Passage Three

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight. When he came to analyse their embarrassing lapses (差错) in a scientific report, he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groupings. Nor did the lapses appear to be entirely random (随机的).

　　One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work one morning threw her dog her earrings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her ear. "The explanation for this is that the brain is like a computer," explains the professor. "People programme themselves to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman's custom every morning to throw her dog two biscuits and then put on her earrings. But somehow the action got reversed in the programme." About one in twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were these "programme assembly failures".

　　Altogether the volunteers logged 433 unintentional actions that they found themselves doing-an average of twelve each. There appear to be peak periods in the day when we are at our zaniest (荒谬可笑的). These are two hours some time between eight a.m. and noon, between four and six p.m. with a smaller peak between eight and ten p.m. "Among men the peak seems to be when a changeover in brain 'programmes' occurs, as for instance between going to and from work." Women on average reported slightly more lapses-12.5 compared with 10.9 for men-probably because they were more reliable reporters.

　　A startling finding of the research is that the absent-minded activity is a hazard of doing things in which we are skilled. Normally, you would expect that skill reduces the number of errors we make. But trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more could make things a lot worse-even dangerous.

　　31. In his study Professor Smith asked the subjects _________ .

　　A) to keep track of people who tend to forget things

　　B) to report their embarrassing lapses at random

　　C) to analyse their awkward experiences scientifically

　　D) to keep a record of what they did unintentionally

　　32. Professor Smith discovered that _______ .

　　A) certain patterns can be identified in the recorded incidents

　　B) many people were too embarrassed to admit their absent-mindedness

　　C) men tend to be more absent-minded than women

　　D) absent-mindedness is an excusable human weakness

　　33. "Programme assembly failures" (The last sentence, Para. 2) refers to the phenomenon that people _________ .

　　A) often fail to programme their routines beforehand

　　B) tend to make mistakes when they are in a hurry

　　C) unconsciously change the sequence of doing things

　　D) are likely to mess things up if they are too tired

　　34. We learn from the third paragraph that _________ .

　　A) absent-mindedness tends to occur during certain hours of the day

　　B) women are very careful to perform actions during peak periods

　　C) women experience more peak periods of absent-mindedness

　　D) men's absent-mindedness often results in funny situations

　　35. It can be concluded from the passage that _________ .

　　A) people should avoid doing important things during peak periods of lapses

　　B) hazards can be avoided when people do things they are good at

　　C) people should be careful when programming their actions

　　D) lapses cannot always be attributed to lack of concentration

　　Passage Four

　　Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

　　It's no secret that many children would be healthier and happier with adoptive parents than with the parents that nature dealt them. That's especially true of children who remain in abusive homes because the law blindly favors biological parents. It's also true of children who suffer for years in foster homes (收养孩子的家庭) because of parents who can't or won't care for them but refuse to give up custody (监护) rights.

　　Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Mays fits neither description, but her recent court victory could eventually help children who do. Kimberly has been the object of an angry custody battle between the man who raised her and her biological parents, with whom she has never lived. A Florida judge ruled that the teenager can remain with the only father she's ever known and that her biological parents have "no legal claim" on her.

　　The ruling, though it may yet be reversed, sets aside the principle that biology is the primary determinant of parentage. That's an important development, one that's long overdue.

　　Shortly after birth in December 1978, Kimberly Mays and another infant were mistakenly switched and sent home with the wrong parents. Kimberly's biological parents, Ernest and Regina Twigg, received a child who died of a heart disease in 1988. Medical tests showed that the child wasn't the Twiggs' own daughter, but Kimberly was, thus sparking a custody battle with Robert Mays. In 1989, the two families agreed that Mr Mays would maintain custody with the Twiggs getting visiting rights. Those rights were ended when Mr Mays decided that Kimberly was being harmed.

　　The decision to leave Kimberly with Mr Mays rendered her suit debated. But the judge made clear that Kimberly did have standing to sue (起诉) on her own behalf. Thus he made clear that she was more than just property to be handled as adults saw fit.

　　Certainly, the biological link between parent and child is fundamental. But biological parents aren't always preferable to adoptive ones, and biological parentage does not convey an absolute ownership that cancels all the rights of children.

　　36. What was the primary consideration in the Florida judge's ruling?

　　A) The biological link.

　　B) The child's benefits.

　　C) The traditional practice.

　　D) The parents' feelings.

　　37. We can learn from the Kimberly case that _________ .

　　A) children are more than just personal possessions of their parents

　　B) the biological link between parents and child should be emphasized

　　C) foster homes bring children more pain and suffering than care

　　D) biological parents shouldn't claim custody rights after their child is adopted

　　38. The Twiggs claimed custody rights to Kimberly because _______ .

　　A) they found her unhappy in Mr Mays'custody

　　B) they regarded her as their property

　　C) they were her biological parents

　　D) they felt guilty about their past mistake

　　39. Kimberly had been given to Mr Mays _________ .

　　A) by sheer accident B) out of charity

　　C) at his request D) for better care

　　40. The author's attitude towards the judge's ruling could be described as _________.

　　A) doubtful B) critical

　　C) cautious D) supportive

　　试题解析

　　Passage Three

　　语言注释

　　1. Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight. (Para.1)

　　"keep a diary of"意为"记录,记下";"absent-minded"意为"心不在焉的";" fortnight"意为"14天,两星期".全句可译为:最近,史密斯教授说服了35人,其中23人是女性,记下他们在2周内所有由于心不在焉而无意中做错的事.

　　2. But somehow the action got reversed in the programme. (Para.2)

　　"got reversed"意为"(顺序)被颠倒".全句可译为:但不知为什么程序中的做事顺序被颠倒了.

　　3. But trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more could make things a lot worse -even dangerous. (Para. 4)

　　句中"trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more"这一部分为动名词短语,在句中作主语.该短语中的"slip"一词,意为"error"(过失,错误).全句意为:越是小心翼翼怕出错偏偏会把事情搞得更糟,甚至出危险.

　　试题分析

　　本文介绍了史密斯教授对人们无意中出差错这一现象的研究结果.研究表明,这种现象无论在发生的时间方面,还是在发生的事情方面,都有一定的规律性.研究中最令人吃惊的发现是差错往往出在人们熟练的事情上,越是小心翼翼怕出错偏偏会把事情搞得更糟,甚至出危险.

　　31. D).根据第一段第一句"Professor...for a fortnight."可知,正确答案为选项D).

　　32. A).根据第一段第二句"When he came to...fell into a few groupings."可知,正确答案为选项A).

　　33. C).根据第二段倒数第二句"But somehow the action got reversed in the programme."可知,正确答案为选项C).

　　34. A).根据第三段的主题句"There appear to be peak periods in the day when we are at our zaniest."可知,正确答案为选项A).句中"when we are at our zaniest"即指"人们无意中出差错时".

　　35. D).根据本文最后一句"But trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more could make things a lot worse-even dangerous."可知,正确答案为选项D).

　　Passage Four

　　语言注释

　　1. That's especially true of children who remain in abusive homes...(Para. 1)

　　"be true of"意为"符合,对……适用".例如:The same is true of all other cases.其他各例也是如此.句中"that"指之前的那句话,意思是讲如今许多孩子在养父母家比在亲生父母家过得更健康、更快乐.因此,本句可译为:对于那些(在亲生父母家)仍然还在挨骂的孩子来说更是如此.

　　2. That's an important development, one that's long overdue. (Para. 3)

　　句中"that"指之前的那句话:这一判决否定了血缘是决定父母子女关系的首要依据."overdue"意为"期待已久的".全句可译为:这是一个人们期待已久的重要进展.

　　3. But the judge made clear that Kimberly did have standing to sue on her own behalf. (Para. 5)

　　"standing"意为"诉讼权"."on her own behalf"意为"为她自己的利益".全句可译为:但法官确信Kimberly完全有权为她自己的利益起诉.

　　4. Thus he made clear that she was more than just property to be handled as adults saw fit. (Para.5)

　　"more than"后接名词时,意为"不只、不仅仅".例如:Peace is much more than the absence of war.和平不仅仅意味着没有战争."see fit"意为"决定;认为……恰当".全句可译为:因而他清楚地表明:她并非只是大人们可以任意摆布的财产.

　　试题分析

　　本文以一个14岁女孩的归属案例,阐述了作者所支持的一种观点:血缘不是决定父母与子女之间关系的首要依据.一切都应从孩子的利益出发,让他们生活得更健康、更幸福.

　　36. B).根据第五段第二句"But the judge made clear that Kimberly did have standing to sue on her own behalf."可知,法官确信Kimberly有权为自己的利益诉讼.对于Kimberly来说,她的利益就是生活在一个能使她更健康、更幸福的家庭.从本文开头一句推断,Kimberly的养父家能够满足她的要求,因此,法官判决她仍然生活在养父母家,完全是为了这个孩子的利益.由此可见,正确答案为选项B).

　　37. A).根据第五段第三句"Thus he made clear that she was more than just property to be handled as adults saw fit."可知,正确答案为选项A).

　　38. C).根据第四段第三句"Medical... a custody battle with Robert Mays."可知,正确答案为选项C).

　　39. A).根据本文第四段,尤其是这一段的第一句"Shortly after birth in December 1978, ...with wrong parents."可知,正确答案为选项A).

　　40. D).根据第三段第二句"That's an important development, one that's long overdue."可以推断,正确答案为选项D.

　　(文/张国荣;英语通大学英语四级考试版2004年第2期;版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)