋动物现在可能面临同样的威胁
　　[D] 生长缓慢的鱼类比生长快速的鱼类活得更久
　　32. We can infer form Dr Myers and Dr. Worm's paper that
　　[A] the stock of large predators in some old fisheries has reduced by 90%
　　[B] there are only half as many fisheries are there were 15 years ago
　　[C] the catch sizes in new fisheries are only 20% of the original amount
　　[D] the number of larger predators dropped faster in new fisheries than in the old
　　[答案] A
　　[解题思路]
　　文章第二段最后两句话说"According to their latest paper published in Nature, the biomass of large predators (animals that kill and eat other animals) inanes fishery is reduced on average by 80% within 15 years of the start of exploitation. In some long-fished areas, it has halved again since then"(根据他们最近在《自然》杂志上发表的文章，在一个新渔场中大型食肉海洋生物(一种杀死并吃掉其它动物的生物)的总量在15年的时间里平均减少了80%。而在一些大型的捕鱼场，这个数字又进一步减半)。15年平均减少了80%，15年之后又减少了一半，(也就是20%中的10%)，加起来是90%，因此正确答案是A。B、C选项明显不正确。但是D选项有很强的干扰性，因为该选项从某种意义上来说是正确的，但是没有A选项的表述具体和精确。
　　[题目译文]
　　我们可以从Myers和Worm博士的论文中推断出
　　[A] 在一些老渔场，大型肉食鱼类的数量减少了90%
　　[B] 现在的渔场数量只是15年前的一半
　　[C] 新渔场的捕鱼量只有原来的20%
　　[D] 新渔场大型肉食鱼类的数量下降比老渔场快

　2006年Text 4　　Many things make people think artists are weird and the weirdest may be this: artists only job is to explore emotions, and yet they choose to focus on the ones that feel bad.
　　This wasn't always so. The earliest forms of art, like painting and music, are those best suited for expressing joy. But somewhere in the 19th century, more artists began seeing happiness as insipid, phony or, worst of all, boring as we went from Wordsworth's daffodils to Baudelaire's flowers of evil.
　　You could argue that art became more skeptical of happiness because modern times have seen such misery. But its not as if earlier times didn't know perpetual war, disaster and the massacre of innocents. The reason, in fact, may be just the opposite: there is too much damn happiness in the world today.
　　After all, what is the one modern form of expression almost completely dedicated to depicting happiness? Advertising. The rise of anti-happy art almost exactly tracks the emergence of mass media, and with it, a commercial culture in which happiness is not just an ideal but an ideology.
　　People in earlier eras were surrounded by reminders of misery. They worked until exhausted, lived with few protections and died young. In the West, before mass communication and literacy, the most powerful mass medium was the church, which reminded worshippers that their souls were in peril and that they would someday be meat for worms. Given all this, they did not exactly need their art to be a bummer too.
　　Today the messages your average Westerner is bombarded with are not religious but commercial, and forever happy .Fast-food eaters, news anchors, text messengers, all smiling, smiling. Our magazines feature beaming celebrities and happy families in perfect homes. And since these messages have an agenda--to lure us to open our wallets to make the very idea of happiness seem unreliable. "Celebrate!" commanded the ads for the arthritis drug Celebrex, before we found out it could increase the risk of heart attacks.
　　What we forget--what our economy depends on is forgetting--is that happiness is more than pleasure without pain. The things that bring the greatest joy carry the greatest potential for loss and disappointment. Today, surrounded by promises of easy happiness, we need someone to tell us as religion once did, Memento mori: remember that you will die, that everything ends, and that happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it. Its a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air.
　　39. We can learn from the last paragraph that the author believes
　　[A].Happiness more often than not ends in sadness.
　　[B] The anti-happy art is distasteful by refreshing.
　　[C] Misery should be enjoyed rather than denied.
　　[D] The anti-happy art flourishes when economy booms
　　[答案] B
　　[解题思路]
　　作者在最后一段中关于happiness的观点是："happiness is more than pleasure without pain" (幸福并不只是没有痛苦的快乐)，以及"happiness comes not in denying this but in living with it" (幸福并不等于可以不死，而是要承认会死)因此A选项明显是错误的，可以排除。C选项中的should be 与living with的意思不符，可以排除。D选项是无中生有，也不正确。B选项与最后一句"Its a message even more bitter than a clove cigarette, yet, somehow, a breath of fresh air"(这样的信息可能比丁香烟更令人觉得苦涩，然而在某种程度上，它也许是一股清新的气息)意思基本符合，是正确选项。
　　[题目译文]
　　我们可以从最后一段中了解到，作者相信
　　[A] 幸福往往以悲伤告终
　　[B] 反幸福艺术令人不愉快、却又新鲜而与众不同
　　[C] 苦难应该被享受，而不是拒绝
　　[D] 在经济繁荣的时候，反幸福艺术会大行其道

2007年Text 2　　For the past several years, the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called "Ask Marilyn." People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant, who at age 10 had tested at a mental level of someone about 23 years old; that gave her an IQ of 228 -- the highest score ever recorded. IQ tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies, to envision paper after it has been folded and cut, and to deduce numerical sequences, among other similar tasks. So it is a bit confusing when vos Savant fields such queries from the average Joe (whose IQ is 100) as, What's the difference between love and fondness? Or what is the nature of luck and coincidence? It's not obvious how the capacity to visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions that have eluded some of the best poets and philosophers.
　　Clearly, intelligence encompasses more than a score on a test. Just what does it mean to be smart? How much of intelligence can be specified, and how much can we learn about it from neurology, genetics, computer science and other fields?
　　The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score, even though IQ tests are not given as often as they used to be. The test comes primarily in two forms: the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler intelligence Scales (both come in adult and children's version). Generally costing several hundred dollars, they are usually given only by psychologists, although variations of them populate bookstores and the World Wide Web. Superhigh scores like vos Savant's are no longer possible, because scoring is now based on a statistical population distribution among age peers, rather than simply dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100. Other standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), capture the main aspects of IQ tests.
　　Such standardized tests may not assess all the important elements necessary to succeed in school and in life, argues Robert J. Sternberg. In his article "How Intelligent Is Intelligence Testing?", Sternberg notes that traditional tests best assess analytical and verbal skills but fail to measure creativity and practical knowledge, components also critical to problem solving and life success. Moreover, IQ tests do not necessarily predict so well once populations or situations change. Research has found that IQ predicted leadership skills when the tests were given under low-stress conditions, but under high-stress conditions, IQ was negatively correlated with leadership -- that is, it predicted the opposite. Anyone who has toiled through SAT will testify that test-taking skill also matters, whether it's knowing when to guess or what questions to skip.
　　27. What can be inferred about intelligence testing from Paragraph 3?
　　[A] People no longer use IQ scores as an indicator of intelligence.
　　[B] More versions of IQ tests are now available on the Internet.
　　[C] The test contents and formats for adults and children may be different.
　　[D] Scientists have defined the important elements of human intelligence.
　　[答案] C
　　[解题思路]
　　本题题干中已确定信息为第三段。A选项明显与该段第一句话"The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score, even though IQ tests are not given as often as they used to be"(人类有关智力的定义性术语似乎仍然是智商分数，即使人们并不像以前那样经常进行智商测试)的意思相反，可以首先排除。B选项具有很强的干扰性，其对应于该段第三句话"Generally costing several hundred dollars, they are usually given only by psychologists, although variations of them populate bookstores and the World Wide Web"( 智商测试主要有为两种形式：斯坦福-比奈特智力衡量表和韦氏智力衡量表(两种都包含成人和儿童两个版本))，但versions(版本)与原文的variations(变体，也就是同一版本有不同的变体)意思有出入，也是错误选项。D选项的表述则与第三段无关。C选项对应于该段第二句"The test comes primarily in two forms: the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler intelligence Scales (both come in adult and children's version)"( 尽管这些测试的变种在书店和互联网上都可以找到，但是一般情况下智力测验通常由心理学家来操作，费用为几百美元)，括号中的补充说明指出有成人和儿童两个不同版本，自然说明其内容不同，C为正确选项。
　　[题目译文]
　　从第三段中，我们可以推断关于智商测试的哪一项情况?
　　[A] 人们不再用智商分数来作为智力的指标
　　[B] 更多版本的智商测试现在可以从互联网上得到
　　[C] 成人和儿童的测试内容和形式可能是不同的
　　[D] 科学家们已经定义了人类智力的重要因素
　　29. We can conclude from the last paragraph that
　　[A] test scores may not be reliable indicators of one's ability.
　　[B] IQ scores and SAT results are highly correlated.
　　[C] testing involves a lot of guesswork.
　　[D] traditional tests are out of date.
　　[答案] A
　　[解题思路]
　　本题要求概括最后一段的中心思想，该段的主题句为文章第一句话"Such standardized tests may not assess all the important elements necessary to succeed in school and in life, argues Robert J. Sternberg"(罗伯特•杰•斯顿伯格认为，这样的标准测试不可能评估在学校和生活中取得成功所需的所有重要因素)，文章中间进一步指出"Moreover, IQ tests do not necessarily predict so well once populations or situations change"(而且，一旦种群或环境发生变化，智商测试就未必能够准确预测)，因此A选项符合原文意思。B选项与该段主题无关，D选项在原文中未涉及到，两项均为错误答案。C选项对应于原文最后一句话"Anyone who has toiled through SAT will testify that test-taking skill also matters, whether it's knowing when to guess or what questions to skip"(任何经历过学术能力检测的人都会认为，应试能力也很重要，无论是知道何时应该进行猜题，还是知道应该忽略什么问题等，都是很起作用的)，但并不是该段的中心思想。
　　[题目译文]
　　我们可以从最后一段总结出
　　[A] 测试分数可能无法可靠地证明一个人能力
　　[B] 智商分数与SAT的结果高度相关
　　[C] 测试中包括了很多猜题的工作
　　[D] 传统的测试已经过时

　　2007年Text 3
　　During the past generation, the American middle-class family that once could count on hard work and fair play to keep itself financially secure has been transformed by economic risk and new realities. Now a pink slip, a bad diagnosis, or a disappearing spouse can reduce a family from solidly middle class to newly poor in a few months.
　　In just one generation, millions of mothers have gone to work, transforming basic family economics. Scholars, policymakers, and critics of all stripes have debated the social implications of these changes, but few have looked at the side effect: family risk has risen as well. Today's families have budgeted to the limits of their new two-paycheck status. As a result, they have lost the parachute they once had in times of financial setback -- a back-up earner (usually Mom) who could go into the workforce if the primary earner got laid off or fell sick. This "added-worker effect" could support the safety net offered by unemployment insurance or disability insurance to help families weather bad times. But today, a disruption to family fortunes can no longer be made up with extra income from an otherwise-stay-at-home partner.
　　During the same period, families have been asked to absorb much more risk in their retirement income. Steelworkers, airline employees, and now those in the auto industry are joining millions of families who must worry about interest-rates, stock market fluctuation, and the harsh reality that they may outlive their retirement money. For much of the past year, President Bush campaigned to move Social Security to a savings-account model, with retirees trading much or all of their guaranteed payments for payments depending on investment returns. For younger families, the picture is not any better. Both the absolute cost of healthcare and the share of it borne by families have risen -- and newly fashionable health-savings plans are spreading from legislative halls to Wal-Mart workers, with much higher deductibles and a large new dose of investment risk for families' future healthcare. Even demographics are working against the middle class family, as the odds of having a weak elderly parent -- and all the attendant need for physical and financial assistance -- have jumped eightfold in just one generation.
　　From the middle-class family perspective, much of this, understandably, looks far less like an opportunity to exercise more financial responsibility, and a good deal more like a frightening acceleration of the wholesale shift of financial risk onto their already overburdened shoulders. The financial fallout has begun, and the political fallout may not be far behind.
　　34. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that
　　[A] financial risks tend to outweigh political risks.
　　[B] the middle class may face greater political challenges.
　　[C] financial problems may bring about political problems.
　　[D] financial responsibility is an indicator of political status.
　　[答案] C
　　[解题思路]
　　本题对应于文章的最后一段最后一句话"The financial fallout has begun, and the political fallout may not be far behind"(经济副作用已经开始了，政治副作用可能也不远了)，这句话暗含的意思是中产阶级在面临经济危机的同时还很有可能面临政治危机，因此C选项符合题意。A、B、D选项都是对这句话的误读，可以分别排除。
　　[题目译文]
　　可以从文章最后一段推测
　　[A] 财务风险往往比政治风险重要
　　[B] 中产阶级可能面临更大的政治挑战
　　[C] 财务问题可能带来政治问题
　　[D] 财务责任代表了政治地位

2007年Text 4
　　It never rains but it pours. Just as bosses and boards have finally sorted out their worst accounting and compliance troubles, and improved their feeble corporation governance, a new problem threatens to earn them -- especially in America -- the sort of nasty headlines that inevitably lead to heads rolling in the executive suite: data insecurity. Left, until now, to odd, low-level IT staff to put right, and seen as a concern only of data-rich industries such as banking, telecoms and air travel, information protection is now high on the boss's agenda in businesses of every variety.
　　Several massive leakages of customer and employee data this year - from organizations as diverse as Time Warner, the American defense contractor Science Applications International Corp and even the University of California, Berkeley -- have left managers hurriedly peering into their intricate IT systems and business processes in search of potential vulnerabilities.
　　"Data is becoming an asset which needs to be guarded as much as any other asset," says Haim Mendelson of Stanford University's business school. "The ability to guard customer data is the key to market value, which the board is responsible for on behalf of shareholders". Indeed, just as there is the concept of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), perhaps it is time for GASP, Generally Accepted Security Practices, suggested Eli Noam of New York's Columbia Business School. "Setting the proper investment level for security, redundancy, and recovery is a management issue, not a technical one," he says.
　　The mystery is that this should come as a surprise to any boss. Surely it should be obvious to the dimmest executive that trust, that most valuable of economic assets, is easily destroyed and hugely expensive to restore -- and that few things are more likely to destroy trust than a company letting sensitive personal data get into the wrong hands.
　　The current state of affairs may have been encouraged -- though not justified -- by the lack of legal penalty (in America, but not Europe) for data leakage. Until California recently passed a law, American firms did not have to tell anyone, even the victim, when data went astray. That may change fast: lots of proposed data-security legislation is now doing the rounds in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, the theft of information about some 40 million credit-card accounts in America, disclosed on June 17th, overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security.
　　40. It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that
　　[A] data leakage is more severe in Europe.
　　[B] FTC's decision is essential to data security.
　　[C] California takes the lead in security legislation.
　　[D] legal penalty is a major solution to data leakage.
　　[答案] D
　　[解题思路]
　　本题对应于文章的最后一段。首先，原文中并没有比较美国和欧洲在数据泄漏问题上的严重性，因此A选项显然是错误的。C选项对应于该段第一、二句话"The current state of affairs may have been encouraged -- though not justified -- by the lack of legal penalty (in America, but not Europe) for data leakage. Until California recently passed a law, American firms did not have to tell anyone, even the victim, when data went astray"( 目前的情况可能与缺乏有关数据泄露的法律处罚(在美国，不是在欧洲)有关，尽管还没有的到证实。在加利福尼亚最近通过了一项法律之前，美国公司不必告知任何人关于数据的泄露情况，甚至包括受害人)，第一句话的括号内容显示欧洲早已有这方面的立法，因此加州在这方面不是领头羊。B和D都对应于该段最后一句话"Meanwhile, the theft of information about some 40 million credit-card accounts in America, disclosed on June 17th, overshadowed a hugely important decision a day earlier by America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that puts corporate America on notice that regulators will act if firms fail to provide adequate data security"(同时，6月17日有关美国约4000万信用卡账户数据被盗事件的披露，给此前一天美国联邦商务委员会的一个重要决定蒙上阴影，该决定请向全美国的公司发出了警告，如果公司没有实施恰当的数据安全保护措施，那么监管人员就会采取行动)，但B选项中的"essential "表述过于绝对，D选项则符合原文的内容。
　　[题目译文]
　　可以从第五段中推断出
　　[A] 数据泄漏在欧洲更加严重
　　[B] FTC的决定对于数据安全有根本性意义
　　[C] 加州在安全立法方面处于领头地位
　　[D] 法律上的惩罚是数据泄漏的一个主要解决方案