2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 59

Unit 59

Whether you are a gorilla, a four-year-old child, a politician or an Olympic athlete, the signs of victory are obvious for all to see: the chest inflates, the head is thrown back and the victor displays a strutting and confident air. Shame at being defeated is equally recognizable: the head bows, and sometimes the shoulders slump and the chest narrows too—something that is not a million miles away from the cringing postures associated with submission in animals, from chimpanzees to rats, rabbits and even salamanders. Are these displays of pride and shame common to all humans? If they are, they will have evolved to serve some function.

The past week in Beijing demonstrates that different cultures do indeed show similar displays of pride and shame. But it is difficult to say if these reactions are instinctive or learnt. Jessica Tracy at the University of British Columbia and David Matsumoto at San Francisco State University decided to explore this by comparing pictures of blind and sighted athletes from different cultures.

In their research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team analyzed images from the judo competition held in the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games. They looked for whether or not competitors indulged in post-match behavior such as tilting their heads back, raising their arms or expanding their chests in victory, or hiding their face or narrowing their chests in defeat. They found that in response to success and failure, people from different cultures displayed the stereotypical gestures of pride and some of the components of expressions of shame. This included the blind competitors—even those blind from birth.

Although the researchers say that congenitally blind children might have been taught by their parents to lift their hands above their heads after a victory, they speculate that it would be harder to teach them the full spectrum of displays they witnessed. These findings, then, imply that displays of pride are not simply cultural stereotypes learnt after birth, but an innate form of behavior that was relevant to the way humans lived. A display of pride（or shame）, in other words, may be an evolved and innate behavioral response.

Why? Such displays may have an evolutionary function. People could be advertising their accomplishments and ensuring their status and acceptance within their social group. Similarly, shame shows acceptance of a defeat and a reluctance to fight on（which may help to avoid further aggression）, and so might well be a display of submission.

The researchers also found that the behavioral response to shame was weaker in sighted athletes from cultures that were individualistic—or “self-expression valuing”—societies in the West. They suggest that athletes from these parts were suppressing responses in accordance with “cultural norms” that stigmatize displays of shame. If so, this would explain why the congenitally blind displayed more shame in defeat than did people who became blind later in life.

Culture has a lot to do with displays of victory, whether it is the two-fingered “V” salute or footballers removing their clothing. Both are culturally influenced, but they have their roots in showing exactly who is on top.

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 4（個別題目順序加以調整）。

1. The ways humans of different cultures display the expressions of pride and shame are ______.

A) learnt

B) identical

C) alike

D) instinctive

2. We can infer from the text that the object of the study is to ______.

A) discover whether displays of pride and shame are culturally determined or innate

B) find out how differently blind and sighted athletes would display pride and shame

C) pinpoint how being blind can influence people’s specific behaviors

D) compare the behaviors of athletes from different cultural backgrounds

3. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, according to the text, is probably ______.

A) a manual on scientific research

B) an academic conference

C) an online academic forum

D) an academic journal

4. According to the text, people display pride or shame probably because ______.

A) they are in favor of evolutionary progress

B) they want to be accepted by a social group and protect themselves

C) they are required by their culture to show these emotions

D) they want to fight for victory and avoid failure

5. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A) Culture is ultimately accountable for human display of pride and shame.

B) The fact that culture still exerts influence on human display of pride and shame undermines the conclusion of the research.

C) Culture plays a part in shaping the way people display their pride and shame.

D) Congenitally blind people display more shame in defeat than those who become blind later in life because they have different genes.

篇章剖析

本文主要討論的問題是人們表達自豪和羞愧的行為。除了文化因素之外，更重要的是本能在起作用。第一段提出問題，即人類與動物以相同的方式表達自豪與羞愧，是否意味著這些表現(xiàn)是進化的產物；第二、三段介紹了兩位學者通過比較來自不同文化的失明和視力正常運動員的照片來進行相關研究；第四、五段介紹了該研究的發(fā)現(xiàn)，即自豪（或羞愧）的表現(xiàn)可能是進化形成的先天行為反應；第六段指出了可能存在的文化影響；最后一段則是對全文的總結概括。

詞匯注釋

gorilla /g??r?l?/ n. 大猩猩

inflate /?n?fle?t/ v. 使充氣，使膨脹

strut /str?t/ v. 高視闊步，趾高氣揚地走

slump /sl?mp/ v. 使降低，使衰落

cringe /kr?nd?/ v. 畏縮，蜷縮

chimpanzee /?t??mp?n?zi?/ n. 黑猩猩

salamander /?s?l?m?nd?/ n. 蠑螈

tilt /t?lt/ v. 使傾斜，使翹起

congenitally /k?n?d?en?t?li/ adv. 先天地，天生地

innate /??n?eit/ adj. 與生俱來的，天生的，固有的

stigmatize /?st?gm?ta?z/ v. 給…帶來恥辱，污辱

難句突破

Shame at being defeated is equally recognizable: the head bows, and sometimes the shoulders slump and the chest narrows too—something that is not a million miles away from the cringing postures associated with submission in animals, from chimpanzees to rats, rabbits and even salamanders.

主體句式：Shame at being defeated is equally recognizable.

結構分析：本句的主體句式比較簡單，后面以冒號來引出詳細說明，也就是說the head bows, and sometimes the shoulders slump and the chest narrows too都是用來說明shame的表現(xiàn)。下面破折號引導的不是一個句子，其核心成分只有一個詞something，指的就是前面列出的各類表現(xiàn)。that引導的定語從句整個用來修飾something。這個定語從句的主干是that is not a million miles away from the cringing postures，后面associated with submission in animals用來修飾postures。

句子譯文：被打敗時的羞愧也很容易辨認：垂頭含胸，有時兩肩耷拉，與動物表現(xiàn)的順從的畏縮姿態(tài)非常接近，無論是黑猩猩、老鼠，還是兔子，甚至是蠑螈。

題目分析

1. C 細節(jié)題。文章第二段開頭指出“上周在北京展示了不同文化的確存在相似的自豪與羞愧的表現(xiàn)”，四個選項中只有alike與similar的意思最為接近。要注意B選項identical這個詞的意思是“完全一模一樣的”，與similar的意思有所出入。該段中下一句話指出這些表現(xiàn)“出于本能還是后天習得”現(xiàn)在尚不得知，因此A和D的learnt和instinctive都不正確。

2. A 推理題。這道題可以采用排除法，首先C和D選項都沒有提到全文的關鍵詞pride and shame，所以可以很快排除。文章第二段中說很難確定自豪或羞愧的表現(xiàn)是“出于本能還是后天習得”，緊接著就介紹杰西卡和戴維的實驗是為了研究這個問題。所以比較失明和視力正常運動員的行為不是目的，研究的根本目的是要說明自豪或羞愧的表現(xiàn)究竟是由文化決定還是先天形成的，因此答案為A選項。

3. D 細節(jié)題。從原文中我們可以看出，這項研究的結果發(fā)表在Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences上，馬上可以排除B和C選項，因為發(fā)表都是與出版物有關。而A項是科學研究指南，不會介紹最新研究成果。本文講述的是一項最近進行的研究及其發(fā)現(xiàn)，此類文章通?？窃趯W術期刊上，因此D才是正確答案。

4. B 細節(jié)題。文章第五段指出“人們可能是在夸耀自己的成就，確保自己的地位并獲得所處社會群體的認同。類似地，羞愧表現(xiàn)出承認失利和對繼續(xù)抗爭的猶豫（如此可能有助于避免遭受進一步攻擊），因此也可能是順從的表現(xiàn)。”選項B很好地概括了這兩點，是正確答案。A選項中提到的evolutionary progress是客觀事實，而不是人們的主觀態(tài)度，因此該選項不正確。C顯然與研究發(fā)現(xiàn)不符。D的錯誤在于其表述的是人們在成功或失利前的心態(tài)。

5. C 推理題。本題考查對文章最后兩段的理解。盡管這兩段主要談論的是文化的影響，但是文章最后一句話指出“這些都受文化的影響，但其根源都是彰顯究竟誰是贏家”，也就是說本能仍然起著決定性作用，可見A的表述錯誤。而文化因素的存在也沒有推翻該研究的結論，因此B也不正確。文章倒數(shù)第二段提到“先天失明的盲人在失敗后會比后天失明者表現(xiàn)出更強烈的羞愧”，而從上一句話我們可以看出這是受了文化影響（西方社會崇尚個性或是自我表現(xiàn)），因此D也不正確。而最后兩段主要說明的問題是，盡管自豪和羞愧的表現(xiàn)是一種進化形成的先天行為，但是文化與此還是息息相關。例如“在來自崇尚個性或是自我表現(xiàn)的西方社會的視力正常運動員中，羞愧的行為反應相對較弱”，也就是文化影響到了這種表現(xiàn)的程度輕重，所以可以推斷出C是正確答案。

參考譯文

無論是大猩猩、四歲幼童、政治家、還是奧運會運動員，表達勝利的方式都顯而易見：昂首挺胸，而且顯出驕傲自得和信心百倍的樣子。被打敗時的羞愧也很容易辨認：垂頭含胸，有時兩肩耷拉，與動物表現(xiàn)的順從的畏縮姿態(tài)非常接近，無論是黑猩猩、老鼠，還是兔子，甚至是蠑螈。這些自豪與羞愧的表現(xiàn)是人類共有的嗎？如果是的話，那么這些表現(xiàn)將會進化出一些功能。

上周在北京展示了不同文化的確存在相似的自豪與羞愧的表現(xiàn)。但很難確定這些反應是出于本能還是后天習得。英屬哥倫比亞大學的杰西卡·特雷西和舊金山州立大學的戴維·松本決定研究這個問題，他們比較了來自不同文化的失明的和視力正常的運動員的照片。

在這項發(fā)表于美國《國家科學院院刊》的研究中，科研小組分析了2004年奧運會和殘奧會的柔道比賽圖像。他們查看競技者是否會沉浸于一些賽后動作，例如成功時昂起頭顱、高舉雙臂，或挺起胸膛，或失利后掩面含胸。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)在對勝利和失敗作出反應時，來自不同文化的人展示出典型的勝利姿態(tài)和某些羞愧表現(xiàn)的成分。其中包括盲人競技者，甚至先天失明的競技者也是如此。

盡管研究人員指出，那些先天失明的兒童可能是由父母教會在勝利后高舉雙手，但圖像中顯示出了完整的情緒表現(xiàn)，研究人員推測要教會這些是較為困難的。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)意味著自豪的表現(xiàn)并不只是后天習得的文化定勢，而是一種與人類生存方式相關的先天行為。換句話說，自豪（或羞愧）的表現(xiàn)或許是進化形成的先天行為反應。

為什么呢？此類表現(xiàn)也許有進化的作用。人們可能是在夸耀自己的成就，確保自己的地位并獲得所處社會群體的認同。類似地，羞愧表現(xiàn)出承認失利和對繼續(xù)抗爭的猶豫（如此可能有助于避免遭受進一步攻擊），因此也可能是順從的表現(xiàn)。

研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)，在來自崇尚個性或是自我表現(xiàn)的西方社會的視力正常運動員中，羞愧的行為反應相對較弱。他們提出，來自這些地方的運動員刻意壓抑自己的反應來遵從反對表現(xiàn)恥辱的“文化規(guī)范”。如果是這樣，也就可以解釋為什么先天失明的盲人在失敗后會比后天失明者表現(xiàn)出更強烈的羞愧。

文化與勝利的表現(xiàn)息息相關，不論是豎起兩指的“V”型手勢，還是足球運動員脫掉球衣。這些都受文化的影響，但其根源都是彰顯究竟誰是贏家。