2018下半年全国英语等级考试三级阅读试题
Research has shown that two-thirds of human conversation is taken up not with discussion of the cultural or political problems of the day, not heated debates about films we've just watched or books we've just finished reading, but plain and simple ____.
Language is our greatest treasure as a species, and what do we ____ do with it? We gossip. About others' behaviour and private lives, such as who's doing what with whom, who's in and who's out-and why; how to deal with difficult ____ situations involving children, lovers, and colleagues.
So why are we keen on gossiping? Are we just natural ____, of both time and words? Or do we talk a lot about nothing in particular simply to avoid facing up to the really important issues of life? It's not the case according to Professor Robin Dunbar. In fact, in his latest book, Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language, the psychologist says gossip is one of these really____issues.
Dunbar ____ the traditional view that language was developed by the men at the early stage of social development in order to organize their manly hunting activities more effectively, or even to promote the exchange of poetic stories about their origins and the supernatural. Instead he suggests that language evolved among women. We don't spend two-thirds of our time gossiping just because we can talk, argues Dunbar—____, he goes on to say, language evolved specifically to allow us to gossip.
Dunbar arrived at his cheery theory by studying the ____ of the higher primates(灵长类动物)like monkeys. By means of grooming--cleaning the fur by brushing it, monkeys form groups with other individuals on whom they can rely for support in the event of some kind of conflict within the group or____ from outside it.
As we human beings evolve from a particular branch of the primate family, Dunbar ____ that at one time in our history we did much the same. Grouping together made sense because the bigger the group, the greater the ____ it provided; on the other hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close to others. Grooming helped to ____ the pressure and calm everybody down.
But as the groups got bigger and bigger, the amount of time spent in grooming activities also had to be ____ to maintain its effectiveness. Clearly, a more ____ kind of grooming was needed, and thus language evolved as a kind of vocal(有声的)grooming which allowed humans to develop relationship with ever-larger groups by exchanging information over a wider network of individuals than would be possible by one-to-one ____ contact.
小题1:A.claimB.descriptionC.gossipD.language
小题2:A.occasionallyB.habituallyC.independentlyD.originally
小题3:A.socialB.politicalC.historicalD.cultural
小题4:A.admirersB.mastersC.usersD.wasters
小题5:A.vitalB.sensitiveC.idealD.difficult
小题6:A.confirmsB.rejectsC.outlinesD.broadens
小题7:A.for instanceB.in additionC.on the contraryD.as a result
小题8:A.motivationB.appearanceC.emotionD.behaviour
小题9:A.attackB.contactC.inspectionD.assistance
小题10:A.recallsB.deniesC.concludesD.confesses
小题11:A.prospectB.responsibilityC.leadershipD.protection
小题12:A.measureB.showC.maintainD.ease
小题13:A.savedB.extendedC.consumedD.gained
小题14:A.commonB.efficientC.scientificD.Thoughtful
小题15:A.indirectB.dailyC.physicalD.secret
参考答案及解析
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:A
小题4:D
小题5:A
小题6:B
小题7:C
小题8:D
小题9:A
小题10:C
小题11:D
小题12:D
小题13:B
小题14:B
小题15:C
试题分析：研究表明人们的语言大多数不是重大的话题讨论和研究，而很多是闲言碎语，这些闲言碎语是不是浪费时间呢，Robin Dunbar教授不是这样认为的，他认为闲言碎语是非常重要的，是人类发展过程中非常重要的交流形式。
小题1:C考查名词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.宣称,B.描述，C.闲话，D.语言，根据上文的句子：可知我们人类的大多数对话不是文化的，政治的问题，也不是关于电影和树的讨论，而就是简单的闲言碎语，Research has shown that two-thirds of human conversation is taken up not with discussion of the cultural or political problems of the day, not heated debates about films we've just watched or books we've just finished reading下文多次出现gossip这个词，所以选C。
小题2:B考查副词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.偶然地，B.习惯地，C.独立地，D.最初地，根据上一句，Language is our greatest treasure as a species,语言是我们做为一个物种的最伟大的财宝，我们习惯怎么使用它?所以选B。
小题3:A考查形容词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.社交的，B.政治的，C.历史的，D.文化的，根据下文的：involving children, lovers, and colleagues.包括孩子，爱人和同事这些都是社会形势，所以选A.
小题4:D考查名词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.仰慕者，B.主人，C.使用者，D.浪费者，根据上文，So why are we keen on gossiping?我们为什么喜欢说些闲言碎语，因为我们是时间和语言的浪费者吗?所以选D。
小题5:A考查形容词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.至关重要的，B.敏感的，C.理想的，D.困难的，根据上文的介绍，It's not the case according to Professor Robin Dunbar.可知Robin Dunbar教授不认为我们是浪费时间，而认为闲言碎语是最重要的事情，所以选A。
小题6:B考查动词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.证实，B.反对，C. 概述，略述，画轮廓，打草图D.拓宽，根据上下文可知Robin Dunbar教授是反对传统的关于语言是在人类社会发展初期在组织打猎的时候发展起来的这个观点，所以选B。
小题7:C考查词组辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.例如，B.此外，C.相反的，D.因此，根据上文的句子：Instead he suggests that language evolved among women. We don't spend two-thirds of our time gossiping just because we can talk,可知：正相反的是，语言进化是是让我们说些闲言碎语的，所以选C。
小题8:D考查名词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.动机，B.外表，出现，C. 情感，D.行为，根据下文的描述By means of grooming可知教授是通过研究灵长类动物的行为得出这个令人高兴的理论的，所以选D。
小题9:A考查名词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.进攻，B.联系，C.视察，D.帮助，根据上文的conflict可知猴子和其他的个体形成群体来获得在内部冲突事件中或来自外界的进攻时的支持，所以选A。
小题10:C考查动词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.回想，B.否认，C.下结论，结束，D. .承认，聆听(某人的)忏悔，这句话的意思是：教授下结论说，我们在历史上做过相似的事情，所以选C。
小题11:D考查名词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A. .前景，期望，眺望处，景象，B.责任，C.领导，D.保护，根据下文的：on the other hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close to others.可知因为群体越大，获得的保护就越大，所以选D。
小题12:D考查动词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.衡量，B.展示，C.保持，D.缓解，根据上文：on the other hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close to others.群体越大，生活在一起的压力就越大，梳理毛发可以缓解压力，让每个人都冷静下来，所以选D。
小题13:B考查动词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.拯救，B.延伸，延长，C.消费，消耗，D.获得，随着群体越来越大，花在打扮上的时间就要延长来维持它的效果，所以选B。
小题14:B考查形容词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.常见的，普遍的，B.有效的，C.科学的，D.考虑周到的，根据上文的effectiveness可知这里是需要一个更加有效的梳理毛发。所以选B。
小题15:C考查形容词辨析。四个选项的含义分别是：A.间接的，B.日常的，C.物理的，身体的，D.秘密的，语言演变成了有声的梳理毛发，它可以让人们通过比一对一的日常交流更多的人群中交换信息，这样可以和更大的群体发展关系，所以选C。
