英语六级阅读理解精练
But while children have instinctive desire to imitate, they do not possess an instinct fordetermining whether a behavior ought to be imitated. They will imitate anything, includingbehavior that most adults regard as destructive and antisocial2. It may give pause forthought, then, to learn that infants as young as fourteen months demonstrably observe andincorporate behavior seen on television.
The average American preschooler watches more than twenty-seven hours of television perweek. This might not be bad if these young children understood what they were watching. Butthey don’t. Up through ages three and four, most children are unable to distinguish fact fromfantasy3 on TV, and remain unable to do so despite adult coaching. In the minds of youngchildren, television is a source of entirely factual information regarding how the world works4 .There are no limits to their credulity. 5 To cite one example, an Indiana school board had toissue an advisory to young children that, no, there is no such thing as Teenage Mutant NinjaTurtles6. Children had been crawling down storm drains looking for them.
Naturally, as children get older, they come to know better, but their earliest and deepestimpressions are laid down at an age when they still see television as a factual source ofinformation about the outside world. In that world, it seems, violence is common and thecommission7 of violence is generally powerful, exciting, charismatic, and effective. In laterlife, serious violence is most likely to erupt at moments of severe stress — and it is preciselyat such moments that adolescents and adults are most likely to revert to8 their earliest, mostvisceral sense of the role of violence in society and in personal behavior. Much of this sense willhave come from television.
阅读自测
Ⅰ. Fill in each blank with the proper form of the words given in the brackets :
1. She has an________ ( instinct) sympathy with the poor people.
2. These conclusions are ________ ( demonstrate ) wrong.
3. There is a slight________ ( face ) resemblance between the two men.
4. This man has coaxed millions of pounds from a________ ( credulity) public .
Ⅱ. Are these statements True o r False according to the article :
1. Babies know they have facial features just after they come to the world.
2. Children can imitate everything because imitation is their instinct.
3. Television is a source of entirely factual information regarding how the world works.
4. Television plays an important role in giving rise to social violence .
参考译文
电视与暴力犯罪
孩子生下来就会模仿成年人的行为。出生几个小时的婴儿就能够模仿成年人的一些 面部表情, 那时他们太小, 还不知道自己长有一副容貌。模仿是孩子最有用的本能, 因为正在发育的孩子必须在短期内学习并掌握大量的行为技能。
尽管小孩子天生具有模仿别人的欲望, 但他们却不具备判断一种行为是否应该模仿的本能。孩子们会模仿一切行为, 其中包括被多数成年人视为破坏性和违背社会公德的行为。因此, 当我们认识到只有14 个月大的婴儿就能观察并模仿电视里的行为的时候, 我们是否应该静下心来, 好好反思一下。
普通美国学龄前儿童每周看电视的时间超过27 小时。如果孩子们知道他们在看什么的话, 这也许并不是件坏事; 而问题是孩子们并不理解电视内容。大多数三四岁左右大小的孩子还不能很好地辨别电视里的现实世界与虚幻世界, 即使大人进行教育引导, 他们还是 辨别不清。在小孩子看来, 电视是世界如何运行的最真实信息的来源。他们对电视里的东西笃信不疑。举例说, 印第安纳州一所学校的董事会曾被迫发布公告, 告诉学校里的孩 子: 世界上没有忍者神龟。学校之所以这样做是因为有许多孩子为了寻找忍者神龟而爬入 下水道。
当然, 随着孩子慢慢长大, 他们对这个世界会有更深入的了解, 但在他们仍将电视视为有 关外面世界真实信息的来源的时候, 电视给他们留下了最早、最深刻的印象。在电视中的世 界里, 暴力似乎平常无奇, 实施暴力通常是一种强有力的行为, 而且令人激动, 充满魅力, 颇为 有效。孩子们长大成人后, 当他们处于巨大压力下的时候, 很有可能会爆发严重的暴力事件。 就是在这些时候, 青少年和成年人的心中很有可能又泛起他们最早对暴力在社会以及在个人行为中所起的作用的真实感觉, 而这种感受主要来自于电视。
阅读导评
电视已发展成为一个有蛮横性格的巨人。电视中的暴力经常被美化, 被描绘成有魅力、解决争端所必须的手段, 并且不受法律的约束。因此, 社会要对此给予足够的重视, 家长也要正确引导孩子, 而成长中的孩子更要训练自己的判断能力, 学会识别一条优秀的猎犬和恶狗之间的差异。
阅读导释
1. repertoire n. ( 某个人的) 全部技能, 全部本领, 如: The comedian’s repertoire of jokesbecoming stale. ( 喜剧演员那些插科打诨的招儿变得陈腐乏味起来。) 本文中是指“ 婴儿 要模仿的所有行为技能”。was
2. antisocial adj. 反社会的, 如: These homosexuals are termed antisocial. ( 这些同性恋者被称为 违背社会公德。) anti-是前缀, 意为“ 反对, 抵抗”, 如: anti-abortion ( 反对堕胎的) ; antiscience ( 反科学) 。
3. distinguish . . .from . . . 把⋯⋯和⋯⋯区别开, 这里是指“ 将现实与虚幻区别开”。fantasy n. 空想, 幻想。
4. 电视是有关世界如何运转的最真实信息的来源。regarding prep. 关于, 至于。意思与其相 近的短语有with regard to, as regards ( 注意: to 为介词, 不是不定式符号; as regards 中的s 不可省) , 如:Withregard to studying English, you should read extensively and speak more. ( 至于学英语, 你应该多说多读。) The new sofa is correctly placed as regards size and color. ( 考虑到大小和颜色, 新沙发被放在了一个适当的位置。)
5. 他们对电视里的东西笃信不疑。There are no limits to = without limit 无限制地。credulity n. 轻信, 易信, 其形容词形式是credulous ( 轻信的) 。
6. 忍者神龟( 连环漫画, 诞生于1984 年, 四个憨态可掬的忍者龟广受青少年的喜爱, 现已被 多次拍成电影, 做成游戏) 。teenage a. 十几岁的; mutant a. 变异的; ninja n. ( 受过偷窃技 术专门训练被雇作间谍或刺客的) 日本武士, 忍者; turtle n. 龟。
7. commission n. 实施, 犯罪。其动词形式是commit, 如: commit a crime ( 犯罪) 。
8. 恢复( 原先的做法或习惯) , 如: He reverted to smoking when under stress. ( 因受到压力, 他 又开始吸烟。
英语六级阅读理解精练：受压迫的女性
No one who has studied history, even superficially, will for a moment dispute the statementthat there has brooded very steadily over1 the female half of the human family an air ofrepression, of limitation, of hindrance , of disability, of gloom, of servitude. If there havebeen epochs during which women have been regarded equal to men, they have been brief andabnormal.
Among the Hindus2, woman was the slave of man , forbidden to speak the language of hermaster, and compelled to use the patois3 of the slaves. The Hebrews pronounced her anafterthought4 of the Deity, and the mother of all evils. The Greek law regarded her as a child,and held her in life -long tutelage. The Greek philosophers proclaimed her a “monster”,“ anaccidental production”. Medieval councils declared her unfit for instruction. The earlyChristian fathers denounced her as a“ noxious animal”, a“painted temptress”, a“ necessaryevil”,“a desirable calamity”, and a“ domestic peril”.
In marriage she has been a serf; as a mother she has been robbed of her children; in publicinstruction she has been ignored; in labor she has been a menial, and then inadequatelycompensated; civilly she has been a minor, and politically she has had no existence. She hasbeen the equal of man only when punishment and the payment of taxes were in question5 .
阅读自测
Ⅰ. Fill in the blanks with proper prepositions and do not refer to the pass age until you finish theexercise :
1. There has brooded very steadily________ the female half of the human family an air ofrepression.
2. Women have never been regarded ________equal man .
3. As a mother she has been robbed ________her children.
4. She has been the equal of man only when punishment and the payment of taxes were________question.
Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks with proper words :
In marriage she has been a ______( 奴隶) ; as a mother she has been_____( 使失去) of herchildren; in public instruction she has been ______( 忽视) ; in labor she has been a ______( 仆人) , and then inadequately ______( 补偿) ; civilly she has been a minor, and politically shehas had no ______( 存在) .
参考答案 Ⅰ. 1. over 2 . to 3 . of 4 . in Ⅱ. serf / robbed / ignored /menial / compensated / existence
参考译文
受压迫的女性
学过历史的人, 即使只是浅尝辄止, 学了一点皮毛知识, 也不会立刻对下面这句话持有异议: 在人类家庭中占半壁江山的女性身上一直笼罩着压抑的、受限制的、被阻碍的、无能为力的、忧郁的和被奴役的气氛。如果历史上存在女人与男人一视同仁的时期的话, 那么 这段时期一定非常短暂而又有悖常理。
在印度人眼里, 女人是男人的奴隶, 她们被禁止使用主人的语言, 而只能使用奴隶的语言; 希伯来人宣称女人是上帝在造出亚当之后才造出来的, 还认为她是万恶之源; 希腊法律将女人视为孩子, 对她进行终身监护。希腊哲学家则将女人称为“ 怪物”, 还说女人是“ 附 属品”; 中世纪的地方议会称女人不适合接受教育; 早期的基督教教父们公开指责女人是 “ 有害动物”、“ 虚伪的妖妇”、“ 不可避免的罪恶”、“ 诱人的灾难”和“ 家中的危险人物”。
在婚姻中, 女人像奴隶一样受到男人压制; 作为母亲, 她的孩子被抢走; 在普及大众教 育的时候, 女人被人遗忘; 生产劳动时, 她又成为卑微的仆人, 事后得不到应有的补偿; 从公 民权利角度说, 她微不足道; 在政治领域, 她也没有生存空间。只有在实施惩罚和交纳税款 的时候, 她才获得同男人平等的地位。
阅读导评
在男性统治的世界里, 女性不可避免地沦为被压迫、被歧视、被损毁的对象。即使在今 天, 法律上已经赋予了女性完全等同于男性的地位, 但看不见的歧视依然存在。真正实现 男女平等, 任重而道远。
阅读导释
1. brood over v. 笼罩, 如: A cloud is brooding over the hills. ( 一片乌云笼罩着山岗。) 后面的 air 指的是“笼罩在女性身上的气氛”。
2. Hindus n. 印度人, 印度教教徒。文章后面还出现了Hebrew ( n. 希伯来人) , 主要是用来 称呼从犹太人的始祖亚伯拉罕到率领犹太人逃脱埃及的摩西这段时期的古犹太人。希 伯来人最初居住在阿拉伯半岛东南部, 后经两河流域迁到巴勒斯坦。
3. patois n. 方言, 土语。本文中是指“( 奴隶的) 语言”。意义与其相似的单词还有dialect, vernacular等。
4. afterthought n. 后来添加的东西, 事后产生的想法。这里是指“ 上帝在造出亚当以后, 为 了怕他寂寞而造出女人夏娃”。
5. 正被考虑的, 正在谈论的, 如: The woman in question is sitting over there. ( 提到的那个女人就在那里坐着呢)